Episode's summary
For Gen Z, the line between creative expression and entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly blurred—but what does it take to turn a passion into a sustainable career? Research from Deloitte suggests that Gen Z is approaching career success through a combination of financial security, meaningful work, and personal well-being. At the same time, emerging opportunities in the creator economy are giving young entrepreneurs new ways to build businesses around their creative skills. In this episode, Dr. Meghan Grace sits down with Emily Henegar, cookie artist, content creator, and entrepreneur behind Cookie in the Kitchen, to explore how Gen Z is blending creativity with business—and finding new ways to make a living doing what they love. What started as an 11-year-old selling cookies around her neighborhood has grown into a creative business making edible works of art for everyone from next-door neighbors to Harry Styles, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter. But for Emily, it's about more than beautiful…
For Gen Z, the line between creative expression and entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly blurred—but what does it take to turn a passion into a sustainable career? Research from Deloitte suggests that Gen Z is approaching career success through a combination of financial security, meaningful work, and personal well-being. At the same time, emerging opportunities in the creator economy are giving young entrepreneurs new ways to build businesses around their creative skills. In this episode, Dr. Meghan Grace sits down with Emily Henegar, cookie artist, content creator, and entrepreneur behind Cookie in the Kitchen, to explore how Gen Z is blending creativity with business—and finding new ways to make a living doing what they love. What started as an 11-year-old selling cookies around her neighborhood has grown into a creative business making edible works of art for everyone from next-door neighbors to Harry Styles, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter. But for Emily, it's about more than beautiful…
Episodes
How Gen Z is Turning Creativity into a Career
ListenedFor Gen Z, the line between creative expression and entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly blurred—but what does it take to turn a passion into a sustainable career? Research from Deloitte suggests that Gen Z is approaching career success through a combination of financial security, meaningful work, and personal well-being. At the same time, emerging opportunities in the creator economy are giving young entrepreneurs new ways to build businesses around their creative skills. In this episode, Dr. Meghan Grace sits down with Emily Henegar, cookie artist, content creator, and entrepreneur behind Cookie in the Kitchen, to explore how Gen Z is blending creativity with business—and finding new ways to make a living doing what they love. What started as an 11-year-old selling cookies around her neighborhood has grown into a creative business making edible works of art for everyone from next-door neighbors to Harry Styles, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter. But for Emily, it's about more than beautiful…
Teach Me Three - Zach
ListenedGen Z may be the most digitally connected generation yet—but they’re also embracing analog technology, creating new rules for sharing their lives online, and borrowing language from gaming to make sense of everyday life. In this episode of #GENZ’s Teach Me Three series, Dr. Meghan Grace sits down with her former coworker and longtime friend Zach Jones, who has been teaching her about Gen Z culture long before the series officially existed. Zach teaches Meghan why Gen Z is rediscovering vinyl records, physical books, and digital cameras, breaks down the art of the “soft launch” versus the “hard launch,” and explains how gaming terms like “side quests,” “locked in,” and “aura points” have made their way into everyday language. Along the way, they talk about authenticity, slowing down in an increasingly digital world, and why a little inconvenience might actually make life more meaningful. It’s a lighthearted conversation about the trends shaping Gen Z culture—and how they reflect a larger desire to make…
Gen Z and True Crime Consumption
ListenedTrue crime has always fascinated audiences—but TikTok, podcasts, and social media have fundamentally changed how we participate in it. In this episode of #GenZ, Dr. Meghan Grace sits down with Dr. Simon Hobbs, Senior Lecturer in Visual Culture at the University of Portsmouth and co-editor of #True Crime: Digital Culture, Ethics and True Crime Audiences, to explore how Gen Z is reshaping true crime culture. Simon explains how younger audiences have moved beyond simply watching or listening to true crime. They're discussing cases in real time, sharing theories, amplifying overlooked stories, questioning representation, and increasingly challenging the ethics behind the content they consume. Meghan and Simon dig into why true crime has historically resonated so strongly with women, the complicated line between feeling informed and becoming fearful, and how overconsumption can influence our perception of safety. They also explore whose stories receive attention, whose are overlooked, and whether platforms like…
Breaking Down Gen Z Slang and Language
ListenedEvery generation evolves the way we speak—but what makes Gen Z’s language feel different? Research on language change suggests that the way we speak is constantly evolving alongside our social networks, identities, and culture. For Gen Z, growing up online has expanded networks dramatically, allowing slang, speech patterns, and cultural references to spread faster and farther than ever before. In this episode, Dr. Meghan Grace sits down with sociolinguist and author Dr. Valerie Fridland to explore what the way Gen Z communicates can tell us about the generation and the culture shaping them. In this episode: Why every generation reinvents language Where Gen Z slang comes from Why regional accents are changing How social media spreads language How AI could shape the way we communicate What Gen Z’s casual communication reveals about their values How to communicate better across generations ValerieFridland.com Instagram: @LikeLiterallyDude Like, Literally, Dude and Why We Talk Funny
Teach Me Three - Charlie
ListenedGen Z is constantly evolving—from the language they use to the way they travel, work, connect, and adopt new technology. In this episode, Dr. Meghan Grace kicks off a new #GENZ series where members of Gen Z teach her three things they think the rest of us should know. Her first guest is Charlie, a 23-year-old Butler University graduate, young sales professional, and Meghan’s former roommate—and longtime unofficial Gen Z correspondent. Charlie teaches Meghan what it means when something is “chopped,” introduces her to the anxiety-inducing world of “airport theory,” and explains why he believes Gen Z’s early adoption of AI could become a major advantage. Along the way, they talk about generational differences, social media, digital habits, and why a generation known for being chronically online may also be learning when it’s time to put the phone down. It’s a lighthearted conversation about what Gen Z is actually thinking, doing, and talking about—and what the rest of us might learn by simply asking. We…