Charlie Caruso - Understanding Y

First published in 2014 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064

Office also in Melbourne

Puggle Media (Holdings) Pty Ltd 2014

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design and illustration by Wiley

Amanda Lenhart, Kristen Purcell, Aaron Smith and Kathryn Zickuhr. 'Social Media & Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults'. Pew Research Center, Washington, DC (February 3, 2010) www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2010/PIP_Social_Media_and_Young_Adults_Report_Final_with_toplines.pdf accessed on March 7 2013.

Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and neither purports nor intends to be advice. Readers should not act on the basis of any matter in this publication without considering (and if appropriate, taking) professional advice with due regard to their own particular circumstances. The author and publisher expressly disclaim all and any liability to any person, whether a purchaser of this publication or not, in respect of anything and of the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done by any such person in reliance, whether whole or partial, upon the whole or any part of the contents of this publication.

Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever known.

Ronald Reagan

I've always found acknowledgement pages pretty boring. I usually flick past them and, quite honestly, I wasn't going to include one. Then I realised it wasn't all about me. Yes, many people will skip this page, but for those who have contributed to this book for them this page is a big deal! And so it should be. There are more people that I want to thank than can conceivably fit on this page. For those I miss, check the website I haven't forgotten you!

To my brilliant co-authors, thank you for your efforts, your support, your time, your patience, your understanding and your awesomeness! I am honoured to have had the opportunity to work with you all on this project! Bernard, you were the original inspiration for this book thank you for your support and your time over the past few years. It was your wise words about Gen Y and their future potential that inspired my light-bulb moment, which very quickly transformed into Understanding Y. To Rob Kaldor without your efforts and support, this book might have remained one of my many pipedreams. Thank you for being brilliant and helping turn my dream into a reality.

My amazing editors, Sarah Crisp, Christine Moore, Keira de Hoog, Allison Hiew, Lucy Raymond and Alice Berry you have collectively made this journey one of the best experiences of my life. Sarah I will forever cherish our long chats, your guidance and support! Christine, you did such an amazing job at whipping this book into shape, and were so fun to work with thank you for your patience and for dealing with all the email bombing like a trooper! Keira thank you for being my training bra and supporting me through this transition period! Allison, thanks for letting me be cheeky where I wanted to be, but reining me in when I needed to be. Also for forgiving me for making a hundred changes last minute. Never a complaint and always the professional. And to Alice and Lucy, thank you for guiding me through the final stage of the book's development it came off like a dream! Thank you all!

Big thanks to Wiley for being a great believer in the future. I was thrilled to work with such an outstanding publishing house that has a reputation like no other for producing cutting-edge, informative and sometimes boundary-pushing content. If only there were more organisations like Wiley, which looks for opportunities to push the limits rather than continually de-risking and playing it safe.

So many people contributed to the formation of Understanding Y. Sure, we have 15 co-authors, but there were literally hundreds of contributors to this book. I sought many permissions to include the brilliance from other thought leaders in this space, and was blown away by the encouragement and support I received from basically everyone I approached. There was never any, Who are you and what do you want?, only, How can I help? Thank you to all who did, for your contribution not only to this book, but to this topic in general.

My beautiful girls, Annabelle and Bianca thank you for your patience, love and your continual reality checks. There might be some science behind the value of breaking up writing sessions with playing Lego, plaiting hair, sculpting play dough and playing hide-and-seek. I hope that when you both grow up, you will read Understanding Y with pride, as this book, in many ways, is emblematic of the biggest lesson I wish to bestow on you. Never doubt yourself, your capabilities or your worth. The only thing that will ever limit your potential to achieve your dreams is you. Not your age, not your gender, not your income only your doubts. Be empowered by the knowledge that you're in the driver's seat and you can turn the wheel any which way you want. Never let go of the wheel who knows where you might go? Be your dreams and live your potential.

To my loving husband Matthew. You are my home, my other half. You have supported me and my ambitions since I was 17. Ten years on, I might have finally finished one! The biggest sacrifice made for this book has been our time together, which you selflessly gave up for the past year to allow me to spend many nights typing away. Thank you for your patience, your love, thank you for everything.

My amazing parents, Carol and Terry thank you for providing me with the opportunities you have. You're the ultimate representation of the Boomers and I am so proud to be your daughter. What would I have done without the best babysitters in the world on call? Louise, thank you for being my sister. No matter what I can always count on you. Your house was like my writing retreat when I needed some quiet time and your help in Bali during my writing retreat was a big part of the success of this book thank you, I'll never forget it.

Mark, my mentor, father-in-law and friend. You have supported me, my ideas and my dreams in a way no-one else ever could. Your generosity will never be forgotten and I am so grateful to have had your support over the last ten years, not only in my career, but in my life.

And a big thank you to my precious Laura my sounding-board and life support over the past few years. What would I have done without you? Not this book more than likely! Thanks for everything.

Finally Elisa. My best friend of 14 years and the most understanding person in the world. You have never doubted me. You know me better than anyone else ever could. BFF (love you too Nic). x