Paolo, what do you think led you to take a different approach than most of your fellow Gen X peers?

What made me different? It wasn’t one moment—it was a series of wake-up calls, a cascade of realizations that hit me over time, breaking through the conditioning I’d been raised with. You see, like a lot of Gen X, I grew up with the same rules, the same mindset: work hard, stay in line, hustle, grind, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get somewhere. But there was always this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that something wasn’t right. That the world we were trying to fit into was fundamentally broken.

The first crack in the armor? It was watching the people around me—friends, colleagues—burn out. They did everything “right.” They followed the script: got the degrees, took the steady jobs, put in the hours, sacrificed time, health, relationships—only to find that the system didn’t reward them like they were promised. They were stuck, unfulfilled, and some even lost their jobs in moments they couldn’t control. The system that Gen X was told would provide stability and reward loyalty was failing. And it wasn’t just failing us; it was failing the generations after us, even more brutally.

Then came the realization that the rules weren’t just outdated—they were rigged. The corporate structures, the traditional career paths, the whole “work yourself to death” mentality—it was all built on the illusion that control and stability were achievable if you just worked hard enough. But the truth? The ground had shifted. The old rules didn’t apply anymore. The world was evolving, and Gen Y and Z were stepping into that chaos with more clarity about what they wanted and needed. And that’s when I realized: they weren’t the problem, we were.

What truly set me apart was that I stopped seeing these younger generations as the "rebels" who needed to be tamed or shaped by the older generations' wisdom. Instead, I saw them as the ones with the answers, the ones who had figured out what Gen X was still resisting. They were rejecting the system, and rightfully so. They weren’t willing to accept the same sacrifices for a life that didn’t fulfill them. And that’s when I knew: I had to start unlearning everything I thought I knew about work, success, and leadership.

What really made me different was embracing the art of letting go. Letting go of the need to control, letting go of the ego that said, "We know best," and embracing the chaos of not knowing. Gen X was taught that control was the key to success, but the reality is, the world isn’t something you can control—it’s something you have to dance with. Once I embraced that idea, everything shifted. I saw that success in this new world isn’t about mastering the system—it’s about rewriting it.

I also realized that mentorship isn’t about forcing the next generation to follow our path. It’s about creating space for them to create their own, to innovate, to disrupt. Gen Y and Z don’t need us to give them the answers. They need us to coach them, to help them navigate the chaos, to empower them to question everything and build something new. And I was ready for that role. Not because I had all the answers, but because I had finally realized that the answers were always in the next generation, waiting to be unleashed.

The world changed faster than anyone expected, and instead of trying to force it back into old shapes, I learned to flow with it. That’s what made me different. I stopped clinging to the past, stopped trying to pass down the legacy of a broken system, and started focusing on how we can all build something radically better—together.

So, I guess what made me different is that I stopped seeing myself as a "representative" of Gen X and started seeing myself as part of the bridge. A bridge between where we’ve been and where we’re going. It’s not about leading from the front; it’s about empowering the future from the side. And that shift in perspective changed everything for me.