In March of 2018, Josh Burnette and Pete Hardesty teamed up to create Adulting 101, Book 1, a complete guide for life planning, responsibility and goal setting, and a perfect gift for those completing both high school and college. Three years later, these two friends and Amazon best-selling authors, have joined forces again to create Adulting 101, Book 2.

While Josh’s first introduction to Young Life was through his father’s involvement in Virginia Beach, Virginia, it was his personal involvement while at Great Bridge High School and connection with Young Life leader Chris Kessick (currently regional director in Ohio), that truly influenced his early years. At that time, future Adulting 101 co-author, Pete Hardesty, was an area director for Young Life in Virginia Beach; however, by the time Josh was pursuing his business degree at James Madison University (JMU), Pete had transitioned to be an area director there. In Josh’s words, “My college experience was defined by Young Life.” It was during those years that Pete would gather college-aged people and lead them through a curriculum focused on what it meant to move into adulthood; this was the genesis of Adulting 101.

While at JMU, Josh served as a Young Life leader, while also working for Chick-fil-A. By the time he completed his studies, he had worked for the restaurant chain for eight years, including two corporate internships. It was then that Josh found his way into a yearlong property internship at Young Life Frontier Ranch in 2010, an experience that was truly life-changing and helped Josh better understand his calling to move forward in business, while also volunteering as a Young Life volunteer. On the heels of this, Josh was accepted into the Chick-fil-A interim manager program, spending six months in Knoxville, Tennessee, and six months in Augusta, Georgia. Then, newly married and ready to take the helm of his own store, Josh became the owner/operator of his first Chick-fil-A store in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was during this season, leading a location in an urban mall with 20 student employees, that Josh began to teach his team many of the topics that Pete had shared only a few years before. He then continued to do the same as he moved to a stand-alone store in Arkansas and was able to lead 100 employees. In Josh’s words, “I knew there was great value in engaging with people personally, making sure that they knew that I cared about their personal success. The fringe benefit of this was that our business only got better as we poured into people personally.” Based on this experience, Josh reached out to Pete and talked about writing a book; an idea that first came to fruition in Adulting 101, Book 1.

When asked if, and how, Young Life influenced his role as a Chick-fil-A owner/operator, Josh was quick to respond that, “There is no way to divorce Young Life’s impact! Being a Young Life leader was where I really grew in Christ and these were formative years for me as I grew in my understanding of service and emotional intelligence.” Today, Josh has handed the Little Rock store to another owner/operator, while he leads the team of 175 at a Chick-fil-A in Yorktown, Virginia.

So, why a second book? According to Josh, “Our first book was great and highly impactful; however, we realized that there was more to unpack. The first book is what an adult does, book two is who a healthy adult is.” Taken directly from Amazon’s description of Adulting 101, Book 2, “This book will help you know yourself and increase self-awareness, cultivate grit and resilience, develop a healthy relationship with social media and much more. In the second half of the book, they team up with five licensed counselors to provide proven strategies to overcome anxiety, depression and loneliness.” In the words of Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church and The New York Times best-selling author, “Adulting 101 Book 2 will transform your understanding of yourself, others and the world around you … it is a compass for twenty-somethings to navigate their inner life.”

If you are interested in purchasing Adulting 101 (Book 1 or 2) for yourself or as a gift, you can get a copy on Amazon​ or if you want 10 or more books, contact Pete​ (Eastern Young Life College divisional coordinator) for a fat discount!