April 18, 2024 • 24 mins
Amirah Hussain, N.J. Chamber of Commerce Director of Government Relations & Chris Lowicki, Operations Coordinator join Tara Thurber to share their views on professional networking as a youth in business.
Stop by their Young Professionals Networking Event hosted by DefinedTalent and sponsored by Withium on Thursday, May 9 from 6 - 8:30 PM at DefinedLogic's Studio Red Bank (200 Monmouth Street, Suite 325, Red Bank, NJ, 07701).
Top5 Reasons to Join NJCC Young Professionals Group
- Community
- Practice
- Opportunity
- Mentorship
- Confidence
Register for networking event here - https://bit.ly/3JeaOGP
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tara Thurber (00:00):
Hey everyone, welcome back to Top5 brought to
you by DefinedTalent. We are aresults driven service working
with clients to connect themwith quality talent as well as
working to make an impact withinthe recruiting industry. We talk
straight about today'sprofessional world with real
world professionals, experts inrecruitment, job seekers and
(00:20):
business owners alike. Have aquestion for us. Send it in and
you might spur our nextconversation. I'm Tara Thurber,
co founder and director ofDirector of Talent partnerships
here at DefineTalent. Andjoining me today are two amazing
humans. Chris Lowicki OperationsCoordinator, and Amirah Hussain,
(00:43):
Director of Government Relationsfrom the New Jersey Chamber of
Commerce. Hi, how are you bothtoday?
Amirah Hussain (00:51):
Doing well, thank you so much for having us
on on your podcast today, Tara?
Tara Thurber (00:56):
Absolutely.
Chris Lowicki (00:57):
Yeah, thank you, we really appreciate it.
Tara Thurber (00:58):
Absolutely very excited to have the two of you
on today. And I just want tokind of jump in here. I know,
you know you both of you arepart of the New Jersey Chamber
of Commerce. And there's been agroup that has branched off of
that called Young Professionals.
Very interested to see if eitherone of you can explain the young
(01:19):
professionals group and how itgot started.
Chris Lowicki (01:26):
Mind if I take this one?
Okay. So YoungProfessionals at the Chamber was
Amirah Hussain (01:27):
Go ahead! Yep. And here at
the Chamber, you know, we host atechnically started back in
2019, by two former employees.
And then obviously, pandemiccame and kind of squashed it,
there was no networking events,nobody was allowed to get
together, they also kind of roseup in the organization and other
lot of different eventsthroughout the year. But I think
responsibilities. So it was kindof just thrown in a filing
(01:51):
cabinet for a couple of years.
And then around February 2023,Amirah and I were approached
with trying to get it started upagain. And we just went for it.
And here we are a year later,we've had several events, we've
ballooned up the distributionlist. And yeah, that's the story.
(02:16):
one thing that we noticed withour attendance is that we don't
often see a lot of young facesin the room. And so we wanted to
create a space for youngprofessionals to feel
comfortable to come and networkand connect with others, that
would be on a similar boat asthem and sort of just share some
(02:39):
of the struggles that we'redealing with on a day to day
basis, personally and within ourcareers.
Tara Thurber (02:45):
I love that. What would you say your main hope for
the Young Professionals in thefuture is what's the main drive
behind it?
Chris Lowicki (03:00):
For me, it's for Young Professionals to be a main
stage here at the Chamber, we'restill kind of in the infancy
stages, most of our boarddoesn't even know about it yet.
So for me, it's to be as big asprominent as something like the
Walk to Washington, or thebusiness summit that you went to
down at Atlantic City wherepeople are looking forward to it
(03:22):
and people within our membercompanies. You know, as soon as
somebody gets onboarded, theyget directed right towards us.
Tara Thurber (03:30):
I love that. I love that. So, so much. And
then, nowadays there are so manyyoung professionals graduating
college, getting out into theworkforce. What would the two of
you think are the biggestchallenges facing young
professionals today? And how canthey overcome them?
Amirah Hussain (03:53):
So I mean, I'll just start with a few things. I
mean, I know I mentioned thatyoung professionals are facing a
lot of challenges these days, Ijust would want to start with
maybe like workplace stress, allworking very hard and dealing
with a lot of issues personallyand otherwise. And I think
(04:14):
burnout has become a real thing,especially with the shift to
sort of like a hybrid or remotework setting. And so people, I
mean, you might not even beleaving your house the entire
day. And it's hard to sort ofdraw that line between work and
personal and it's hard to turnthat work brain off and switch
(04:39):
to relaxation mode. And sothat's one of the issues I've
heard a lot of youngprofessionals dealing with. And
so I think that's also a placewhere a young professional group
can be really valuable. I mean,it's a great opportunity to get
out of the house, or get out ofthe workplace and sort of just
(04:59):
connect with peopleprofessionally and personally
and, and talk to them about thestruggles that you're dealing
with and maybe grow your networkand grow yourprofessional
career. Chris, anything to add?
