Montezz Allen is a journalist on the cusp of 30.

At 18, where did you envision yourself at this age? What career path most appealed to you as a young adult, and did you study towards this goal?

I played basketball my entire life, so honestly, at age 18, I thought I’d be playing ball on somebody’s college team. It didn’t quite turn out to be that way, ha ha.

As a teenager, there wasn’t just one particular career path that appealed to me. There were several: stock broker, architect, mechanical engineer — even a pastor. I didn’t get into journalism until my sophomore year in undergrad. I changed my major after struggling with mechanical engineering.

I always knew I wanted to go college and get a master’s degree. No one in my immediate family had a degree, so not only did I want to be a barrier-breaker and earn one degree, I wanted to set a new standard and up it to two!

When did you enter the workforce full-time?

I landed my first full-time job about three or four months after graduating from graduate school at DePaul University in 2014. I was 26 years old.

What do you do now? What do you hope to do next?

Currently, I work as a TV/Radio sports/news reporter at Urban Broadcast Media, and I work as a part-time assistant producer at WBBM-AM News radio. I’m also an author. The name of my book is called Watch Your Words, and it’s available on Amazon in both eBook and paperback form.

I plan on continuing to write encouraging books (I’m writing my second one now), start booking speaking engagements, and stay on top of developing my own business.

One of my main goals is to be a TV reporter for the NBA.

What is your least favorite millennial stereotype? What do you find most accurate?

My least favorite millennial stereotype is that we’re lazy, and we want things handed to us. We’d rather take the easy route. We’re not willing to put in the necessary work to become successful. That’s a total lie. Millennials have learned from the previous generation. We understand things have changed. There’s no such thing as working for a company for 30-40 years, retiring, and living off your pension, Social Security, etc. with us.

Many of us want to become entrepreneurs. Many of us don’t like working for other people. But if we do choose to go down that path, we’re innovators, great thinkers, problem solvers, and we have the drive to become the best at our craft!

Do you have student loan debt? If so, how has that affected your approach towards finances?

Student loan debt? Have mercy, smh. Yes I do! So far it hasn’t been too much of a burden. I’m on a pretty good repayment plan. It sucks a little, but it’s OK. I would’ve done things differently when it came to finding more scholarships and grants, but the experience has taught me what to do when I finally have kids. Remember, no one in my immediate family had ever gone to college, so we weren’t as knowledgeable about the process — especially when it came to finding ways around loans.

I had a $27,000 scholarship coming out of high school, but I was so fixated on going to one particular college that I put all of my eggs in one basketball. It didn’t work out and I didn’t have a school to fall back on. My mother was the reason why I got into Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

Any other thought you’d like to add on your experience in the workforce?

Work hard. Give it your all. Never get complacent. Believe in yourself. There will always be naysayers, managers that won’t like you, etc. but keep putting one foot in front of the other one. And never lose sight of your goals and dreams.