Bridging the Generational Gap: Introducing Generation Jeopardy - A FITI Vodcast Special

00;00;09;04 - 00;00;42;20 Stephanie Hi, everybody, and welcome to a special episode of From Illumination To Innovation. Me and my co-host Shaniqua Brown are going to be recording from a new location today because we want to play with technology and do cool things. So I am Stephanie Crain, and I am one of your co-hosts. I am the Corporate Mystic and owner of Tapas Innovation, and I will turn it over to Shaniqua to introduce our show. 00;00;42;22 - 00;01;17;25 Shaniqua Yes, I am Shaniqua Brown, the founder and president of Elevated TA, the premier hiring partner for government agencies. And our show today, like we are both thrilled to like, kick off our, as Stephanie put it, our special Generation series. And today we're diving deep into more about the generational divide and exploring like the impact. And we want to have a more positive conversation about this divide and bringing, essentially bridging that gap, bringing us all together. 00;01;17;27 - 00;01;30;03 Shaniqua and we're talking about the generations from a business, societal and cultural perspective. And of course, it's Stephanie and I. So we're gonna have a lot of fun along the way. 00;01;31;14 - 00;02;13;09 Stephanie We have I think we both have so much to say about this subject. I love that we also get to come at it from such different perspectives. And I think that that's sort of what stimulated wanting to do this to begin with is, you know, that we were sharing our own unique perspectives, we’re both from different. You know, I'm I'm a proud Gen X and, you know, and really do in many ways identify with with sort of my generational identity as it well, as it were, you know, but also knowing that generational identity is so generalized and sometimes can be real limiting for us. 00;02;13;09 - 00;02;19;27 Stephanie And so, yeah, I, I love that we approached this conversation and wanted to just open it up. 00;02;19;29 - 00;02;45;21 Shaniqua Yeah. Well hi everyone. I'm a quintessential millennial, but Stephanie, I'm very curious about because I think that we have like the same, like goal in mind. I think we were coming from maybe different perspectives. So would you be interested in sharing like your focus or. Like what? Like what your, what you were centering your ideas around? 00;02;45;24 - 00;02;47;28 Shaniqua Talking about the generation. 00;02;48;00 - 00;03;11;26 Stephanie Is like, I think the it was the idea that while we might have different perspectives are they're really valuable. there's just so much influence out there that sort of divides us, and maybe makes us, you know, like, kind of judge each other or blame each other in different ways. And then we all lose out on this wisdom that we have to share with each other. 00;03;11;26 - 00;03;18;21 Stephanie And so to me, the different perspectives is like the feature, not the bug. Like it's like, that's what makes it so cool, you know. 00;03;19;26 - 00;03;38;08 Stephanie You know, we have so much to talk about and learn from each other. But if we're constantly being sort of pulled this way and not by like media perspective or political or cultural or whatever it is that's calling us that we're so very different, so much so that in some ways we don't even know how to talk to each other anymore. 00;03;38;10 - 00;03;51;01 Stephanie And so for me, that was a real big driver to just simply open up conversation. And, you know, I mean, what about you? Like, what was you know, I know you had strong, passionate thoughts about this as well. 00;03;51;03 - 00;04;21;15 Shaniqua Well, I will say, hearing you talk about your perspective makes me realize we're a lot more alike than we are different. I just want to add to it. You know, with my education in interdisciplinary social science, I'm looking at it in the same way that you are and focusing on, like, social issues, where we have our in America, our elderly, they're outcast from society, you know, they're most of them. 00;04;21;15 - 00;04;59;21 Shaniqua If they're unhealthy, they're living in retirement or I think they're like assisted living facilities. So they're isolated from the rest of us. So we're missing that wisdom from them. And we have, our youth who, as a millennial, like to think that I had to grow up quickly, you know, I had to parent my co-parent, my siblings, and, you know, I think that there's other youths, young people out there or, you know, people that are now older that had to grow up early in their youth, or now everyone's concerned about what school you're getting into. 00;04;59;23 - 00;05;24;13 Shaniqua What are you doing after you graduate high school? So now our kids are overwhelmed and lonely, you know, anxious and depressed. So what is going on? You know, like we we keep it, we isolate one another in these, and we grow up and we work and live and play in a homogenous like, like, you know, small homogenous pods. 00;05;24;16 - 00;05;47;06 Shaniqua So I'm like looking at it like, you know, I guess I'm questioning like also why it is the way that it is because it doesn't serve us. You know, we can see it does not serve us. And then I'm curious, like how we can work together. And I think our conversation is doing just that, like asking how we can work together to rectify the situation. 