Generation Z Arrives in Force

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2024

If the demographers are right, anyone turning 27 this year is on the leading edge of Generation Z, which continues its unstoppable advance through the global workforce. By odd coincidence, the modal number of this year’s 20 in Their Twenties honorees are  …  27 years old.  Or will be by year-end. Perhaps that pendulum swings back again next when the last remnants of the Millennial cohort turn 29 and have amassed a more impressive body of work. But for these young entrepreneurs and rising executives, achievement isn’t waiting for their thirtysomething years. Hailing from diverse careers in insurance, banking, law, construction services, commercial real estate—even pro baseball—they’ve made their mark in their respective fields. With so much runway ahead of them, each of them is making a statement: Success need not wait on anyone.

Morgan Chaves Adcock  
Parking Company of America

Working for the family-owned Parking Company of America, entrepreneurship was in Morgan Chaves Adcock’s DNA. But it’s what she’s doing with it that impresses: Within the past year, she became CFO at 27, while also managing a diverse portfolio of businesses. She’s directed finances of more than 10 entities spanning five distinct industries, with combined assets of more than $80 million, she says. “I have led our team in securing substantial funding of over $55 million” to drive growth, and “within the next 12 months, my team and I will begin overseeing the financing of a $25 million project that includes the development of more than 50 acres” near KCI. Bucking the career trends of her generation, she and Carson welcomed a boy in March. Work and motherhood can be challenging, she says, “but I am fortunate to be part of a family and a company that values the family unit and strives to leave each generation with more opportunity than the previous one.”

Nick Ambrosio  
Peak Real Estate Partners

This is Nick Ambrosio’s self-challenge: “How many times can I fail and keep trying, having faith that everything will work out in the end?” The 28-year-old broker has answered that by carving out more than $30 million in solo sales for The Tiehan Group before a recent move to Peak. He did it through a combination of determination, resilience and mastering the power of the cold call, done right. “Nothing progressed my career more than cold-calling more than 100 property owners a week and learning on the fly,” he says. Early in his career, his confidence was shattered by a prospect’s merciless mocking, but Ambrosio endured: “In the past,” he says, “this is usually where I would have quit, but for some reason, I kept going.” One reward for that depth of that resolve: His peers have voted Ambrosio in as president-elect of the commercial division for the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors.

Amy Bohn  
Baldwin Group

At 27, Amy Bohn is a vice president for international benefits at a company whose revenues have grown nearly five-fold since 2020. After a run through insurance/financial-services brands like DST Systems, Unum and IMA, she signed on with the Florida-based Baldwin Group in early 2023. The global arena, she says, is traditionally “an area that brokers shy away from because international benefits are vastly different from what we are used to” in the U.S. Her clients employees  travel internationally, are on long-term assignments or live and work as citizens in another country, and she helps them navigate medical, life, disability, pension and other benefits challenges in different countries. “They often differ drastically from the insurance landscape in the United States,” Bohn says, so her services “can more successfully close the gap for understanding international benefits for U.S.-based companies.”

Jared Boyett  
Apollo Insurance Group

Apollo Insurance Group was gaining traction as a fast-growth company when its revenues cracked the million-dollar mark in 2017. The following year, Jared Boyett signed on at a time when the agency’s staff could fit around a poker table. Six years later, the 28-year-old is director of sales. He’s helped drive top-line growth to more than $15 million, and the firm now has nearly 100 full-time employees and a revenue of over $15 million. “I started as the fourth overall inside sales rep,” he says, “and now am responsible for the entire sales division for all departments, totaling 11 direct reports and 50 other agents underneath my direct reports.” In that role, he has helped to structure the firm’s leadership development program, its sales training program, and recruiting strategies. The firm, based in Lee’s Summit, is now licensed in all 50 states, helping more than 32,000 clients navigate a dizzying maze of more than 350 insurance products.

Brittany Butler  
Optimizely

It took Brittany Butler less than a decade to go from lifeguard in Larned, Kan., to helping marketing teams for global brands with every aspect of their digital presence at New York-based Optimizely.  Now, at 27, she serves the company from Kansas City, Kan., as principal product manager. Along the way, she’s been a financial analyst and web guru for H&R Block, signing up after earning her degree in supply chain management from KU (and later MIT’s professional education certification in leadership and innovation). Her rural roots, she says, taught her “a lot about what it means to work hard,” and she came to Kansas City without a lick of relevant experience, no family and no mentors. Today, she leads three engineering teams for Optimizely, building tech tools that help companies personalize Web experiences for customers. “The entrepreneurial experience,” Butler says, “has been a game-changer for my career.” 

Bobby Caffrey  
ChopAir

In a construction sector flush with HVAC specialists, it takes a certain level of gumption to launch a start-up. Bobby Caffrey has it. Since launching ChopAir to specialize in large-building ventilation systems in 2020, Caffrey has seen revenues stair-step from $300,000 to a projected $5 million next year. ChopAir already has expanded into Texas and Florida, with clients like Tension Corp. and Cardinal FG’s 600,000-square-foot facility in Spring Hill, plus others from Southern California to Miami. “Our team grows by about one person every two months,” says Caffrey, 28. He tinkered with various inventions while earning his mechanical engineering degree from Mizzou (minoring in business and math), he says, but “I realized that inventing was too risky and required deep pockets, so I started something a little bit more stable. I will get back to inventing in due time.”

Jordan Chaplick  
Mazuma Credit Union

Like a financial services Goldilocks, Jordan Chaplick tried out a large national bank, then one of Missouri’s biggest banks. She found “just right” at Mazuma Credit Union, the region’s second-largest, and became branch manager at just 22 (she’s now 25), tasked with opening the company’s 12th location. Right away, she says, “I knew it was time to build my branch brand. This means staying agile, not fragile. Being proactive, not reactive, and never saying ‘no’ to any opportunity that presents itself. In its first year, the branch exceeded loan metrics by over 923 percent, she says, and after her work to forge a partnership with the Kansas City Zoo, her team beat deposit production by more than 160 percent, and snagged more than 200 five-star Google reviews. “Mazuma has empowered me to create a thriving branch, and every day I am motivated to strengthen our role as a trusted partner in the metro area,” she says.

Adam Gentry  
Commerce Bank

Selling granola bars—more than 2,000 of them. Just one of Adam Gentry’s introductions to entrepreneurship, selling from his backpack for a high-school fund-raiser. Then at Mizzou, as founder and lead director of Camp Trulaske, a week-long camp for incoming business students. “Building the camp from scratch in less than five months, hosting more than 150 students and captaining 30-plus staff helped prepare me for the opportunities I have today” as a financial planner at Commerce Trust, Gentry says. Bank leaders there designated him as Rookie of the Year and, more recently, EDGE All-Star for his work with the bank’s internship program. Though just 27, he’s mentoring a new generation of entrepreneurs with that task. His duties recently have taken him to four states, presented to more than 300 attendees to roll out a financial wellness program for a client’s employees, bagging 33 clients with assets of $42 million.

Kevin Hogg  
CrossFirst Bank

Personal and professional growth, says Kevin Hogg, “lies beyond comfort.” With the numbers he confronts as portfolio manager for CrossFirst Bank, it’s easy to understand why most 27-year-olds might not be comfortable. Not Hogg. Just this year, he spearheaded efforts to secure more than $200 million in debt capital for clients’ acquisitions, for example. “This involved creatively articulating a vision to the bank group about what each company will look like in 5-10 years and outlining their path to get there,” he says. “Describing this vision is backed by months of diligence and financial analysis, demonstrating that the potential rewards outweigh the risks.” While far from comfortable, it was incredibly rewarding. “It gave me the confidence to take on additional responsibilities, including becoming the primary point of contact for an additional $250 million in global commitments in Q2 of 2024.”

Kristen Koerber  
Lathrop GPM

Think working for Big Law absolves you of entrepreneurial behavior? Think again: When you sign on, you have to build your own book of business, and as Lathrop GPM’s Kristen Koerber can tell you, “This requires more than just legal expertise. It demands the ability to identify opportunities, nurture client relationships, and adapt to the constantly evolving legal landscape.” In her short time practicing law, says the 28-year-old, “I’ve served as bond counsel closing over $7.4 billion in Chapter 100 Bonds, closed various property sales each over $40 million, and represented lenders in complex financing transactions.” How does she do it? Through “strong and lasting relationships I’ve built with clients, marked by positive client retention, and a steady influx of referrals,” she says. “The depth of these relationships underscores the trust and value clients place in my work.”

Samama Mahmud-Meyer
Ticket Takedown

Social-equity implications in a traffic ticket? Indeed, says Samama Mahmud-Meyer. She founded Ticket Takedown last year to help those disproportionately harmed by the complexity of the legal system, even for comparatively minor infractions. Losing a job because you can’t drive, for example, is a very big deal. So she created the firm “to simplify traffic law by making it affordable and accessible,” the 29-year-old says. “We chose traffic law for its high volume and significant impact on individuals’ lives, often affecting employment and financial security. We realized that many attorneys avoided this area due to its commoditized nature and low margins.” Since launch in June 2023, “We have grown from a caseload of 137 to about 1,200 cases with just one attorney and three legal assistants,” she says. The average case lifespan has dropped from 4.48 months to 1.22 months, with clients have provided nearly 5-star reviews.

Gretchen Metzger  
Hallmark

Creating meaningful connections isn’t just a mission statement at Hallmark: it’s a core entrepreneurial value, says 27-year-old  Gretchen Metzger. “When I joined Hallmark in 2019,” she says, “I focused on transforming our local marketing efforts for Hallmark retailers worldwide, and then diving deep into the coding behind emails and direct mail campaigns to understand the ‘how.’” That hands-on approach helped her take ownership of the national marketing strategy, encompassing direct mail, email, SMS, and digital paid media channels to generate billions of impressions and facilitate hundreds of targeted communications annually. Equally important is her commitment to fostering the next generation of leaders as the leader of Hallmark’s Young Professionals Employee Resource Group and a board member of the Chamber’s genKC initiative.

Nicolau Neto  
Northwestern Mutual

Playing soccer professionally pays additional dividends for Nicolau Neto at his day job as a financial adviser for Northwestern Mutual. “As the goalie for the Kansas City Comets,” says the 29-year-old, “balancing the hours and travel commitments of the soccer season with running a business can be hectic. It requires discipline, commitment, strong leadership, and great coordination between my team in the office and on the field.” A native of Brazil who signed his first professional contract at 16 and then played for Columbia College, he carries the competitive spirit into financial advice. “As a self-employed financial adviser,” he says, “what interests me the most is having the ability to help a wide range of people achieve their financial goals. … I am passionate about individualizing financial plans towards each client’s unique needs.”

Ross Netzel   
Pulse Design Group

Some people rely on dollar signs to demonstrate the impact of their work. Ross Netzel can do that, but he’s found something more meaningful for his career path: Trust. As in the trust that Pulse Design Group has placed in him to manage significant projects. Case in point for this 28-year-old associate: He was tasked with managing the design efforts for one of Pulse’s largest clients—representing 30 percent of the firm’s revenue. “Notably, I served as the project manager for a $40 million ground-up project,” he says of work that was the third-largest project for the firm. In that role, he oversaw every phase from concept to completion. “I am proud to have earned the trust of the firm’s leadership and my clients,” Netzel says. He’s a KU graduate who specializes in health-care architecture, “with a passion,” he says, “for creating impactful design solutions that elevate the built environment.”

Gavin Ott  
NorthPoint Development

At an age when many of his peers are just getting started, 23-year-old Gavin Ott already has his career rolling at NorthPoint Development. The same week he graduated from college, Ott sat in with mentor and firm founder Nathaniel Hagedorn in closing a $14 million deal. “Two weeks later, I closed on a $120 million business,” he says. “This second business had every imaginable issue: aged tech and assets, underpaid and unmotivated employees, below-market rates, too many customers, bad culture, and poor leadership.” As portfolio manager of operating companies, Ott rebuilt nearly every facet of the business from the ground up. Since then, net operating income is up 78 percent. He also has helped acquire, merge, or sell five businesses, and today he oversees six operating companies in the warehousing and logistics space, with more than 4 million square feet of warehouse space in four states.

Raegen Root  
Newmark Zimmer

The tipoff that Raegen Root has it going at Newmark Zimmer is right there in her title: Senior Financial Analyst. At the age of 25. She got there by quickly mastering market research, Excel, and Argus tools to develop accurate and detailed valuations for clients. “My experience in transaction management has helped to facilitate over 75 transactions, totaling over $500 million in transaction value,” she says. “These transactions have included a wide array of property types, including office, industrial, retail, multifamily, and development land.” Among them were high-profile deals involving the Hallmark Distribution Center II and Camping World of Kansas City. “To me, entrepreneurship is the ability to drive innovation and create value in my field,” Root says, and she has applied those values to develop an extensive knowledge of the Kansas City commercial real estate market.

Joe Samoszenko  
Propio Language Services

Just this month, Propio Language Services sealed the deal on three new acquisitions, so you can bet Joe Samoszenko, 29, is sharpening a whole box of pencils as chief revenue officer for this fast-growth company. That dynamic fits right in with his belief that entrepreneurship is building. Can you make your business bigger and better relative to what you started with? It’s not about being right, but rather, getting it right as you build.” Since 2018, the company has gone from a staff of 14 and $10 million in revenue to become the world’s second-largest remote interpreting company. This year, with 500 employees, he’s projecting revenues north of $300 million. Small wonder he’s on his fourth title in six years. “Regardless of title though, I’ve always had one primary job at Propio: make decisions that are going to positively impact growth and scale to become the world’s largest language-services provider.”

Elijah Sharpe  
Alden

Studies in business administration and entrepreneurship at Lincoln University and UMKC set Elijah Sharpe on his journey as founder of Alden in 2016, with a goal of helping clients in agricultural settings access advanced diagnostic testing. Entrepreneurship, he says, “is about envisioning what’s possible and then turning that vision into a reality that not only generates business value but also benefits society at large.” It does so “by defining the speed, simplicity, and intelligence in the testing of food, beverages, and plants to ensure a safer, healthier food supply.” Sharpe’s goal with Alden, he says, was “to make laboratory-grade testing widely accessible,” which meant developing a new scientific method and commercializing an advanced diagnostic platform combining science, hardware and software. The next step was securing industry certification before shaking up the a sector’s established  testing market. 

Brianna Strawn  
Environmental Works

Working her way toward a crisis-management degree in college, Brianna Strawn started an online clothing boutique. Just one hitch and it was a big one: “Within my first year of business, I made over a million dollars in sales.” That will certainly alter one’s career perception of entrepreneurship. After delivering two daughters, she secured a buyout and returned to her original path with Kansas City’s Environmental Works. She’s the emergency response operations manager, overseeing the emergency-response department team of 17. In addition, she says, “I have also drastically improved the work/life balance of my employees”—not easy to do in her field.   “Emergency response is a 24/7/365 job. There are no days off,” Strawn says. “When I first started, we never knew when we would get called out. I have now set up crews and my employees are on call on a rotating basis.”

Bobby Witt, Jr.  
Kansas City Royals

The last one up in our 20 in Their Twenties batting order is shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who helped transform the Kansas City Royals from last year’s American League laughingstock to this season’s post-season contender. He batted .322, knocked out 32 home runs, knocked in 109 runs, and his on-base slugging percentage of .997 flirted with what the experts consider an elite level. The good news for playoff-starved fans? He’s only getting better: Each of those metrics was a career-best. That performance was sweet vindication for the Royals, who ceded him the largest contract in club history as training camp started: $288.7 million over 11 years. That effectively makes this 24-year-old the face of the franchise, potentially for the remainder of his promising career. A fitting outcome for the native Texan who was the Royals top draft pick in 2019, the second player selected overall.