Gen Jones
You can't hurt me
This is embarrassing, but together with my 27 year old daughter we discovered yesterday that it’s “brussels sprouts” and not “brussel sprouts”. Understandable since it sounds the same when you say it out loud…which we immediately did, incredulous, about 20 times.
I also discovered this week that there’s a reason why, born in 1963, I identify far more with Gen X than the Boomers (which I’ve been lumped into the tail end of).
Turns out, there’s a sub-gen called “Gen Jones” (as if we weren’t parsing all this out too much already with the labels), and I’m in it.
I don’t know why, but it makes me feel somehow vindicated to be able to say with conviction I’m not a boomer. So, thanks Jonathan Pontell.
I’m shocked to find the term was coined back in 1999… so why are so many of us in this slice of the generational pie (which, incidentally comprises more than the boomers and Gen X combined) only recently owning it or even being aware of it?
I came of age in the wake of the feminist movement, Civil Rights activism, and changing workplace dynamics, alongside major movements like racial equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and environmental awareness. My first car was a ‘72 VW Bug in which I drove girlfriends on high school lunch break to Planned Parenthood to get The Pill while listening to cassette tapes of Blondie and Fleetwood Mac.
We were shaped by watching Watergate unfold on television and waiting in gas lines
~Beth Wiggins
Fiercely independent - even if a parent was at home we roamed freely until dinnertime, we straddled a huge cultural and technological divide. (And yes, we drank out of hoses on the regular…I mean who wants to go home to hydrate?)
We spent our teen years in the 70’s, then carried the high expectations of our parent’s generation into a worldwide recession when we entered the workforce. We’re notoriously problematic in politics - liberal on some issues, conservative on others. It’s no wonder we’re considered practical idealists.
As an example, my degree in graphic design was obsolete by the time I graduated - over the course of five years the program went from completely analog to computer based, and if you were (as I was) graduating at the latter end of that transition you were f*cked. The transitions in technology that occurred in the early 80’s found us with our feet in two different worlds.
Generation Jones is clearing its throat. Its voice will be heard.
Jonathan Pontell
Not sure why I’m just now discovering this whole Gen Jones thing, but as it relates to my own business and the clients I serve, it’s certainly relevant. Having been largely silent in claiming our place in this labeling hierarchy of generations, we’re now really hitting our stride - and it’s impossible not to notice us… especially women in this age group. Think Melinda Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Indra Nooyi, and Sheila Johnson to name a few.
I’m always excited to work with women born in this slice of the 20th century - we embrace reinvention and second acts, work to lift up other women, are often entrepreneurial and financially independent, and are driven by deep personal motivations - wanting to make a lasting impact for the better.
So I’ve learned a couple of things this week - both of which I should have already been aware of… but tomato tomahto (or brussel brussels). Whatever. Better late than never.
💋
Suzanne