Sunday, August 17, 2014

Overconfident, Entitled, and Lazy Millennials Are Making Their Mark – Are You?

This article of mine was originally published at YFS (Young, Fabulous & Self-Employed) Magazine

Photo: Diesel

Whether splashed across newspaper headlines or on the Internet, I have come across a lot of criticism about today’s budding Generation Y (i.e., Millennials or what some fondly refer to as the “Me” Generation). They say we are rebellious, impulsive, impatient, immature, narcissistic, selfish, insane, and unrealistic – and that’s just the beginning.
As TIME magazine puts it, “They are narcissistic, overconfident, entitled and lazy … But that’s merely one way of looking at the largest and most important generation since the Baby Boomers.”

The Upside of the ‘Me Me Me Generation’

I understand the human tendency to magnify the negative so forcibly that it clouds the mind from realizing the greatness underneath. But could it be that the doomsday millennial chatter has easily been labeled as fault when in actuality it has been misconstrued. We agree that today’s world is a far cry from what generations before us once knew – but is it necessarily a bad thing?

Are millennial’s really rebels?

Or could it be that millennial’s just want to break free from hierarchies, bureaucracy, or superiority issues where age and experience are the determinant factors? Our perceived rebellion might actually be indicative of our innate perseverance to change the world.

Is Generation Y impulsive and fickle minded?

Millennials understand the value of time and the repercussions of the sunk cost fallacy. “Do you think you make smart, rational decisions most of the time? Chances are good that even if you pride yourself on being rational most of the time, you still occasionally fall for the sunk cost fallacy,” according to Lifehack.org. “In economics, a sunk cost is any past cost that has already been paid and cannot be recovered.” Yet when applied to life, the sunk cost fallacy is manifested when we have a greater tendency to continue an endeavour once an investment in money, effort or time has been made.
A good example of this psychology is the “Job-Hopper”, loosely defined as millennials in the corporate world. They are often judged harshly for not sticking with a job for a long duration of time. According to Forbes columnist Jeanne Meister, “The average worker today stays at each of his or her jobs for 4.4 years, according to the most recent available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the expected tenure of the workforce’s youngest employees is about half that.” But for many millenials this scenario begs the deeper question: what is the point of staying in a role if you are not happy or fulfilled?

Are millennials impatient and lazy?

There will be no innovation and entrepreneurship without impatience and laziness. Come to think of it that most problems are just caused by people’s lack of patience – problems that call for entrepreneurial ideas and innovation. Consider this: who would have thought of creating Google if everyone was so pleased and eager to find answers by scanning thousand of books and asking millions of people?

Is Generation Y too immature?

Millennials are considered immature in a sense that we don’t follow systems and think through things thoroughly before jumping to conclusions or action. This could be deemed negative, but this also means millennials don’t suffer from analysis paralysis. In fact, young entrepreneurs often turn ideas into execution, immediately. They do not wait to be validated by societal norms, acceptance, or tradition. The new era for entrepreneurs and startups is proof of this.
“According to the Kaufman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity (KIEA), the entrepreneurial rate in the U.S. is already well above the dot.com bubble of 15 years ago, although we have slipped a bit this year from the high point of 320 new entrepreneurs out of 100,000 adults in 2011. It still adds up to over 20 million non-employer businesses out there today, with more starting every day.” (Source: Forbes)

Is narcissism a millennial reality?

Sure, millennials are the inventors and purveyors of the “selfie” and baby boomers view this as narcissism. The other side of the story is this: millennials are just advocates of self-acceptance and embracing uniqueness by self expression. The Daily Californian writer, Liz Larka, explains that “Following our generation’s individualistic modes of thinking, we Millennials strive toward common goal of self-actualization.”

Selfish … maybe?

Aside from “selfies”, millennials are also said to be selfish. Maybe this idea was born from our self reliant nature – focused on individual goals in life. Most millenials want to be successful and operate outside of status quo. But their goals are really not as selfish and self-serving as they may seem. Many are motivated to give themselves and their families a comfortable life in the future in lieu of being a burden to others.

Those insane and unrealistic kids…

Millenials might be considered insane and unrealistic if you compare their actions to the age-old wisdom and standards of generations that came before them. “Study hard and find a good job!” Sounds familiar, right? This mentality, for many millennials, has proven obsolete. We’ve learned that “more college does not beget more economic prosperity” and “Generation jobless” isn’t convinced by the current prospects of gainful employment.