Chris Lowicki (05:14):
Yeah, I think that the burnout and the
struggling with this new hybridwork environment, I know people
that are in the office five daysa week, and they're just as
burnt out as people that areworking home five days a week.
Tara Thurber (05:30):
Yeah (laughs).
Chris Lowicki (05:30):
It doesn't really seem to be a magic bullet for
Tara Thurber (05:31):
Yeah (laughs).
it. I'd also say economicstressors are huge for our
generation. Everyone's tellingus, we're not going to see
social security, we're nevergoing to own a home. And I know
for me, I have like six figuresworth of student loan debt.
Chris Lowicki (05:47):
It's more than just finding a job. It's all
those little outside factorsthat that play a big factor. But
there's so many differentthings. I feel like the world
today with technology andeverything, it's just it's so
crazy. And I feel like oldergenerations thought that we
would just kind of be used to itgrowing up in it. And I feel
(06:09):
like a lot of us are struggling.
So I can't tell you how manypeople that are on social media
diets, or have just completelyquit social media, in general.
And that actually brings up agood point, I think generational
differences in the workplace areinteresting to manage. The gap
between Gen X and Boomers, Idon't think is that large
culturally, but the gap betweenGen Z and Boomers are there. I
(06:32):
mean, they're basically twoseparate types of people. So
navigating that, especially in asmaller office setting can be
pretty challenging, but you justyou roll with the punches, and
you learn and, like Amirah saidthat the best way to learn is
from other young professionalsand to get out there, see what
other people experiences. You'renot alone, a lot of these
(06:53):
experiences are incrediblyversatile. We're all we're all
struggling with it, but we make
Tara Thurber (06:59):
Yeah, it's hard when you talk about the whole
it.
work life balance, and hybridand burnout, and it's so real, I
feel like we are all alwaysplugged in. And it's like
technology burnout on top of itall. And trying to navigate your
(07:19):
way through that. And gettingout of the house is sometimes it
can give people social anxietynow, because of COVID, or being
home so much. So I think that'sone thing too, for young
professionals is, if we can allget out together, we're all
(07:40):
dealing with it together. So bygetting in person with one
another, you can share thosestruggles, and hopefully learn
different ways to get throughit. That kind of leads me into
my next question, in apost-COVID environment? How can
(08:01):
young professionals find thiswork life balance with demanding
careers or different worksituations? What are the young
professionals doing nowadays, tokind of get out of that mindset,
or switch their mindset?
Amirah Hussain (08:20):
So I would definitely say that prioritizing
your well being should be at thetop of everybody's list. And I
think young professionals areactually better at it maybe than
the previous generation. I mean,that is at the top of their
list, having a work life balanceis at the top of their list,
(08:42):
whereas maybe for previousgenerations, it wasn't. And that
was maybe a luxury that some ofthem couldn't couldn't afford,
but prioritizing your mentalhealth, making sure that you are
engaging in hobbies, orexercising or hanging out with
(09:02):
your friends once or twice aweek, at least. It's just so
important to recharge and reset,because if you don't fill your
own glass, you're not going tohave anything to pour for any
other type of work. And ou wantto bring your best to every
situation, you want to bringyour best self to work. You want
(09:25):
to bring your best self toeverywhere else. And so you
can't do that. If you're nottaking care of yourself first.
Tara Thurber (09:32):
Which I think can be a big a big switch up from
years ago, it was work, work,work 10 hours a day, 12 hours a
day because you needed to proveyourself and there was a
different form of sickness andburnout that came from that. So
I do feel like the youngergenerations are putting their
health first. But there's stillthat struggle of because they're
(09:57):
used to what they've been toldright? Or how they've been
brought Up to now realizing thatit is important to put that
health first because you'reright, Amirah, like you said, if
you can't fill up your own cupof water first, what do you have
to give other people? And Ithink that is something that
individuals need to realize, is,I do say, now there's no work
(10:21):
life balance, it's just the lifeblend. Because there can be so
much flexibility withopportunities, and different
work environments. And I do feelone thing that's been coming up
a lot in conversation is settingup a routine for yourself, if
(10:42):
you have a solid routine, whereyou're getting up in the
morning, and you're working out,or you're doing your meditation,
or you're doing some sort ofself care to set yourself up, to
show up for your work day, at110%. And then it's hard to say
but shutting off at the end ofthe day, disconnecting at the
(11:06):
end of the day, and I have atough time doing it, I feel like
I'm always plugged in. Andnowadays, it's that fast
response, you want to be able togive that quick response or get
something out or people areutilizing their downtime through
(11:27):
scrolling, scrolling throughsocial media, and that is not
healthy, that is not healthy foran individual for your mindset.
And so I think as moreinformation can be shared with
individuals on how to find thedisconnect, how to be okay with
(11:49):
that, I think is something thata lot of people struggle with,
and we have to keep remindingthem even business owners and
leadership needs to almost setboundaries, I think we all need
to set certain boundaries again,or reset certain boundaries in
order to make sure you can stillput yourself first. Create the
(12:15):
balance that you need for yourparticular work environment and
lifestyle, right?
Chris Lowicki (12:22):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think I know, this haskind of become a buzzword. But
workplace culture is huge.
Tara Thurber (12:29):
Very.
Chris Lowicki (12:29):
Finding a place like figuring out what you want,
and finding it. You know, one ofthe benefits of this post-Covid
world is, there's a plethora ofoptions, again, just at home,
just in the office or a hybrid.
Personally, I like hybrid, whenI got COVID At some point last
year, so I wasn't going to comeinto the office for a week, and
I was like tearing my hair.
(12:52):
But then on theflip side, like two months
Tara Thurber (12:52):
(laughs) later, I was in the office for
five straight days, and I waslooking around to my older
coworkers because I'm like, howdid you guys do this? For 30/35
years, this seems impossible. SoI feel like, you know, really
figuring out what works best foryou. Figuring out what you enjoy
about the current job you're in,and then not being afraid to go
(13:14):
out and find it. Because thereare so many options. It's not
all about money, or the name ofthe organization. It's really
about what's going to make youfeel your best what's going to
fill your cup.
Yeah, amazing. Andso true. I mean, the the company
(13:35):
culture right now, when I'mspeaking to candidates, that's
of utmost importance, they wantto know that there's culture,
they want to know that there'sflexibility, they want to know
that there's support andappreciation. As well as
philanthropy and so many otherthings that are out there for
(13:57):
businesses to be doing.
Professional development issuper huge. A young professional
wants to join a team thatthey're going to learn and
continue to grow with. Super,super important. Now, kind of
switching gears a little bit,keeping inflation and our
current economy in mind. How canyoung professionals effectively
(14:19):
manage their finances and planfor their future? Chris, I know
early you had mentioned Oh,you're never going to own a
home. So what can these youngprofessionals do now to start
preparing for that or figuringthat out?
Chris Lowicki (14:40):
When you figure it out, let me know (laughs).
Because I'm stilltrying my best. I'm 24 years
old. I'm still living at homelike many of my my friends and peers.
Tara Thurber (14:50):
Yeah.
Chris Lowicki (14:51):
We're just we're trying our best you know, I
obviously the easy answer isYouTube podcast. I mean, they're
like the second lot like thesecond largest sector of podcast
is financial podcasts and, andall that stuff. But obviously
you have to have real interestin it. And it can be tough,
especially if you're dealingwith burnout, or you're dealing
(15:12):
with a difficult work lifebalance. Because you know what,
like, for me like my indulgencesare like going out to eat, or
hanging out with friends andgrabbing a couple drinks if
that's how I relaxed, but itcosts me $100 every time.
How do youjustify one or the other? So I
wish I had a better answer. ButI'm looking for it just like a
(15:33):
lot of young professionals. So,again, get out there and talk to
others. Just talk to others.
That's, that's, that's my best advice.
Tara Thurber (15:41):
I love that, Chris Amirah. Do you have any advice
on that front?
Amirah Hussain (15:46):
Yeah, well, no, I think Chris put it
wonderfully. We're all sort ofout here struggling with
inflation and the rising costsof everything, not only rent,
but food and anything you canthink of, every bill under the
sun, it just continues to rise.
So I mean, that can be reallypainful. towards a young
(16:07):
professionals bottom line. And Imean, there are the typical
cookie cutter responses, makesure you're putting away money
in your 401K, make sure you'rebudgeting, make sure you have an
emergency fund with X amount ofmoney in it. But really, I mean,
that only makes sort of a dentin a hole (laughs).
(16:31):
Don't spendmaybe $7 on your latte every
day. But like I said, it justmakes a dent. Like a tiny little
dent in all of this. Sounfortunately, we're also trying
to figure that out. But I thinkthat's the benefit of the young
professional community, we canall come together and share some
(16:52):
of these experiences and maybelaugh about it a little bit.
Tara Thurber (16:58):
(laughs) And it's so true, because it's not, I
think there's a lot of peopleout there trying to figure it
out. And not just youngprofessionals, and I can't
stress enough that you need tocontinue to keep putting
yourself out there, you need tobe comfortable in the
(17:20):
uncomfortable. You need to allowyourself to be vulnerable.
Because you're not alone outthere. There are so many people
that are out there, trying tomake an impact, trying to find
their career, build theirprofession, figure out the
financial aspects of life. So Iagree, now, networking has just
(17:44):
taken such a different. There'sa different energy about
networking now too. And I thinksome young professionals may get
really nervous and have thatsocial anxiety. But just know
and believe that, more oftenthan not, the person that's
walking in next to you probablyfeels the same way. And that's
(18:09):
where you just say hi. And youtake it from there. So I think
that's one thing that has beenbecome more and more apparent,
this year, as well, is going tothose networking events, putting
your name out there, you canalways post in and send emails
(18:29):
and talk through a screen. Butit's being in person together,
sharing that energy, sharingthat conversation, that that
really allows I feel moregenuine and authentic
conversations to take place.
Amirah Hussain (18:45):
I absolutely agree. And I can say from
personal experience, it's veryanxiety inducing. And it's scary
to put yourself in a new settingwhere you know, you may not know
anybody at all. And so, it'sreally important, though, to do
that. Because the more you doit, the less scary it will be.
(19:07):
And I mean, I've done thisbefore, too, but if you could
grab a friend to go with you, itcan really take a lot of the
pressure off. And you both do alittle bit of networking and you
grab some dinner afterwards.
It's therapeutic. So there'sdefinitely workarounds for that.
Tara Thurber (19:28):
I love it. What were you gonna say, Chris?
Chris Lowicki (19:31):
I was just gonna give a quick shameless plug that
the New Jersey YoungProfessionals, exactly like
Amirah said, like we we've hadto deal with this for our work.
The you know, the story I alwaystell is, you know, I was 22
years old coming out of collegeand I get this job. And I find
out I'm going to these events. Idon't know what networking is, I
don't know what networking eventis. And I'm told to just start
(19:54):
walking up to people and I'mwalking up to like the CEO of
JCP&L and PSE&G and it'sterrifying. I was definitely
thrown into the fire. So tocombat that, with the whole goal
of Young Professionals is tobuild the complete opposite
environment as relaxed aspossible. So you don't have to
worry about these big imposingpeople and these big names. It's
just people that look like you,that act like you, that talk
(20:16):
like you and you're just hangingout, you're having a drink,
you're eating a little bit offood, and you're just hanging
out. But with enough practice,that translates into the big
time, the big leagues. Yea know?
Tara Thurber (20:28):
I love that, too, Chris. I's so true. And talking
about when we think aboutgetting out in networking, I'd
love to, you know, we've gonethrough a lot right now. But
maybe we can just provide ourTop5reasons on why young
professionals need to get outand network. What are both your
(20:50):
thoughts for the Top5?
Chris Lowicki (20:54):
Want me to start?
Or do you want to start?
Alright, because I haven't takenabout this.
Tara Thurber (20:58):
Okay (laughs).
Chris Lowicki (20:59):
I think community, I think that's a
really tough thing for ourgeneration. There's a lot of
great literature out there. Now,there's no more public spaces,
or public meeting places to findthat sense of community, you
know, people make fun of Knightsof Columbus and all that kind of
stuff. But they werecommunities. So community.
(21:20):
Practice, as I said earlier, itbecause you're gonna have to
network eventually. So you mightas well get the practice and lay
that base now. I would say,opportunity is another huge one,
as we said, If you don't likewhere you're at, sorry, you
don't like where you're atnetwork of other people, find
out what their organizations arelike, and go there, try and
(21:42):
apply, try and work there. Thefourth thing,
Amirah Hussai (21:45):
I'll just pop in.
Chris Lowicki (21:48):
Jump in.
Amirah Hussain (21:49):
You know, I think, one not one other
important piece of networking isthe mentorship that you can
potentially get, I mean, youmight find somebody that you
really admire, or they may be ona career path that you really
like. And so, mentorship isextremely important for
professional development. And Imean, there's, you want to have
(22:10):
a mentor whoever they are. Andthen the last thing I'll just
add is just boostingprofessional confidence. Getting
out there making yourselfcomfortable with just talking
about yourself, because that'snot always easy for everyone.
Give the elevator pitch aboutyourself, brag about the great
things that you're doing. Andjust get comfortable talking in
(22:32):
a professional setting. I thinkthat's that's really important.
Tara Thurber (22:38):
Excellent. These Top5 are super important. I
could not agree more. And I willput another little plug out
there that everybody listeningwe have a networking event we'd
love everybody to come to theNew Jersey Chamber of Commerce
Young Professionals are havingan event at DefinedTalent's
(23:02):
space in Red Bank, New Jersey onThursday, May 9. It is sponsored
by Withium and hosted byDefinedTalent in the
DefinedLogic studio, studio RedBank and from 6 to 8:30, 6 - 9?
I should know the dates andtimes I know it's May 9.
Chris Lowicki (23:20):
Its to 8
Tara Thurber (23:24):
We'll make sure to send out the details when we
post this podcast. But Amirahand Chris are so excited to have
you on this podcast to sharewhat you're doing at the New
Jersey chamber of commerce withyoung professionals. Any
support, we are here todefinitely support and I'm
excited to see you all on May 9,as well as you some some fresh
(23:48):
faces and some youngprofessionals out there.
Chris Lowicki (23:52):
Thank you so much for the opportunity, and I
really appreciate both.
Amirah Hussain (23:55):
Likewise.
Tara Thurber (23:57):
Excellent. Thank you both again. We are defined
talent, a defined logic servicecoming to you at top five. Make
it a great day.
Hey everyone, welcome back to Top5 brought to
you by DefinedTalent. We are aresults driven service working
with clients to connect themwith quality talent as well as
working to make an impact withinthe recruiting industry. We talk
straight about today'sprofessional world with real
world professionals, experts inrecruitment, job seekers and
(00:20):
business owners alike. Have aquestion for us. Send it in and
you might spur our nextconversation. I'm Tara Thurber,
co founder and director ofDirector of Talent partnerships
here at DefineTalent. Andjoining me today are two amazing
humans. Chris Lowicki OperationsCoordinator, and Amirah Hussain,
(00:43):
Director of Government Relationsfrom the New Jersey Chamber of
Commerce. Hi, how are you bothtoday?
Amirah Hussain (00:51):
Doing well, thank you so much for having us
on on your podcast today, Tara?
Tara Thurber (00:56):
Absolutely.
Chris Lowicki (00:57):
Yeah, thank you, we really appreciate it.
Tara Thurber (00:58):
Absolutely very excited to have the two of you
on today. And I just want tokind of jump in here. I know,
you know you both of you arepart of the New Jersey Chamber
of Commerce. And there's been agroup that has branched off of
that called Young Professionals.
Very interested to see if eitherone of you can explain the young
(01:19):
professionals group and how itgot started.
Chris Lowicki (01:26):
Mind if I take this one?
Okay. So YoungProfessionals at the Chamber was
Amirah Hussain (01:27):
Go ahead! Yep. And here at
the Chamber, you know, we host atechnically started back in
2019, by two former employees.
And then obviously, pandemiccame and kind of squashed it,
there was no networking events,nobody was allowed to get
together, they also kind of roseup in the organization and other
lot of different eventsthroughout the year. But I think
responsibilities. So it was kindof just thrown in a filing
(01:51):
cabinet for a couple of years.
And then around February 2023,Amirah and I were approached
with trying to get it started upagain. And we just went for it.
And here we are a year later,we've had several events, we've
ballooned up the distributionlist. And yeah, that's the story.
(02:16):
one thing that we noticed withour attendance is that we don't
often see a lot of young facesin the room. And so we wanted to
create a space for youngprofessionals to feel
comfortable to come and networkand connect with others, that
would be on a similar boat asthem and sort of just share some
(02:39):
of the struggles that we'redealing with on a day to day
basis, personally and within ourcareers.
Tara Thurber (02:45):
I love that. What would you say your main hope for
the Young Professionals in thefuture is what's the main drive
behind it?
Chris Lowicki (03:00):
For me, it's for Young Professionals to be a main
stage here at the Chamber, we'restill kind of in the infancy
stages, most of our boarddoesn't even know about it yet.
So for me, it's to be as big asprominent as something like the
Walk to Washington, or thebusiness summit that you went to
down at Atlantic City wherepeople are looking forward to it
(03:22):
and people within our membercompanies. You know, as soon as
somebody gets onboarded, theyget directed right towards us.
Tara Thurber (03:30):
I love that. I love that. So, so much. And
then, nowadays there are so manyyoung professionals graduating
college, getting out into theworkforce. What would the two of
you think are the biggestchallenges facing young
professionals today? And how canthey overcome them?
Amirah Hussain (03:53):
So I mean, I'll just start with a few things. I
mean, I know I mentioned thatyoung professionals are facing a
lot of challenges these days, Ijust would want to start with
maybe like workplace stress, allworking very hard and dealing
with a lot of issues personallyand otherwise. And I think
(04:14):
burnout has become a real thing,especially with the shift to
sort of like a hybrid or remotework setting. And so people, I
mean, you might not even beleaving your house the entire
day. And it's hard to sort ofdraw that line between work and
personal and it's hard to turnthat work brain off and switch
(04:39):
to relaxation mode. And sothat's one of the issues I've
heard a lot of youngprofessionals dealing with. And
so I think that's also a placewhere a young professional group
can be really valuable. I mean,it's a great opportunity to get
out of the house, or get out ofthe workplace and sort of just
(04:59):
connect with peopleprofessionally and personally
and, and talk to them about thestruggles that you're dealing
with and maybe grow your networkand grow yourprofessional
career. Chris, anything to add?
Chris Lowicki (05:14):
Yeah, I think that the burnout and the
struggling with this new hybridwork environment, I know people
that are in the office five daysa week, and they're just as
burnt out as people that areworking home five days a week.
Tara Thurber (05:30):
Yeah (laughs).
Chris Lowicki (05:30):
It doesn't really seem to be a magic bullet for
Tara Thurber (05:31):
Yeah (laughs).
it. I'd also say economicstressors are huge for our
generation. Everyone's tellingus, we're not going to see
social security, we're nevergoing to own a home. And I know
for me, I have like six figuresworth of student loan debt.
Chris Lowicki (05:47):
It's more than just finding a job. It's all
those little outside factorsthat that play a big factor. But
there's so many differentthings. I feel like the world
today with technology andeverything, it's just it's so
crazy. And I feel like oldergenerations thought that we
would just kind of be used to itgrowing up in it. And I feel
(06:09):
like a lot of us are struggling.
So I can't tell you how manypeople that are on social media
diets, or have just completelyquit social media, in general.
And that actually brings up agood point, I think generational
differences in the workplace areinteresting to manage. The gap
between Gen X and Boomers, Idon't think is that large
culturally, but the gap betweenGen Z and Boomers are there. I
(06:32):
mean, they're basically twoseparate types of people. So
navigating that, especially in asmaller office setting can be
pretty challenging, but you justyou roll with the punches, and
you learn and, like Amirah saidthat the best way to learn is
from other young professionalsand to get out there, see what
other people experiences. You'renot alone, a lot of these
(06:53):
experiences are incrediblyversatile. We're all we're all
struggling with it, but we make
Tara Thurber (06:59):
Yeah, it's hard when you talk about the whole
it.
work life balance, and hybridand burnout, and it's so real, I
feel like we are all alwaysplugged in. And it's like
technology burnout on top of itall. And trying to navigate your
(07:19):
way through that. And gettingout of the house is sometimes it
can give people social anxietynow, because of COVID, or being
home so much. So I think that'sone thing too, for young
professionals is, if we can allget out together, we're all
(07:40):
dealing with it together. So bygetting in person with one
another, you can share thosestruggles, and hopefully learn
different ways to get throughit. That kind of leads me into
my next question, in apost-COVID environment? How can
(08:01):
young professionals find thiswork life balance with demanding
careers or different worksituations? What are the young
professionals doing nowadays, tokind of get out of that mindset,
or switch their mindset?
Amirah Hussain (08:20):
So I would definitely say that prioritizing
your well being should be at thetop of everybody's list. And I
think young professionals areactually better at it maybe than
the previous generation. I mean,that is at the top of their
list, having a work life balanceis at the top of their list,
(08:42):
whereas maybe for previousgenerations, it wasn't. And that
was maybe a luxury that some ofthem couldn't couldn't afford,
but prioritizing your mentalhealth, making sure that you are
engaging in hobbies, orexercising or hanging out with
(09:02):
your friends once or twice aweek, at least. It's just so
important to recharge and reset,because if you don't fill your
own glass, you're not going tohave anything to pour for any
other type of work. And ou wantto bring your best to every
situation, you want to bringyour best self to work. You want
(09:25):
to bring your best self toeverywhere else. And so you
can't do that. If you're nottaking care of yourself first.
Tara Thurber (09:32):
Which I think can be a big a big switch up from
years ago, it was work, work,work 10 hours a day, 12 hours a
day because you needed to proveyourself and there was a
different form of sickness andburnout that came from that. So
I do feel like the youngergenerations are putting their
health first. But there's stillthat struggle of because they're
(09:57):
used to what they've been toldright? Or how they've been
brought Up to now realizing thatit is important to put that
health first because you'reright, Amirah, like you said, if
you can't fill up your own cupof water first, what do you have
to give other people? And Ithink that is something that
individuals need to realize, is,I do say, now there's no work
(10:21):
life balance, it's just the lifeblend. Because there can be so
much flexibility withopportunities, and different
work environments. And I do feelone thing that's been coming up
a lot in conversation is settingup a routine for yourself, if
(10:42):
you have a solid routine, whereyou're getting up in the
morning, and you're working out,or you're doing your meditation,
or you're doing some sort ofself care to set yourself up, to
show up for your work day, at110%. And then it's hard to say
but shutting off at the end ofthe day, disconnecting at the
(11:06):
end of the day, and I have atough time doing it, I feel like
I'm always plugged in. Andnowadays, it's that fast
response, you want to be able togive that quick response or get
something out or people areutilizing their downtime through
(11:27):
scrolling, scrolling throughsocial media, and that is not
healthy, that is not healthy foran individual for your mindset.
And so I think as moreinformation can be shared with
individuals on how to find thedisconnect, how to be okay with
(11:49):
that, I think is something thata lot of people struggle with,
and we have to keep remindingthem even business owners and
leadership needs to almost setboundaries, I think we all need
to set certain boundaries again,or reset certain boundaries in
order to make sure you can stillput yourself first. Create the
(12:15):
balance that you need for yourparticular work environment and
lifestyle, right?
Chris Lowicki (12:22):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think I know, this haskind of become a buzzword. But
workplace culture is huge.
Tara Thurber (12:29):
Very.
Chris Lowicki (12:29):
Finding a place like figuring out what you want,
and finding it. You know, one ofthe benefits of this post-Covid
world is, there's a plethora ofoptions, again, just at home,
just in the office or a hybrid.
Personally, I like hybrid, whenI got COVID At some point last
year, so I wasn't going to comeinto the office for a week, and
I was like tearing my hair.
(12:52):
But then on theflip side, like two months
Tara Thurber (12:52):
(laughs) later, I was in the office for
five straight days, and I waslooking around to my older
coworkers because I'm like, howdid you guys do this? For 30/35
years, this seems impossible. SoI feel like, you know, really
figuring out what works best foryou. Figuring out what you enjoy
about the current job you're in,and then not being afraid to go
(13:14):
out and find it. Because thereare so many options. It's not
all about money, or the name ofthe organization. It's really
about what's going to make youfeel your best what's going to
fill your cup.
Yeah, amazing. Andso true. I mean, the the company
(13:35):
culture right now, when I'mspeaking to candidates, that's
of utmost importance, they wantto know that there's culture,
they want to know that there'sflexibility, they want to know
that there's support andappreciation. As well as
philanthropy and so many otherthings that are out there for
(13:57):
businesses to be doing.
Professional development issuper huge. A young professional
wants to join a team thatthey're going to learn and
continue to grow with. Super,super important. Now, kind of
switching gears a little bit,keeping inflation and our
current economy in mind. How canyoung professionals effectively
(14:19):
manage their finances and planfor their future? Chris, I know
early you had mentioned Oh,you're never going to own a
home. So what can these youngprofessionals do now to start
preparing for that or figuringthat out?
Chris Lowicki (14:40):
When you figure it out, let me know (laughs).
Because I'm stilltrying my best. I'm 24 years
old. I'm still living at homelike many of my my friends and peers.
Tara Thurber (14:50):
Yeah.
Chris Lowicki (14:51):
We're just we're trying our best you know, I
obviously the easy answer isYouTube podcast. I mean, they're
like the second lot like thesecond largest sector of podcast
is financial podcasts and, andall that stuff. But obviously
you have to have real interestin it. And it can be tough,
especially if you're dealingwith burnout, or you're dealing
(15:12):
with a difficult work lifebalance. Because you know what,
like, for me like my indulgencesare like going out to eat, or
hanging out with friends andgrabbing a couple drinks if
that's how I relaxed, but itcosts me $100 every time.
How do youjustify one or the other? So I
wish I had a better answer. ButI'm looking for it just like a
(15:33):
lot of young professionals. So,again, get out there and talk to
others. Just talk to others.
That's, that's, that's my best advice.
Tara Thurber (15:41):
I love that, Chris Amirah. Do you have any advice
on that front?
Amirah Hussain (15:46):
Yeah, well, no, I think Chris put it
wonderfully. We're all sort ofout here struggling with
inflation and the rising costsof everything, not only rent,
but food and anything you canthink of, every bill under the
sun, it just continues to rise.
So I mean, that can be reallypainful. towards a young
(16:07):
professionals bottom line. And Imean, there are the typical
cookie cutter responses, makesure you're putting away money
in your 401K, make sure you'rebudgeting, make sure you have an
emergency fund with X amount ofmoney in it. But really, I mean,
that only makes sort of a dentin a hole (laughs).
(16:31):
Don't spendmaybe $7 on your latte every
day. But like I said, it justmakes a dent. Like a tiny little
dent in all of this. Sounfortunately, we're also trying
to figure that out. But I thinkthat's the benefit of the young
professional community, we canall come together and share some
(16:52):
of these experiences and maybelaugh about it a little bit.
Tara Thurber (16:58):
(laughs) And it's so true, because it's not, I
think there's a lot of peopleout there trying to figure it
out. And not just youngprofessionals, and I can't
stress enough that you need tocontinue to keep putting
yourself out there, you need tobe comfortable in the
(17:20):
uncomfortable. You need to allowyourself to be vulnerable.
Because you're not alone outthere. There are so many people
that are out there, trying tomake an impact, trying to find
their career, build theirprofession, figure out the
financial aspects of life. So Iagree, now, networking has just
(17:44):
taken such a different. There'sa different energy about
networking now too. And I thinksome young professionals may get
really nervous and have thatsocial anxiety. But just know
and believe that, more oftenthan not, the person that's
walking in next to you probablyfeels the same way. And that's
(18:09):
where you just say hi. And youtake it from there. So I think
that's one thing that has beenbecome more and more apparent,
this year, as well, is going tothose networking events, putting
your name out there, you canalways post in and send emails
(18:29):
and talk through a screen. Butit's being in person together,
sharing that energy, sharingthat conversation, that that
really allows I feel moregenuine and authentic
conversations to take place.
Amirah Hussain (18:45):
I absolutely agree. And I can say from
personal experience, it's veryanxiety inducing. And it's scary
to put yourself in a new settingwhere you know, you may not know
anybody at all. And so, it'sreally important, though, to do
that. Because the more you doit, the less scary it will be.
(19:07):
And I mean, I've done thisbefore, too, but if you could
grab a friend to go with you, itcan really take a lot of the
pressure off. And you both do alittle bit of networking and you
grab some dinner afterwards.
It's therapeutic. So there'sdefinitely workarounds for that.
Tara Thurber (19:28):
I love it. What were you gonna say, Chris?
Chris Lowicki (19:31):
I was just gonna give a quick shameless plug that
the New Jersey YoungProfessionals, exactly like
Amirah said, like we we've hadto deal with this for our work.
The you know, the story I alwaystell is, you know, I was 22
years old coming out of collegeand I get this job. And I find
out I'm going to these events. Idon't know what networking is, I
don't know what networking eventis. And I'm told to just start
(19:54):
walking up to people and I'mwalking up to like the CEO of
JCP&L and PSE&G and it'sterrifying. I was definitely
thrown into the fire. So tocombat that, with the whole goal
of Young Professionals is tobuild the complete opposite
environment as relaxed aspossible. So you don't have to
worry about these big imposingpeople and these big names. It's
just people that look like you,that act like you, that talk
(20:16):
like you and you're just hangingout, you're having a drink,
you're eating a little bit offood, and you're just hanging
out. But with enough practice,that translates into the big
time, the big leagues. Yea know?
Tara Thurber (20:28):
I love that, too, Chris. I's so true. And talking
about when we think aboutgetting out in networking, I'd
love to, you know, we've gonethrough a lot right now. But
maybe we can just provide ourTop5reasons on why young
professionals need to get outand network. What are both your
(20:50):
thoughts for the Top5?
Chris Lowicki (20:54):
Want me to start?
Or do you want to start?
Alright, because I haven't takenabout this.
Tara Thurber (20:58):
Okay (laughs).
Chris Lowicki (20:59):
I think community, I think that's a
really tough thing for ourgeneration. There's a lot of
great literature out there. Now,there's no more public spaces,
or public meeting places to findthat sense of community, you
know, people make fun of Knightsof Columbus and all that kind of
stuff. But they werecommunities. So community.
(21:20):
Practice, as I said earlier, itbecause you're gonna have to
network eventually. So you mightas well get the practice and lay
that base now. I would say,opportunity is another huge one,
as we said, If you don't likewhere you're at, sorry, you
don't like where you're atnetwork of other people, find
out what their organizations arelike, and go there, try and
(21:42):
apply, try and work there. Thefourth thing,
Amirah Hussai (21:45):
I'll just pop in.
Chris Lowicki (21:48):
Jump in.
Amirah Hussain (21:49):
You know, I think, one not one other
important piece of networking isthe mentorship that you can
potentially get, I mean, youmight find somebody that you
really admire, or they may be ona career path that you really
like. And so, mentorship isextremely important for
professional development. And Imean, there's, you want to have
(22:10):
a mentor whoever they are. Andthen the last thing I'll just
add is just boostingprofessional confidence. Getting
out there making yourselfcomfortable with just talking
about yourself, because that'snot always easy for everyone.
Give the elevator pitch aboutyourself, brag about the great
things that you're doing. Andjust get comfortable talking in
(22:32):
a professional setting. I thinkthat's that's really important.
Tara Thurber (22:38):
Excellent. These Top5 are super important. I
could not agree more. And I willput another little plug out
there that everybody listeningwe have a networking event we'd
love everybody to come to theNew Jersey Chamber of Commerce
Young Professionals are havingan event at DefinedTalent's
(23:02):
space in Red Bank, New Jersey onThursday, May 9. It is sponsored
by Withium and hosted byDefinedTalent in the
DefinedLogic studio, studio RedBank and from 6 to 8:30, 6 - 9?
I should know the dates andtimes I know it's May 9.
Chris Lowicki (23:20):
Its to 8
Tara Thurber (23:24):
We'll make sure to send out the details when we
post this podcast. But Amirahand Chris are so excited to have
you on this podcast to sharewhat you're doing at the New
Jersey chamber of commerce withyoung professionals. Any
support, we are here todefinitely support and I'm
excited to see you all on May 9,as well as you some some fresh
(23:48):
faces and some youngprofessionals out there.
Chris Lowicki (23:52):
Thank you so much for the opportunity, and I
really appreciate both.
Amirah Hussain (23:55):
Likewise.
Tara Thurber (23:57):
Excellent. Thank you both again. We are defined
talent, a defined logic servicecoming to you at top five. Make
it a great day.
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