Brandon Kilfeather was introduced to H22 AI™ CEO and Founder Heather Jerrehian earlier this summer. She spoke with him as part of our ‘First Rung’ blog series, designed to explore the ways self-knowledge contributes to purpose and passion for Gen Z.
In a world that is being reshaped by AI and automation, where Gen Z is facing unprecedented and accelerated change, H22 believes that clarity about who you are and why you’re here matters more than ever.
Brandon is a senior @Virginia Tech, majoring in Marketing Management and was recently part of a cohort of students who shared structured feedback to optimize the H22 platform, while gaining valuable professional skills for themselves.
Heather: When do you feel most energized — what are you doing?
Brandon: I feel super energized whenever I'm doing something physically challenging. I do a lot of exercise and sports. In my daily routine, it's gym, running, and sports — pretty much every day I'll be doing one of those and accomplishing a task during that. It could be anything — a new PR at the gym, or while running, or playing really well in the sports I love to play, like basketball, football, pickleball, anything.
I feel good when I accomplish a task like that, which then correlates to my mental state, and then I'm able to do better. I've noticed in my work, whether it's for school or my career — it could be a project or an assignment — my mind is almost refreshed once I know I've completed a hard physical challenge. Without that, I don't feel good about myself. The physical and mental work complement each other: if I do one well, then the other one is going to feel better, so I need both to feel energized.
My interest in exercise started a little bit later in high school when I first joined running. I was super skinny, and track and cross country ended up working well for me. I was bad at the beginning, but I got good at it, and that motivated me. Once I got out of high school, I didn't run anymore, so I wanted to branch out and do more traditional strength training and different sports. Recently, I picked running back up again and found my love for the sport.
My older brother was huge into it, and when I was younger, I always looked up to him as an exercise role model. But I thought that could never be me since I was a scrawny, shorter guy. Once I grew into myself a little bit, I realized I could do this, and I grew to love it. Now, if I don't do it every day, my mental state is messed up — my mojo and circadian rhythm aren't working. Right after this conversation, I'm going to the gym.
Heather: What is a strength you have that the world hasn’t fully seen yet?
Brandon: I would say my adaptability to work with many different people and personalities is a strength that the world hasn't gotten to see, because I haven't even seen it to my full potential yet. I've been a student my entire life, so I've only really been able to show that adaptability trait in a school setting and social settings, but not a professional and career setting.
I think I'm able to, off of the first time meeting someone, click with them and find a mutual interest, whether it be a personality trait, a hobby, or anything we can resonate with together. That goes a long way in today's day and age, when people struggle to find that mutual ground to base a relationship on. Going into the workforce in a year, being able to be adaptive in different environments and with different people is going to be a huge strength going forward.
I think I've noticed over time that when I first meet someone, I'm able to lock into the conversation of what they're saying, rather than just staring with a blank face and nothing behind it. I'm able to listen in order to resonate with somebody a little more. Personally, I enjoy doing that because it builds the relationship stronger, especially if I don't know who the person is. Being tuned into the conversation, being able to listen, and then giving my feedback is pretty cool.
This summer, I've been working in retail sales and it's been a cool experience. I meet new people every day, and sometimes certain people are easier to talk to and connect with than others. Finding that middle ground—even if you don't necessarily want to talk to a person, you have to be willing to listen and see what their critical success factors are, what matters to them. Being able to find that middle ground quickly, because you only have a limited amount of time to build that initial connection, is cool. I've definitely learned and improved this summer in that regard.
Heather: What skill are you deliberately building right now — and why?
Brandon: Deliberately building right now, I have a few. The first is still building soft skills. I think that is a trait that is lost in today's day and age. Going into my senior year, I've never thought more about my future than I have this past summer — like what it's going to look like for me after college. Being able to build soft skills to network and adapt in different environments will take me a long way. I will learn and probably fail multiple times in doing so, but that's just part of the ladder that you have to ride up.
