BLOG 1: THE YOLO GENERATION

So I Guess What Happens In Vegas Doesn't Always Stay There :o)

The Persona for this assignment refers to Kristin (name change), a newly 24-year-old office administrator from California that I met while vacationing in Vegas last year.  Besides loving the same musician, Drake, and partying in Vegas, we hardly have anything else in common.  That said she is a super fun girl and was more than eager, given the power of Skype, to take my Persona challenge.  I also thought this was an interesting persona to create given our class conversation into saving the music biz.  Our commonality is a love for Drake, who I paid an enormous amount of money to see at the Frank Erwin Center in three weeks.  This girl is likely visiting for the same concert so in essence her persona is one of many that are saving the artist, if not the music business! Eitherway, enjoy!  

1. What does she feel?

-- what really counts?

Interesting enough her feelings lie in the cliché truths of her favorite song; You Only Live Once (YOLO), by Aubrey Drake Graham, a 25 year old musical renaissance man, announces that this is the “motto” for her generation and in doing so speaks to her as if she were her mother in 1984 listening to Alphaville’s Forever Young.  She works hard and parties hard but most importantly she lives for the weekends.  And just as the 80’s generation of staying forever young brings smiles to her mother’s face, what really counts is that she lives her youth, having just turned 24, as if it’s the only youth she’ll ever have. 

-- major preoccupations?

Now in living this YOLO life she admits that her major preoccupations & worries are having nothing to show for it when she reaches her mothers age (well maybe except for memories & pictures).  Not to say that she’s living outside of her means but she’s definitely not saving and when she chooses between flying to see a guy she “met” in Vegas or putting more towards her savings account she says to herself “YOLO” and purchase the Southwest Airlines Ticket instead.

-- worries & aspirations?

            As for inspirations, she looks none further than the artists that she listens to. 23-26 year old self made millionaires like Nicki Minaj & Drake, who haven’t a care in the world and they make damn sure that she knows this.  She would call it a sense of entitlement but the truth is that she just wants to be happy for herself and her family, both financially and emotionally. 

2. What does she see?

-- environment?

Blonde haired green-eyed California girl. Yeah that’s her.  But don’t make the mistake of thinking she’s a “Like” girl, i.e a Valley Girl.  I would consider her a Vanilla swirl, white on the outside, black on the inside.  She listens to hip-hop more than anyone she knows even though her surroundings would beg to differ.

-- friends?

She played D-I soccer for the University of Colorado and continues to train for half-marathons.  This is important because she doesn’t have a swarm of friends but the few ones she does have the commonality of music & fitness to them.

-- what the market offers?

She’s the YOLO generation and currently the market is amazing!  She’s seen Drake live twice already, and once in Los Angeles.  Great music moves her, not only to purchase the newest ITouch or the newest headphones (She adores Beats By Dre from Monster) but it also moves her to travel.  So with Drake, The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, and more all dropping albums in 2011 and 2012 her cup runneth over!  Oh, and She’s planning on visiting Austin to see Drake for the third time. Why?! You only live once.

3. What does she say and do? (My perspective of her)

-- attitude in public?

When I first met her I was enamored by her bold and commanding presence. She had this “F-it, I’m going to have fun” demeanor with an acquired-taste attitude to boot.

-- appearance?

Her appearance mirrored Drake’s number one hit Best I Ever Had, and his acclaimed hit Fancy for two specific reasons:

1.     The is the type of woman that can pull off natural any day of the week and twice on sunday, i.e. Sweat pants, hair tied, chillin' with no make-up on – Drake

2.     But also takes great pride in dressing for the situation, i.e. Nails done, hair done, everything big - Drake

-- behavior towards others?

Very outgoing towards others but keeps a quick quip and cutdown to anyone she predicts will slight her. Confident candor, one of the qualities she admires in her choice of musician.

4. What does she hear?

-- what friends say?

“You only live once!” Her friends live that life, she lives that life.

-- what bosses say?

Her boss is encouraging and helps to train her to do the best that she can at my job.  She’s not sold on the career but she enjoys the flexibility and freedom of having a “cool” boss.

-- what influencers say?

Her influencers are her family They are the support group that she can always depend on.

5. What are her pain points?

-- Fears?

You could say that her biggest fear would be to not live up to the expectations her family and friends have for her.

-- Frustrations/Obstacles?

She just recently got a promotion at work but she’s under the assumption that without a higher degree of education she’s going to be pigeon holed into her current position and current salary.  That frustrates her because as much as she enjoyed undergrad she’s not sold on getting her masters.  That’s also her biggest obstacle because she loves her job, and her boss, but she just doesn’t like that she can see the ceiling already.

6. What does she hope to gain?

-- Wants/needs?

She’s a hopeless romantic.  If you asked her what her favorite movie is she would yell “The Notebook” before you even finished your question, and the reason is that she wants a fairy-tale romance, a fairy-tale ending.

-- Measures of success?

If she could measure success in her life it would be that, financial freedom to live life like she always wanted (or how Drake & Nicki live in their songs) and a great man to enjoy it with.

-- Obstacles?

Location, Location, Location. She currently works in LA, and it’s just not conducive financially to growth in the sector she’s working in, and everyone, boys included, is trying to be famous so finding the right mate is an exercise in futility.  She doesn’t want the next best thing…she just wants the right thing.