Apparently, your Gen Z cousin prays
Plus, the health trifecta no one talks about and the $$ value of meaningful work.
🙏 This week on connection: Gen Z is hard to understand but apparently religious, your physical and mental health aren’t complete without social health, and people are willing to forgo 23% of their pay for meaningful work.
Sorry I was late today - spent the morning at a senior home (see below) and could only now sit to wrap this baby up. How will you connect today?
Also, who’s in Madrid? Stay on the lookout for a few events coming up!
Dare to connect,
Andy
NEW HERE? WE’VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU.
👋 Welcome to Casa Cinco, where I explore how we can build a more connected world. It starts with curating connection—weekly resources, events, and dealflow that inspire and enable social well-being. But it doesn’t end there...
🪄 RESOURCES
Looks like Gen Z is pretty much saving Christianity. While 80% of people born in the 1940s or earlier identified as Christian, only 46% of those born in 1990s did. Bad news? Sharp decline. Good news? That number is still 46% for those born in the 2000s, showing some stabilization. Although I’m not particularly religious, I’m happy to see this - more people involved in IRL and communal activities. I can’t help but wonder though: is the uptick in religion a symptom of our troubles?
“You know it's important to take care of your physical and mental health. But what about your social health?”. This is the trifecta no one talks about - we go to the gym or care for our nutrition, we (hopefully) go to therapy or meditate, but what about seeing our friends in person? Meeting new people? Spending quality time with loved ones? We rarely prioritize our social health… and no wonder it’s led us here. Watch Kasley Killiam, author of The Art and Science of Connection, deliver her TED Talk on Why Social Health is Key to Happiness and Longevity.
📅 EVENTS
Who’s in Madrid? Get ready for:
March: Intimate conversation with a surprise artist - one of my personal favorites from Mexico. Can’t say more now, except it’s happening pretty soon!
April: Connection drinks for entrepreneurs and investors in hospitality, leisure, and community. Who should we invite?
Reply to this email or email hello@casacinco.co if you’re interested in joining!
💭 AND MORE
From Harvard: 9 out of 10 people are willing to earn less money to do more meaningful work. In fact, 23% less (aka, the monetary value assigned to ‘meaning’). Tl:dr: happiness at work is a thing, and factors beyond income (job satisfaction, sense of purpose, etc.) play a crucial role in employee wellbeing and *cough* retention rates *cough*.
Limestone Capital, the PE firm “dedicated to investing and creating value in the experience economy”, has acquired Nobu Shoreditch. This is the same PE behind the Aethos Hotels, and now also Aethos Club, mentioned in last week’s newsletter. This is a 164-room hotel - what experience, exactly, are they going for?If only I could sit at those investment committees…
While at the senior home today, I hosted a game of “memory” using solo cups and small prices instead of cards. I noticed that most participants (+90%) where women. Men were much, much harder to recruit. I experienced, first hand, what the data shows: societal expectations of masculinity lead many men to prioritize self-sufficienty over intimate friendships and connection. Friendly reminder to pay close attention and safe spaces to the men in your life :)
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
Are you a founder or investor in social well-being? Interested in sponsoring Casa Cinco? Reply to this email and let’s connect.
Want to build a more connected world?
“The food, the service, and the design are simply ingredients in the recipe for human connection”
Will Guidara
You might like reading Alain de bottom - little religion manual for atheist - or similar title (I read it in French). You’re right how much connection and communal experience through religion (not all them good btw!) and thinking of it now it’s a book around the history of communal experiences / values & meaning making
Also on your point of men v women. Whilst individuals can and will trump generalisations, I attended 2 roundtables in the past 2 weeks. One was exclusively female and one was heavily skewed male. Guess which one people lingered around to actually make connections and take details etc ?