Millennials are a force of nature determined to live life on their own terms. Having multiple professions, in the past, was mostly necessary to make ends meet. No one in their right mind would willingly take on the stress of doing multiple jobs unless absolutely warranted for survival or to save for a grand occasion. Things have changed drastically as millennials are now thriving in multiple professions and industries and loving every minute of it. Gone are the days where multitasking is looked upon as a chore.
If you have the talent, drive, passion, openness and/or time management skills then there are no limits on what you can do. We see examples of this everyday in the media. Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) is the poster child for multi-hyphenated millennials due to being an actor, comedian, writer, director, record producer, singer, songwriter, rapper and DJ. Another example would be Tristan Walker who a Silicon Valley celebrity, programmer, founder of CODE2040 and founder & CEO of Walker & Company Brands, which created such brands as Bevel and Form.
Let’s take a closer look into the lives of multi-hyphenated millennials to understand their unapologetic, non-traditional lives.
L. CaCera Richmond, Senior Corporate Communication Specialist at FedEx Freight, Public Relations Specialist/Guru, Fitness Instructor at Zen Studio Fitness and Co-creator of FitWithFinesse.com
Our generation is definitely experiencing a different corporate atmosphere than what our parents had. Coming out of college around the recession, it became apparent to me that to experience security and truly thrive at a public relations agency, I had to be good at a range of skills. That eventually trickled into my personal life. I wanted more balance and to incorporate more of my passion and purpose into my day-to-day life. As my love and passion for fitness grew, I began to look for ways to merge my passion with impacting others.
This lifestyle is reward because I feel it’s given me more confidence to champion for myself. At work, it’s allowed me to be multi-dimensional. I can pitch media and build social content, or media train employees and produce a video shoot. Honing my skills in more than one area has truly given me the voice and confidence to raise my hand for and pitch projects I am excited and passionate about. The same applies to the fitness world. I wanted to do more than sit at a desk all day. Whether it’s mining for and telling compelling stories at work, or leading my clients through a workout, I’m able to directly impact lives.
The biggest challenges I face are patience and pacing. I am someone who always has ten ideas that pop into my head at once, and I want to do them all. Realizing that it takes time to build an impactful brand, that there truly are enough hours in the day, and there’s always tomorrow – so, there is always going to be enough time to get things done. Teaching myself to slow down and trying to adopt the mantra, “Rome (or Beyoncé’) was not built in a day,” has been a true lesson and challenge for me. Now, I constantly tell myself, “Sometimes you have to slow down so that you can speed up.”
Derek D. Ross, Founder & CEO, The D2 Group, LLC, Certified Mindset & Business Facilitator and Zumba Fitness Instructor
I decided to diversity into multiple professions when I realized I had the talent and passion to help and empower people to improve their quality of life in the areas of mind, body, or business; and it could be monetized. Being able to monetize my talents in those areas played an important role in determining what professions to pursue and how much of my time, energy and resources would be devoted to their development and launch.
For me, the most rewarding part continues to be witnessing the changes that take place within the lives I’ve been able to impact. From the woman in my Zumba class how lost enough weight to donate her kidney to the entrepreneurs I coach on developing an unshakeable mindset or as their brand strategist to help retool their businesses, they all feed my purpose.
The biggest challenge for me has been time management. You have to make sure you are continuously feeding yourself with the tools and resources you need to deliver value and serve your clients with intention, while mixing in some self-care into the equation. And even though you love what you do, what you’re doing is running a business that requires its own time and attention to make sure it is operating efficiently and stays profitable.
Pauleanna Reid, Motivational Speaker, Millennial Mentor, Celebrity/CEO Ghostwriter and 2X Published Author, hailing from Toronto, Canada
I didn’t make a conscious decision to diversify into multiple professions. I just felt like my purpose was taking me that way. I run three businesses and work a corporate 9 -5. I currently run New Girl on the Block; The WritersBlok; and the Pauleanna Reid, the author, and brand.
These businesses are not about the money but the passion; they came out of ideas that I was passionate about, and also a space that was largely ignored. For example, New Girl on the Block started because there were so many young women, who wanted to start a business or achieve their potential. I saw my mission in helping these young girls. I felt that the reason, I had survived the trials and tribulations of the past was to be here at this moment, to help these girls.
Being Multi-hyphenated allows me the freedom to explore different opportunities, and take on various projects. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in the importance of saying no. Saying “No” without an explanation is perhaps my most powerful tool, because it allows you to say yes to the things that matter. Yes to projects and passions that I feel excited about and that my gut tells me to follow.
The biggest challenges for me being in this space are time and sacrifice. You have to make a lot of hard choices when you are chasing your hustle. There are weeks, where I get 4 hours of sleep a night if I am lucky. There is no such thing as a slow period when one job gets slow; then it’s time to put the side hustle on overdrive. You have to budget your time and make sure you are spending it wisely, like your cash. You have to think about where you are going to invest that time, is it your businesses, and then which one? Alternatively, is it your social life, or your family? You have to make these choices and know when you need or want to sacrifice and when you don’t.
