Empowering Young Adults After Graduation with Evan Sanchez

I sit down with Evan Sanchez, a coach who specializes in helping young adults navigate the challenging transition from college to the next phase of life.

In this episode, you will be able to:

1. Swap advice for open-ended questions that encourage your kids to make their own decisions and take charge of their future.
2. Understand why letting young adults try, fail, and learn is more valuable than pushing for perfect choices.
3. Get tools for handling comparisons—to peers or siblings—and foster a more grateful, positive perspective in your family.
4. Help your child take positive steps—even small ones—when they’re feeling lost or lacking direction after college.
5. Use future-focused questions to inspire your young adult to imagine, plan, and act toward a purpose-filled life.

As a parent, I’m living the experience of “launching” two young adults into the world and all the complexities that come with it. On this week’s episode of the Great Dad Talks podcast, I had a chance to talk with Evan Sanchez—a coach who works closely with recent college grads struggling to define their next steps. His work really resonates with me, especially as I watch my own kids navigate these challenging transitions.

Below, I’m sharing some of the most meaningful takeaways from our conversation, along with actionable advice for parents who are in the thick of this phase.

Understanding What Young Adults Really Need

Evan began by reflecting on his own twenties. Despite having highly educated parents, “I did not want to go into that,” he shared. Instead, he was drawn to the music industry—and felt dismissed by his folks, who saw it as “frivolous, as not important.” That sense of being misunderstood is a core issue for a lot of young adults. As Evan put it, “if you know how to talk to your kids, talk to your young adults in a certain way, it will empower them and it will give them the ideas to help them launch.”

This resonated deeply with me. We all want our kids to be safe and successful, but sometimes our advice—however well-intentioned—comes across as judgment. Evan explained:
“When you give advice, what happens is… it comes across as judgment. It comes across as… challenges your brain, it challenges the amygdala… The amygdala is there to keep us safe… So what your kid is thinking is, is this potential shame, is this judgment, is this criticism, and that’s the way it comes across.”

Advice Versus Encouragement

One of my own struggles is knowing how much guidance is too much. Is it advice, encouragement, or just plain nagging? Evan had a great way to reframe this:
“I would frame that as not advice… but encouraging. What I call messy action. Messy action is when you don’t know what you like, when you don’t know what’s going to work, when you don’t know what the result is going to be, but you do it anyway.”

As parents, our job is:

• Encourage experimentation and taking risks, even if the outcomes are messy or uncertain.
• Offer support, not directions.
• Celebrate the process, not just the result: “The more you encourage that messy action, the more likely they are to take more messy action.”

The Power of Open-Ended Questions

Instead of pushing our own agenda, Evan recommends open-ended questions that help young adults forge their own path:

• “What does a good next step look like for you?”
• “What does success look like for you?”
• “What would your future self be proud of in five years?”

He emphasized, “If they come up with the idea, they’re going to be more likely to do it.” As a professional coach myself, I know how true this is—and yet, it’s so easy to forget when talking to our own kids.

Navigating Comparison—and Gratitude

Comparison is another major pitfall for parents and young adults alike. We want our children to succeed, but measuring their journey against others inevitably leads to disappointment.

Evan shared, “What do they say about comparison? Comparison is the theft of joy.” He went on to explain, “If you have less comparison and less judgment you will have a happier life.” This is a message I always try to emphasize in my own coaching practice, especially through our gratitude course—because gratitude really is a foundation for happiness in both parents and kids.

Evan’s Approach and Resources

Evan’s coaching and video course help parents learn the communication skills and mindset shifts needed to support their kids’ growth. He focuses on helping young adults identify their strengths and interests, encouraging them to take “messy action” and learn from the process—rather than simply handing them a career manual.

His advice for parents feeling lost:
“Anyone that I’m coaching in 90 days starts to make tremendous, tremendous shifts in it because I’m asking a lot of those reflective questions and going down to what their limiting beliefs are, what their interpretations are, what their assumptions are about life…”

If you’d like to learn more or schedule a consultation, you can find Evan at New Grad Launchpad Coaching (and check out his new course aimed specifically at parents).

Final Thoughts

This episode reminded me that launching our kids isn’t about pushing them out of the nest with the “right” advice. It’s about being present, asking good questions, encouraging risk and self-discovery, and remembering that their journey is theirs alone.

“When somebody feels seen and heard, they will grow. And that’s what it’s about.” – Evan Sanchez

If you’re interested in coaching support for parenting through these transitions, or in building more gratitude into your daily family life, check out GreatDad.com. Together, we can support our families in meaningful, empowering ways—no matter how unpredictable the journey.