September 7, 2022
Hi, I am Kenny McCray, Cofounder of Millennials’ Paradise. Pro human being, adventurer, tinkerer, and experimenter. Full time CFO, AKA “Chief Fire-starting Officer.” Below is my personal vision of Millennial’s Paradise, just me and my thoughts. My cofounder is Dr. Bianca Jones. I chose her as a cofounder because I believe she can turn dreams into reality. Her ability to focus, hone, edit, and bring to fruition beauty and function is unparalleled to anyone I have ever worked with. She is the CEO, AKA “Chief Energizing Officer,” and I am hopeless without her. She is also my life partner and the person living out this vision each and every day with me. This blog space will be shared by the both of us, but for now, here are my opening thoughts, thesis, and ideals for a better life…
Stepping into a new reality, am I willing?
What is life about? Why do we live it? Where do we go? How do we go? Why do we go? This chapter is all about the hard questions. The real considerations behind starting a lifestyle brand a way of living. Caveat… If you are one of those people that would prefer to only work with, book with, or invest with someone that has a clean website that never dares to share the nitty gritty… then this blog post is not for you. Stop now…
Now that that is out of the way, let me say what I’m really trying to say, and that is I don’t know what all the answers are, but I do know one thing- I’m tired of having to compromise the one most valuable resource we have in this life… “time.”
We waste so much of it in this lifetime, and by waste I mean ignoring that quiet little voice in your head that knows that there is so much more. Why is that? From my own experience here are some common themes I have noticed;
1. We get caught up living the way that society tells us to. That means we go to school and waste time learning things that don’t really help us day-to-day. We buy cars that we can’t really afford, we buy houses or rent apartments that seem nice but yet don’t really bring us true happiness, and we fill our homes with things that sell us on being a happy human… and yet what are we left with? A mortgage, house full of shit, a nice car and corresponding car payment so we can sit in traffic every day, a piece of paper saying we academically know things, and a job that we think we should stay at because we need to pay for all the things we think we need.
- We save paradise for later
.In my life I know when I worked a 9-5 type job I only spent two weeks a year going places like Costa Rica, off trail in Alaska, or out in the San Juan archipelago via sailboat. I told myself, “work hard now, save up for retirement in 30 years, so I can live the good life.” Why 30 years from now? Why only two weeks a year? Why not now?
3. We anchor ourselves chasing the “ideal life.” To go see the world, experience other cultures, to truly have an adventure requires having to let go. We are told no. No, you cant just quit your job, you can’t just grab a bag, fill it with clothes, and go travel. No. And at times, we even tell ourselves no. “What would I do with my apartment full of shit? I can’t just leave all that behind. What about my job? My house? My Apartment? What about… But…” Our possessions, job, mortgage, rent, car payment, student loans have one thing in common; they are ANCHORS.
- We don’t take the time to ask ourselves, “Is this truly the life that I want to live?” We therefore leave so much potential behind, until it is too late.
- Lastly, we don’t live in community. We don’t seek out our neighbors. They are strangers in your life, people you wave to and talk shit about when the doors close. We don’t live in a world where we truly look out for each other, and yet they right there. Each human being is a full universe of possibility, and yet we are too busy being polite, or closed in to let those worlds of possibility in.
Millennials’ Paradise is my dream way of life. In the most simplest of terms, the lifestyle curation we are after is about unlocking life by getting rid of our anchors. The hard part is figuring out how to do that. For this to work, we need to be unapologetic about saying who and why we are.
Below is my full vision of who and what that is. No, this isn’t where we are yet, but as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. So sorry but not sorry; here is my dream;
We live life to its fullest. That means we are free of anchors, free of being stuck, free of unnecessary financial burdens, and free to adventure. Explore. Open minded. Collaborative. Community Focused. We are unapologetic about getting the most out of life, screw the status quo, lets eat our cake too.
