The best tip I can give anyone that is career-driven is to network, build and maintain relationships. It’s the crux of what drives growth, partnership, and a badass community.
I can seek advice, get a helpful recommendations, get amazing ideas, at the speed of a text.
Here’s how far I’ll go for networking:
I was visiting my sister in Salt Lake City, and quickly pivoted my return flight, and flew to San Francisco for an Impact & Motherhood event with Re:Brand. I was there for a total of 5 hours and then took the redeye home to New Jersey.
FYI, Re:Brand is a curated networking community redefining what professional connection looks like for women and parents. They are building spaces centered on real collaboration. You can join Re:Brand here.
The spontaneous trip decision was…crazy? Maybe. Worth it? 100% Yes!
Quick trip to see the amazing Cat Canada in action
Why?
I knew Cat Canada and the Re:Brand community was special and totally worth it.
I knew meeting people IRL would have more impact than virtually.
I knew that I loved the topic of her event, all things motherhood, especially its intersection with work and ambitious women.
I was able to kickoff a relationship with new people, including Bobbie Chief Impact Officer, Michele Lampach, who is on a mission to change the world! Follow her.
And another BOLD example of nurturing relationships:
I was heading to Park City for Sundance last week and reached out to my former marketing peer, Chris Santorella, who is now leading The Hollywood Reporter (THR). We both worked at Hearst around the same time, and while I had been at THR years earlier and we never overlapped there, we shared a real bond over being on similar marketing paths. After seven years of not staying close, I took a chance and reached out, first on LinkedIn, then followed up with a text, to see if we could catch up at the THR Sundance Studio. And honestly? It was amazing. It felt like no time had passed at all. We’ve both lived entirely new chapters since then, but at our core, we were still the same people—curious, supportive, and genuinely wanting to help each other. When he walked away he goes, “lets figure out how to work together again…how I can help PeopleSense!”
OK, love him, love that!
Connecting at Sundance with old colleagues
As you are exploring how to build a network and advance relationships, keep these ideas in mind:
Here’s a BOLD challenge: Connect on a video call or do a coffee meet up with someone new on LinkedIn every week. The cold outreach on LinkedIn has led to some of the best connections for my career (but also, expect a lot of unanswered messages)!
Reconnect with team members you used to work with–everything comes full circle! I cannot tell you how inspiring and helpful it has been to be able to talk to Hearsties within days notice, plus the waterfall effect of meeting other great people through shared connections.
Invest in the next generation of talent. I like to say, “interns will be your boss one day.” They will remember the time you spent training them, and they will go off and do something amazing... and you will be calling them.
Join a community that shares a similar culture and purpose. For me, it’s been real help from women—Re:Brand and Entreprenista do that for me. Just last week, I was tagged in a post for a partnership need. I know there are so many startup and large-scale communities out there... it all depends what you are looking for in a community. This is a list with some of the top options to start with.
