As more and more millennials enter the workforce, many experts agree that it’s crucial to map out the steps to take in order to create the kind of life they want. Whether it’s financial stability, a family, or creative fulfillment, the key to success in any arena is a plan.
“These next five years are going to be my five years,” Allie Jennings tells us over lunch. “This fall, I’m going to try out blunt bangs, which I’ll transition to longer, swooping bangs over the winter. Next summer it’ll be a pixie cut—I know! Eek!—which I’ll grow out into an asymmetrical bob by the following summer. Then it’s time to go blonde, then red, then pale pink. Also, every braid.”
Like any responsible twenty-something, she has a vision of where she wants her life to go.
“I have this folder on my desktop,” she continues. “It’s called ‘Hair Inspiration.’ Basically, whenever I see a picture on the Internet of someone with cool hair, I copy and paste it into this folder. Taking small steps like this can really translate into big life changes. It’s so important to plan ahead.”
Jennings says she created the folder after seeing a talk called, “Seize Your Future” at her local community college.
“The speaker made me feel like I could do anything if I put my mind to it. She said, ‘Anything is possible. Take your first step today.’ That very night, I created the desktop folder, and the first photo I put in there was of Maggie Gyllenhaal. She’s so pretty.”
Allie continued to fill the folder with images, day after day, week after week. It’s this tenacity that really sets her apart from her peers.
“It’s all about putting in the work,” she says. “Like, maybe in the morning I’ll see a nice picture of Blake Lively from an event the night before and toss that in there. Then later in the afternoon I’ll stumble upon a from-behind shot of Rihanna. Those are the best,” she gushes, while sorting through a near-endless stack of collections notices. “Love, love Rihanna.”
It’s been almost a year since Jennings created the folder, and now takes up more space than anything else on her computer.
“It may seem like such a little thing—one Heidi Klum ad here, one Melissa McCarthy magazine spread there—but I’m just trying to secure my future as a woman with great hair. I may not be able to find my social security card, but I have like four thousand pictures of cute celebs. Wow—it’s crazy to say that out loud.”
“I have it saved in here somewhere,” she says, scrolling through her documents. “All those job people ask for it, and I have to be like, ‘Um, bye!’”
