I wanted to bring you another article in our Teen Entrepreneur series: When Plan A Changes Real-Life Lessons for Teens & Parents When a Job, a Plan, or Life Suddenly Takes an Unexpected Turn.
Charlie had a hard lesson to face this week and so did Bradley as they learn sometimes life can change your plans before you’re ready. They did have a job and they had a schedule.T They have bills there responsible for.
You can think you know what you’re going to be doing next week, next month, or even next year. And then, suddenly, something happens. You don’t know whether you’re going back to work because your suspended and you don’t even know why.
You don’t know when you’ll get an answer. You don’t know what you’re supposed to do next. And if you’re a parent watching your young adult go through it, you may find yourself asking just as many questions.
What do we do now? That’s where our family’s newest chapter begins. When Plan A suddenly changes which we’ve recently found ourselves dealing with employment uncertainty involving two young adults in our family.
There are questions about work. There are questions for HR. There are questions about what happens next. And, like most families, we’re trying to figure things out as we go and we can’t get the answers we need.
We don’t know exactly how this story is going to end. Maybe the jobs work out. Maybe they don’t. Maybe there are answers quickly. Maybe it takes longer than anyone wants. But while we’re waiting for answers, something became very clear to me:
This is a learning opportunity. Not just for the young adults involved. For parents, too. Because nobody teaches you everything you need to know about what happens when your first job suddenly becomes uncertain.
One of the biggest lessons I want young adults to learn is that your first job is not your entire future. Getting your first job can feel like a huge accomplishment. And it is.
You worked for it. You filled out the application. You went through the interview. You got hired. You started earning your own money. You were able to buy your own stuff without asking your parents for money.
Maybe you bought your first car. Maybe you started paying your own bills. Maybe you finally felt like you were becoming independent. So when something threatens that job, it can feel like everything is falling apart.
But it isn’t. A job is important. A paycheck is important. Your responsibilities are important. But one job does not determine your worth, your future, or the kind of adult you will become.
Sometimes a job works out. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes you leave because you find something better. Sometimes circumstances outside your control change things. Sometimes you make mistakes and learn from them. And sometimes a door closes before you understand why.
So what do you do? You don’t just sit around waiting for somebody else to solve the problem. You start asking questions. You contact your employer. You learn what HR can and cannot tell you. You find out what your next steps are.
You gather your employment records. You look at your finances. You figure out what bills are coming due. You update your résumé. You start looking at other jobs. You research temporary work. You explore opportunities that might be available to you.
You learn. You prepare. You keep moving. Because Plan B isn’t giving up on Plan A. Plan B is what you do while you’re figuring out what happens with Plan A. Which is what Charlie should be doing instead of sleeping all day and staying up all night. What do I know I’m just a mom.
This is where entrepreneurship enters the story When people hear the word entrepreneur, they often picture somebody starting a company. That isn’t always the case with being a entrepreneur.
Maybe they’re selling products. Maybe they’re building an app. Maybe they’re running a photography business. Maybe they’re streaming games. Maybe they’re mowing lawns or starting a neighborhood service. And those things absolutely can be entrepreneurship.
But I’m beginning to think entrepreneurship is also about something much bigger.
It’s about learning to ask: “What can I do next?” When one opportunity disappears, can you find another? When your paycheck changes, can you adjust your budget? When your schedule changes, can you find another way to earn?
When you don’t know the answer, can you ask the right question? When you make a mistake, can you learn from it? When Plan A doesn’t work, can you build Plan B? Those are entrepreneurial skills. And every young adult needs them, whether they ever own a business or not.
This isn’t just a teen lesson It’s also a parenting lesson. Because when something goes wrong for our children, our first instinct is often to fix it. We want to call somebody. We want to make the appointment. We want to talk to HR. We want to make sure the bills are paid. We want to make sure our child doesn’t have to experience the discomfort we’re experiencing.
But there comes a point when helping our children means teaching them how to handle their own problems. That’s one of the hardest transitions a parent can make. You go from: “I’ll take care of it.” to: “I’ll help you figure out how to take care of it.”
Those are two very different things. And that’s a lesson we’re going to explore throughout this series. What happens when the paycheck stops? That’s one of the questions we’re going to tackle.
What happens if you are suspended? What should you document? What should you ask HR? What records should you keep? What happens if you lose your job? Could you qualify for unemployment? How does the process work in Texas? What do you do while you’re waiting?
What temporary work might be available? Could gig work make sense? And perhaps most importantly: How do you teach a young adult that losing a job isn’t the end of the world? We’re going to explore all of those questions.
And we’re going to do it differently from the way many employment articles are written. We’re not sitting somewhere pretending we have every answer. We’re learning as we go. We’re living the lesson
That’s what makes this series different. When we learn something, we’re going to share it. When we have a question, we’re going to research it When we discover that something has changed since the last time we dealt with it, we’re going to talk about that.
Because employment rules change. Technology changes. Gig work changes. The way people apply for unemployment changes. The way young people enter the workforce changes. And parents can suddenly find themselves saying: “I haven’t had to deal with this in years. What do we do now?”That’s exactly why I want to document this journey.
Maybe another mom is sitting at her kitchen table tonight wondering the same thing. Maybe another dad is trying to figure out how to help his 19-year-old without doing everything for him.
Maybe another teenager just lost a job and thinks their life is over. Maybe another young adult is sitting at home waiting for somebody to call them back. If that’s you, I want you to know something. You’re not alone.
Don’t waste a difficult season We may not have chosen this situation. We may not have planned for it. But we can choose what we do with it. We can turn uncertainty into education. We can turn frustration into preparation. We can turn a setback into an opportunity to learn.
We can teach our young adults about work, money, responsibility, communication, documentation, budgeting, entrepreneurship and resilience. And maybe someday they’ll look back at this moment and realize:
This was when I learned how to handle things myself. That’s a pretty valuable lesson. As always, faith is part of our story. We don’t know what tomorrow holds. We don’t know which doors God will open. We don’t know which ones He may close. We don’t know whether the answer we’re waiting for will be the answer we want.
But we do know that we can’t sit still forever waiting for somebody else to determine our future. We can pray. We can work. We can ask questions. We can prepare. We can look for opportunities. We can learn. We can help one another. And we can trust God to guide us toward whatever comes next.
Welcome to Teen Entrepreneur: When Plan A Changes This series is going to follow the questions that come when a young person’s employment suddenly becomes uncertain. If you have advice that can help us through this period please leave me a comment because I can use all the help and support we can get.
Come and join my family as were going to talk about suspensions. We’re going to talk about HR. We’re going to talk about employment records. We’re going to talk about unemployment. We’re going to talk about temporary work and gig work.
We’re going to talk about budgeting, saving and understanding what it really costs to earn money. We’re going to talk about entrepreneurship. But most of all, we’re going to talk about resilience. Because someday every young person is going to face a moment when something doesn’t go according to plan.
The job won’t work out. The application won’t get accepted. The car will break down. The hours will get cut. The opportunity will disappear. The business idea won’t work. The money won’t stretch as far as they thought it would.
And when that happens, I don’t want our kids to think: “It’s over.” I want them to think: “Okay. What’s next?” That’s the lesson. That’s entrepreneurship. That’s adulthood. And that’s why we’re starting this journey. Teen Entrepreneur: When Plan A Changes. Because sometimes Plan A changes.
And when it does, we get up, figure out Plan B, and keep moving forward. With the support of our friends, family and the Lord we will be sharing Real-life lessons. Practical tools. Faith, family, resilience—and learning how to keep moving forward.
Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates