Success is Subjective: Real People. Raw Stories. Embracing a Non-Linear Life!

If you wait around for something to pick you up and take you exactly where you need to be, you’ll be waiting for the rest of your life. You decide where your life goes by the actions you take right now. Enzo Narciso, spent the majority of his emerging adult years waiting around for things to change in his life naturally. Instead of taking action himself, he found himself dropping out of high schoo...

Everywhere you turn, someone will have something to say. Sometimes nice things, other times not so nice. Regardless of what someone has to say, what really matters is whether you choose to stay true to yourself and continue to unapologetically shine your light.  Andre Wright, National Director of Professional Relations, didn’t realize the bright light that he had within him growing up. It wasn’t u...

You may not have control over life circumstances, but you do have control over your perspective. What if instead of operating in a mindset of, “Why is this happening to me?” you shift to, “How can I use this to help others?”  Wendy Adamson, author of Mother Load and Incorrigible, found herself stuck in the “Why is this happening to me?” mentality for most of her early adulthood. Much of her adoles...

There will always be plenty of time for work but there will never be enough time to explore all that the world has to offer. Instead of rushing into completing college, which will always be available, what if you allowed yourself to embrace the time you have now to explore life —something you might not always have the opportunity to do? Shayna Abraham, a Consultant at Prepare to Bloom, went into c...

Feel the pressure to make sure your young adult goes to school, gets a good education and finds a lifelong career? Do they feel as passionate about that route? Because in reality, no matter what your child chooses to do whether it’s college or starting a dog grooming business, life will still be there to teach them new things and help them continue to grow in the path that they choose. If they are...

Sometimes just going to college because you were told to or because everyone else is, or because it’s what you just do, isn’t enough. Applying and getting into a college is a completely different thing from completing a degree and finding your own success in that career path.  Dr. Sarah Parlier, Director of Student Development at Trails Momentum, had a very concrete idea on what her academic and c...

Young adults make some of their biggest life decisions between the ages of 18 to 24. As a parent, it’s easy to feel so much pressure to not let your young adult mess up during this time and to make sure they ‘succeed’ in life. Though, that pressure doesn’t have to be all on you. As some of the most crucial times of their life, it’s so important that your young adult has other mentors in their life...

Sometimes life causes us to have to start over. Sometimes in small ways and other times, in big ways. It may be from growing up in an abusive home and having to rebuild a life for yourself or losing yourself in addiction and having to make the choice to make a complete change.  Ginny Burton, college graduate, a Truman Scholar, and mother, had to make the choice to make do both and rebuild her life...

We aren’t able to choose the life we grow up in and that can bring a lot of baggage into the adult years. But what if it didn’t have to be that way forever? What if there was hope to be able to find a new way of life that doesn’t revolve around past trauma? Mike Zweifel, founder of Archways Recovery Center and Life Guide Consulting, LLC, went into his early adult years with a lot of childhood trau...

Sometimes the job or experience that once was scary and exciting might eventually come to be boring and exhausting. And that’s okay. Though, it’s important to adjust with that growth instead of limiting yourself by staying in what feels comfortable.  Erica Nelson, a co-founder of REAL Consulting, an Orvis endorsed fly fishing guide in Colorado, and the host of the Awkward Angler Podcast, has reall...

Whatever you find passion and fulfillment in won’t always be easy. It might even turn out to be more difficult than the average college path, though that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Whether you want to be a musician or an aerospace engineer, you have the choice to make it work out well in your life —only you. Steve Leonard, banjo player of Serene Green, found a huge passion for music at a youn...

What if you’re a square that is trying to fit into a round hole? Whether that be trying to fit into a corporate job or into a single identity for the rest of your life.  Jake Summers, the Development Director of Green Hill and entrepreneur, first found himself in the corporate world straight after college. It wasn’t until his boss at the time sat him down and told him that he was meant for more, w...

