College and Career Advice That Works

Want to become one of those people who actually loves what they do for a living? Test Drive Your Future gives you the advice and solutions you need to become both successful and happy on your college and career path.

We think everyone deserves the chance to do something with their lives that interests, inspires, and fuels them. And yet recent studies show that over half of all U.S. workers aren’t happy with their careers.

That’s really sad, especially considering how much of our lives most of us spend working. Did you know that the average American works about 72,000 hours between the ages of 22 and 62? That’s a lot of time! Especially if you are doing something you don’t enjoy.

We think that you can do it differently. That you can actually find something that you will enjoy doing with your life. That you can find a career that fuels you, meaning that it will support you both emotionally and financially. That you can choose to make your 72,000 hours count.

Choosing a career with confidence, clarity, and purpose is the smartest strategy for making the most of your college education (saving you time and money) and ensuring your future happiness and success.

Test Drive Your Future is all about helping you choose a college and career path:

that is a really great fit with your unique skills and talents
that will not place you in crippling student debt
that will interest, inspire, and fuel you for years to come (emotionally and financially)

And doing so in a way that makes you feel both confident and clear about your decision. What we call being “in the driver’s seat” of your life.

To learn how we can help, please click one of the buttons to the right and grab our free Career Choice Crash Course.

How Did Test Drive Get Started?

The idea for Test Drive Your Future came from countless conversations that we had with friends of ours who all seemed to be in the same boat as we were a few years out of school.

We’d all graduated from college, and years later were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do with our lives.

Most of us were in jobs that we didn’t really like, or just kind of tolerated, working in fields that had absolutely nothing to do with what we had studied in college.

And almost all of us were quietly asking ourselves: “Is this really it? Is this really all I have to look forward too?”

We kept wondering what we had done “wrong.” But more importantly we started to think about what we could have done differently.

Then we got to thinking about the way that we had chosen careers the “second time,” when we were in our late twenties, and realized that it was completely different than what we had done the first time. We were more clear, confident, and excited. Not only about our career decisions, but about our lives in general.

We spent the next few years exploring what made the big difference, doing a lot of research, and talking to dozens of other professionals who were in careers they loved — and then assembled everything we had learned into a process we call The Test Drive Experience.

It’s the step by step process to choosing a career that we wish we’d had before college.

Who Are We and What’s Our Story?

Jim and Beth Hood, Founders of Test Drive Your Future

Having become disillusioned with the direction our lives were headed, we abandoned our personal and professional lives in Seattle to make a fresh start on the Big Island of Hawaii in the Spring of 2003.

It turned out to be a great move, as Hawaii was the perfect environment for us to become serial entrepreneurs. (And to think, we didn’t even know what an entrepreneur was when we graduated college.)

Since then, we’ve built four successful businesses. The newest of which, A Little Bit More Fun, Inc—a company that produces websites, guidebooks, and other items to “help make life a little more fun”—is the home of all of our online and offline publishing ventures. The project that eventually became Test Drive Your Future was started in February of 2007.

A Little More About Beth and Jim Hood

Beth completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Vermont and earned her Master’s Degree from the Hawaii College of Oriental Medicine. She is a licensed acupuncturist, a prolific writer and website designer, and wrote a career advice column for teen girls as the GPS Gal for a few years on Girlzone.com. If she had to choose only one item to bring to a deserted island, it would be her iMac (of course then she’d have to figure out where to plug it in…)

Jim completed his undergraduate studies at Illinois State University, and earned his Master’s Degree from Western Illinois University. He has worked in a wide range of fields (literally), starting his life in Hawaii as a humble goat herder before building a successful technology consulting company. For fun, Jim enjoys playing bass guitar (poorly) in a rockin’ little band, The Fibonacci Sequence (three high school teachers, a real estate agent, and a geek).

Together, Beth and Jim have authored four books: Where’s the Map? Create Your OWN Guide to Life After Graduation, Test Drive Your Future, High School Student and Grad Edition, Test Drive Your Future, College Student Edition, and their first illustrated children’s book The Money Book for Kids (and the young at heart!)

In their spare time, Beth and Jim enjoy watching the sunset, swimming, and stand-up paddle boarding, although Jim readily admits that Beth can literally paddle circles around him.

What Others Are Saying About Test Drive Your Future

Over the years, we’ve been fortunate that people have said a lot of nice things about us:

What Professionals Are Saying:

No One Talks To Kids This Way!