00;05;47;06 - 00;05;50;26 Shaniqua So. So that's what I'm very much into. 00;05;50;29 - 00;06;12;06 Stephanie I think you're right on point. I think in the vein of how it doesn't serve us when we back away from just what's happening in the workplace, which is significant. What's happening in the workplace from, you know, boomers are obviously retiring and moving out of that space, but they're still there. They're, you know, they're not done yet. 00;06;12;06 - 00;06;35;11 Stephanie And they have a lot to contribute. Gen Xers, you know, is are really in that space of like, kind of stepping into those leadership roles in a particular way, as are millennials aging very much into the leadership space. You know, they're not kids anymore in the way that they have sort of been frozen in time. And this like weird millennials is forever. 00;06;35;11 - 00;06;37;25 T forever. 00;06;37;27 - 00;07;09;26 Stephanie And it's, you know, it's like I, I reached I had a conversation the other day with is a previous employee. He worked for me. It's been over a decade now or. Right at a decade. It's been about a decade. Right. And, you know, it's like I was saying about, like. I mean, he wasn't even a kid then you know, it's like, now, you know, he's he's got two kids, and he he's like, just moved into this wonderfully awesome senior position that, you know, it's just been great to watch him, like, grow, grow into this role. 00;07;09;28 - 00;07;42;19 Stephanie But then, you know, when I'm talking to him, I'm like, he's 45. Like what? I mean, of course he should be in this role. He knows, like there's like that dichotomy of like what we're conditioned or even when we know, like even in my own brain where I fully have like, you know, I don't carry that known bias, but the conditioning is always there of, like, having to remind myself, like, well, you know, this is, so, yeah, I think it's important to just break through those biases because they do impact how we communicate with each other and what we're hearing and what, you know, just how we perceive each other. 00;07;42;21 - 00;07;52;10 Shaniqua 1,000%. I, I think that is so funny. But, you know, like, oh, you're in this role like big boy. 00;07;52;12 - 00;07;58;15 Like 45 with a mortgage. 00;07;58;18 - 00;07;59;14 I mean, it's it's. 00;07;59;15 - 00;08;30;09 Stephanie Ludicrous when you really, like, lay it out. But as we know, even through going through the audition process and talking to people, these are very real perspectives that people hold. You know, that these stereotypes and beliefs that they're really ingrained in us, you know, and we've really been conditioned in sometimes ways that even for me was surprising, you know, to sort of see some of the ways, you know, the people were and I think everybody was like very genuine and very heartfelt too. 00;08;30;10 - 00;08;38;26 Stephanie So it's not even to say like, you know, there's an intentional negativity here, but it is a bias and a, you know, we're very conditioned by these biases. 00;08;38;28 - 00;09;10;01 Shaniqua So say I've been conditioned to, the negative biases because I was not surprised by any of the responses. I think I was surprised by the, the level of optimism, and the interest of, uniting. But I was not surprised by be, you know, the bias of other generations because I think with that, being a millennial is right now we're getting bullied by Gen Z. 00;09;10;03 - 00;09;11;27 Which, yeah. 00;09;11;29 - 00;09;36;05 Shaniqua Is kind of like heartbreaking because I respect, like, their generation so much. And as a millennial who's been thinking about how can I center living as like a priority in life versus work, you know, like, I feel like Gen X and baby boomers have centered work as, like a core identity. And so when I see Gen Z, I see hope. 00;09;36;05 - 00;10;11;07 Shaniqua And I'm optimistic about the future of work, not only for myself, but for the rest of us. I think about what would be great if, you know, our elders can actually retire and live and afford to live, but work if they like, want to work, but not be forced to work to survive. You know, I think about like how that would be helpful and then, you know, how it would create more the kind of, relationship I had, like with my family right up where, like the intergenerational family dynamic, where I lived with my grandparents, in my parents and then my siblings. 00;10;11;07 - 00;10;47;22 Shaniqua And as kids, we kept our grandparents pretty, you know, full of life. And, you know, our parents were able to go out and actually work while, you know, my grandmother sitting at home and cooked and took care of us, and we were able to just go explore as kids. Right. And I think about how kids now, like, I look at some of my friends who have families, young families, and they are stressed out because they're working and having to pay like someone is paying like $1500 a week for childcare. 00;10;47;24 - 00;11;19;15 Stephanie And, you know, and, but, you know, the, the concept of it takes a village is really, truly a generational concept. And that is something that socially, we've, we've really missed out on because that village wasn't like I mean, yes, it is the community, but really that village was your family of generational. You're just like you described the grandparents, aunts, uncles that all of these different, people that and we're, we're so dispersed, not just really divided but dispersed. 