Many millennials get a bad rap. As the children who were born in the last decade of the millennium, they have been called the "ME ME ME GENERATION" by TIME Magazine and labelled as "lazy, entitled and narcissistic". The Wall Street Journal noted that millennials suffer from "great and sometimes outlandish expectations".
Because of the bad press and erroneous assumptions, many people also incorrectly conclude that millennials have no concept of financial planning as they feel the world should be given to them on a silver platter. However, in a study called "The Millenial Next Door" we see that an astounding 96% of millennials save money, with 35% having accumulated between $10k-$50k in a variety of financial ways.
What is also surprising is that many millennials are incredibly talented, original and hard-working. They are also very well financially educated and extremely savvy entrepreneurs. Their brains seem full of fresh and brilliant ideas and they seem to be courageous in their choices.
David Rusenko, 29 and Chelsea Krost, 23 are both worth millions of dollars and have made it through the recession years of 2008-2013 by following their vision and running their companies with integrity and a real commitment to service. Both of these stellar millennials succeeded by seeing a void in the world and filling it with a unique product and service. They were courageous with their creativity and their bold entrepreneurial pursuits.
When David was 22, he was a student at Penn State and he developed Weebly with two classmates named Dan Veltri and Chris Fanini. David and his colleagues saw that there was a need for an easy to use platform to develop websites. Weebly is now worth over $455 million.
Chelsea Krost was just 16 when she created her own radio show "Teen Talk Live" to address the concerns of her fellow teenagers as she accidentally noticed a real opportunity to help her generation find a voice. She now has a millennial style Oprah Winfrey following with over 35 impressions for her Tuesday night #millennialparty on twitter. Her social media savvy is mind-boggling. At age 16 she had already been involved with television production at her school for 5 years.
Chelsea Krost is now a 23 year old entrepreneur, radio and TV talk show host, writer, Executive Producer and certified health coach. She has appeared on Anderson with Anderson Cooper, Wendy Williams, The Today Show, The Tyra Banks Show, Bloomberg News, Good Day New York, and several other top media outlets. Chelsea is the millennial correspondent for Answers.com, Galtime.com and PattiKnows.com. In addition, Chelsea is a contributor with Cosmopolitan, Seventeen and Self Magazine.
The Chelsea Krost Show is her radio show that offers a compelling, informative and balanced view through a rotating panel of young adults, guest celebrities and experts on BlogTalkRadio. The Chelsea Krost Show made its television debut in March of 2013. The show provided a platform for today's hot topics, trends and issues that affect Millennials. Studio City is currently shopping The Chelsea Krost Show for national syndication. For the past three years, Chelsea has served as the Millennial spokesperson for U by Kotex. Chelsea has been a brand ambassador/spokesperson for such notable and diverse brands as Intel, Resume Bear, Mastercard, BCBG, Popcap Games, Kyocera and the Ad Council.
Like David Rusenko who is committed to making the world a better place, Chelsea has served on mission trips in Africa, Peru, Joplin Missouri, and South Africa. She is passionate about the SOS Children's Villages in Florida. Chelsea has dedicated her time, love, and energy to the children at SOS. Krost has found that her discussions on financial issues and finding a job have resonated the most with millennials through her numerous chats and shows. They love discussing financial insights and resources, especially how to overcome your college debt.
Both of these inspiring millennials are dedicated to conservative financial planning and to being of service to their communities. They both indicated a desire to make the world a better place. They seem wise far beyond their years. Even Baby Boomers can learn from them.
What is also quite astounding about these two great millennials is their confidence in how they followed their vision. They seem to operate with an inner guidance system that many Baby Boomers lost. They both dropped out of school when large business opportunities arose and they went against the grain in following their gut on these types of calculated risks. They also seemed to be courageous in taking action to fulfill their entrepreneurial goals, whereas older generations now seem hampered by some of the fears that come with living through the very difficult years from 2008-2013. It is encouraging to think of how these two genius millennials can inspire and educate older generations to believe in their dreams and to create businesses that are linked to passion and service, ultimately resulting in financial stability if planned and executed carefully. This is a recipe for a happy long life.