“I am so impressed! This is a GREAT gift to young people, and their families. NO ONE talks to kids this way! I don’t understand why it seems so few adults can talk with younger people . . . You hit them with all their senses flaring… it’s great. You take them seriously. But you don’t expect them to know more than they do. Beautiful!”

— Joyce Reed, Founder and Director of College Goals, Former Associate Dean of the College at Brown University

I Think It Should Be Included In Every High School’s Guidance Office

“Jim and Beth Hood have once again created a clear and practical guide for introspection and planned action in Test Drive Your Future. I would recommend it to all of my gap year students and think it should be included in every high school’s guidance office. Although geared toward students, anyone can utilize the helpful outline to clarify interests and goals. The process of finding a passion can be life-long and Test Drive  Your Future is a good reminder not to settle for less than true satisfaction in one’s work in the world.”

— Holly Bull, President of Center for Interim Programs

I Wish This Had Been Around 40 Years Ago

“Test Drive Your Future is an enormously skillful, practical and heartfelt gift to those facing one of the most important decisions of their lives. I am particularly struck by the breadth of career-related factors evoked in helping students and graduates turn towards the career direction most true for them. I wish this guide had been around 40 years ago-my career trajectory would’ve been very different! Bravo Beth and Jim Hood.”

— Gavin Harrison, CPA, Spiritual Teacher, author of In the Lap of the Buddha

I Know CEO’s Who Need This

“Bravissimo! Do you realize what you created? “Test Drive” is not just for students—I know CEO’s who need this! This is a stupendous gift to the world. Magnanimous, monumental…”

— John Goddard, World Famous Adventurer, Author of The Survivor: 24 Spine-Chilling Adventures on the Edge of Death

A Magnificent Guide for Young Adults

“Beth and Jim have done it again! Test Drive Your Future is Witty, Wise and Wonderful! It is a magnificent guide for young adults in navigating their way to a joyful and life-enhancing career. I have been recommending Test Drive Your Future with great confidence and enthusiasm.”

— Dr. Michael Aronowitz, Author, Speaker, and Licensed Psychologist

What Parents and Students Are Saying:

Brilliant Speakers

“When I heard Jim and Beth speak, I was impressed and delighted by their spunk, their authenticity and their skill in connecting with a young adult crowd. They are both brilliant speakers with a clear dedication to helping young people make fulfilling life choices. They’re the kind of people you want to influence your kids!”

— Joyce Marvel-Benoist, Self Empowerment Counseling

Fantastic Idea

“From that first great story about Beth and Jim getting suckered into the lemon car, I was drawn in. They have a great style, an easy way of communicating powerful concepts, and a fantastic idea for getting high school student (and college, it’s never too late!) to think about putting themselves in the driver’s seat of their future, starting with their education.”

— Rory Cohen, MPH, MA Author of Take 10! How to Achieve Your “Someday” Dreams in 10 Minutes a Day

Straightforward and Engaging Tool to Help My Generation

“After years of listening to the adults in my life express their frustration, boredom, and anxiety about their jobs, I made the decision that I would spend my own adult life doing something that was genuinely worth my time and energy, something that I would walk away from as the end of the day feeling inspired and fulfilled by. Test Drive Your Future has increased my confidence in my ability to achieve this. I commend the Hoods for creating a straightforward and engaging tool to help my generation enter the ‘real world’ in a way that is satisfying and meaningful.”

— Shivani Penberthy, Recent Graduate

Helps People Ask Themselves the Hard Life Questions

“AWESOME! What a fabulous resource. Not all of us can be so lucky to have Beth and Jim in person for life’s important decisions. If I hadn’t had the privilege of having them help me along through so many important life milestones and decisions, I would have been happy to have Test Drive. It is so important to make and keep goals so there is something pushing you to continually reach for your dreams. Test Drive helps people ask themselves the hard life questions and ground themselves so that they can really be able to achieve their goals. Great!”

— Shannon Alvarez, former student, instructor at El Colegio Americano de Puebla in Puebla, Mexico

Exciting and Interactive Format….Clarifying My Life Goals

“The exciting and interactive format and engaging questions set me on a path of clarifying my life goals. After working through it, I developed a clear focus and direction as to my next steps in life.”

— Esther Khachatryan, High School grad, “Thinking Beyond Borders” Gap year participant