00;11;19;15 - 00;11;38;08 Stephanie You know, we're I mean, I don't know about you, but, you know, my parents, you know, my mom lives in Texas, so my dad lives in another state. You know, I've close family members all over the country, you know, and the that element, like when I was a kid, you know, we think about, like, generational nostalgia and nostalgic thing. 00;11;38;08 - 00;11;41;24 Stephanie For me, we're family reunions. 00;11;41;27 - 00;11;42;17 Shaniqua we. 00;11;42;19 - 00;11;44;17 Stephanie Had, I mean. 00;11;44;19 - 00;11;46;17 That's 30 years. 00;11;46;19 - 00;12;07;10 Stephanie Like, people I didn't even know, but I knew them every summer, at least for one whole fun day and a whole bunch of good food. I knew those, you know. You know, second cousins and and it mattered. And it let you see sort of like the expansion of your identity in a way like, oh, I belong in this group in a way. 00;12;07;10 - 00;12;17;02 Stephanie And then it's like something that we just don't get anymore. Like, I don't think I could make it happen if I tried. I wouldn't even know, like, how to bring the entire group. 00;12;17;02 - 00;12;18;17 Together. 00;12;18;19 - 00;12;45;26 Shaniqua How everyone's working. And then you have like if and if people didn't have work as a, as a barrier, right? Then we would be back at square one where you have the elders that feel like the younger, generations are entitled and they don't know their elbow from their kneecap. And then you have the younger generations who feel like the elders are just stodgy and set in their ways. 00;12;45;28 - 00;13;17;21 Shaniqua And I think both are true. I think about that. Right. You know, and, we are leading a change and saying, okay, both can be true. Now, what? You know, absolutely. Going back to what you said earlier, you mentioned that like during our casting call, we had a lot of interesting, we had a lot of people, one engage in our casting call, but then two, the auditions were so much fun. 00;13;17;23 - 00;13;28;24 Shaniqua like I said, we had some interesting responses. What was like, the most, like, interesting response or something that, like, like, took you back a bit. 00;13;28;27 - 00;13;53;26 Stephanie Took me back a bit. there were there were two things. One, I'll speak, I'll speak to one thing person and but in on the second one to follow up with. But the first one was the Gen Z ers, to your point of what you were saying earlier, for me, they were a joyful surprise in terms of like, I think the negative stereotypes of generations. 00;13;53;26 - 00;14;17;25 Stephanie For me, they seem to be sort of the least conditioned, which might make sense because of their age or what have you. But also, it seemed like they sort of seem to embrace things like nostalgia more, or things that might lie to other generations more. And I found that to be really surprising and very, hope inspiring for me. 00;14;17;27 - 00;14;43;07 Stephanie one thing that to me came up, I think in the response forms, it came up more than once. And this for me was kind of surprising. We asked a question related to how generation's, you know, was it a good or a bad thing to have, like diverse generations in the workplace? And there was more than one response that sort of alluded to the fact that it was maybe a distraction or sometimes problematic. 00;14;43;07 - 00;15;06;03 Stephanie And I, I think that that's something that I'd like to dig into more and understand where, you know, are these challenges that are challenges that can be resolved through maybe like a better understanding of each other and how we work together, or these issues of being conditioned and sort of projecting your own experience onto the generations that you're working with. 00;15;06;03 - 00;15;11;11 Stephanie So that was something that I was I wasn't sure really like. I'm curious about it. I guess that's I would say I'm very. 00;15;11;11 - 00;15;12;21 Curious about it. 00;15;12;23 - 00;15;43;11 Shaniqua That is very interesting because I, there's an article by Harvard Business Review, I think it's called the Why We Need Intergenerational Friendships at Work. I think that's it. but the author essentially like highlights, like how it's a competitive advantage to have multiple generations working together not only on the same team, but on a project because they can. 00;15;43;13 - 00;16;10;29 Shaniqua Problem solved like that. Because think about it. You have the wisdom of the elders. They like been around the block. They know the client. You know exactly how, like how the product works is they've been selling this product forever. What have you. But you need innovation to solve problems, you know? So that's why having a youth there, they can like they don't have the bias of wisdom, right? 00;16;10;29 - 00;16;38;18 Shaniqua It's a whole new, absolutely. For the it's a new challenge for them so they can see things that wisdom will often cast a shadow over. So, like you, I'm also curious as to like what are the actual dynamics that makes it disruptive in like those individuals, like workplaces? Is it something like, like they don't have the time to upskill the, the, the younger person? 00;16;38;20 - 00;17;08;02 Shaniqua you know, maybe, some folks like to like, I find like, younger people enjoy, like, talking more, asking more questions. So maybe that could be an issue. But that also goes back to time. Is it? You know, or like some people feel, repressive. So they're acting out like I'm curious about, like, what exactly is happening because HBR are saying that companies I have multiple generations working together see more success. 00;17;08;04 - 00;17;35;21 Stephanie It's I mean, in my experience, that is 100% true, like, anecdotally speaking. And any time I've been in an environment where there has been a diversity of generation, it's like all aspects of the work when it's, I should say this, when the environment itself is healthy, it's really key that all of the work become more informed, become more invigorated, richer and on every level. 00;17;35;23 - 00;17;54;10 Stephanie And it's interesting when I'm in environments where my experience with whatever generational group I, I mean, many times I've been, you know, sort of the oldest person on my team, literally even older than my boss, you know, where when I say I'm the oldest, I am the oldest person on my team, and. 00;17;54;12 - 00;17;57;07 That's the way it is. But like. 00;17;57;10 - 00;18;19;14 Stephanie and that's perfectly fine. I don't mind showing up that way, but I also don't show up that way in the context. I, I guess I'm not like labeling us all by our ages, right? Like, that's sort of one of the least important aspects of our work because they're, you know, it's like we're bringing to the table and our ideals and how we're showing up as people and all of those things. 00;18;19;14 - 00;18;40;26 Stephanie And so I'm always suspect of people when they tell me, like when they have some, like blanket statement about a generation or, you know, when when I was really heavily in leadership, it was when millennials were coming into the workforce. So at that time, I mean, as you know, there was literally vitriol, like so much so that I actually wrote a paper on it. 00;18;40;26 - 00;19;01;10 Stephanie It just made me so angry. Like I wrote, I wrote a blog post on it, and it's just and because so many people would just openly, you know, say like, oh, the millennials are so needy, or they ask too many questions or, you know, they can't. And they would say these things. And I'm like, really? That's interesting because I find them to be curious, not needy. 00;19;01;13 - 00;19;20;12 Stephanie And I find them just wanting to understand, you know, like how they're using their time and why, as opposed to just blindly following orders with like no understanding whatsoever or of how it impacts. And so I don't see these as bad things. Right? I'm like, answer the question like, absolutely. 00;19;20;14 - 00;19;21;25 Yeah. 00;19;21;28 - 00;19;29;04 Stephanie And I think most people were just jealous because they couldn't ask those questions. That's what I think. I think they got angry. 00;19;29;04 - 00;20;02;03 Shaniqua You hit the nail on the head because I think that there's some shadow side of human nature where you like the use of entitlement I think. Wow. Like someone saying that they want time off. They want work like life work balance is entitlement. But that is wild. I think that you're, like you said, upset. Angry that this person, this group of people had the audacity to say, hey, I don't we don't like that. 00;20;02;05 - 00;20;21;28 Shaniqua I would like this instead. So that I would I think that is what Darwin is all was talking about. Like that is like evolution. And I think that we should we should rejoice when each generation has it better than what we have. 00;20;21;28 - 00;20;23;18 That should be the goal. 00;20;23;21 - 00;20;24;19 Shaniqua Right? Because like. 00;20;24;19 - 00;20;25;18 Oh. 00;20;25;21 - 00;20;55;07 Shaniqua And I think that would also eliminate like some of like the grief that the older generations have about like the youth not knowing. like I share this with you. I think that my youngest brother, he's Gen Z, and he was sharing with me like how Gen Z does really good job protesting and how like they're the generation that protest and I just thought, wow, there's so many other generations that protest in that protest, there's not just one group like one demographic of people. 00;20;55;07 - 00;20;59;05 Shaniqua Protest is usually like a team effort. So it's. 00;20;59;07 - 00;21;00;24 Not a. 00;21;00;27 - 00;21;30;22 Shaniqua There's a lot of people there. And I think people that share that same vision will walk alongside you. I digress, but, I think one of the annoyances that the older generations see is like those kind of instances where like, oh, well, we the youth, we're leading this. But I think if we focus on creating and I'm talking about how we can get better with each generation, then they feel the need to say those things. 