On RisingGen Relevance

^{Author: Celine Fitzgerald}

"Not all those who wander are lost." J.R.R. Tolkien

In anticipation of facilitating our newest peer group program, RisingGen CORE 20s, I've found myself reflecting on my own twenties era - a roller coaster of emotions!

I learned, in what felt like an "all at once" moment at age 21, that I was a wealth inheritor. An attorney sat across a conference room table from me and shared that I was a beneficiary of a trust. I wasn't sure what that meant, but he made it clear that I had very limited access to the assets. While many would think this kind of moment would leave a girl elated, I left overwhelmed, feeling completely unprepared for the road ahead.

What I didn't realize at that time was that I had a long way to go in believing in my capabilities and finding myself. I followed a road exploring one career path - it left me unfulfilled. A handful of years spent walking down another completely different career path, left me cold as well.

I knew I could never allow myself to be unemployed. I knew hustle and grind would pay off and prepare me for the important roles that were yet to come - but in the back of my mind I worried that my work wasn't turning into anything. In light of the wealth I would one day inherit and the impact my family members were making in business and philanthropy, whatever I was doing seemed...irrelevant.

In Dr. Meg Jay’s book, The Defining Decade, she shares in a chapter about work that 20-somethings commonly have a fear of being irrelevant. 

As I look back to myself on my journey to adulthood, that was and and honestly maybe always will be a fear of mine.

Standing in the shadow of success is challenging - I will never recreate what my dad and grandfather did all those decades ago. But maybe that was never the way to find relevance.

My advice to RisingGens in their 20s and beyond: Your effort matters. Do not waste the opportunity and experience you will gain in any life or career path by not doing anything. Just. Do. Something. Looking back, every experience that I had in my early career wanderings taught me about my strengths and weaknesses and allowed me to capitalize on the next opportunity.

Finally, in my 30's I've found my path - a unique patchwork of coaching inheritors and presentations to the family office world - along with several roles within my own family office including philanthropy which I am particularly passionate about, and being a mom! I know I won't recreate what my dad and grandfather did, but I also know that my work has relevance and makes a difference in the world and in my family, and that makes all the wandering worth it.