Meanwhile, why would one study hard just to work for someone else and fulfill someone else’s dreams? Why spend numerous years as an employee to gain experience if you can just as easily experience entrepreneurship first hand by starting a business while you’re still young?

Obviously, I see more than the downside of our so-called ‘Me’ generation. Why? Because no one knows millennials better than a fellow millennial. Born in 1992, and as a fledgling entrepreneur, I will always be proud of our generation. Sure! I might be rebellious, impulsive, impatient, immature, narcissistic, selfish, insane and unrealistic — but I am also making a mark in this world.

This article was edited and condensed by YFS Magazine was originally published here.



Wednesday, July 30, 2014

IDEA Global Entrepreneurship Workshop Series 2014 - Where Aira had been in the past few days [Part 2]

Last June 25 - Friday. Yes, just the day after Geeks on a Plane, I attended IDEA Global Entrepreneurship Workshop 2014, a three - day workshop series organized by PhilDev, IDEA and USAID (Yes, I dumped my Sunday family day for this and it was all worth it!). In fact, topics 1 - 4 were presented somewhere in March 2014 which I did not know. :( Anyway, they did an awesome recap so I did not feel like I've missed something + copies of the presentation were given. *thumbs up*


The workshop is very effective that they didn't just discuss the A-Z of planning, executing and all the things in between (legal requirements, funding etc.) of making a startup dream come true, but they also organized groupings and gave us, participants, a chance to feel like being co-founders.

So, here's our team during the last day of the workshop, with Eros Resmini.



While consulting our presentation, which was only created using my iPad. 
But eventually was chosen to be presented on stage!


The workshop started with this provocative line by Engr. Dado Banatao, PhilDev chairman: "We would like to see you, Filipino entrepreneurs, after you become successful, to give/pay back to the country." and ended with expressing his ambitions for us that he really want us to succeed in our entrepreneurial endeavors in the future, at least during his lifetime.

I was really touched by his message and treat those words as one of my "push" to continue striving for my entrepreneurial and success vision. Hoping that someday, I'll be the one on stage and inspire others who are in the middle of dreaming, contemplation and making things happen, just like where I am right now.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Geeks on a Plane Technopreneurship Summit - Where Aira had been in the past few days [Part 1]

Last July 24 - Thursday morning, I have attended Geeks on a Plane - Exploring the Technopreneurship Ecosystems



The event is fully packed with angel investors from the Silicon Valley. They truly see a lot of potentials here in the Philippines that only need to be tapped. The whole program only lasted until around 12 noon, it was mainly composed of panel discussions participated by the "change makers" of the Silicon Valley.


Credits to: AIM for Innovation Facebook Page

Look what I have got!





Monday, July 21, 2014

It is never too late to blog about SEO Lead Generation Conference


Find me... CLUE: I'm in the right side nearly in the middle

This is event is fully packed by known personalities in the digital marketing, SEO, freelancing and business.

Aside from having a clubhouse sandwich without a ham or any meat, these are the things I got from this event:

- The mathematical equation - guess what, the topic is not math nor finance, but about USP (Unique Selling Proposition) by Marc Acsay
- Met the person behind AyosDito.ph (Mannix Pabalan) and listened to his talk about SEO, User Experience and Lead Generation
- Finally seen Janette Toral in person, the Philippine's E-Commerce Lady. She talked about SEO and Lead Performance Metrics.
- Learned that using the words "Xerox" and "Copy Center" or "Photocopy" have big difference in Marketing. The serial entrepreneur who shared this experience is Fitz Villafuerte. I was also amazed to know that there's a Filipino version of Fiverr
-  Genesis Reonico of OnlineJobsLifestyle creatively compared lead generation to fishing
- Sean Si, the "SEO hacker" talked about not just SEO but also e-mail marketing. Got some tips which e-mail marketing tool to use.
- There was also a part where the importance of storytelling in digital marketing was emphasized. Carlo Gonzales made this talk more interesting by showing a picture of a popular sexy actress here in the Philippines.
- Lastly, the first time I saw a presentation with a background music from games (imagine the tune of Super Mario while the speaker is discussing something.. I feel like watching Super Mario live) Disclaimer: he's not Mario, but he's Paul Agabin of Essays.ph

Along with the event is the Lead Generation contest which will last until December. Yours truly did not let this opportunity to passed by.

