Bridging the gap – Millennials and Midlifers in unique campaign

Bridging the GAP…What am I on about? What gap? The aim of this unique campaign is to bridge the gap between ‘old’ midlifers like me and millennials (young people in the prime of their lives) and in doing so to learn from each other.

Today, 100 midlifers and 100 millennials are posting on the same day; all of us are embracing new challenges in a constantly changing world.

We have a lot of knowledge to share from our life experiences. I love the energy, innovation and fearlessness of youth and I feel that, as a midlifer, I can offer them some of the wisdom that comes with age and experience.

‘Inside every midlife woman lies a millennial that was and inside every millennial is a future midlifer’, according to Catherine Grace O’Connell, founder of the Fierce 50, now known as the Midlife Revolution.

The same passion and lust for life burn inside me now as they did thirty or forty years ago. I want to be part of a world that respects all demographics and all differences and this campaign is the perfect beginning.

Enough about me.

I want to introduce you to my millennial partner Courtney Smith. I know Courtney very well, I gave birth to her 30 years ago; yes, she is my daughter. I am in awe of her and her energy; she works 14-hour days and often longer, building up her brand, because that is what she is now.

A fashion junkie from a young age, she and her sister spent hours dressing up and putting on fashion shows until she progressed to cutting up clothes and re-working them. This was fine until I returned home one day to find my favourite leather trousers (so what if they were too tight) had been transformed into a jacket for her.

Having studied fashion design in Ireland, she then went to the London College of Fashion to do a post grad in Fashion Media.

Back to Ireland where she set up as a freelance fashion stylist. She is the first to admit that the first few years were not easy, knocking on doors trying to get her name out there. At that time, there were only a few stylists in Dublin and it was pretty much a closed shop! But PERSEVERANCE is her middle name and soon she was a regular on Irish television talking about fashion trends, showing the latest styles, or representing brands, and her work was being seen in publications at home and abroad.

She has travelled all over the world – New York, LA, Mexico, Dubai and Cape Town to mention a few – and there is hardly a country in Europe she has not featured in her shoots. She also found time to launch a YouTube channel (see link here) and hopes to do more with it in the future.

Last year, she returned to her fashion roots by designing a range of boots in collaboration with ShoeLab, inspired by rock n’ roll greats (pictured above and below). It was a huge success and the second collection is now on sale online. You can read my earlier post on the boots here.

 

In recent years, she has become known as an influencer (not a term that she particularly likes) and has been approached by numerous brands who want to link her name to their products. I admire her ethics as she turns down many of them, because they are not the right fit with her own personal brand. She even turned down a car, for goodness sake! When Range Rover come calling, she claims she will be ready! While she does not have a blog, she has a huge instagram following and you can find her @courtneysmithstyle.

So, it was no surprise to the family when she became a brand ambassador for Samsung (pictured above before flying to Monte Carlo for latest Samsung phone launch) and Magnum Ice Cream and H&M (both below).

Other facts you need to know about Courtney (other than her dedication to her work, her drive and professionalism) are that she is loyal and generous and full of fun.  So you see, I didn’t have to go too far to find my millennial partner – bridging the gap is pretty easy for us.