I am a generational fan-girl

Who wore turned up collars?…Gen X and me!

Have you ever been telling a story at work about your college days, only to be met with blank stares from younger coworkers? Or worse, like me, have someone say—“I would have loved to see you in your heyday!”

Ugh. Heyday? That was my parents. Wasn’t I still in mine? And even more frustrating, I was telling the story to make a strategic point about how our company could reach college-age buyers.

That moment sent me down a path that changed my career. I wanted to prove I actually did understand what 18- to 22-year-olds (aka Gen Z) wanted. What I uncovered became a passion for using generational insight to understand people, behaviors, and how we connect and grow.

The Power of Shared Experiences

The simple truth is that generations span 15 to 20 years and are defined by shared experiences. They are shaped by the music we blasted, the fashion we wore, the tech we learned or resisted, and the cultural moments that influenced us. Those common threads explain why at any outing you might hear someone say, “I loved this song,” or “I had acid washed jeans too.”

A few generational clues:

• If you grew up on ’80s pop or Grunge, you’re likely Gen X.
• If The Beatles are your soundtrack, you might be a Boomer.
• If you remember the dot-com boom and the 2008 crash, hello, Gen X again.
• If you’ve never known a world without an iPhone, that’s Gen Z.
• And if you straddle the line between encyclopedias and the internet, you’re a Millennial.

Sure, generations can be fun cocktail-party trivia or fuel for playful eye rolls between “kids these days” and “OK Boomer.” But the real power is in what they reveal: how different cohorts see the world, make decisions, and buy.

Writing “Gen X:The XFactor for Growth” reinforced my passion for power of 50+.

Gen X: The Overlooked Growth Engine

My focus is Gen X (ages 45–60); especially the 70% who are 50+. For too long, Gen X has been labeled “the forgotten generation.” That’s flat-out wrong. Today, Gen Xers are the biggest consumer spenders and will remain so until at least 2033.

As a generational fan-girl, I’m still amazed that stat isn’t headline news. Why aren’t brands fighting to capitalize on this “Show Me the Money” moment? (Bonus points if you caught that movie reference, a true Gen X classic.)

That curiosity fueled my book, Gen X: The XFactor for Growth—and now, through Restless Urban, I’m continuing the exploration of how 50+ Gen Xers aren’t winding down; they’re gearing up to drive what comes next.