Millennials And Gen-Z Look To Paint Their Own Curriculum For Life

For decades, the idea of work-life balance has centered on alleviating anxiety often caused by the stressors of performance in work environments. Both professionally and socially, many individuals have been encouraged to find a level of emotional balance through hobbies as a healthy retreat from the mundane pressures of repeated work schedules and increased workloads.

However, for Millennials and Gen-Z, these hobbies are more than a break from their primary jobs—they represent important elements of a mindset that views work-life balance integration as part of their overall career pursuits. According to a Forbes article on Millennials searching for healthy career options, 80% surveyed consider work-life balance a strong determiner of accepting a job.

Uncertainty has played a role in forming the need for a balanced mindset. Millennials and Gen-Z were subject to job losses at different points in their lives, affecting their view on careers. For Millennials, job losses occurred during the 2008 recession, and for Gen-Z, pandemic-related slowdowns are a very recent memory.

It’s a dynamic that strongly affects the psychological makeup of individuals, as referenced in a Business Insider article on the two generations’ expectations of work. In addition, student debt and unpredictable financial futures have led both generations to reframe their thinking and examine what is important to them individually by exploring various outlets of expression.

Outside of the simple need to pursue a balanced, fulfilling life, expression leads to an interest in various parallel pursuits. Once rendered to the sidelines, hobbies are no longer considered secondary to careers. The younger generations are blurring the lines where no particular interest becomes mutually exclusive to the other. Instead, ‘career’ for a growing number of young adults represents a combination of pursuits that intersect financially and creatively in business ventures that work alongside self-branding and social media involvement.

Representing this multi-pronged generational approach to career is author, artist, speaker, entrepreneur, and influencer Rosalind Panda. She is the CEO of Rosalind IT Services, founder of Rosalind Arts, Director of Rosalind Constructions, and Co-Founder of ROVA Token. A big lift for a young entrepreneur but an example of taking multiple interests to a new business level with creativity as the common thread.

“Creativity is something every human being is born with, but some people leverage it to the max,” says Panda. “My purpose behind my efforts is to remind people to create that awareness for their creative capability.”

Business Side

With a background in computer information technology, Panda has spent the last 15 years helping corporate clients such as Google, Citibank, and Thermo Fisher Scientific understand how technology works using design thinking at a mass scale. She transitioned her knowledge into a new IT service company that helps clients with their specific technology needs, from website design and software lifecycles to other technologies.

These efforts have carried over to a blockchain environment with ROVA token that integrates crypto and trading applications under one ecosystem with the ability to buy and sell non-fungible token (NFT) art.

Artistic Pursuits

What might seem like a firehose of separate entities is, in reality, a multi-connected approach to spreading creativity into business platforms. At the center of this tireless effort is an artist finding outlets of expression and the business means to get them off the ground.

“I consider myself a global artist. I create oil paintings, adding thoughts, poetry, and descriptions,” she says. “All my work carries the underlying message that speaks a language of humanity, inner peace, positivity, and optimism.”

Her artistic pursuits balance out her business approach to experience a fulfilled life and career. “If only one side is emphasized, the other side is hungry and stays unfulfilled,” she says.

In some respects, Panda is a more seasoned example of what many younger people are beginning to explore. She is managing the intersections of business, art, and new currency markets as she explores her creative pursuits.

Education and Encouragement

Panda is Indian by birth, raised in a family where education and encouragement played a vital role. Her early school days before university set her up with a foundation that led to an entrepreneurial and creative mindset.

“My early school years were based on integral education that focused on a holistic approach to being human,’ says Panda. “We were exposed to spirituality and the human side, emphasizing the important elements of life. Endurance and self-discipline were taught with a tie-in to purpose and the big picture.”

Panda became involved in public speaking at an early age which has carried over to speaking engagements today. “I have been a public speaker since childhood and exposed to various forms of extracurricular activities and creative analysis,” she adds. “My school fully encouraged me outside of being a scholar. They recognized my creativity, analysis skills, and empathy toward the world to serve a purpose.”

Her parents were also strong supporters, particularly her father, who made it a point to challenge her thinking. She fondly recalls her father’s attention to her future.

“My father would take me to the bookstore and buy books that were more mature than my age. He would expose me to complex ideas before I could fully understand them. He said he could visualize a future where I would impact the world, living for purpose. He told me it was his responsibility as a father to give me wings. My father was my best mentor, providing patience, knowledge, and a strong foundation.”

Adaptability

As Panda pursues her business and artistic dreams in the U.S., she is reminded of her adaptability, which set the stage for her entrepreneurial efforts. Over the years, she has moved from various cities in the U.S., landing more permanently in New York, which she says is her home away from her Indian roots.

“I’ve lived outside my comfort zone going back to India,” she recalls. “We frequently moved with my father’s job as a soil conservation officer and an engineer. It gave me that beautiful essence of adaptability.”

Panda shares how she avoids comparing herself to anyone else: “I have my own vision and my way of paving a path. It’s about being patient with your effort, but above all else, it comes down to enthusiasm, purpose, and determination. All those combined give me that driving force, a wonderful, noble cause to move forward.”

As Millennials and Gen-Z aim to rewrite the narrative by bringing increased importance and value to activities previously mislabeled as hobbies, the ‘go all out’ pursuits of people like Rosalind Panda can provide takeaways to be explored and adapted to individual journeys.

Panda can sell you information technology, crypto solutions, or a breathtaking oil canvas within the same encounter. She isn’t touting a hobby to move the conversation forward. Rather, Panda reflects a generation determined to have it all, creating an all-inclusive lifestyle that doesn’t separate value or allocated time based on the day of the week.

Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.