Is it really true the millennial generation values experiences more than past generations? Or is this a reflection of the world we live in, where new experiences are so easily accessible due to technology?

I am so fortunate to be able to call Taylor Smith one of my best friends, and for over a decade now! As a Co-Founder and the CEO of Blueboard, Taylor is a huge believer in how amazing experiences bring people closer together. Whether you’re looking to reward colleagues, family, or friends, Blueboard is establishing a culture of “awesome” for the millennial generation.

I sat down with Taylor to learn more about his passions and the Blueboard team.

Chris: I have always respected you for following your heart. When you left the corporate world to start a company you truly believed in, I found your mission inspiring. What is your current focus at Blueboard?

Taylor: At Blueboard, we are helping forward-thinking companies thank their top-performing employees in meaningful and memorable ways. Today’s model of recognition is broken – companies are spending tens of billions of dollars on rewards and incentives that are not reaching the hearts and minds of their hard-working employees. Think about it – cash is just added into your paycheck and instantly forgotten – any meaning is lost. Gift cards are often thrown in our drawers and not used, or spent on every day purchases.

That is why at Blueboard we are so focused on helping companies send their employees on awesome experiences like wine tasting, standup comedy class, skydiving, Michelin star dining, etc. It is powerful to have your top employees associate meaningful life experiences with achievement at your company. It creates much more loyalty and meaning than your average incentives do today.

Chris: As you know, I’m studying leadership. During my studies this week, we focused on motivation and how everyone is motivated in different ways. How does Blueboard’s platform help motivate today’s workforce?

Taylor: By 2020, nearly 50 percent of the workforce in the United States will be millennials. Millennials are a different breed than Gen X and Gen Y – our consumption is switching away from material goods and towards experience. Think about it – our peers aren’t saving money to buy a fancy new car or a nice watch. We’re taking that money and going to music festivals or going backpacking through Southeast Asia. Our generation craves experiences because experiences are the new social currency.

By creating a rewards and recognition platform that is focused on experiences, we are simply helping companies offer incentives that employees actually want.

As hard-working employees, we give thousands of hours a year to the companies we work for. Shouldn’t we be incentivized by something that we actually want? Something that actually has personal meaning and is memorable?

My cofounder Kevin and I think so, and we’re building the platform that allows companies to do just that with ease.

Chris: I know you’ve researched the fact that millennials truly value experiences. How much of a role do you think technology has played in this?

Taylor: Technology has pushed us to crave experiences, because our friends’ experiences are constantly shoved in our face through the social networks we all know and love. Through Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, we’re seeing our peers going on trips, eating fancy meals, and taking awesome vacations. Experiences are becoming the new social currency.

Keeping up with the Jones’ no longer means having the nice Cadillac and a white picket fence. Keeping up with the Jones’ in 2015 is collecting meaningful experiences and stories that you can share with your friends – whether that is raging at Coachella, hiking Machu Picchu, or biking through Tuscany.

Because technology has enabled us to view more and more of our friends’ lives, it is also pushing us to crave experiences – to build our own collection of memories and experiences.

Technology is also playing a very powerful and positive role in the way that we experience things in real time and also reflect on them. With GoPros and high resolution cameras in everyone’s smart phone, we’re able to capture moments in real time like no time prior in history. Whether or not this technology takes away from what you’re actually experiencing in the moment is a topic for another day, but we are much more easily able to capture media that we can revisit and reflect on at a later time.

Chris: Why do you think rewarding people with experiences goes so much further than a typical raise, or gift card? What are some of Blueboard’s new experience offers?

Taylor: An experience from Blueboard has powerful potential that no gift card or cash bonus could give you. When an employee chooses an experience off of our platform, they are picking something that is meaningful to them personally. They’ll go and have a great time no matter what they choose, and they’ll associate that memory back to their company. We’re helping companies engage their employees on an emotional level. Gift cards and cash bonuses just don’t have the same effect.

We focus on experiences that are unique and exciting, and a bit off the beaten path. Within the last year, we’ve sent people glassblowing, to the World Series, to forge a real sword out of a steel rod, and even turned people into James Bond!

Chris: Blueboard is having a great impact on this generation’s leaders. Who has inspired your leadership style as a millennial CEO?

Taylor: I look up to entrepreneurs that are hell bent on changing the world, and don’t take no for an answer. Richard Branson and Mark Cuban come to mind – they are both the perfect mix of smart and a little bit crazy – and have taken gutsy risks in order to disrupt the status quo. It’s my hope and dream that Blueboard changes the way that leaders and companies approach the whole topic of recognition, making it a priority rather than a burden, an investment rather than a cost.

Chris: How do you see Blueboard’s platform empowering today’s leaders?

Taylor: We believe that all managers and leaders want to thank their employees in meaningful and memorable ways – they just don’t have the time to do so. Our platform solves that problem – we enable managers to send their top performers local, curated experiences with just one click. Our concierge handles the rest. We help today’s managers and leaders say thank you and look awesome in the process.

Chris: Thanks, Taylor! I’m excited to see you continue to grow as a leader, and for Blueboard to continue to instill its culture of “awesome!”

Follow Chris on Twitter @crblake Follow my blog www.findingcouragetolead.com

Follow Taylor on Twitter @taylortmsmith Follow Blueboard @Blueboard and visit https://www.blueboard.co/