00;21;30;22 - 00;21;48;03 Shaniqua And I think it's really like the older generation is demanding respect. And the younger generations are asking for respect and like, hey, these are the things that we're doing. Can you please respect us and stop, like being mean towards us? And I think that's what my brother was saying, like, hey, I'm not entitled. Look at all the things that I'm doing and I respect that. 00;21;48;03 - 00;22;10;07 Shaniqua Like I respect him and all the other young people, Gen Alpha, everyone that's coming after us and then even before us for making changes and advancements. And I think that we should just all stop and realize that we all want the same thing. And I think it's that's like, you know, the societal perspective of, like, this generational divisiveness. 00;22;10;09 - 00;22;35;06 Stephanie I absolutely, I, I really a lot of times when people just I mean, I do spend a lot of time defending younger generations to Gen X and up, frankly. because because again, the statements are usually so, so they're just thoughtless. And the content of I will often ask like, how much time do you spend with other generations? 00;22;35;08 - 00;23;05;13 Stephanie But like, are you like, where are you getting this perspective from? is this really your experience, or is this the experience that you're told you're going to have? And I think that that's worth exploring because there I don't again, to our point, like we are dispersed in many ways, not just by distance but also by we're segregated in many ways, you know, culturally speaking, it is hard for us to, you know, connect outside of, frankly, any of our groups, right? 00;23;05;13 - 00;23;23;12 Stephanie Like any in any of our demographics that we have push us apart. And so, I think it is a challenge that people just simply don't have the experience. So they go on what they're told. that's not always good, right? That's usually not good at all. 00;23;24;11 - 00;24;00;23 Shaniqua They then your brain turns into mush because you're stagnant, you know? and I think that's, sometimes we get comfortable and not interested in the challenge. So I think that it's just, like, challenging our own norms and beliefs. every Sunday, my family, we are my family. We have this Zoom weekly Zoom call, and I shared with them about our generation, series, and there is so much excitement and I highlight it, you know, the, the, my focus and what I thought about it. 00;24;00;25 - 00;24;24;02 Shaniqua And the elders in my family really just stuck their claws. And to the the elders having wisdom like, yes, we have wisdom. And that's all they kept repeating. And you should listen to this and and x, Y and z. And I had to remind them that I said that, you know, the youth brings about change. So where is it? 00;24;24;02 - 00;24;40;22 Shaniqua Like, where do you think that we could, you know, see a change that would be beneficial to us all? And it went back to like their ideology. And I'm in one of my cousins like shared something that they wanted to see change. And, you know, it was like a friction because they were like whoa, whoa, whoa. That's not that. 00;24;40;22 - 00;25;19;15 Shaniqua Like this is like, you should do it this way because it's always been done that way. So I think, being open to change will allow both sides of the coin to, like, come together. I'm curious about your thoughts on, before we transition to the, to talking about our Jeopardy game. I'm curious about your thoughts around, the question that we asked our, contestants about, like, how often they spend time with other generations. 00;25;19;18 - 00;25;31;21 Shaniqua Like, did you was there any one that was as cross-pollinated amongst generations as you'd hope or would like to see? 00;25;31;23 - 00;26;03;07 Stephanie I think the I think that was you know, there were definitely, there were definitely some people that were very like cross generational in their response. But I'll be honest that I felt like there were more people that really did seem sort of limited, and their access to other generations. And so, you know, again, it reinforced for me why we're doing what we're doing, you know, because it is important. 00;26;03;09 - 00;26;26;28 Stephanie it's a random thing. You know, I, I had a daughter young I had a daughter when I was 20. So she is a millennial. She's, 33, and I don't give advice often, but I, you know, when I have, like, my storied piece of parent advice, if somebody ever says you have parenting advice because might want to give advice, but I'm now saying it to the whole wide world. 00;26;27;01 - 00;26;47;10 Stephanie My one piece of advice that I always give to parent is: You can plan all you want to be a good parent and what you're going to teach your child, but you never know what your child is brought here to teach you, so make sure that you're open to receive that lesson as well. Because I assure you, they will teach it to you whether you are open to it or not. 00;26;47;12 - 00;27;19;16 Stephanie And I think that is something generationally like as elders, that we should all feel for the younger generation. We have a lot to convey to them and that is wonderful. But they have something to teach us, and if we aren't receptive to that, we are the ones that will miss out on that. And that is sad. And so we need to open our minds and not be so scared and be willing to like, take that risk and approach somebody and ask, ask them a question about who they are. 00;27;19;16 - 00;27;20;16 Or. 00;27;20;18 - 00;27;31;20 Stephanie You know what, just be interested in them to learn. and just go like more people would be so rewarded. We all would be rewarded by that 00;27;31;22 - 00;27;50;15 Shaniqua Stephanie, that was profound wisdom. I am taking that all in. That was beautifully said. Stephanie. Oh my gosh. Well, let's take a quick break to oh and come back. We'll discuss the fun part of our generation, jeopardy! 