Quite Contrary | Mary Jantsch | Substack

Recent posts

From Founder to Pig Farmer

Inside Carrie Marshall’s breakup with tech from the farm office telephone.

Nov 10, 2025 • Mary Jantsch

Default or Contrary: Which kind of career are you building?

Which path are you on?

Nov 6, 2025 • Mary Jantsch

33 Things I Know About Not Knowing

Especially when it comes to career, identity, & creativity.

Oct 15, 2025 • Mary Jantsch

The Inheritance of Attention

My Great-Grandmother's Herbarium from 1909.

Oct 3, 2025 • Mary Jantsch

Career Ecology

A Career Season Field Guide With 24 Experiments

Career Ecology in practice.

Jun 6, 2025 • Mary Jantsch

Does Your Environment Support Your Season?

Career Ecology: how to tell if your work is aligned with what you actually need right now.

May 22, 2025 • Mary Jantsch

What Season of Work Are You In?

Career Ecology: A quiz + framework to shift how you think about work.

May 15, 2025 • Mary Jantsch

Recommendations

Around the Bonfire — Brand, marketing, creativity

Kevan Lee

shoes at the door

shoes at the door

Kasturi K

the recharge

Lia Zneimer

Contrary Career Stories

Tell your Contrary Career Story

And help people navigating 'what if?' feel less alone.

Dec 17, 2025 • Mary Jantsch

From Founder to Pig Farmer

Inside Carrie Marshall’s breakup with tech from the farm office telephone.

Nov 10, 2025 • Mary Jantsch

Contrary Career Stories: Trading Marketing KPIs for Oil Canvases

Inside Kasturi Kiritharan’s brushstroke rebellion against hustle culture.

May 25, 2025 • Mary Jantsch

Quite Contrary

Quite Contrary

Tools for navigating work, identity, and uncertainty through the lens of ecology. Because career advice is mostly bad, and nature has better ideas.

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts