How About A Podcast??

First of all, I want to apologize for the lack for posting on life and updating my beard progress...The reason why things have been off the grid is because I have been in the works of trying to get these ideas and passions of spreading a relevant, applicable, sarcastic, and fun message of day to day experiences that you might be able to use in your life in some small or large way to an audio format.

The next step in doing this will be on a bigger scale that will be in the form of a podcast for WGN Radio's Podcast channel - WGN Plus, with this same idea and thought process in mind.

I will be interviewing people that I think people should know more about and share their thoughts and experiences that might help people talk more about.

Thank you for keeping with me and reading until now and follow the progress of the podcast on:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
WGNPlus.com

B

Saving Money - A Rap Story Pt 2

If you missed it yesterday, I decided to dive into a concern of mine regarding financial responsibility for millennials and how poor of a job we are doing. You can read up on part one to catch up, but if you're saying to yourself, "Ugggh Bennett just give me a rundown, it's almost Friday...I can't even...", fine I'll humor you.

In part one, I recognized a problem: millennials and young professionals are being too irresponsible with their money. I stand on the grounds of Lil Dicky and Macklemore deciding to produce songs to their huge millennial fan base addressing this problem with their tracks, $ave Dat Money and Thrift Shop. I am also living smack dab in the middle of the millennial world, so I get it.

So this is the problem, and if there is anything to take away after making it this far, it is following...SAVE MONEY. If Macklemore and Lil Dicky didn't drive it home, maybe you can take a hint from a couple of the biggest rappers to come out of Chicago since Kanye West - Vic Mensa and Chance The Rapper. They are some of the original people to create the artistic collection called, "SAVEMONEY". All they wanted to do was to make music and give themselves the chance to be in bigger and better places down the road...BY SAVING MONEY*!

This all comes down to a little bit of self-control, as many responsible activities do, and in case the basic saving instincts were never engrained early on, I'll share with you my own personal habits.

* * * * Now let me preface, that I am by no means a financial advisor, nor telling you * * * * 

that you need to do the following. 

All I did was the old mental trick of setting up my bank account that takes a percentage of my income and places it directly into my savings account before I'm even able to touch it. That's it. As time went on, I got better at combining other habits like holding off on impulse buys, limiting myself from excessive spending (when I am in spending mode), and only using money that I have.

These are the fundamental habits I have trained myself to live by depending on my living situation. But let's say things take a turn in life, for example I suddenly decide to leave my job (real talk: this actually happened last month). I'm not worried about the near future because I am able to live comfortably off what I saved in a rainy day fund. Until I can regain income, I am able to use this fund for necessities and even the occasional night out if I budget correctly.

I will emphasized that these are habits, so they probably won't come right away if you have decided to adopt them with little background. However, the best way to start getting better at being financially smart is to start saving, and talk about finances with people you trust. Ask questions, do general research, visit your bank, download an app, hell...hire a CFP if you can afford it. The point is we have a spending problem and it's being recognized, and if some of the biggest entertainers in the world can't help point that out, then S#@t, we have some serious thinking to do.

*According to an interview with Taylor Bennett (Chance The Rapper's brother) and Towkio, both members of the SAVEMONEY Crew

B
(The necessary tools for keeping a respectable beard: facial moisturizer // beard oil // razor // scissors // beard trimmer - though I prefer the scissors // comb // shaving cream)

Saving Money - A Rap Story Pt 1

In case you've been under a rock for the past couple of years, and never saw the following videos - "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and "$ave Dat Money" by Lil Dicky - please watch them as it will help for reference.

If you've seen these videos before, you know that the whole point them is to be frugal with your money; to go against the flow of the materialistic, instantly gratifying, lazy, and full priced culture we have created for ourselves.

Bennett, you're acting like some cold ass honky. What exactly are you talkin' about? Glad you asked. My generation has become so overcome with having things in the here and now, that our personal financial values have left us faster than snagging that last penny from a "Take One. Leave One." dish at a convenience store. My generation has a spending problem.

An example I see all too often is a young person working for their paycheck, and in a short amount of time, spend majority of it before deciding what would be best to do with it given their current situation. Maybe part of it should go towards student loans. Maybe they have a big expense coming up next month. Maybe they don't actually need $300 bottle service to have a good time on the weekend.

Now don't get me wrong by thinking I'm an old bag for not spending money. I am all for rewarding myself, but my god, it needs to be at the right time and it should be smart. With a simple and responsible plan, the fruits of one's labor can still be enjoyed (detailed more in part 2). What I'm asking is to take a little bit of Lil Dicky and Macklemore's message to heart and consider asking yourself, or a friend, "Is this the right purchase, and is it the best for me long term?", "Could I maybe get this cheaper somewhere else?", "Do you think they charged me for the ice-cubes?"

There are times and places to live in the moment but I think proper financials need to be practiced early and responsibly, so there is less worrying and stress each time someone checks their bank account.

B

(At this point, most people would start trimming, but I like to hold off as there is still a lot of growing to be done to get a nice thick beard. I'll continue to trim the neck line and start to clean up the upper check soon) 

A Quick Refresher on Social Media

Being apart of social media is programed within most of us at this point in society but the issue I see is people being lazy, uninterested, and not actively bettering themselves through the platform. The ability to be a contributing part of social media is a muscle within us that we need to continually buildup and flex during important moments in our lives.

We all have a message to get across in social media, whether that may be something simple and light (for example, this post about a cat) or monumental and significant (such as political views like John Oliver's). But how do we contribute productively and responsibly? By giving these muscles a regular work out that often get taken for granted. Social media is all about the compiling of an audience and the freedom to share your voice. We each have individualized audiences that we have (in a way) control over by what we post, but more often then not, we over look that and it's a shame.

We have the opportunity to build report, respect, and importance with this audience by posting meaningful, educated, and interesting opinions and information.

Now Bennett, how can I "flex these muscles" to give myself a better social media presence? Well, a good first place to start is properly using hashtags. Invented by Chris Messina (a former Google developer) who wanted to group internet subjects together and be able to take in a great amount of information, opinions, and thoughts effectively. However, I feel for many this definition has lost it's importance.

Too often I see people using these ironically, or satirically, when there is a good message in their post but it is because they aren't sharing something great to a potential audience or it simply isn't search-able because there aren't hashtags. If something is important to you, why not provide a thought that other people can take in and consider to grind through the 'ol brain blender, to interpret, and respond to in their respective manor (this is something I have not been the best at but I will strive to be better in everything I post in the future).

Now I'm not saying to go crazy and post wild, emotionally driven, uninterpretable rants every day, nor simply sloth videos every 20 minutes as that is a sure fire way to loose your audience, followers, and maybe friends if you want to be more than a one trick pony. Listen to what your mind and body tells you when you find something that makes you think. Is it infuriating? Is it different from others? Do you have more, well thought out, opinions about it? Why not help yourself in continuing to grow the respect for your audience while expanding and provide more to the web community. Keep flexing those social muscles.

B
(An important tool to grow a great beard is beard oil to keep your skin/facial hair healthy and smelling great. When it comes to this stuff, a little bit goes a long way. Depending on length of your beard: a couple drops, lubricate between fingers, and massage your face and beard while smoothing styling along the way)

"Oh, it's a small marketing firm in The Loop..."

How many times have you heard this answer mumbled at a bar, a party, a very sad networking event, or just about any other location in the city? If you live in Chicago, it's an all too familiar encounter. Thus, here is what you might think about these people upon hearing about their choice of profession (the negative and positive)...

Negative:

A bunch of brainwashing, money sucking, commercial junkies that only care about gaining your dollar and diving into the human mind to spread the most unsophisticated of messages to a large portion of the population, dumbing down the world one client at a time. Sure this might be an extreme, but it's good to provide a far reaching end of the spectrum.

Positive:

A group spreading the word of clients, big and small, to tell a story allowing the masses to interpret and create meaning based on the product, in order to create an informed or educated opinion about said product. A necessary business service for today's modern companies

Wherever you stand, you can't deny that marketing and advertising is something that has evolved from simple, straight forward ads of buying and selling opportunities, (starting all the way back in the early 1700's, with modern market research not coming around for another 200 years) toward grabbing our emotions by the face, staring right through our eyes, and into our pathos (and wallets). 

So why is this the topic of the day?(great question) This is something that EVERYONE is bombarded with on a daily basis, sometimes knowingly but also unknowingly. This is probably what makes people uncomfortable about the subject, so I believe the best way to fight those feelings about the industry (that isn't going anywhere, since the Chicago marketing industry has nearly doubled since 2005) is to become more educated. 

Talk about commercials, ask about the process, dive deeper into client and product messages. One of my favorite websites to help provide perspective is Adweek. Their facebook page has some of, what I think is, the most informative posts on ads and marketing tactics around. So the next time you're at the bar and you find yourself faced with that well acquainted response to, "So where do you work", bunker down, buy the next round, and dive in.

B (update: my beard is still growing...)

Millennials - Oh Great These Guys Again...

**I have mentioned this population a handful of times already, so let me give you my definition of "millennials" in the context of this blog: anyone born in the late 80's to the mid/late 90's from the US - I concentrate on this window simply because this is the group of people who I've had the most interaction with (18yo's-28yo's) so it's important to keep this in mind**

We are an interesting group of people. For a portion of us, there was usually a nice, large, comfy, (metaphorical) pillow under our butts for most of our lives. Whatever we did there was usually a positive result for everyone regardless of the outcome of our effort - public league soccer (everyone got a medal), birthday parties (everyone got a gift bag), punishments for your sibling knocking over a lamp (you got a spanking because you were just as guilty for being in the room). The idea of spreading fairness. 

Now many people might criticize the parents or guardians who brought us up this way, but lets be honest, wouldn't you do that same thing for your kid? Can you really say you wouldn't try to give them the best possible upbringing that was better than your own? Providing them with their own "pillow" to grow up with and shading them from the realities of unfair life with a little fairness sprinkled over the things we can control. Whether that's encouragement in minimal growth, or a monetary reward that they can relish until its been out grown...like an Easy-Bake Oven (yes I owned one)! I would genuinely enjoy seeing the revitalization of The Easy-Bake Oven that comes with its own virtual British chef, personalized with a heathy dose of Ina Garten for reassurance and a touch of Gordon Ramsey for the authenticity of a kitchen and life...but I digress.

First, we need to get in touch with ourselves so these non-existent kids even have a chance, and in order to do that, I believe we all need to check a couple items off our own lists: 1) Fail - in the words of Johnny Tsunami, "Go big or go home", 2) Move - literally move from where you live to somewhere you don't have much of a connection because you might not later, 3) Burn the metaphorical pillow - in other words become self-dependent, and that can be in any sense of the term. Whether that means financially, how you identify yourself based on experience, or any other way that works best with you.

I am in the midst of all three of these, and I think what lies ahead is something good, and it smells like artificial brownie mix that's made from a light bulb.

B

(A good neck line is one of the most important aspects to a respectable beard. Follow the natural curve of the jaw line // not too low, and definitely not too high)

A Formal Introduction

Well here you are. You've found yourself at what seems like just another millennial's blog that is here to grace the internet with my pictures of various facial hair adventures, thoughts, perspectives, and day-to-day stories about what fills my time. Sometimes mundane, other times significant. Either way, I'm here to do my best in shedding light on an honest life of a 23 year old.

In the following "diaries" you will see a few pictures of my face, along with a few other Chicago significant scenes and general interests, but most importantly my most powerful daily ideas that what many young people might sift through on a frequent basis, but don't necessarily want to share it themselves.

I'm looking forward sharing this with you as I've thought about it for along time.

B (mildly scruffed)