FOUNDER AND CHIEF CAREER MENTOR
I'm Larissa Brown
I’m the chief career mentor and founder of Careers That Matter. I love helping teenagers identify fulfilling, meaningful and impactful careers they can grow into.
Wasting My Early Twenties
I understand how hard it is to navigate your early career.
I got terrible career counselling in high school. It was superficial, cookie-cutter stuff, based on little more than my school grades and a brief discussion about things I was interested in. I started three different degrees in my early twenties trying to work out what I wanted to do – engineering, then law and then science. None of them felt quite right.
Eventually, I found my way to a career that I loved, and I reinforced my qualifications for that work by completing three master’s degrees at the world's top universities - Cambridge University (UK), the London School of Economics, and The University of Melbourne.
But I wasted a lot of time and money in the process and I don't want your teen to make the same mistake.
Finding Jobs That Matter
I am driven by the question; how can people have an impact through their work? I have come to this from reaching my own place of clarity; a place from which I have gone on to have many jobs that matter.
I founded and served as CEO of an award-winning NGO. I then followed my passions – and applied my skills – in politics, commencing as a State Director of a significant Australian political party, before moving to the national arena as the federal party’s parliamentary director and then national policy director working out of Australian Parliament House.
Along the way, I also worked as a lecturer and research scientist at Australia's top universities, and most recently, as a mother of two wonderful children.
Through these experiences, I have consistently witnessed how individuals who possess clarity about their unique talents and values, and who understand that it is up to them – and no one else – to take responsibility for their lives, go on to have the most impactful and fulfilling careers.
I am now dedicating the next chapter of my own career to helping teenagers achieve this clarity. I am excited to now offer the career mentorship I wish someone had given me all those years ago.
My Awards
Over the past two decades, I have mentored hundreds of young people on building their impact and career capital, with my mentoring programs receiving numerous awards.
I have been recognized as a Global Shaper by the Davos World Economic Forum and listed as one of Melbourne's 100 Most Influential People by The Age newspaper.
Additionally, I have been honored as the Australian Young Environmentalist of the Year and the Victorian Young Australian of the Year.
I have also won many prestigious scholarships to universities globally.
My Qualifications
My work is grounded in research and evidence. I hold three master's degrees from Cambridge University (UK), the London School of Economics, and The University of Melbourne.
Why I Do This Work
My vision is a world in which the next generation uses their unique talents in an impactful way to help people and the planet.
At an individual level, I want young people to experience self-actualisation through their work.
At a societal level, I want us to build a better humanity together.
Please Reach Out
I really love this work. I would love to hear more about your situation and what is going on with your teenager's career planning (or lack of it).
Please give me a call or send an email. I can give you some tips and let you know if we can help.
Careers That Matter provides online programs to teenagers across the globe. The organisation is based in Melbourne Australia. We have students from across Australia including Sydney, NSW 2000, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Perth, WA 6000, Adelaide, SA 5000, Hobart, TAS 7000, Canberra, ACT 2600, Darwin, NT 0800. We also take students from The United Kingdom including London, Europe, and the United States including New York, Canada, New Zealand including Auckland and Wellington, and Asia including Singapore and Malaysia.