We design spaces perfect for minimalists. Imagine a life where you own just the things that make you happy, and you could fit all of that in one bag. Imagine showing up to a new place, putting your clothes away, and immediately being at home. Imagine how weightless that life would be. Millions of people are already living that way today, they are called “digital nomads,” “vagabonds,” “backpackers,” and a whole slew of other names. Our properties are not only perfect for those who already live this way, but even more perfect for those who want to live this way. We make it easy. We provide everything you could conceivably ever need.
We are open minded. You can bring more then one bag, we don’t care how you want to live. Bring as much shit with you as want to, we don’t care. Be who you are, as long as you don’t disturb others. We want to try your way of cooking. We want to hear about your way and walk of life.
We are community focused. We foster community. Have you ever stepped into a modern apartment building with a communal pool and BBQ area where nobody is hardly there, and everyone is a stranger? How often do you find yourself breaking bread with your neighbor? At our properties when you step outside of your home, our goal is that you will feel like a part of something bigger, greater then just yourself. Our communal kitchens bring people together by being a place where people can share one of our most primal needs; food.
Our community coworking spaces foster productivity, communal collaboration, and energy giving spaces that unlock your fullest potential. Not saying you need to work there if that isn’t your jam, but if a collaborative environment is something you crave, or just a space that is open and energy giving, then our communal spaces are for you.
We serve the individual. Each of our living spaces feature everything you would ever need out of a home. Who wants to share a bathroom all of the time? Who wants a private kitchen? Who wants a quiet place to work, or Netflix, or just be themselves? These are essential needs. Sometimes we need to be able to just be at home in comfort. We need a space to recharge. We provide that.
Community Gardening. There is just something profound about working in and around nature, food, and getting your hands dirty with some dirt. We believe that by providing a space for us to grow our own food that people will be healed, energized, and healthier.
We live in Paradise. What does that mean? Well, that can mean a lot of things, but one of them is that we are only going to be located in places that we find desirable. Millennials’ Paradise was born in paradise, I was on a beach in Belize thinking to myself, why not live here full time? We are located in places on this planet that bring us peace, tranquility, and energy. The beach is certainly one of those places for us. But also, we are not afraid to say that we also want to be located in places like Nashville Tn, or Bellingham, Wa, because we also like being near urban centers. We can carve out spaces of Paradise just about anywhere.
We are free to roam. Our community members are free to move from location to location, seamlessly. When spaces are available, simply pack up your things or hire us to pack, and hop on a plane, car, boat, spaceship, submarine, or transporters (“Beam me up Scotty!” and show up tomorrow in the next location. Also, if you just want to move on, you are free to leave at anytime with our typical a month-to-month lease agreements.
We share our passions. This brand is about unlocking life. We will do anything we feel is worth doing to help others do just that. My vision; giving people value add content, experiences, and education on how to live. That means documenting and sharing our adventures, hobbies, businesses, financial literacy, and stories. That means future blog posts, youtube videos, hosted experiences, community days, brisket Sundays, and story telling.
Timebanking. Our community includes people that share time with one another. One hour of work in general means one time dollar. One time dollar that can be used to pay someone else for one hour of their work. That means when we come together as a community, we can help each other build things, manage things, babysit kids, fix cars, build websites, solve problems, learn yoga. Time as money is something that is essential to our community.
The reality is, however, that life is full of obstacles. We can see the peak of the mountain ahead, but seldom can see what we will have to go through to summit. Next to this is an image of what climbers refer to as “Meru.” There is a whole documentary about it made by Jimmy Chin, and one of the most inspiring stories I have ever witnessed about what it means to be a human in this life, and what it means to overcome obstacles. Entrepreneurship is kind of like climbing a mountain like this one.
It will be a grind, and I am willing to start that grind. I share this vision to the world because at any point I want people to know what Millennials’ Paradise is truly about. The innocent origins of the dream about who we are. We are a lifestyle curation brand that fosters a better way of living. Right now, I’m just a guy with a duplex in Nashville, TN. I have experience acquiring properties, and a lot of experience on the path of being an Entrepreneur. So, here I go… are you with me?
If you’ve read this far, thank you! Please consider leaving a constructive comment as to what your ideal way of life would look like!
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