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The notion of what constitutes a career is interdisciplinary by nature, congregating views from an individual, organizations and society. Nevertheless, despite progress in discussions on the subject, recent studies have pointed towards the limitations of currently used theories, calling for greater interdisciplinarity (Arthur, 2008; Chudzikowski & Mayrhofer, 2011; Khapova & Arthur, 2011; Lawrence, 2011), since little evolution has occurred in this sense. In order to respond to the need for multidisciplinary research in career studies, this paper aims to present and illustrate the potential use of life histories by analyzing the influences and limits on seven Brazilian executives' career paths through this method. Results are presented in two broad categories of analysis: (a) contextual influences on careers involving changes in the Brazilian economic and organizational setting, increased competition and need to increase knowledge in face of globalization, mobility demand and gender discrimination; (b) life stages and career choices, including individual aspects of their trajectories, such as family values, choice of undergraduate courses, entering the labor market and parenthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]