Latest / WashCo Insider / Alyssa Mascolo
Transcript
- speaker-0: Well, hello, hello, and welcome back to this episode of The Wash Co. Insider. Today, I have a very, very special guest with me. We're going to be talking with my close and personal friend, Miss Alyssa Mascolo, about a subject that is near and dear to our hearts, Gen Z in Washington County. That's all when we come back. Well, Miss Alyssa, I'm so excited that you're here. We've been talking about this episode for like, I don't know, probably like six weeks now, honestly. You are new to the Southwestern PA area, I do have to say. But I really want to talk about Gen Z in Washington County, because I feel like that's not a subject that we might talk about so much on this podcast. Totally. So again, I've been really excited to get you in the stew. on the Washko pod and talk about Gen Z. My first question to you is, what do you think Gen Z is looking for in their communities these days? speaker-1: Yeah, I think they're craving some genuine connections. So a lot of that validation and the connections with our friends, our coworkers, whatever it may be, is like through the phone, through social media. So I think it's really important to have these like what I would call like third spaces where people can go and connect, whether that's just like a restaurant and or getting coffee or if it's more of an experience, whether that be a concert or just like something different like. ⁓ making something or ⁓ just creating and connecting with Gen Z is just trying to crave that general ⁓ genuine connection. So I think wherever we can find that and have like a safe space to connect, think that's what we're looking. speaker-0: Yes, and the reason I asked that first is because like, I think we need to debunk some myths about Gen Z because like I hear all the, and like in the news, like you hear all the time, like from older people and like they did this with the millennials as well. Like Gen Z wants everything. Like they want all this crazy stuff and like they need like a high effort, good time to have fun. And like, I feel like that's not really so true. speaker-1: No, I also think Gen Z, again, goes back to maybe social media a bit, is overstimulated in general. You'll talk to your friends and they'll be like, ⁓ I'm so overwhelmed. have this, this, and this going on. So I don't think we need something crazy. We're not asking for a bunch. I think also something free is always nice or ⁓ budget. Or just being outside too. in the fall, like walking around a pumpkin patch or like doing something like that. Chill, like easy going. And then it also like people love to like dress up in their cute little fall outfits or whatever, get pictures, it becomes a full experience. But yeah, I don't think we're necessarily asking for too much or crazy or having all these like glitz and glamour type of events. Just like want something simple where we can have fun and just chat with our friends and like relax and like. be disconnected from the screens, I think, is also important. speaker-0: Especially like the way that the world is now and you mentioned something really interesting earlier, which is third spaces and like before we get into that I do want to talk like real quick about you know Actually, let's get into third spaces because I feel like that like segues. Tell me what is a third space? speaker-1: Yeah, in my opinion, the first time I heard this term was actually from my mom. She was talking about, I was just talking about going out with my friends and she was like, I wish you guys could go to like a roller rink or something, or like you could go dancing or like whatever. But there's like a lot of versions of a third space, but it's something that like we sort of lack. So like the two main places, it's usually like school is obviously a place or work is obviously a place. So it's like that. third space that you're getting community from. And it could be a church group. could be a, I don't know, my friend is in an intramural sports sort of thing. It be a sports league. Or it could just simply be somewhere where people hang out and chill. There's no major expectation, but it's somewhere where people just connect. That's outside of the typical like... work or school or like, yeah, it's more for leisure, so. speaker-0: And social interactions, right? course. Third spaces are so important because sometimes they can be free ⁓ or low cost. So they're a really nice way to transcend ⁓ barriers like ⁓ socioeconomic status or even something simple and overlook like school district. Right. Kids from school districts don't interact. And the reason I brought third spaces up because we are getting more and more of them down here in Washington County. The best example or like recent memory example I can think of is Midtown Market in Cannonsburg, which is such a fun area that just opens, I think, just a couple of months ago in the winter. It's this like cute little space. It's like a multi. It's like a retail concept. Almost they have duck pin bowling. They have a little distillery in there. They have a hot dog shop. And then if you know, do you know Grandpa Joe's like candy store? Yes. They have like a cute little like retro soda shop in there. speaker-1: how speaker-0: And it's just so, and I've been there a couple of times. And it's just such a fun area where you go in and you see families, but you also see, know, teenagers, people that haven't had a space to hang out before, especially in those like winter months where like in Washington County, you know, it's kind of hard to find, you know, free or low cost indoor things to do. So I think more spaces opening like that are becoming so, so important, especially for people in Gen Z. know, in the age of the internet, like, we are looking for those places to connect. And I think not enough people of the older generation like realize that they're like, you're always on your phone. It's because like, we need these spaces. speaker-1: And I love how you said the space has like multiple things that has the bowling it's like an all-in-one because that's great and I something that I also have been talking about with my friends is just like feeling like a kid again and like getting to play games like Take life easy, you know, so I love that you can kind of like tap into the little Nostalgic feelings there too with like the vintage sort of ⁓ like soda shop Like I think is so cool and would definitely like attract the Gen Z audience speaker-0: Exactly. Like, we're not always looking at, like, I think the theme of today is like, we're not always looking for a high effort time. Like, going downtown is fun. Like, we are 30 minutes from the city here in Washington County, but like, sometimes I'm not looking to do all that. Sometimes I am looking to stay close to home because there are so many things to do here and so many categories. And I guess we'll get into that a little later. But the next thing I want to ask you, because you're so connected and you're like... so into social and all of that. Like how do you find out about new places to find and see? Like how do you plan your weekend, I guess? speaker-1: I think a bit, mean, controversial, maybe not. The phone listens to you. hot take is the phone listens to you. I feel like my friends and I will be talking about something. Then the next thing I know, I'm scrolling on TikTok or Instagram Reels and like a video pops up and it's like a local creator or talking about like their top five favorite coffee shops or whatever it may be. And you see that and it kind of gives you. speaker-0: It's us. So like speaker-1: ⁓ a of what it might be like. It's like short little clips. You're like, ⁓ that looks aesthetic or like they have so many different like coffee options on the menu or whatever. So I think it's huge. I think the phone knows what we're doing and it listens. And ⁓ so I think some of it like has already just like gets fed to us on social media. Also, if I have something specific in mind and I know this is something that we might want to talk about later is like searching on TikTok, you're like, people rather than like a Google Maps, like ⁓ Chinese restaurant near me or whatever it might be, they're putting it in TikTok or like ice cream shop, like soda shop, and type that in TikTok, see what comes up, see like, it's nice to have the visuals and hear from real people that are going and giving their honest POV and it's not like... Sponsored or anything like that or maybe it is but it still gives you a feel for look What's going on rather than just like a still image and like a Google review or whatever it might be so social media is Huge for like finding these places speaker-0: And it's changed the way that we find out about what's going on. Like instead of Googling it, and sometimes I'm like inundated with like all these different things I don't really want to or I'm not interested in I'm not relevant or I'm not interested in. Like I am going to TikTok to see what's going on. Or I'm going to our Instagram to see what's happening later. So it really has changed. Like I want to hear from these creators, but I don't want to hear from creators maybe. They're so big that maybe I think it's sponsored. So it's kind of like a to walk of like, who do you trust? I don't know. Who do you listen to? speaker-1: I also, you mentioned like your Instagram. I think Instagram stories are huge as well. Cause that like pops up and that's like a real time reminder. So fast. Yes, it is so fast too. And like people also like post in live time on those. It's not like as delayed as maybe like a real or whatever may be. So I think Instagram stories are huge to capture my attention. I'm like, ⁓ yeah, I had that in the back of my mind. I wanted to go to that. speaker-0: to speaker-1: concert or whatever it may be, but I forgot about it and now it's back up in my face again, which is great. speaker-0: Well, I am curious, are you like into Facebook? speaker-1: I'm not really I mean I use it a bit. I think It's great. Actually, I think it does have some great local news like in my hometown sometimes they have like a neighborhood group or whatever that might be nice, but ⁓ I don't use facebook Which I think instagram and tek-talk are pretty consistent across the board and I would say for most gens years That's probably about the same speaker-0: Yeah, same with like YouTube shorts. know YouTube shorts like keeps having moments where it's of big and then other times it like falls off completely. So that's confusing to me. speaker-1: use the, I think however, you can repurpose like content might be shared across. as long as you're, you have like one platform you're checking, you might be seeing the same sort of stuff. speaker-0: think that YouTube is big with the generation below us, which is Gen Alpha. very true. That's like, 2012? Yes. It's up till now. It's like Generation Alpha. like, because maybe they're not allowed to have social media yet. So TikTok is, or sorry, YouTube Shorts is like really big for them. So I'm eager to see how that platform evolves for what we're talking about. People finding out what's big and what's happening in their community. But I don't know. Gen Z is going to change the way that we tell people information. It already has. Like the ways that we communicate, it has to be fast. It has to be very attention grabbing, engaging. Like it needs to fit the ever changing algorithm. So I don't know, sometimes like almost the algorithm is a barrier to finding out what is going on because you're not sure if it's like promoted or stuff like that. speaker-1: I was just about to say that. And I think on top of social media, I think that's really easy. It's at our fingertips, but also at the same time, I think, you know, it's good to get out and walk or like drive around with your friends and just be like, hey, that looks good. Like, I feel like that's happened before where I've had spontaneous like days or nights with my friend where we're like, we don't know what to do. Like, let's just drive around or walk around for a second. And like, you see something, you're like, have you ever been there? No, you haven't. Like, you check it out. And that's also like just a great time of like, you never... know what you're going to get, but sometimes there's some like hidden gems in there. speaker-0: Well, OK, so that's an interesting question. I guess it's like kind of off the cuff. Like, do you think that people like us, like in our position, like trying to tell people about how awesome Washington County is, like, do you think we need to lean into maybe some of those more like spontaneous random interactions, like wrap that up in some sort of itinerary? speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, I think there's always I mean everyone likes different things but I think yeah kind of having maybe like an itinerary like this is like a chill weekend This is like what I would do and like this is a more like high-energy music focus weekend Or this is like a more food focus weekend like I think being able to like quickly like maybe go on the Washington County website or like the Instagram and see like a quick like scroll through of like ⁓ carousel of like my top five things to do in Washington County or favorite restaurants, whatever, I think is helpful because I feel like we also have decision fatigue. So having like those recommendations where someone's already suggesting something is really nice. speaker-0: And I know it like itineraries are getting really big too. Like I thought those went away for a while, but itineraries are back. I agree. Like I want someone to play my whole weekend for me because what else am I going to do then? I'm going to go to gpt or Gemini or whatever and ask it. But like if it can come from real people, real experiences like, you know, me or like my other colleagues, like who have families, like who have been to these places and can tell you exactly what it's like. Like itineraries are so back. Yeah, so bad. speaker-1: with the real experiences. I love getting, I try to always ask too like when I'm at a restaurant or something what the ⁓ server recommends too. I'm like, love that that inside scoop. I think, yeah, having someone local like giving suggestions is always the top tier option. speaker-0: Yeah. Now I want to circle back. I we love that phrase. To social for a second, because I want to do a quick plug. If you are not following our Instagram yet, both of our Instagrams actually, we have two. We have at visit Washington County PA and we also have a foodie account now, Wash Co Eats. You should definitely follow because we have been doing some really interesting partnerships over the past like year, year and a half. We have been partnering with different creators across the region, Pittsburgh and beyonds, more so some based in Washington County. ⁓ A lot of them are like, you know, smaller creators, but smaller creators are amazing because, and you know, they're relatable. You're in marketing. They're relatable. They have really highly engaged audiences. And we have noticed over our collaborations, we've had the best reception. Like people really enjoy their trust. They're trustworthy because in some cases, like these are their friends and neighbors that are posting these collaborations. speaker-1: Thank speaker-0: I've just been so happy to see some of these videos coming in and all of the business owners commenting and saying, thank you for popping in. We were so excited to see you. ⁓ So those collaborations have just been so fulfilling. And I think smaller creators are the way to go too. speaker-1: I agree totally and I think. speaker-0: Big ones do have their Barathe. I will say. speaker-1: The visual elements are just great and you get that authenticity that we were already touching on and I don't think you can get that. I feel like the bigger you get when you're really big, then suddenly you're not the average person. It's not attainable and you kind of become a bit disconnected from the everyday person and the neighbors. So I think micro influencers are definitely popular right now. speaker-0: Everyone has its own niche. Some of them are family creators, some of them are foodies, some of them focus on like just beverages, like wineries, distilleries, which we have plenty of, by the way. ⁓ So it's been really fun to like see them lean into their niche. And then sometimes they go like completely outside of their comfort zone and knock it out of the park. Like it's just so fun to see like their versatility, their authenticity and the way that... their audiences and conversely like our audience for sure responds to some of these videos and then you share them to other platforms. Yeah, so and I feel speaker-1: the creators are often time around like our age, they're Gen Z, and so then that adds an additional layer of relatability because you're like, ⁓ they are my age, they're doing, they have similar interests to me, they're doing things that I would like to do. I think that's. speaker-0: Yeah, and like you and I can connect with them because again you and I are both in like that marketing communication space We're both young like these are people that I know but you're also you're new to the area and I grew up here, but I was failed in a lot of ways Like I have not experienced some of our attractions some or like I'm new to them So it's been really cool to see the way that like they experience and I'm like, my gosh Like I want to do that. Like I want to do the tour that this girl dead or like I want to go see that and I want to order like what she ordered. speaker-1: Curious to whether, obviously you grew up here and you have a very different perspective than me, but is there anything that you've found over the last year or so that you maybe never knew of when you were younger or a kid or never went with your parents, but now you're like, this is a great spot, wish I would have known about this sooner. speaker-0: say honestly this is so embarrassing for attractions i would say mingo creek county park it's literally like i'm less than 10 miles from my house it's 15 minutes from my house i had never been there before really no i've never been there before i'm sorry it's really embarrassing to admit on camera but it's a beautiful park yeah it is absolutely stunning it has this like beautiful creek we have two historic covered bridges speaker-1: Girl walks. speaker-0: Fall it's beautiful. Even winter. It's beautiful summer. It is just stunning. It's the perfect neck Yeah, and people bring their dogs. There's pickleball courts like I've pickleball there before I'm terrible pickleball, but It's like the perfect place for a little hot girl walk So I would say that's my favorite attraction and then like rediscovering some of our events. I took you to the little a town rodeo I took you to that That's another one and speaker-1: little pic. ever rode a speaker-0: The Pony Link World Series is something I had never really been around before. ⁓ It's a youth baseball tournament. It's actually international. Teams come from all around the world to experience that and so they compete. speaker-1: What I was also shocked about with the rodeo obviously a small town but some big representation other places and I mean it was it was so cool to just like see these young people from all over the country and they're they're right here in your backyard and PA. speaker-0: And Brazil, like international countries too, Brazil, like people do come here. So I would say those are my two like favorite events that I kind of like discovered in the last probably two years or so. ⁓ But like I want to segue to, that's a good segue, to the importance of playing tourist in your own backyard. Because again, the overarching theme here is like you don't need to go. downtown if you don't want to. You don't need to go on like a road trip if you don't want to or don't have the time like, I don't know, the importance of just staying where you are and like connecting with your community. Because I can guarantee you, if you live here, there's probably something that just like, you can speaker-1: You don't know about. Yeah, I think it's easy to get into sort of like a monotonous routine where you like, wake up, you go to work, you go to the same like coffee shop to the gym, whatever it might be. But I think like you said, there's so many like maybe little hidden gems or things you've never heard of. And like maybe that aren't getting that recognition necessarily, but they're special. And like you do something new every day that makes you feel like you're living a more fulfilled life. makes you feel like you're living longer, like you have more experience under your belt. And yeah, I think it's great. There's so many, mean, again, I haven't been living in this Southwestern Pennsylvania area for very long. Yeah, but I mean, it's been beautiful. I've been like shocked by all like the sorts of things. I really had like no idea what to expect, but it's been surprisingly pleasant. speaker-0: But. I know I wanted I do want to do the covered bridges driving tour with you Yeah, so bad because I feel like we would have so much fun with that. It make a little yes speaker-1: Also, I feel like this area is just so great. A friend of mine is from California and she recently moved here about a year ago. She had never seen snow, but she had also never seen the fall foliage. So that is the perfect thing and getting to experience that childlike innocence. They're experiencing it for the first time. And even if you haven't, I just think it's so beautiful. speaker-0: Yeah, and then I think another place I really want to take you We have the pavilion in starlight, yes, we're going to a concert this year. I'm so excited Should we talk should we talk about some of the concerts that are happening? I do want to say I am pretty excited. We have machine gun Kelly That's coming in June. This is in June because this episode is coming out in May. We've got oh Chris Stapleton love speaker-1: Sure, for sure. love Chris Stapleton. He has amazing voice, such a range. know. Everyone likes him. He's a crowd favorite, I think. speaker-0: Second best national anthem. Second best after Whitney Houston. speaker-1: Yes. ⁓ yeah, I know like literally I don't know anyone that doesn't like him. He's great for the Gen Z audience. ⁓ a friend of mine is getting married this year and her first dance song is to Chris Stapleton song, but also my parents love him. He's multi-generational. He's a talent. speaker-0: No, I would love to see him live. We should go. And then Riley Green is also coming. speaker-1: I'm so excited. ⁓ I've seen Riley Green before and he is fantastic. And I feel like in the past year or so, he's really been popping off. Like he has had these collaborations with people like smaller artists like Ella Langley, who's now huge because of him. And so, and he's had a few talk about the power of social media and TikTok. He has had like a few songs that have gone like mega viral in these like short little soundbites. So he would be a great one to see and like, again, so close. speaker-0: I know it's so close to here, we gotta go. So Starlake has a really exciting lineup, but I don't know, like there's so many other places I would love to take you. We have really nice theaters actually. We have Little Lake Theater, which is like very historical, very beautiful. They have an awesome lineup this year. And then there's like a really cute little schoolhouse out in Hickory. And they put on like really high quality level shows out there. It's called Old School House Players. Like I would love to be there. speaker-1: I love like the the arts tie-in I like grew up a dancer and I I was a minor dance minor in college and still teach dance so like that is right up my alley and something I think like live art like a dance theater whatever ⁓ is like always great and just like an added experience and it's I don't speaker-0: Legend. speaker-1: It's not dying, I know there's controversy online. Timothy Chalamet saying what ballet and opera are dying, but they're like not, I have a friend who is an opera ⁓ major actually, I didn't even know that, but she's like singing a lot and I went to one of her shows, so I think the younger audience is still into those things despite it being around for so long. He got quite the flack online, so I think he's had his punishment. speaker-0: The dog house. Yeah. For quite some. speaker-1: I can say that I'm interested and a lot of my friends are interested as well so I would love to do that. speaker-0: The arts are really big here. We have the Washington Symphony Orchestra. We have another community theater. We have so many different opportunities to see and even engage with the arts. We have lot of ⁓ arts and crafts studios around here. I think we five or six. ⁓ love that. All spread out throughout the county that are just so fun and offer really unique things. Also, the wineries. We were just talking before this. have a lot of wineries in Washington County and I think we should do a wine tour. speaker-1: Especially for summertime. Yeah, ⁓ for sure. We gotta make our little reviews of what we like best and I'm sure there are lots speaker-0: thing. I know there's one in Monongahela that I would love to like take you to speaker-1: They like, your indoor, outdoor, like... speaker-0: This one's all out there. They have like a beautiful vineyard. It's called Ripe V winery. It's so cute. But then we have J and D sellers. That's in 84. We have a Red Fox, which is like also out in Hickory area, which also Hickory Hearth Highlands. That's in Washington County people. I want everyone to know that that is in Washington County. That one's been going viral. I'm sure you saw Anna Eads. It's with the Highland cows. Yes. I want to take you there so much fun. We should go there for. speaker-1: Yes. speaker-0: Business. A business meeting. But like other than that, like there is just so much to do here. Like I want people to... Like even the museums are so nice and so engaging. we have... speaker-1: Love that. I to experience it. this area of Pennsylvania as well is like so historical. You don't get that everywhere. I can attest to that. And like that might be something that take for granted, but seriously just like getting to hear about