PEORIA MAGAZINE July 2022

T W E N T Y S O M E T H I N G

GEN Z IS MORE ABOUT PURPOSE THAN PAY But they won’t stick around if there’s no return on their investments

BY CECE HILL PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON

W hen I set out to write this story, I wanted to write a piece about transitioning out of formal education and into theworkforce, while addressing the absence of guide rails and the presence of a pandemic. But when I sat down with a few young professionals in central Illinois, they told me a different story. The pandemic, their youth, seemed to be inconsequential compared to the lessons they were proactively teaching themselves every day. Given the “Local Legends” theme of this month’s magazine, it was impossible not to consider these 20-somethings as young adults in the midst of building their own legacies. In learning about their past experiences and future plans, I found three things they all had in common: THEY FOSTER AND EMBRACE COMMUNITY. When discussing the beginnings of their careers, whether that be at Steak ‘n Shake or mowing lawns, they each mentionedmembers of their community who assisted in providing opportunities and supporting them throughout their professional development. They relied on community connections to give them a starting place and, from there, they embraced these relationships,

passing on the favor by supporting the growth of others. Community was not defined by their town or company, but by the people within their individual circles and the collaborative culture they created together. Jill Paska, a remote content writer based in central Illinois, specifically emphasized the way her community impacted, not just the first step in her career, but every step beyond that. She shared that she would not have had her initial job at Noodles & Company were it not for her community, proceeding to walk me through how that job led to more leadership, which led to more opportunities. Combined with her education at Mizzou, this created a clear career path. “One step leads to another, and now I’m using my degree in a way I really enjoy,” she explained. As 20-somethings, it ’s easy to imagine ourselves hobbling between stepping stones, trying to avoid the rushing water beneath us. But by using their communities as a guide, these 20-somethings have been able to stay balanced without standing still. In fact, when asked one word to describe what they loved about their community and current positions, they used words like team, collaboration and culture. Carlton Slaughter, who was born and

raised in Bloomington, left for college, and came back to pursue his career in recruiting and customer engagement, described community as a sense of stability. He further explained that with stability, we are able to be more focused and creative — that we fall prey to fewer distractions when we have people around to catch us when we fall. THEY FOCUS ON THEIR Paska described passion as something fluid. “It comes and goes,” she said. Slaughter shared that, at 18, he was more passionate about career elevation whereas now, he cares mostly about uplifting his teamand customers. “I can be impactful and supportive regardless of what my position is,” he said. In discussing what he loves about his workplace and how he intends to grow within it, Noah Kesselmayer, a Morton-based engineer, always went back to contributing to his environment. Working in research and development, he is passionate about the impact that his innovation has on the rest of his team. “It’s a lot of ‘how do we solve this problem out in the field with the construction crews?’” he said when describing what he loves about his job. All of the individuals I spoke with IMPACT, NOT THEIR INDIVIDUAL GOALS.

30 JULY 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE