Let’s Get Together – Bridging the Gap

♫ ♪ Let’s get together, yeah, yeah, yeah. We could have a real good ti-ime! ♫ ♪

Do you recognize those lyrics from the movie Parent Trap? The 1960’s film had the characters sing it and the 1998 remake referenced it. I find it the perfect sentiment to kick off today’s launch of Bridging the Gap. It’s also perfect because this new project has paired one woman who grew up watching the 60’s version with another who watched the late 90’s film. So….

Let’s Get Together

200 Influencers have stepped up to take part in this unprecedented campaign for “age relations”. As women from multiple and diverse demographics, we have much to offer one another. We are stronger together! This fall’s Bridging the Gap campaign unites the Millennial and Midlife Demographics to blur so-called boundaries while encouraging Reciprocal Mentorship.

Reciprocal Mentorship?

Say WHAT? Reciprocal Mentorship is a new and empowered way of bringing the generations together by each sharing their unique gifts with the other.  Forever Fierce: The Midlife Revolution brought us together as midlife peers to eliminate competition and encourage women to champion each other instead of competing with one another.

Moving forward into this next phase of boundary-busting, I could not have asked for a better partner than a fresh, young, Southern Bell from Memphis, who shares my love of real crime TV.  Rock us to sleep Forensic Files! 😉

 

Let’s Get Together, What Do You Say?

Everybody say, “Hi Megan”! Megan is the creator of Pretty in Pink Megan, a style blog that combines beautiful photography, attainable fashion advice and inspiration, along with her love of travel. Most of Megan’s posts are to the point and a highlight in the day for any fashion lover.

Kentucky born and bred, Megan, has always had a passion for beauty and fashion. However, she was on a course to become an attorney when she decided to leave law school after seeing some of her friends graduating with mounds of debt. It just didn’t seem like a good idea to burden herself that way and for something she wasn’t passionate about. I tell you, this girl is SMART!

She didn’t walk away from law school empty handed though. She met her husband Ronnie, moved to Memphis and embarked on a life that she loves. She’s a pharmaceutical sales rep by day, part-time blogger night and full-time fashionista.  Out of her passion, pipmegan.com was born!

I could go on and on about this sweet girls bio, but you can head to her blog, subscribe and find out ALL the goods, ALL the time. I especially like this post she wrote just after NYFW. What I will go on about, is how my first conversation with Megan went down.

We’d Be a Cra-a-azy Team

Megan and I were both late to the Bridging the Gap campaign. Not because we weren’t included. We are both just busy women who didn’t really take the time to figure it all out. When I did finally contact her, I did so with more than a tad of anxiety. I mean, look at her! Her style. Her beauty. Her website.  Her social media presence. CRAZY GOOD!

 And she was paired with little ol’, curvy, crazy me. Was this beauty disappointed to be paired with me, a woman at midlife who’s still figuring all this out? Would she be distant and disinterested? Would I hear the regret in her voice?

Oh my gosh peeps, NO! She was warm and open and generous in every single way. The charm of her ever so slight southern draw put me at ease right away. Her willingness to share her story and answer my questions let me know she’s one of the good ones.

She wanted to be part of the campaign to Build Relationships that will further her as she reaches for her goals of making her passion her vocation. She understands that building a community is vital to success, no matter what your age, profession, gender or race.

Think of All That We Could Sha-are!

Her willingness to offer me tips for expanding my blogging venture was humbling. It also left me pondering on this whole reciprocal mentorship thing.

I generally think of mentorships for professional situations or in a Tuesdays with Morrie kind of way. Someone, older and wiser sharing their wisdom with the younger novice. And yes, there’s that aspect of mentorship. But I’ve been being mentored by millennials for some time now.

You see, my own children are millennials. I only started using text as a primary form of communication because of them. No, it’s not how I like to keep in touch. A phone call is faster and easier to me. But when I realized that that’s how they communicate the best, I needed to get with their program. I joined Facebook to be able to keep up with photos and information they were sharing and now it’s part of my life and even my business. One of my daughter-in-law’s turned me on Pinterest and my life will NEVER be the same again! 😉

If we care about being part of a millennials life, there is MUCH we can learn from them. We need them to “move us forward”. They have grown up in an era that technology is common and they aren’t afraid to keep grabbing on to every innovation.

They may need us to keep them grounded to “simpler” times. By our examples, they might also learn that it’s never to late change your game plan and reinvent yourself.

Megan’s vast experience into this world of blogging, her wisdom in building a tribe, and her openness to share what she knows is invaluable to me. We are peers at this level. And let’s not forget, we are both women. Does that make us sisters, peers, friends? Maybe all of the above!

Why Don’t You and I Combi-ine!

Is there a GAP, really?

When I asked Megan if she felt like there was a gap between our generations, she shared my belief that there is NOT. I’m not saying that ageism does not exist. But I haven’t really experienced it outside of what is normal.

The truth is, we AREN’T the same age. We ARE in different seasons of our lives and that puts us in different friend and peer groups. I don’t need to be seen as young and cool. I do, however, want to be considered relevant no matter my age, the same way that millennials also want to be considered relevant by those of us in midlife. We each want to be respected by the other.

“Deep inside of every Midlife Woman, a Millennial exists and within every Millennial lie a future Midlifer to be.” catherine o’connell – catherinegraceo.com

Isn’t it time we stop seeing a gap? There are energy and innovation in youth, and wisdom and experience in midlife. Let’s share with one another and embrace both for the greater good. I believe it can go both ways here too. The founder of Bridging the Gap and The Fierce 50, Catherine O’Connell says, “Deep inside of every Midlife Woman, a Millennial exists and within every Millennial lie a future Midlifer to be.”

We invite you to join us as we show you that age is just a number while it’s your attitude about life that keeps you young or makes you old. With the concept of Reciprocal Mentorship, we encourage these demographics to embrace one another and share their unique wisdom.  

Oh, I Really Think You’re Swell!

Thanks for Getting Together with me Megan. We are definitely #StrongerTogether.

Let’s Get Together Right Away and start a conversation. Do YOU perceive a large gap between Millennials and Midlifers? Are you open to Recipricol Mentorship?  Leave your thoughts in the comments below. And invite others to join our conversation by sharing this post on social media.

Midlifer,