that history and just like see the architecture, the older, that's the other thing. Gen Z is so funny where like. speaker-0: We love older stuff. speaker-1: We like want to be passed with like we love like going thrift shopping vintage stores like those like retro like coffee shops or soda shops like that's something I feel like Gen Z is always like that that intrigues us. I feel like that piques our interest speaker-0: No, because I love an antique store amendment. Yes, I do. We have a lot of those and I haven't been to some of them and they are so nice. I found so many good things that I do not have room for. Yes. In my house. speaker-1: And I think that's that's great too like I think buying secondhand or whatever because things are expensive and like our things are cookie cutter I feel like and so like being able to have those like antique and like vintage stores and like Populate your space with like things that are like meaningful and have like a story behind them is always sick speaker-0: I know that's what I love an anti. I love a coffee and then anti story speaker-1: That's the perfect day. around. Go to the park that you were mentioning. Go to the park. speaker-0: Park, go to the winery, yeah, we have all of that. So I don't know. just like, that's my pitch to Gen Z. think is it's in your backyard. It's right here. For it. Take your friends and just go do it. I, I understand. speaker-1: have to open your eyes and explain. plans, like look at the resources that like Washington County has to offer and like pick them up, make the plans and like I know your friends will be grateful that you like came up with something to do and that you're doing it. speaker-0: Yeah, and like not to plug but like do follow her Instagram and also go look at our website and we have a visitors guide like we have resources like if you are bored because You only live once right you only like young ones It's so important to have these experiences with your friends and I agree like the economy like all of that situation right now Like free things at home are accessible. They're there speaker-1: And I think this is the kind of stuff like exploring your own city. I feel like those are the memories that we're going to have when we get older and we're going to tell our kids about it might not always be like the crazy stuff. feel like we're going to remember like the simple moments of just like exploring with our friends. speaker-0: Yeah, and like connecting with your community and like watching it evolve. Like again, we talked about Kansburg a little earlier, but like areas like Monongahela are also really evolving right now. Like downtown Washington is getting really big. Like new storefronts are opening and people are investing in my hometown. that's been so exciting. That's been so exciting to watch and to experience for the first time in a lot of areas. And it's been. speaker-1: It's cool for me to kind of like lean on to you for suggestions and like expertise like you I feel like you know it all but you're learning as well like we're learning together speaker-0: learning together we're experiencing it all and we're gonna have a fun summer speaker-1: I'm so excited. I can't wait for all the things that we have. speaker-0: No, I'm going to get you down here. Star Lake. We're going to have it all. So it'll be so fun. I want to wrap it up real quick here and say that Gen Z is not. speaker-1: We're not picky as people think. speaker-0: We're not like looking for at all like we just want a couple of really nice things and I Don't know investing and staying in your community is just it's so important. So that's my I guess that's my pitch speaker-1: Connecting and exploring I think is something that we're just that's what we're looking for We want to like have a good time with our friends We can stay local like we can do all sorts of things like you mentioned. Yeah, there's plenty to do speaker-0: There sure is plenty to do. On that note, I want to say it's been so nice talking with you about debunking some of these Gen Z myths because it's important. We're not meant to be misunderstood. speaker-1: Well, thank you so much for having me and I'm glad we could shine some light on those topics. I think that's something we're both pretty passionate about. Like Gen Z is not high maintenance. just wanna connect and, you know, explore. Go to the park. Do a Hawker walk. speaker-0: No. I know, just want to have a good weekend, that's it. But that is all for this episode of the Wash Co. Insider. Thank you again so much for being here. But our summer events are heating up, I want to tell you all. This Saturday the 30th, we have the Pow Wow Mountain Man round-a-voo at Little A-Town Arena in Avella, which is one of our favorite spots. Also that Saturday is the Sunset Music Festival that's at Southpointe Town Center. And the Washington Wild Things are facing off at home this week against the Gateway Grizzlies. If you are into kitchenware, you are not gonna wanna miss the Summer All-Cloud Factory Sale. That's June 4th and 5th at the Washington County Fairgrounds. But other than that, that is all of us this week. Be sure to tune in next week where we'll be welcoming Dave Schofield from Meadowcroft Rock Shelter and Historic Village. See you then.