….As a member of September’s Dallas panel assembled to headline “The Journey,” a collective that assembled in four cities via the Lincoln Motor Company and Uptown magazine and highlighted the successes of prominent urban achievers, Larry Yarrell, Program Director and one of the founders of the Marcus Graham Project, spoke to a select local audience and then with Knowshi.com about the goals of his organization, the unique concerns facing today’s graduates and why more diverse players and leaders are so sorely needed in the advertising field.

KNOWSHI- Many people have already written off ‘The Millenial Generation’ as a lost cause, what are your thoughts on that mindset?

LARRY YARRELL- “Honestly, it’s not about a lack of skill-there are a lot of talented, talented young creatives out there—-but they just have come up in a time to where they’ve been told to ‘make their own way’ and ‘do their own thing’ without much guidance or support. And when it comes to perfecting your path, you have to understand the history of it and what came before to know what’s going to work and what will make you the most successful moving forward. I think that’s the main point I try to get across [with my business partner Lincoln Steffens] to our interns, just to take the time to understand what it is you’re most passionate about and realize that it didn’t start with just you: learning from past mistakes is also what makes you better. When it comes to young people, it’s just about meeting them on their level and learning what makes them tick.

KNOWSHI- So the conflicts are on both sides?

LY- “There’s resistance from the old school to the new school like ‘You haven’t paid your dues, so your ideas and passion are invalid,’ which isn’t true and it doesn’t help. Old school, in order to remain relevant and stay up on everything that’s coming in, needs to listen to the new school. Then the younger generation looks at it like, ‘Well that was then and this is now,’ but everything repeats itself. We change the name and call it new, but for the most part, nothing new is under the sun, right?”

KNOWSHI- Why aren’t more people or companies willing to reach back and help those on the come-up? Seems that some would rather just criticize instead of helping others make the change they hope to see.

LY- “I think we’ve been de-programmed to become a little more selfish because social media’s made everything so much more visible now: we’re used to seeing the meteoric rise and falls of mega-stars, so we’re like ‘I got mine, go get yours’ and jump back into the cocoon…..(click here for the rest of the interview at Knowshi.com)