00;27;51;27 - 00;28;02;18 Shaniqua All right. We are back. And we are ready to discuss how we're going to move forward with the clash of the generations. Just kidding. We're here to. 00;28;02;18 - 00;28;03;19 Have a. 00;28;03;19 - 00;28;08;02 Shaniqua Good old family fun game of Generation Jeopardy. 00;28;08;04 - 00;28;15;04 Stephanie I like saying that we're going to figure out which generations and the most jeopardy! 00;28;15;06 - 00;28;44;22 Shaniqua Well, which generations is the. Oh, do you so. Oh, Stephanie. Well, I just want to tell everyone that Stephanie is the mastermind behind our generational jeopardy game. I have a few questions, but Stephanie really, like, built this from the ground up. So when you watch this, when you watch our generational, our jeopardy games that are coming up next, for this episode, you'll be wowed and impressed. 00;28;44;22 - 00;28;51;06 Shaniqua So, Stephanie, what was your, your favorite categories at the game? 00;28;51;08 - 00;28;53;25 Stephanie Oh, my gosh, we have such great categories. 00;28;53;27 - 00;28;55;09 Shaniqua you know, there are. So where do you play? 00;28;55;15 - 00;29;09;19 Stephanie Well, first of all, let me I, I, I'm like I mean I, I love to acknowledge compliments. So thank you very much, Shaniqua for that wonderful compliment. But I do want to say that our categories were very brainstormed together and they are awesome. Okay. 00;29;09;24 - 00;29;11;23 So this simply. 00;29;11;27 - 00;29;33;25 Stephanie Came up with them. you know I think we have some like classic categories like Gatekeepers, which, you know, something that I think we should all be thinking about, and, I, I like the Generational Trauma, too. I thought that, was a powerful category that kind of resonated with everybody. and then we have some fun ones. 00;29;33;27 - 00;29;38;08 Stephanie So we had, we had a couple, like, of course we had the Funtastic! 00;29;38;08 - 00;29;39;24 So the. 00;29;39;24 - 00;29;57;25 Shaniqua Funtastic. Just a quirky catchall for, but yeah, I think they were really, really good. You know, what are my favorite ones? Did you do your thing with the Social Justice? Oh, that category was amazing. 00;29;57;27 - 00;29;58;12 it was, it. 00;29;58;12 - 00;30;06;06 Stephanie Was I actually, I like the Emoji Talk also because I learned. 00;30;06;09 - 00;30;26;09 Shaniqua okay, the Emoji Talk. I just want everyone to know that I, I find it very like, funny whenever, like trying to figure out, like the emojis to use. I'm a thumbs up person. And I found out that my friends thought I was being very condescending. I stopped using that, but in stopped texting all together. However. 00;30;26;11 - 00;30;26;21 you know. 00;30;26;27 - 00;30;37;28 Shaniqua If you're ever going to show, if you're ever going to show anyone else besides me the eggplant, we're going. 00;30;38;01 - 00;30;39;10 Oh my gosh. 00;30;39;10 - 00;30;52;23 Shaniqua But I feel like the eggplant had everyone like Gen X and Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation and a chokehold like, y'all were just using the eggplant very innocently. And I don't understand why. 00;30;52;24 - 00;30;55;20 Stephanie And the peach and the and the peach. 00;30;55;22 - 00;31;00;07 We just like to be. We're home cooks. Okay, how. 00;31;00;07 - 00;31;03;23 Shaniqua Many eggplants and peaches were y’all consuming? 00;31;03;25 - 00;31;14;13 Stephanie But let me actually tell you first of all, and this is okay. Now we are based in Central Texas. I don't know how many people know that, but eggplants and peaches grow really well. 00;31;14;15 - 00;31;17;15 Shaniqua Mean I. I eat some peaches. 00;31;17;17 - 00;31;18;20 So. Yeah. 00;31;18;22 - 00;31;36;27 Stephanie So it was, it was, it was lost on us. We did. Not necessarily. And for someone honestly, I'm going to take a hit on this. Like I actually specialize and have a level of expertise in symbolism. So it did upset me that it took me a minute to catch up with that. But let's let me assure y'all, this was a long time ago. 00;31;36;27 - 00;32;00;21 Stephanie Minute. Okay, I've known about the eggplant for a while, but the learning moment, the learning moment for me was the thumbs up and, you know, recognizing like, oh, you know, again, this language, this is a language. It is ever evolving, like all languages do. And it's, you know, again, something. And so this is the this is all the Boomers and Gen Xers out there. 00;32;00;24 - 00;32;04;16 Stephanie You can go search emoji current dictionary okay. 00;32;04;16 - 00;32;07;12 But. 00;32;07;14 - 00;32;24;00 Stephanie And like or even things like how does Gen Z use emoji. And you too can learn this language and I'm just a shout out to Gen Z. You can also learn cursive okay. So this is I'm just saying we can have crossover here. 00;32;24;02 - 00;32;24;26 Shaniqua What I'm telling. 