I just watched a recorded episode of Ellen from earlier this week (yes, I watch Ellen, and I am proud of it) and I saw these three girls from Mexico who have created a band called The Warning. These girls are really good! And, they are adorable, so cute and very likable.
They posted a heavy metal song on YouTube. The video went viral, seven million hits. Next thing you know, TV shows across the world are asking for them to perform for them. They get on Ellen. I'm not sure how many zillions saw them there. Ellen gives each of them ten grand for their music education, and their lives are forever changed.
When I was a kid, if I were in a Mexican, heavy metal, girl band (which, by the way, none would let me join) we'd be excited to play at a school talent show, maybe at a local festival if we were lucky, and then dream about "one day, when we grow up" making it big.
Those days are no more, or at least they don't have to be. This is what is incredible about the here and now for young people. They can be successful today. They don't have to wait until they grow up, get hired, find a manager, and do adult things to make it. Our kids can make it now.
With YouTube, social media, websites, and the like, if a kid is passionate about something (a sport, a skill, a business, a charity) and they are good at what they do, they can create a niche for themselves now, maybe even just a little one. But, if they find that space for them now and start to build success, their audience, their customers, their platform grows, and by the time they are adults, they can have already "made it."
Why is this important? Because there's no longer that guarantee that a college degree will take care of our children. With so many of our young people graduating college with BA's, Masters and even Ph. Ds and moving back home because they can't land a job, our children can forge forward today with their passions, what they love and start to create a space for themselves so that they don't have to rely on someone else to hire them to give them that opportunity.
I'm not suggesting pushing kids to no longer be kids. Instead, I'm suggesting you feed their dreams. Don't tell them they have to wait until they are grown. if they have a passion and want to run with it, be there right alongside of them, and show them the way to make that dream a reality. And, who knows, maybe they'll end up on Ellen singing Ozzy and Metallica.
You can learn more about The Warning here.
image courtesy of MorgueFile alvimann
They posted a heavy metal song on YouTube. The video went viral, seven million hits. Next thing you know, TV shows across the world are asking for them to perform for them. They get on Ellen. I'm not sure how many zillions saw them there. Ellen gives each of them ten grand for their music education, and their lives are forever changed.
When I was a kid, if I were in a Mexican, heavy metal, girl band (which, by the way, none would let me join) we'd be excited to play at a school talent show, maybe at a local festival if we were lucky, and then dream about "one day, when we grow up" making it big.
Those days are no more, or at least they don't have to be. This is what is incredible about the here and now for young people. They can be successful today. They don't have to wait until they grow up, get hired, find a manager, and do adult things to make it. Our kids can make it now.
With YouTube, social media, websites, and the like, if a kid is passionate about something (a sport, a skill, a business, a charity) and they are good at what they do, they can create a niche for themselves now, maybe even just a little one. But, if they find that space for them now and start to build success, their audience, their customers, their platform grows, and by the time they are adults, they can have already "made it."
Why is this important? Because there's no longer that guarantee that a college degree will take care of our children. With so many of our young people graduating college with BA's, Masters and even Ph. Ds and moving back home because they can't land a job, our children can forge forward today with their passions, what they love and start to create a space for themselves so that they don't have to rely on someone else to hire them to give them that opportunity.
I'm not suggesting pushing kids to no longer be kids. Instead, I'm suggesting you feed their dreams. Don't tell them they have to wait until they are grown. if they have a passion and want to run with it, be there right alongside of them, and show them the way to make that dream a reality. And, who knows, maybe they'll end up on Ellen singing Ozzy and Metallica.
You can learn more about The Warning here.
image courtesy of MorgueFile alvimann
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