Synopsis

Who the hell is Peter Darrow?

Health and wellness entrepreneur Peter Darrow thought he had life all figured out. A native of the posh and privileged Upper East Side, the young millennial lived at large– attending elite schools, throwing lavish birthday parties, and spending summers in the Hamptons. Then one day his seemingly perfect, polished life came crashing down. Over the course of three hellacious years, his father died, he inherited and burned through a shit-ton of money, his girlfriend dumped him, and his first business floundered. One morning he found himself looking in the mirror and thinking,
Whose life am I living anyway?

After thousands of hours of therapy, introspection, and meditation, Peter exchanged entitlement for humility and his parents’ worldview for one authentically his own. His tragic crash course in the meaning of life revealed that true wealth and happiness are not found in affluence and privilege but within oneself and within healthy relationships with others. This is his story…

In this book, you will learn:

-What it was like for Peter to grow up in Manhattan’s Upper East Side

-How to overcome heartbreak when dealing with the loss of a parent, a failed relationship, or an unsuccessful business endeavor

-About the grueling stresses of the restaurant industry, and an inside perspective on what it’s like to be an owner

-The unique world of online dating and how to cultivate more meaningful relationships

-How millennials can break free from their parents’ outdated values and their self-obsessed egos so they can discover their personal truths and live fulfilling authentic lives

…and many other fascinating insights from a young, entitled, and privileged human being who now sees the world differently through loss, disappointment, and failure.

Praise

“A powerful set of ruminations that are likely to hit many millennials of privilege where they live…and help start them on journeys that are likely to be both interesting and useful. Wise Millennial gives readers lots to think about.” — Len Schlesinger, President Emeritus-Babson College, Baker Foundation Professor, Harvard Business School

“Millennials are given a bad rap—lazy, entitled, generally bad at life. But my generation is so much stronger and wiser than you might think, and Wise Millennial proves that! Peter gives an inside take that’s alternatively hilarious, poignant, and inspiring for millennials and the people who love them.” — Nicole Lapin, New York Times bestselling author of Rich Bitch and Boss Bitch

“The millennial generation is reminiscent of the baby boom generation: it is already wielding enormous influence over every facet of American culture, society, politics, and economics—and yet, it is poorly if at all understood by the generations that preceded it. In Wise Millennial, Peter N. Darrow offers insights based on hard-won personal experience and assiduous academic study that make the thoughts, dreams, wants, and desires of the millennial generation understandable at long last.”— Harry Hurt III, award-winning journalist and author of Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump

Interview with Peter

Your book is separated into 7 sections beginning with the section “Wise Millennial” and ending with “Instructive Millennial.” What is the single best piece of advice that you would like your reader to glean from the book as a whole?

That you have the power to create your own reality. Your happiness lies from within and is not dependent upon others. This is very easy to say and incredibly difficult to perform. It’s okay to express yourself without fear of being judged but you must also carry yourself in an emotionally mature way. Furthermore, I’d like my readers to know how to exercise control over self-destructive behavior.

Is there a story in the book that you found particularly difficult to share?

The opening chapter. Bringing the reader into those final moments with my father as they were unfolding, as I spoke my final words to him. That is a really intimate space to be sharing with others. It brought back some very difficult and painful emotions.

Why should millennials focus inwardly on character development when so many things compete for their free time?

Without a strong sense of self, true happiness is unattainable. Character development is the foundation from which our worldview is established. Otherwise, you’ll easily find yourself “spinning your wheels” and living life on autopilot without even realizing it. You might even find yourself headed down an unsatisfying path. Yet what I’ve realized is that every minute you spend on inward focus, yields a 10x return on attitude, patience, and fulfillment. Ultimately, an inward focus will actually allow you to organize your activities more efficiently, thus creating more free time, not less. Don’t view self-reflection as one more thing competing for your time, but rather an opportunity to get yourself organized.

Lastly, will you tell us about your passion for social change and how that connects to what you have discovered to be harmful regarding social media?

Social media, or the millennial perversion of its use, has robbed us of our own identities. What can be a very powerful tool, when used appropriately, is often exploited to feed our self-obsessed egos and insecurities. We too easily use it as weapon to compare to others, in order to make ourselves feel better. It’s dangerous. It’s toxic. It’s unhealthy. Just look at the increase in teenage suicide rates and/or antidepressant prescriptions over the last decade. We face an invisible cyber battle which threatens our happiness and overall quality of life. There needs to be a greater sense of urgency to this issue. I hope to be able to build a larger platform from which I can inspire and empower millennials and future generations to develop a strong and healthy sense of self. Imagine what we could achieve by unlocking all of this potential human capital and happiness.

About the Author

Peter N. Darrow is a Millennial, a native New Yorker, an entrepreneur, and an expert at learning from his mistakes. After earning an MBA in entrepreneurship from Babson College in 2014, Peter founded Darrow’s Farm Fresh restaurant in Union Square in NYC. He is the current founder of Veggie Dust, first ever vegetable seasoning for kids. A health and wellness entrepreneur with a passion for helping people, Peter has already seen much in the way of success and failure, and speaks to the challenges facing his generation, and dispels myths about what it’s like to supposedly “have it all.” Find out more about Peter at www.wisemillennial.com.

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