Careers the Duggar Daughters Would Have If Only They Weren’t Born, Well, Duggars

Jill Duggar: Nurse

So look, technically in 2015, Jill got the receipt certification from the North American Registry of Midwives. Do I trust old Jilly Muffin to deliver my theoretical children? Yeah, probs not.

If she were to be raised a non-Duggar, though, we could imagine her becoming a nurse ala John David's new S.O., Abbie Grace Burnett. Or, maybe she could just upgrade her current status to Certified Nurse Midwife. In order to grab that role, she'd need eight years of training starting with a Bachelor's degree and by extension of that, college(!!!). Then she'd need one-year nursing experience and three years in a nurse-midwifery program.

So it's not something that's easy to achieve, but Jill could've done it. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary of a CNM is $99,770, which translates to Serious Bank. That means there's a very little chance that Jill would have to stay stuck with Derick Dillard for at least financial reasons.

…or that, without Jim Bob playing Cupid, she'd be stuck with Tontitown's Bridge Troll in the first place.

Jessa Duggar: Beautician

This was a legitimate once-upon-a-time aspiration for the Duggar Family's Evil Queen. You know what, though? The vainest Duggar Daughter is nothing but on top of her appearance, and the family's go-to barber. She would've done well in cosmetology school, no doubt. It would also make plenty of sense that Jessa, if she hadn't been sheltered from the dangers of the interwebs, could've done make-up and hair tutorials, maybe even become a beauty influencer. IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES!

…I'm not sure if straight-up fashion would've ever been her forte, though. Even with their massive restrictions, Jessa's sense of style isn't the chicest, but she tries.

Jinger Duggar: Photographer

This is one of the more painful wasted potential what-ifs, because Jinger historically seemed like Most Likely To Break Free and just ended up Most Recent to Give Birth (which like, congrats on Felicity Nicole, I guess). Jing is a fountain of untapped promise, particularly when it comes to her skills behind the lens. The girl has a legitimate love and talent for photography, which seems to be underutilized it for mainly Duggar-specific events. She shot Jill and Derick and Jessa and Ben's engagement photos respectively, yet I'm living for the weirdness behind Josiah Duggar's graduation pictures.

My theory? There's an AU Jinger that ended up moving to New York (you know, her dream) and spends a lot of time styling Avant-garde photoshoots.

Or, you know, at least a suburban version where she makes a legitimate living with her wedding photography.

Joy-Anna Duggar: House-Flipper or Real Estate Agent

So um…sometimes I have a hard time watching Joy-Anna try to talk and breathe at once. I know so much of that has to do with the focal point of our problem i.e. the Duggar upbringing and Joy-Anna's place as a forgotten middle-child. I'm just saying that even if she was raised in conventional circumstances it's hard to conceive Joy-Anna "Why Go Small If You Can Go Big" Duggar as a neurosurgeon.

Maybe it's a stretch to think that Jill would go for eight years of nurse training, too. Humor me, though.

What I can say is that Joy-Anna definitely could've done more with her life and monetized it, even if that means staying within the given family profession (and maybe slaying at it). And yeah, everyone seems to think that just because that's essentially Austin's job, Joy-Anna's going to join forces with him HGTV-style. Mr. Forsyth even remarked that, "I've learned that if she doesn't know how to do it, you can just show her real quick, and she can figure it out and become better than you at it." Yeah, because Joy-Anna's main thing is that she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty! That's why she was Tomboy Joy until the Duggars beat archaic gender roles into her.

Now saddled with baby Gideon, it feels like her house-flipping days are over. I hope Austin makes enough from his job to provide for as many kids as the Lord thinks they can handle.

Jana Duggar: Whatever She Wants (But Probably an Interior Designer)

Sorry guys, Jana will forever be the most tragic case when it comes to Duggar Daughters, unless she's planning a breakaway as we speak. Trapped on the compound because of her singledom, her current job is basically to play nanny, to play mother to the children that Jim Bob and Michelle can't bother to parent. Her second job is the title of "sometimes concert pianist."

But despite her circumstance, Jana is pretty much a jack of all trades. She can fix a shower head, she can bake bread, she can, yes, play the piano (although I'm sure her concerts are limited to her local church). She's an amazing gardener too, which invokes a rich dream where she ended up a botanist.

Our most concrete guest, though? We've always vouched that Jana could've been the next Joanna Gaines given all the creative home improvement projects she's done over the years. If only she was given the opportunity to leave her own home.

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