Prince and His Legacy: Applying Lessons to Life-Career Development

A New Season

As I write this blog in April 2026, the signs of spring begin to emerge, such as the budding of leaves and significantly warmer temperatures. Despite these anticipated seasonal changes, life remains uncertain and deeply unsettled for multiple reasons. Here in the land of 10,000 lakes (Minnesota), we endured an especially brutal winter season, marked by the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in a federal immigration operation. Individuals and populations impacted by the surge continue to recover, including students from immigrant, international, and/or BIPOC identified groups. For many individuals in our communities, life will never be quite the same. Despite these ongoing injustices and challenges, I remain (mostly) optimistic and anticipate the cycles of the seasons, including how student affairs educators and career development professionals can support students by adding value to their life-career planning. 

Furthermore, I continue to look for role models who provide guidance around life-career and work choices. What lessons might we learn from others’ legacies? For purposes of this blog, I prefer to use the term life-career because it encompasses the holistic constellation of roles across one’s lifetime, including both paid and unpaid tasks (Hansen, 2011; Thomsen & Hooley, 2025). This past spring, we marked 10 years since Prince died on April 21, 2016. I offer perspectives on life-career ideas through the legacy of one of Minnesota’s finest, Prince. Additionally, I reflect on the musician’s values and contributions, and conclude with several reflection questions.

Prince and the Lens of Pop Culture

This spring in Minnesota heralds two notable events: the melting of snow after a long winter (although sometimes it snows in April), and the 10-year anniversary of Prince Rogers Nelson’s death in April 2016. It is well known that Prince was born, raised, and lived in the Twin Cities. He remained fiercely loyal to Minnesota throughout his life. This piece includes my reflections following his sudden death. I recall talking with family members about Prince. Key lessons of Prince’s life translated into teachable moments for our then 9-year-old daughter, including loss. Popular culture artifacts (e.g., films, literature, music) serve as tools for career development, human resource development, leadership studies, and student development (Bartlett et al., 2021; Callahan & Rosser, 2007; Rajpopat, 2023; Turner Kelly & Porter, 2014). Applying the lens of popular culture to Prince’s legacy and career development, I share lessons with student affairs and career development educators and students.

Prince’s Impact

I attended the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities in the early 1990s. Prince and his music surrounded us. He was ubiquitous, and we took pride in the fact that he was a local kid turned megastar. Although I never possessed the stamina to attend the 3 am parties at Paisley Park, I listened to and admired Prince’s music, as my friends did over the years. On the day that Prince died, the skies over Minneapolis and Saint Paul were a deep, hazy purple. A dreary rain lingered throughout the afternoon, eventually punctured by a majestic rainbow that adorned the sky over Paisley Park into the evening hours. The memories of that fateful day persist as Minnesotans and fans around the world still make pilgrimages to Prince’s home and First Avenue, his iconic club featured in the film, Purple Rain. In the ten years since his tragic death, I continue to reflect on his loss and the legacy. Prince left us much too soon. Yet, he gifted vital lessons, many of which connect to career development and higher education professions. More importantly, these lessons serve as reminders of authentic living. Educators can apply these ideas and strategies to their own lives, and to the individuals they support.

Collaborating with Others

Prince was a strong and independent artist who stayed true to his personal and professional convictions.  He was also the ultimate collaborator. His list of work partners is long and distinguished, including Cassandra Wilson, Shelia E., Morris Day, and Madonna. Prince worked tirelessly to write and produce his own music, but he also was a committed partner, forming cross-generational musical relationships. He wrote songs for other musicians such as the Bangles (“Manic Monday,” a personal favorite), Sinead O’Connor, and Celine Dion. Student affairs educators and practitioners can:

• Foster relationships and work connections outside one’s immediate work expertise and environment.

• Manage ongoing projects to generate multiple streams of income and contributions.

• Collaborate with partners across generations (Watkins et al., 2025).

Teaching and Mentoring Others

Mentoring and teaching younger musicians, including women artists, was important to Prince (Shepard, 2016). Frequently, he attended gigs of emerging artists. Prince was supportive, nurturing, and mindful not to upstage his fellow musicians. He frequently asked unknown artists to open his show and served as a teacher to many musicians. Student affairs practitioners can model this nurturing spirit. They can:

• Participate in professional association mentorship programs; serve as a mentor and guide new employees.

• Teach a career planning course or workshop within one’s organization.

• Get involved with service organizations and initiatives that support new professionals.

Living One’s Values and Fighting for Equity

Prince was fiercely proud and autonomous, taking on his record label over ownership and copyright issues. He was ardently committed to his personal and collective values. A year before his death, Prince staged a “Rally 4 Peace” benefit concert in Baltimore, MD following the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. During the concert, he advocated, “The system is broken. It’s going to take the young people to fix it this time. We need new ideas, new life” (Case, 2016, para. 16). Closer to home, if Prince was alive, he would have led advocacy and social justice efforts in response to the deaths of Philando Castile, George Floyd, as well as those of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were murdered by ICE officials in Minneapolis. We need to do better—together. Student affairs educators can:

• Learn more about career assessments and inventories that focus on values.