That's all folks!

Really looking forward for more events like this.
(Of course I welcome invitations. hihihi)

Thursday, July 10, 2014

How I Learned About Time When I was Just a Curious Little Girl - A #ThrowbackThursday Post

Photo from: southernlagniappe.blogspot.com


It was at that time when I was just a little girl with full of questions, having a conversation with my mother. I forgot how the conversation started or what I asked first to open the topic. All I remember is it was about what we see in a calendar and this part:

Calendars have 1, 2, 3, 4... and so on. Then have a 1, 2, 3, 4... and so on again.
- Yes. Next month will have them again, and next next month and all months to come.

January, February, March....?
- Yes. They are 12. After all the 12 then it will be back again from the start, January again.

How about years? 1998, 1999... 
- No. They will never be repeated.

I felt sad after hearing the last answer. Enough to remember that conversation until now that I am already 21 and still curious about things. I was expecting the same "yes" answer, thinking years just have longer cycle than months that's why it seems to be not being repeated, but I was wrong. The moment my mother was saying yes that days and months are being repeated, I was thinking that time we can always have birthdays, Christmas etc. like it keeps on coming back and will not be lost. But when I heard that years will not be repeated, it struck me and realized time cannot be turned back. Digits of days, names of the months will be repeated but they will never be the same. 

We can have birthdays in a yearly basis. 18th on a monthly basis. Mondays every after 7 days. But nothing is exactly the same. We lose time. We shed pages of calendars. We grow old. We may never return to that time we wished for. But unlike calendars, we don't have to shed memories. We can still have it 'til the rest of our years. 

Monday, June 30, 2014

Being Victimized by Entrepreneurism Epidemic - This is Me.

HEADLINE: THE FOUNDER OF WHIMSICAL MARKETING IS A MILLENNIAL VICTIM OF ENTREPRENEURISM EPIDEMIC



Aira is a modern lass who simply wants to live life to the fullest.
But she really means it.

Aira always get out of her comfort zone for the sake of different experiences life has to offer.
She welcomes changes with excitement and optimism, rather than fear.

She go against passivity. Aira believes that everybody can define their own destiny by being persistent in creating possibilities and taking opportunities.

Aira wants an early retirement. She would want to enjoy the fruits of her hard works while she still has the energy to explore the world and go on to adventures.

Aira is a solo entrepreneur and a self starter. Being impulsive and unpredictable, she would do whatever came in to mind - like venturing into different businesses. She's selling since she was seven. Sold her drawings as bookmarks to her classmates when she was in grade school. Made beaded jewelries for retailers at the mall during high school and provided her professors everyday outfit by selling plus size clothes.

Even she currently has a day job, Aira dreads the kind of living of just depending on 15th and 30th month pay alone and being under to anyone who will make or break a career.

So, while having a day time job, she founded a digital marketing startup called Whimsical Marketing. It is where she shows off her talent in writing and love for technology. This also gives her a chance to incorporate her strong business background in every project she handles.

Friday, June 27, 2014

#HootUpMNL 's Owly of the Night


Attending different events of my interest adds color to my life and career. This time, I attended the first ever HootUp event in Manila. HootUp because it is an event of Hootsuite, a known social media management platform. It was hosted by KSquad, a virtual outsourcing solutions company. I came a little late in the event so I don't know exactly how it started. Upon registration, I was given a cut out cardboard with an owl outline. While listening to the talk led by Commune Cafe founder and Vanilla Social Media Agency Co-Founder, me and other late comer were coloring the owl with crayons provided. Mine turns out to be like this...
(It doesn't turned out to what I am picturing in mind. I am no-artist)

After the talk, we were given some snacks. Note: the cupcake is cute because of the whimsical owl.


For the last part, our owl cardboards were gathered by the host. Five most creative will be chosen....and I was sooo surprised that mine was chosen as kinda 1st runner up. The awarding was a bit awkward because they put on the sash and a toy crown. LOL. But still, I am all smile being one of the "Owly of the Night" (we're two Miss Owlys). 

Here's what I've got...


And this #HootUpMNL event made my night and blog post.

Many thanks to Vanilla PH and Manger Cafe!