Positive Results by Sabrina

I learned in one of my very first classes in business school that I was not good at networking. Mind you, this was during the time of MySpace, before Facebook took over. (It was the next semester that a student much younger than me told me it was time to come out of my cave and create a Facebook actually.) Before we could look up our past employers and coworkers from our phones. Before LinkedIn literally allowed you to feel connected to anyone, anywhere.

At the time, I existed in a very limited circle. I was a mother, employee, partner, family member and trying to be a successful student at one of the best business schools in the country. The quiz she gave told us to list people from various social categories and mine was limited. I didn’t have time for friendships that didn’t involve school or my daughter. I did NOT want to attend social gatherings that were outside of my family, especially school sporting events. My partner and I had a small friend circle and that was good enough for the occasional outing. I didn’t really keep in touch with previous coworkers or professors from Junior College. I didn’t look at relationships as transactional and count the things that other people could do for me. I remembered growing up and my parents had a diverse network of friends from the bowling alley. My mom knew some amazing people from all of her years in the restaurant business. My adult activities at the time just weren’t on the same level.

Fast forward two decades and networking has become one of my favorite things to do. I owe a lot of it to my years in the party plan business, often referred to as Network Marketing. We learned to network with women for various reasons including party and product exchanges and growing each other’s businesses. We also met so many different women, from very different circles, on a regular basis. Some of the most amazing women that I know today came from my parties. 

Now we know that we become the general average of the people in our immediate circles. Your network can bring you down or it can uplift you. When you surround yourself with individuals that are healthy, growing, thriving and chasing the dreams you want to chase, you are more likely to achieve those things. Your network most likely is also influencing your family. Your children see who you’re interacting with. They pay attention to what you do when you’re with those people. You’re influencing the way they will look at their networks as they grow also. Social media helps us keep those networks close. I have friends I’ve known since I was a child and friends I just met last month. The daily posts are so different. I love opening my social media to a feed filled with people working towards their dreams, creating adventures and core memories for their babies and families.

Today my network still isn’t built on the premise of who can help me the most. Most often, I look at who might need something from me. I enjoy being a helper. (Did you read my “Things I Know To Be True” post?) I enjoy connecting people with the resources that they need. I learned to love social media for the social aspects of connecting and keeping in touch. It’s so easy to create a public post when we’re looking for a business reference, general knowledge, book suggestions, park suggestions and more. You don’t need an extensive roll-a-dex filled with information. We create a post “Who do I know that does…” and you have solutions at your fingertips, often instantly. It’s fun for me to share my favorite podcasts, books and outings with friends. When friends tell me that something I shared resonated with them or turned them on to something new, I’m proud. 

Running and Coaching have helped me appreciate how far my networking skills have come. My world is filled with such a diverse group of people now that I never could have imagined. I would not have considered some of the things I’ve been able to achieve, including my coaching certification, without them. Faced with a recent challenge, I was reminded that I am surrounded by amazing people who are always willing to help others. I listen to stories of my friends’ travels and races and aspire to do more. I listen to tales about their connections and motivators and am reminded that there is so much more beyond our immediate reach. As I work with athletes, I’m proud to know that while I may not have all of the answers that they seek, my network of resources is growing everyday. I’m pretty sure that professor would be proud to know that I took her advice and continue to grow my network of influence each day.