Among my five sibs and me there are two PhDs, one ABD, one master's degree, and two profession-qualifying bachelor's degrees. All of us have followed some profession (in the snobby "not a trade" meaning). We have also racked up a total of decades of experience as cook, pastry chef, waiter, ER secretary, ship scaler, ship fitter, printer, metal worker, lighting fabricator, upholsterer and refinisher, temp office worker, door-to-door vacuum cleaner sales person, etc. That all mattered, too. (Okay, maybe not the vacuum cleaners.)