00;32;24;27 - 00;32;27;19 You is they're like well 00;32;27;21 - 00;32;28;26 Shaniqua I will say. 00;32;28;28 - 00;32;31;03 Stephanie Secret language soon. 00;32;31;05 - 00;32;31;24 Okay. 00;32;31;26 - 00;32;53;05 Shaniqua I, I do that back to my brother when I know what I'm saying. Isn't that right? And that's my brothers. They stop teaching cursive like very early. but I was going to share, like, I think, like you were saying, is evolving language and it's like there's different dialects in texting, like my millennial friend group. And I like, we like we text like we're back on AIM it's a lot of like short. 00;32;53;05 - 00;33;23;04 Shaniqua So the quick like, yeah, lots of acronyms, emojis. my brother, my youngest brother does not like to use emojis. He will like react to a text message. He won't respond to text message. and so I feel like it's like different dialects across groups. My mom. Texting is like she's texting as she is talking to you. So that's like a different thing. 00;33;23;04 - 00;33;42;10 Shaniqua And it's a novel. And I have to tell her texting etiquette is not a novel. That's a phone call. So it's like a and like you said, like we shouldn't get upset. It's just like when you travel to another country, another part of the country, you speak the dialect or you speak the language and you just think like. 00;33;42;12 - 00;34;05;27 Stephanie At least you try to participate and understand it as much as you can. And so that should be the mindset. We should always be in the sort of curious learning mindset about what we can learn about each other. instead of, you know, because I think, you know, most people do get upset when they feel like they're, you know, they feel like they are ignorant or they don't know something or it makes them uncomfortable. 00;34;05;27 - 00;34;30;07 Stephanie And so the easy route is to just, you know, project like negativity about, oh, well, I don't need to know that or that's whatever, that's not important or that's stupid or whatever to like, project onto it. But really it's like, don't worry about that. You don't know. Just be more curious about learning. you'll just naturally, you know, and every now and then you might do something like put a giant eggplant on a marketing campaign. 00;34;30;09 - 00;34;38;04 Stephanie Iand have your millennial team look at you like, what are you doing? We can't promote sexuality through marketing. And, you know. 00;34;38;04 - 00;34;38;16 Shaniqua And you. 00;34;38;16 - 00;34;41;07 don’t know what they’re talking about. 00;34;41;10 - 00;34;43;28 Shaniqua What is sexy about the eggplant. 00;34;44;01 - 00;34;45;09 It's a true story. 00;34;45;09 - 00;34;50;27 Stephanie You know, that it really that. But you know, it was learning. I learned I was glad to be educated, happy to be. 00;34;50;28 - 00;34;52;10 A you did what. 00;34;52;12 - 00;34;55;28 Shaniqua You did learn about that was, oh my gosh. you. 00;34;55;28 - 00;35;00;18 Stephanie Know, the campaign turned out beautifully once we got through the kinks. 00;35;00;21 - 00;35;04;04 The kinky. I’m Sorry. 00;35;04;06 - 00;35;09;02 Shaniqua That was a good one. Oh, my gosh, she's here all night, folks. Oh my gosh. That was a. 00;35;09;04 - 00;35;11;02 Yeah. 00;35;11;05 - 00;35;15;15 Stephanie Sure, now I’m blushing. It totally makes me blush. 00;35;15;18 - 00;35;40;28 Shaniqua So, we Stephanie and I can talk to each other all night. All day. But I want to tell you about our upcoming episodes, what you can expect next from FITI Vodcast. So our next episode is going to be jeopardy against the Baby Boomers and the Millennials. Stephanie, who do you think is going to take this one? 00;35;41;00 - 00;36;01;10 Stephanie You know, it's going to be tough. I think, honestly, it's like I've gone back and forth with all of these generations, but. I want to say that Boomers are going to show up strong, but my gut tells me that Millennials are going to own that. Or hey, that's my feeling. I could be wrong. I could be wrong. I feel like Boomers are really going to show up strong. 00;36;01;10 - 00;36;27;05 Shaniqua So I, I, I feel I'm with you and I think the Boomers like our Boomer contestants that we've interviewed, we auditioned. They were really strong. They were awesome. snazzy. Excited to be there. So let's see the Millennials have what it takes. and the next episode is will be Gen Z versus Gen X. Can I say that. 00;36;27;08 - 00;36;34;14 Stephanie you know who I'm rooting for? I mean, I'm going to I'm going to go with my bias here. 00;36;34;16 - 00;36;40;16 She let us go. Cards. Oh, that's. 00;36;40;19 - 00;36;45;17 Shaniqua Every Millennial that has possibly told you I wish I was Gen X too. Sometimes it's amazing. 00;36;45;20 - 00;36;47;05 Oh. 00;36;47;07 - 00;36;56;29 Stephanie It's like, you know, it's no lie. But the Gen Xers, we do think that we're the coolest generation. We I mean, it's part of our identity code. 00;36;57;01 - 00;37;03;01 Shaniqua I wish I were an adult in the 90s. we want to be a club kid so that I was too young. 00;37;03;02 - 00;37;25;04 Stephanie I, you know, I'm not going to lie, I mean, I, I loved being an adult in the 90s. I was 20 to 30 from 90 to 2000. And, I, I met the actual Club Kids. you know, I, I really had those experiences, and it was frickin fantastic. 00;37;25;04 - 00;37;25;10 Yeah. 00;37;25;11 - 00;37;27;12 Shaniqua I really so jealous. 