On being the face of Gen Z, Finnegan said, “I am one of many faces. Gen Z is an evolving generation, phrase, culture and phenomenon. Being considered a face bears a lot of responsibility and I am excited to help my generation better understand business and execution.”
Finnegan continued, “I want to build on my already budding investment career and bring my portfolio to the next level. In addition, I am extremely involved in the build out of my boutique Gen Z-focused creative, influencer, talent agency. The group plans to discover, develop and manage talent. We will also focus on building a presence in fashion and politics.”
Each day, he is motivated by the “depth and beauty of the world,” and the fact that every day he wakes up and gets to meet new people. “These meetings and relationships allow me to forge partnerships and ventures that can drive impact and change in today’s society,” he said.
His biggest influences in life include his parents, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Gary Vee, his aunt, Tara, and even Kanye West. The hardest part of his job involves making high level decisions in fields that he lacks desired experience in. “It is a constant struggle to maintain such high level relationships at such a young age where there is zero room for error,” he said. “Don’t let your insecurities conform to being a fake manicured self. Be your best self inside and out, but don’t be fake because it will always hurt you in the end if you aren’t honest with yourself. Pursue your dreams young when you have autonomy and no one can stop you. Don’t dropout to dropout. I would never recommend anyone exit school early. I can only comment on my experience. My heart and everything inside of me led me to pursue my ventures and dreams and I made a large bet on my own abilities to perform and achieve my goals. It is a bet I am very comfortable taking and one every entrepreneur must take at some point in their career(s). Lastly, I have been able to achieve relative success with older people due to the fact that I know how to add value to executives and individuals who have little time and patience for anything else. Adding value for a 20-year old comes from my connections in hospitality, nightlife, influencers and culture. Many executives who might make a lot of money lack being socially aware or connected, in short they need more ‘cool’ so they look to curate a lifestyle for them. It could be as simple as setting them up at a particular restaurant they wouldn’t normally go and/or get a reservation. On the other hand, I could be advising them in large scale national strategy plans that impact a large group of people.”
Finnegan noted that we are the future digitally native leaders of tomorrow, the first generation to grow up with social media. “There was never a time where we didn’t have a device in our hands that could access and publish information out to the entire world. Although my generation lacks hard-nosed business experience we have such a broader and deeper knowledge base. My generation grew up with the ability to view information on Wikipedia and Google. We’ve had access to the world’s big data for our entire lives, which is different than any generation prior,” he said.
For hopefuls who wish to follow into his footsteps, he said, “Putting in hard work everyday with Gen Z’ers, business people and other influencers. I also am one of the few people in my generation who has learned some hard lessons though my own business failures. However, because of the lessons I learned I am now a kid who is known more for execution and less for lip service.”
He concluded, “Sherry, a seasoned nightlife and fashion veteran who is twice my age, is one of my best friends. Omar, another older friend of mine, owns the successful Greenwich village staple Omars La Ranita. Omar is family to me. In my own age range there is my brother Luka Sabbat and sister Jamie Grimstad who both give me fashion tips from time to time. I also have amazing mentors such as James Cruz, Kevin Liles, Nina Garcia, Shaggy, and Jason Flom.”
To learn more about Patrick Finnegan, follow him on Instagram and on Twitter.
