Guest Post by Megan Thompson

From time to time, we all meet people that inspire the heck out of us, people that have us wanting to become the most successful versions of ourselves, and who motivate us to be better than we currently are.

Right now, we’re in the middle of what some call the Millennial revolution. We’re the bunch of late 20’s to 30-year-olds that are shaking up the working world and changing things. We’re not only surrounded by kick-ass peers that show us the ropes, but we’re inspiring each other to become even more successful, and we’re working damn hard for it too.

Five Inspirational Millennials

The term hustle is underrated when it comes to understanding just how impactful Millennials are, but to give you an idea, we’re going to tell you a little more about 5 of our favorite Millennials, and why they rock!

Number One – Amy Odell

Why? She’s the editor of Cosmopolitan
The Story: Amy Odell, editor of Cosmopolitan online, has reshaped the face of Cosmo’s virtual world. She was the one who started the New York Magazine fashion blog, and she’s also written a book. And all of that at just 30 years old. After standing up to her boss, she got fired from her first job, but that turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to her. After that, she started rising to the top thanks to her hard work and hasn’t looked back since.
Lesson Learned: Work harder than you think need to because everything that’s worth it requires a LOT of persistence, effort, and determination. But you’ll be happy with the results!

Number Two – Baldwin Cunningham

Why? He’s a co-founder and the CEO of Partnered
The Story: Baldwin Cunningham realized the need to start hooking bug-brand customers and techies up with each other, which is why he helped build Partnered.com, an online platform which was designed to put brands and startups in touch with one another specifically.
Lesson Learned: While you’re busy making your way to the top of the corporate ladder, it doesn’t hurt to help someone else climb the ladder, too!

Number Three – Apoorva Mehta

Why? He is the founder of Instacart
The Story: Having started his career at Amazon, Apoorva Mehta knew he had to make an impact on the world. He went through about 25 possible business ideas before he finally saw a brilliant gap in the market: same-day online grocery deliveries. Instacart is a stunning app that operates in 18 big cities today, and using it is as simple as ordering groceries online and then setting up a delivery time and location.
Lesson Learned: Looking to start a business? Make sure you identify a real problem and then create a solution for it.

Number Four – Payal Kadakia

Why? She’s the brain behind ClassPass
The Story: Payal knew just how frustrating it was to be limited to certain fitness classes because she couldn’t afford to sign up for each and every one of them. So how did she bridge that gap? She founded ClassPass, a multi-functional “voucher” system that allows its users to pay a simple monthly subscription fee in order to gain access to a huge variety of fitness classes in their area so that they have the opportunity to try them all out before they settle with just one.
Lesson Learned: Use your personal problems to inspire you. And then build an exceptional product to help everyone else with the same problem, too.

Number Five – Kiah Williams

Why? She co-founded and now directs SIRUM
The Story: Kiah Williams, together with her friends (and partners) Adam Kircher and George Wang, created the renowned platform SIRUM. The app provides those desperately in need of medication with meds that have been marked as unused or expired. It solves a massive problem in the US: folks in need now have access to basic medications, something which they didn’t previously. Thanks to SIRUM, they no longer have to make a choice between having food or having meds.
Lesson Learned: Social entrepreneurship goes a long way – you don’t always have to sell something that can be used to improve the lives of the rich and healthy. Instead, you can also shift your attention towards helping those that need it most.

And there you have it, five Millennials that are changing the world, one digital footprint at a time!

Guest Post

Megan Thompson is a DIY health and beauty addict. She’s committed to making her itsy-bitsy apartment chemical free and her diet as unprocessed as possible. You can find her work at Gold Mountain Beauty where she is responsible for the blog, Instagram and Pinterest.