Millennials. Every day it seems as if there’s another story about them, touting their ingenuity or criticizing their lack of a work ethic. Born between the early ’80s and the early ’00s — there is no firmly agreed-upon date range — members of Gen Y, according to sociologists who study such things, do have some common if confounding traits: confidence sometimes bordering on entitlement; a positive outlook despite facing some of the highest levels of unemployment and economic uncertainty in generations; civic-mindedness offset by a desire to amass wealth; technological proficiency combined with a lack of realistic pragmatism.

According to a recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau, millennials outnumber Baby Boomers, making up more than a quarter of America’s population. They are also the most ethnically diverse generation, particularly in Texas, where more than 56 percent of them are part of a minority. It is no surprise, then, that young Houstonians are beginning to make their mark on the city.

Still, there is young and then there is young. It’s one thing to find a talented professional in her early thirties, but most under 25 are still concerning themselves with college or figuring out how to move back in with their parents. But there are those who’ve already shown they can handle an up-and-down economy and find things they can be both passionate about and successful at in life. Here are five of them — all Houstonians under the age of 25 — we thought you should know about.

One is the soccer phenom who already has a gold medal from the World Cup and an eye on next year’s Olympic Games. Another is a chef who began his career when most of us were trying to figure out high school algebra. There is the app developer who’s already a successful entrepreneur and was featured in a recent Houston city marketing campaign. Another is a remarkable artist overcoming disability to create startling, ecologically friendly art. There’s also the college student studying architecture and building health-care clinics in South Africa.

These are the overachievers, the people who don’t wait for decades of experience to get their lives into high gear. As it turns out, for these young Houstonians, age really is just a number.

Morgan Brian, 22

Professional Soccer Player

For most professional athletes, entering a grown-up league can be a challenge. There are the rigors of a sport played by people significantly older and more mature — physically, emotionally and mentally — and there’s the spotlight, which comes with its own complications. When you reach the pinnacle of your sport in your first couple of years as a pro, it can be pretty overwhelming.

Houston Dash midfielder Morgan Brian is about as levelheaded as they come, but she admits her rapid rise from student athlete at the University of Virginia to starter on the U.S. women’s national team was a heady experience. “I had to pinch myself when I was first on the team,” she says.

And the magnitude of performing in the World Cup — a World Cup that the U.S. women won, no less — was not lost on her, as she found herself standing at midfield during games, awed by the spectacle of it all. “The Germany game was the first time I did that, and I got chills every time it happened.”

In his coverage of the World Cup, Sports Illustrated soccer analyst and writer Liviu Bird singled out Brian, saying she “became the catalyst for the U.S. midfield’s composure through the knockout round of the tournament.”

The bright lights of world soccer competition are a long way from Brian’s home in St. Simons Island, Georgia. She grew up a sports fan playing softball and basketball, but excelled on the pitch. She was a star of her team at Virginia and wanted to play beyond her college career despite her parents’ objections. “My parents told me I was going to graduate no matter what,” she explains. “They wanted me to graduate first and then go play.”

Brian is still a couple of semesters short of a degree in kinesiology thanks to the demands of the national team and her Dash schedule, but she’s heading back to school in the fall to work on graduating. “School will always be there,” she says, explaining that her parents ultimately realized, “These chances don’t come as often as you think.”

Unlike in men’s professional sports, the path is not nearly as clear-cut and the odds of success are even longer for women. During her first couple of years in college, Brian assumed she would have to play overseas. She and the other players on the national team agree the opportunity to remain in the United States is significant for both the future success of women’s soccer and women’s sports in general. “That was one of the little goals underneath winning,” she says. “If we win, we succeed, we can draw more people to games and it becomes a bigger sport. Since we won [at World Cup], there have been sellouts across the league. That’s huge.”

For now, fresh off the World Cup and new to Houston, Brian is settling into her new hometown — she loves living in Rice Village but admits she has a lot of Houston left to explore — and enjoying the competition with the Dash. She is also prepping herself for next summer’s Olympics, where the U.S. women’s team will be the clear favorite.

Omar Pereney, 21

Executive Chef