00;37;27;12 - 00;37;39;04 Stephanie I have a real nostalgia about the 90s, but, you know, the 90s, they they have their own dark side. And that's real too. And so, you know, we could we could certainly that could be a whole that, that right there, we could do a whole topic on. 00;37;39;06 - 00;37;40;11 This decade and. 00;37;40;11 - 00;37;42;05 Stephanie Talk about and, and their shadow and they're like. 00;37;42;21 - 00;38;00;19 Shaniqua Oh my gosh, that I would be interested in that. Well, I think we should tell everyone, about our contestants, representing the Baby Boomers. We have Ted, the retired pilot who. 00;38;00;21 - 00;38;10;20 Stephanie Oh, yeah. he is amazing too. Oh, my God, did Ted bring the energy? And he's got some great stories. Oh, my gosh. 00;38;10;23 - 00;38;38;15 Shaniqua He does, he does. We, for the Millennials, we have Victoria. She's a trust and vulnerability coach. And Ted and Victoria will Face-Off in the first episode. So fun for Gen X. Gen X is represented by Ed. He's an IT extraordinaire. can. 00;38;38;18 - 00;38;40;06 it's the man. 00;38;40;08 - 00;38;52;04 Shaniqua And Ed is good enough. But, with our Gen Z contender, Chloe. Fiona. She's a dancer. She's an artist. She's a grad student. Chloe. 00;38;52;07 - 00;39;02;08 Stephanie And I think it's important to know that it's Chloe. Fiona or Chloe or Fiona. I like I like options, like. But she's got versatility. 00;39;02;08 - 00;39;03;10 You. 00;39;03;12 - 00;39;24;22 Shaniqua She has options, and I, I'm really excited to see, like, everyone, I'm really I'm curious about our audiences’ vote on who's going to win, what who's going to meet in the finale and face off and ultimately be the generation in jeopardy. 00;39;24;24 - 00;39;43;27 Stephanie Right. Our third episode of, the will be the finale, and we will be bringing the winners of, the first and second games together. And so definitely audience through your votes. let us know who you think what generation is in the most journey. 00;39;43;27 - 00;39;52;06 I guess going back to where we started. 00;39;52;08 - 00;40;04;21 Shaniqua I really, really enjoyed this one has been such a fun series to create. I mean, it's been possibly the most work that we've had to do in the least amount of time. But the most fun for sure. 00;40;04;23 - 00;40;20;04 Stephanie Really pushed our creative energy. definitely lets me know that, like, the sky is literally the limit for us, and I don't even think that's a limit. Honestly. Like, it's it's so exciting. I can't wait to see the games. Oh my gosh. 00;40;20;06 - 00;40;20;17 Right. 00;40;20;21 - 00;40;28;27 Shaniqua My gosh. Well, Stephanie, do you have any any final takeaways like that's. 00;40;28;29 - 00;40;58;15 Stephanie you know, my final takeaway is just to really for me personally, just to keep putting myself out there and making those connections, modeling and teaching other people that it's okay to do it to, to to really connect with these other generations and, stay open minded. I think see what you learn about yourself. But it's just, I don't know, it's been such a incredible experience getting to meet and talk to so many different people. 00;40;58;18 - 00;41;04;29 Stephanie And for me, way, way more positive than anything. Just very inspirational and positive. 00;41;04;29 - 00;41;07;06 So, 00;41;07;09 - 00;41;09;26 Stephanie What about you? 00;41;09;29 - 00;41;39;15 Shaniqua I feel that's one of my favorite crossed generational friendships is with you. And then, like, stretching and growing together and, I, I think that, like, removing the fear. So I think we're all just a little afraid, will help us, like, just come together. So, I remain very optimistic about our future and breaking this ridiculous, silly little cycle. 00;41;39;21 - 00;41;47;25 Shaniqua But we can all come together singing. Kumbaya whatever our song will be. You know, there's something we can buy up. Maybe that's a little big. Maybe something new. 00;41;47;28 - 00;42;01;06 Stephanie Absolutely. Oh my God, absolutely. So much. Well, this has been great, but I'm so excited for our work together. And, you know, generationally we we are a gift to each other. Like for sure. We are so we are fortunate. 00;42;01;09 - 00;42;05;16 Yes. We. 00;42;05;18 - 00;42;13;23 Stephanie so I guess for our audience, stay posted, we expect to see you at the show. 00;42;13;26 - 00;42;34;26 Shaniqua We'll see you at the show. Leave in the comments. I think it will come out on top as the winner. And be sure to, subscribe to our YouTube channel. And if you prefer audio, you can listen to our podcast, whatever platform you like. And until next time, I hope you in novate and illuminate. 00;42;34;29 - 00;42;35;27 Absolutely. 00;42;36;01 - 00;42;38;25 Stephanie Let's all get together, vibrate higher. 00;42;38;28 - 00;42;40;08 Yeah. 00;42;40;11 - 00;42;42;05 Stephanie Bye, everybody. 00;42;46;14 - 00;43;14;20 Unknown Thanks for listening to our show. Show us your support by following us on your favorite podcast platform Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. You can also find us on Cast Us at From Elimination to Innovation forecaster.com. If you love our show, share it with your friends and coworkers too. Let's all work together to help businesses vibrate higher.