Just because your path doesn’t look like theirs doesn’t mean you aren’t as capable as them. Whether it’s to be a doctor or to simply be a college student. The only thing that doesn’t make you ‘capable’ is whether or not you choose to believe in yourself. Natalie Real is a first generation college student who originally dropped out of high school at the age of 16, leaving school with an eighth grad...

No matter what cards you have been dealt in your life, you have the choice of whether or not you will conform to that path or make a better one for yourself. Is this what you feel you were built to do? Not what Bobby next door was made to do. You. What if you were built for something different? What if you were built for something amazing?  It took Mike Segovia, owner of PFCAudioVideo, time to rea...

Taking that step outside your comfort zone can feel like the scariest thing. But once you take it, you open yourself up to new opportunities within yourself and in the world around you. Kellyn Smythe, Admissions Director at Pacific Quest, built a lot of his self identity as an emerging adult through pushing himself to be a beginner at new things. This not only really humbled him and allowed him to...

At the end of the day, you have to live with yourself. If you don’t choose to prioritize what fills you up instead of focusing on what everyone else has to say, you’ll reap those outcomes and have to live with them —those people won’t.   Cassidy Brown has learned from their young adult years to not settle for anything less than what lights them up. From studying Recreation, Parks and Tourism Resou...

It takes a lot of courage to step away from society and make your own path. It takes bravery to show up with your differences and challenge them. Even though it’s scary, what if you did step off the traditional conveyor belt path and into something different? What if the fear attached to the unknown is an invitation to take that leap? Kai Johnson, Director of Ingenuity Year, found himself stuck on...

If you live life off of what others have told you or what they think is a good idea for you, how will you ever find what really works for YOU?  Danielle Ryan, yoga teacher, podcaster, TV Host and founder of Lifestyle by Design, went through her emerging adult years doing all the right things, yet still feeling so lost. It wasn’t until she decided to take the leap and quit the corporate job that wa...

Your differences don’t make you any less than the person beside you. It might be a journey navigating those differences and working through them, though there’s people willing to support you. Gerene Keesler, a college counselor and founder of Admissions Untangled, grew up feeling less than for the majority of her life. That increased dramatically when she went to college. Through it all she still...

Not everyone does one thing for the rest of their life and that is okay. Holding yourself to that standard will do nothing but hold you back. Living without taking any risks and exploring other options would be cheating yourself of all that life has to offer. In that risk taking and exploration, you might just stumble upon your calling in life. Jillian Allen, Director of Business Development of Br...

What if college was instead given to high schoolers as an option out of many other choices that they can choose from? Instead of paying for college to find themselves, they are given the option to take a gap year program or to put college aside for as long as they need to while truly discovering themselves. How would that change things for their overall academic experience, career and life? Julia...

Raw talent will only take you so far if it isn’t backed up by any passion. And who knows, the thing you think you aren’t even good at might turn out to be the thing that changes your entire life. There’s always room to learn and grow in something so who says you have to be talented to pursue an interest? Whether that’s majoring in a degree or pursuing a passion as a hobby. You don’t have to be goo...

There’s so much pressure to go to college at 18, graduate at 21, get married at 23, have kids at 25, and the list goes on. These expectations are unrealistic for each person. It’s so important to remember that every single person’s timeline is different and what works for one person will not always work for you. If that means you need to take your 20’s to figure out life and not go to school until...

When you go into life with an open mind that’s eager to explore and learn, you’re automatically open to more opportunities, insight and an overall more exciting life experience. Through that there’s the ability to find what makes life worthwhile and more rewarding, internally and externally. Jeremy French, a Director and a craftsman at The Whole, had to go through a huge learning experience throug...

“You make the path by walking.” You create a path by going through it first hand. Exploring the world either in your own community or traveling abroad can open you up to many different opportunities, interests, passions, allowing you to explore your identity. If you don’t get exposed to different things, people, cultures, experiences, how do you expect to know what you really want to do in life wh...