Hustle Hard

By: Ayana Bryant-Weekes

People say a lot of negative things about my generation; how unfocused we are, how impatient, stubborn, and untrusting we are. They use adjectives like selfish and paranoid to describe us as well as our desire to do things on our own. But I have to applaud my generation, The Millennials. If there is anything we are passionate about or hungry for; it is ourselves and our money. Now some of those negative things may be true according to someone who doesn’t understand us and how we think but I’d like to turn those negative adjectives around and describe this group of young people as a multifaceted, cognizant, unyielding, inner-directed collection of professional multitaskers.

You can call my description far-reaching and overly optimistic, however, I’ve seen those positives put into action. I’ve seen my generation venture into music, dance, film, photography, cosmetics, fashion, ministry, finance, and journalism (etc.), and here’s the kicker… we’re working for ourselves. Maybe it’s the lack of formal training, or the meticulousness of how we want things done, or the fact that we hate being told what to do but us twenty-somethings have ideas and those ideas, we feel, are better executed by the person we trust the most.

An article in Relevant Magazine asks this question: Can Millenials save Entrepreneurism? The article mentions a Kauffman Foundation study that found just over half of all millennials plan on starting their own business within the next five years. The article goes on to say that we are the most educated generation in history. That, along with our unmatched access to digital resources, as well as our distinctive professional values makes entrepreneurship a worthwhile career option.

We value the sense that personal goals (and passions) are met while still owning our own businesses. Career benefits that were important to generations before us such as job security or even salary are simple pieces to a puzzle that we instinctively put together with supplementary income (at jobs that we may or may not hate). For example, while I intern for BLAC Detroit Magazine and serve as blog manager for The A Team Talk Show, both unpaid engagements, I work as a bank teller. Other millennials like myself know that it may take working a few jobs to have that security until your real passion makes you money - as many hustles as it takes.

            Entrepreneurship is a heavy cross to bear but this generation has been blessed with unique desires and capabilities that allow us to completely shatter the business molds of prior generations.  2 Thesslaonians 3:10 says, “Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: "Those unwilling to work will not get to eat,” and this generation is hungry, hungry for success they will enjoy.