• Explore the role of values as it relates to decision-making processes with clients.

• Connect to the social justice roots of career development and holistic student development principles. For example, educators can integrate a social justice and advocacy stance to their own student affairs and career development practice—and act on issues that matter and provide meaning (Higashi & Stebleton, 2020).

Possessing a Fascination with Life 

Prince was always curious. In a tribute following Prince’s death, the television show, New Girl, creator Liz Meriwether wrote about collaborating with Prince on the Super Bowl episode in 2014. She noted that Prince was always the consummate professional, and demonstrated a fierce commitment to his colleagues (Meriwether, 2016). In an interview with NME.com, Prince stated, “People fascinate me—they’re amazing. Life fascinates me. And I’m no more fascinated by my own life than by anyone else’s” (Smith, 2017, para. 8). Student affairs practitioners and career educators can:

• Explore how one’s paid work roles integrate with non-work, unpaid roles (e.g., caregiving).

• Examine the power of curiosity in the workplace, including impact on creative thinking and relationship-building (Spencer Smith, 2023).

• Learn a new skill or explore a hobby. Take a risk and craft new opportunities (Ibarra, 2023).

• Re-evaluate work-life integration, including the importance of leisure and rest in a harried world (Spracklen, 2026).

Finding One’s Purpose  

Prince’s commitment to music and his passion will endure forever. Prince grew up in a musical family, and he had his own artistic gifts that developed at an early age. Even though he had other interests as a young person (e.g., basketball), he focused on music, teaching himself the piano, guitar, and the drums by the time he was a teenager. Career professionals can:

• Reflect on one’s passions and purposes (Stebleton, 2019).

• Encourage young people to experiment and hone their natural strengths and abilities.

• Engage in professional development on the meaning of purpose (Burnett & Evans, 2026).

• Explore one’s inner life, including the influence of spirituality and mindfulness (Brooks, 2026).

Building Authentic Lives While Preparing for Uncertainty

Prince left us with countless gifts. Equally as important to his musical contributions, Prince’s legacy teaches student affairs educators and career professionals how to live authentic and full lives. Career trajectories are no longer linear or predictable but rather squiggly (Tupper & Ellis, 2022). In this time of uncertainty and frequent career jolts (events or occurrences that can lead to transition), employees and students continue to ponder the meaning of work now—and into the future (Klotz, 2026). How will economic turmoil and frequent workplace changes affect students and clients in terms of how they might approach work? No doubt work and life-career decision-making will remain uncertain, and workers will need to adapt and unlearn what is no longer relevant and take advantage of chance events (Blustein, 2019; McGowan & Shipley, 2020; Seelig, 2026). 

Career shocks, which are comparable to jolts and include events that are planned or unplanned, will force individuals to make sense of constant transition and movement in life-career planning (Akkermans & Donald, 2025). Recent changes include shifts in career longevity (Zalis, 2026) that will inevitably create new challenges and opportunities for student affairs educators and career development professionals. This ongoing shift towards uncertainty and mobility is especially relevant as educators support new graduates who are entering the workplace in a tight economy (Kantor, 2026).

Hope Prevails

For me, the changes of seasons symbolize hope. Similarly, Prince’s legacy serves as a timely and poignant representation of hope. Despite all of life’s uncertainties and injustices, Prince left us valuable lessons that I aim to fulfill in my own life, and share with my students, colleagues, and two children. For that, I remain thankful and optimistic.

 

Author’s Note: This contribution represents an updated revision of a previous draft. A version of this blog post was first written in 2020 but not officially published.

 

 

Reflection and Discussion Questions

1. Identify 1-2 lessons that you might apply to your own life. How might you challenge your students to implement these lessons into their own life-career planning?

2. Several social justice events have dominated the news cycle in recent years (e.g., George Floyd, ICE raids, among others). Prince was a noted “giver,” philanthropist, and mentor. How might the current situation influence you to give to others? Think beyond time and money.

3. How might you advocate for social justice causes? What are the roles of career educators to fight for equity and change?

4. What is one idea from this column that you can implement immediately into your life and/or practice? Identify one practical step that you can take.

 

References

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Blustein, D.L. (2019). The importance of work in an age of uncertainty: The eroding work experience in America. Oxford University Press. https://doi-org.ezp2.lib.umn.edu/10.1093/oso/9780190213701.001.0001

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Case, W. (2016, April 21). Prince touches Baltimore with concert, song after Freddie Gray’s death, unrest. The Baltimore Sun. https://www.baltimoresun.com/food-drink/bs-ae-prince-baltimore-20160421-story.html

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https://themuse.jezebel.com/prince-spent-his-life-elevating-and-mentoring-women-1772479454

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