34-year-old electrician makes $43,000 a year after leaving design school: I have 'many ways to move up' and earn more money

Zen Stewart knows firsthand that career paths aren’t linear. Hers hasn’t been.

Today, the 34-year-old is an electrician in Raleigh, North Carolina — a construction wireman level four, to be exact. That would’ve surprised her younger self.

“I always liked fashion, design, architecture,” she tells CNBC Make It. “I never for once thought I’d be in the trades.”

After graduating high school, Stewart pursued several fields of study, including interior design, graphic design and business. None felt right.

“I knew in my core that something else was out there for me,” she says.