We’re Not Meant to Grow Up Online: Introducing The Trade
Let’s be honest—growing up today is weird.
Young adults are facing more anxiety, disconnection, and challenge getting on their own two feet than ever before. Between endless screen time, instant gratification, and a world that’s traded hands-on living for virtual everything, it’s no wonder many 18- to 30-year-olds are stuck.
They’re smart, creative, and full of potential—but often overwhelmed, underprepared, and unsure how to move forward.
For those with anxiety, executive functioning challenges, neurodivergence (like ASD), or just a deep sense of being out of sync with the typical path, the result is often the same: isolation, avoidance, and a quiet desperation to figure life out… but no real-world roadmap to get there.
That’s the problem.
Our Answer: The Trade
The Trade is a yearlong apprenticeship-style program designed to help young adults reconnect with the real world—and themselves—through hands-on work, deep mentorship, and community living.
Set on 1,800 acres in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, our participants trade us one year of their life in exchange for the skills, mindset, and confidence to build the rest of it. They are tasked with taking care of “The Mountain” with an established team of tradespeople.
They start with structure and support—rotating through real jobs in construction, farming, hospitality, forestry, mechanics, and more—earning wages and learning how to budget, show up on time, work on a team, and contribute to something bigger. They live together, cook together, problem-solve together. And with the help of therapists, mentors, and occupational coaches, they start to build the grit and independence that can’t come from a classroom or a screen.
Over time, they specialize, take on leadership, and eventually launch—into full-time work, apprenticeships, or independent living. With our alumni network and employer partnerships, we support that transition long after their boots leave our land.
It’s not therapy. It’s not school. It’s not a wilderness program.
It’s life—real life—with guardrails.
Why The Trade Works (When Other Programs Don’t)
We don’t simulate life. We live it.
Where most programs rely on worksheets, group sessions, and hypothetical planning, we believe growth comes from sweating through a job, failing at something real, and trying again the next day with someone who’s been there before.
It’s authentic. The work our apprentices do keeps the lights on and the animals fed. It’s necessary, paid, and valuable—just like they are.
It’s trade-based. Whether they want to go to college, start a business, or pick up a wrench and never look back, our model builds a resume and work ethic that apply everywhere.
It’s built around who they are. For young adults who think differently, feel deeply, and often haven’t fit into traditional paths, The Trade provides a place to reset, build skills, find purpose, and finally, move forward.
Final Thought
We created The Trade because we believe young adults don’t need to be fixed. They need to be engaged. Challenged. Encouraged. Paid. Trusted. And given the time and tools to grow into who they’re becoming.
If you or someone you love is stuck—smart, kind, capable, and still somehow lost—we’d love to talk.
The world doesn’t need more programs. It needs more people who know who they are and what they can do.
We’re building them, one apprentice at a time.