“I got my first job when I was 14, and have worked ever since – bar jobs, mentoring roles, managing teams of 19 people. You name it, I’ve done it.

I’m lucky enough to own a house with my husband, whom I married earlier this month, own a (battered) car and have a garden full of plants I lovingly tend to. In old-fashioned terms, I am an adult. But catch me off-guard and ask me my age, I’d probably say I was 17 years old.

The only time I really felt like I hit an adult milestone was when Aaron (husband) and I adopted a kitten from Battersea Cats Home in 2015. The weight of this tiny little 11-week-old kitten (Luther, nee Steve) sat heavy on my shoulders when I realised I couldn’t swan off for weekends away or stay out all night drinking Whispering Angel by the bucket load – because this little ball of black fluff with big green eyes needed me more than I needed him.

Forget buying a big white dress, and never mind keeping up to date with the MOT and service history on the car, the most adult thing I’ve ever done is keep a small animal alive – and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Felicity Thistlewaite, digital executive

“Why we’re not subscribing to these traditional adulting milestones”