Well, I want to work with Millennials because I am a Millennial and I know the struggles that our generation uniquely faces.
I think most people do not often think about what generation they are in and why that matters. If you do, it may be in passing when you see something about it in the media or when you go home to visit your family. You may think “Wow, my grandparents lived in a completely different time.”
Well that is just it! Our generation is living and has lived in a very unique time.
In my previous job before I started my own business, I worked with many young professional millennials that were going through some of the same struggles I was experiencing myself. Things such as work/life balance, self-care, burnout, living with parents to save money, struggling financially, struggling to feel like an adult even though we technically are? (still not sure about that one), trying to find purpose and meaning in your work, problems with relationships, dating, and s*x, student debt, the struggle between getting a pay check and your mental health, and feeling like the harder we try to ‘do’ life right... the more we just feel like we are failing. I started to see that I was not the only one that was feeling these things and that we collectively were experiencing the same struggles.
As someone who loves psychology and seeing these patterns, I started to understand that this was not just a 20-something problem, this was a generational problem. I began to look more into articles talking about the problems Millennials are facing. I started to see that events such as the 2008 financial crisis and decisions previous generations made have really impacted our generation more than I knew.
The 2008 financial crisis in particular hit our generation harder than I had thought. I am on the young side of the millennials and was in my freshman year of high school in 2008. Those of us that were graduating college in 2008 and were looking for jobs, were completely passed over due to the lack of jobs. The people who had lost their jobs started scooping up all the minimum wage jobs and this chunk of our generation was completely passed over for about 4 years. When the economy finally got back on its feet, did these companies go back to those 20-somethings that were passed over? No... they started to hire the next round of college graduates. This to me was mind-blowing! I had no idea.
It was relieving and maddening to know our generation’s struggles are not the fault of us not working hard enough, but the result of real economic and political decisions and downturns.
We are the generation that started with technology. We have seen the evolution of Myspace, Facebook, Instagram, and every other social media platform. We have seen VCR turn into Netflix and Smart TVs. We witnessed the huge Dell computer monitors turn into flatscreens and laptops that have detachable keyboards. We have witnessed the Tech giants take over our world without really anyone noticing until Amazon all of sudden bought Whole Foods and then we were all like... ITS TAKING OVER THE WORLD... and yet most of us still have Amazon Prime. We have watched inflation go sky high and have VERY much felt the reality that salaries and hourly pay have not kept up with the rising cost of EVERYTHING!!
As a generation, we were also taught to compete heavily with our peers to get to the top. We were taught that if we got good grades and went to college, that our futures would be set and we would have a leg up on everyone else. Ha... too bad ALL parents had the exact same thought process and now a bachelors degree is the equivalent of a high school degree in our parents and grandparents days. With technology, education saturation, rising housing costs, and now a world and country that feel like they are about to end at any given moment... our generation is STRESSED!!!!
So, I decided that our generation needed someone on their side that could relate to all these things we are all experiencing. We are all trying to make it up the escalator of life with having a career that is both fulfilling and pays what we need to live as well as plan for our futures, to to find and create relationships that are healthy and fulfilling, to maybe buy a house and have a family one day, to find balance in our lives so that we are not stressed out all the time, to find confidence in ourselves and know that we are enough in all aspects of our life, and to have really good s*x!!!
I am here to tell you that I got you!
I know all the struggles that we as millennials deal with because I am right there with you. I am trying to achieve my goals while also trying to get out of living with my mother as a 26 year old married woman. I spent 6 years of my life, going to college and then straight into graduate school to become a Marriage and Family Therapist, only to barely be making above minimum wage. I have been in a state of burnout, working myself into the ground, just to barely make enough to get by. I struggled with relationships after my parents divorced when I was 6 years old, and had to work to understand myself and relationships before I was able to meet my now husband.
I really do get the struggle and I know I am one of the lucky ones. I know that I have a lot of privileges that many people in my position do not have. I had immense privilege to have been able to move back in with family when my husband and I wanted to take some career risks to try to get ahead. We would not have been able to save enough money to make it through both of us not making any money for 3 months if we would have had to pay rent and utilities. Though I did not get to my dream job right out of the gate, I did also learn a lot at the jobs I have had previously as well and I took what I needed from them to hopefully help me succeed in owning my own business. I tell you all of these things, because I want you to know that I know I did not get to where I am today without continuous help, support, and societal privilege.
We all have our own starting points and goals that we are trying to reach. I would be honored to be that help and support for you.
I want you to know that your ideas about how you think the world could or should work are not dumb or naive, but something to be embraced and grown. I want you to know that it is OK to just be you in whatever glorious and beautiful fashion that may be. I want you to have the skills to create meaningful, healthy, and fulfilling relationships that build you up instead of tearing you down. I want you to know that despite many of our upbringings and just the general anti-healthy/positive s*x culture, s*x is a healthy, normal, and beautiful part of life that we can embrace and explore. I want you to be able to have the balance in your life between career, personal time, relationships, family, and friendships. Work should not rule our lives... yet for many of us it does.
These are my hopes for you and my goals in our work together! I want to be your confidant and your champion that understands your struggles but also sees the greatness and potential our generation has to offer. We are innovators and movement makers. We are the future and we have the power to create change in our culture by not accepting the status quo and thinking outside the box in order to create the lives that we want!
You can contact me at kayla@reclaimingstoriestherapy.com or at 253-525-2424 for a free 15 min. Telehealth consult today!
You can also learn more about me and my services at https://reclaimingstoriestherapy.com