Another one is daily life self-help habits. Finding habits that I can consistently do day-to-day, which is hard. I try to — whether it be the exercise I talked about earlier, or not procrastinating and getting things done — build a scheduled morning routine that I actually stick to. Going to bed at a certain time is the hardest thing for me. Finding those habits that can develop into consistent traits over time will help me be more successful in the future.
Another one that just came to me is patience. Patience is a huge struggle, and it's a skill I definitely need to work on because growing up — and I think a lot of people in Gen Z could agree — we've grown up in an environment where we have a lot of instant gratification. We expect things to instantly happen, so I need to learn the traits of calming down, patience, and realizing that the best things in life take time.
I used to have the mindset, and still do sometimes, where I thought these four years of college would last forever. When I was a freshman, sophomore, and even a junior last year, I always thought I had time and the right thing would fall into my lap. But I realized this past summer, working a 40-hour work week, that I'm going to have to do it myself if I want to get the things that I want. Things aren't going to be handed to me like I thought they would. Learning that has been helpful, but also definitely stressful because I don't know what the future holds. Building some of those skills right now can at least put me on the right stepping stones to where I want to go.
Heather: In a world where AI can do more and more, what should remain deeply human?
Brandon: I think any form of art, music, and creativity should remain deeply human. AI should not take over any creativity aspects; things like music, art, and videos derive from human emotion. In the past year, AI has created videos and music that people are listening to, but there's no purpose behind it, so I personally don't like it. I know a lot of people don't like it.
With AI being able to do those kinds of things, people will start looking for human authenticity in music and art. We are going to crave genuine human emotion and imperfection in those things, given the lack of authenticity AI brings. So, art and music are areas AI should fully remain out of.
In a professional sense, I think AI should stay out of the org chart. It should not be able to deliberately make or influence any decisions that could change somebody's life — whether it be hiring, firing, or salaries. It should only be used as an efficiency tool for workers in the jobs that they have. If employees are scared that AI might take their job or be their boss, then we've almost lost the plot.
Heather: Do you have a favorite quote or saying that strongly resonates with you?
Brandon: Yes, I do. It is from David Goggins: "If you can walk on water, people will say it's because you don't know how to swim."
It basically just means no matter what you can do, succeed at, and accomplish, people will doubt you, not believe in you, or hate on you. It's almost not your job to prove to people that you can do this; it's your job to prove to yourself that you can accomplish what you set out to do. There are going to be people that you don't have in your corner who won't believe in you, so you have to focus on proving it to yourself.
Heather: What belief about success have you had to unlearn?
Brandon: Recently, on social media, all you see is people traveling, having expensive cars, their own yachts, and big houses — kind of this trajectory of what success looks like. But that's such a small percentage of people that you're comparing yourself to. You almost have to take a step back and think of that as the opposite of success, because then your life is just driven by those money factors and income.
At the current stage in my life, finding success would be more in the relationships I build and the memories that I make. That correlates to wanting to travel, and obviously you need money to do those things, but you don't need everything. Just creating those memories that I can look back on and realize those were the good old days — that is what success is to me.
Heather: What is a common misunderstanding about your generation you'd love to correct?
Brandon: I think I've seen a lot of people older than me say when they think of this generation, they think of kids who have been handed everything on a silver platter. Even if that's true to an extent — maybe when you were growing up you were handed a lot of things and gifted this or that — I think sometimes that almost makes certain people strive for great things when they're older.
I've seen some people who did have a lot when they were growing up, and now they want to almost build on what they were given so they can give it to the next generation. It drives them to succeed rather than the opposite. Sometimes being given something is going to make you want it more later in life.
Heather: What is something you wished I’d asked you about?
Brandon: I would say what my dream job is. The truth of the matter is I don't know, which I think is a perfect answer because I want to leave every door and opportunity open. I don't want to set myself up for one specific goal or one specific job.
That's a question that people ask a lot: "What do you want to be? Where do you see yourself in five years?" Sometimes the best response is "I don't know." Not because you don't have a plan, but because you don't have one specific goal. You have many different doors that you can walk through. I'm excited for the unknown in the future, and I don't want to place my goal or thought on just one of those doors.
