Applicant #15: Jenn Cloud

Jenn Cloud is a 25-year-old from St. Charles.

Jenn's video application:

Jenn online:

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Jenn's current situation:

Hi there! I'm Jenn Cloud, a 25-year-old from way out west in good 'ol St. Charles. I got married in 2007, graduated college and got my first "big girl job" in 2008, and then got sucker-punched by the recession in 2009 where everything kind of came to a screeching halt...

But really, that's when things got awesome!

I put on my thinking cap, picked up my wizard wand and started my journey. My adventures have led me to a lot of great people, fun work on some crazy stuff and a few opportunities that I hadn't even dreamed of back in Business 101! Times got tough for a bit there, but I wouldn't trade what I've learned through it all for anything.

I currently work in marketing and I am always on the lookout for big ideas...like Young & Free! They are definitely on to something here in St. Louis, and I would love the chance to be a part of it!

Jenn's blog post:

A friend of mine (who just happens to be about the age of my grandpa!) recently told me that he is so not jealous of what young people are going through, today. Yeah, this guy who went to WAR is telling me he doesn't envy our battle growing up in the new millennium...really? That is some tough news!

But one thing I realized in that conversation is that people who go through tough stuff become tough people. He is the man that he is, who built the business and the life that he did because he fought some battles. Really, nothing huge has changed for us except the way those battles may look in 2011.

We don't have to be victims, though! Sure, it's tough getting through college, it's tough getting a job and saving money, it's tough getting out of our parents' house, but tough doesn't mean impossible. Here are a few things that I've learned about getting the best out of getting through!

1) Sometimes experience is more valuable than an awesome paycheck. Right now it's important that we make ourselves as valuable as we can to employers and increase our chances of getting a job. Look seriously at what you want to do and keep beefing up the right skills to get you on that path. I took an unpaid internship a year out of college because the company I was working with full time cut my hours in the summer. The internship was with a cool company and I learned some seriously important stuff about using social media for business, there.

2) On the note of parents' houses, there's nothing wrong with hanging with them for a while longer. If your parents are cool and they are willing, take some time to get on your feet and save up some money rather than dumping all of your money into rent right away. It's so worth it! Seriously, I even lived with the 'rents after I got MARRIED, and we are not the only couple I know who has done so!

3) Now, you want to know my super secret sauce for seizing the day? Volunteering. No joke. Want to get involved in work that is beneficial? Want to meet some great people that could become great friends or even great job connectors? Or do you have a conference, concert or some other event you really want to go to? Almost always there are ways to volunteer to help out at events and organizations around St. Louis that would get you in for free that let you meet people you otherwise may not have. (And sometimes you even get cool stuff like t-shirts to keep!)

Always be open to everything. Go everywhere you can. Meet everyone, and work and play so hard that they get all smashed together and you can’t tell them apart!

Jenn