Conversations & Insights

Location: Minneapolis, MN His Business: Cavitt Associates How we met: Through the One Hundred Dollar Club Facebook group Michael always wanted to write a book about how to start a business, but he didn’t know exactly what he would write until he read The Luck Factor: Why Some People Are Luckier Than Others and How You Can Become One of Them by Max Gunther. In the book Gunther outlines 5 attitudes toward life that lead to “luckier” lives.  The first of these is the “spiderweb structure,” which essentially means that people who build large networks of people are more likely to unexpectedly “get lucky” because of their connections with …

    Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Business: Business coaching, content strategy and copywriting services How we met: Through Wendy King, a business coach in Denver, and Lori’s aunt Even though Lori had a great network in Denver, when she moved to Florida, she had to start over. Having completed both undergraduate and graduate school in Denver meant Lori had a ready base of colleagues to build a professional network. It was this network that helped her find new positions and provide positive recommendations. This meant she could leverage her network whenever a  project ended or a change in positions was needed. This made it easy for her to rely …

I’ve talked to over 20 small business owners (so far) about how they build their networks, and I’ve noticed 2 startling things: Talking to these successful business owners has totally shifted the way I think about networking.  Be prepared to be surprised. Mindset shift #1: BEFORE: I need to know a lot of people NOW: I need to be strategic about whom to meet and with whom to build relationships. When I first started networking, I thought that I should just meet as many people as possible, and then I would have a great network.  But then I started going to networking events.  I met a lot of people …

  Location: Denver, Colorado David’s business: David is currently the COO at Dental Solutions, LLC, however, his specialty is coming into businesses and helping them implement change and growth. How we met: I taught David’s son in Hebrew school when he was in 5th grade. When I asked David how he builds his network, the first thing he said was, “A lot of people think they have networks because they know a lot of people, but knowing a lot of people isn’t the same as having a network.” As a strategist for businesses, it makes sense that David views networking in a strategic sense as well.  When building a …

  Location: Lancaster, Lancashire Her Business: Fluent Language How we met: Via the Pioneer Nation Facebook group One of Kerstin’s favorite phrases is “That’s so awesome!” – a phrase that pretty much sums up her networking skills. Kerstin is genuinely interested in people.  She wants to meet them, she wants to talk to them, and she wants to celebrate how truly awesome they are. She comes by it honestly – Her parents have a wine making business and her mom remembers every customer.  She knows what kind of dog they have and what kind of wine they like. Kerstin is very extroverted, and she loves meeting people. But she …

Location: Portland, OR Her business: Artist, author, Local Portland Organizer, Freelancers Union How we met: The Pioneer Nation Facebook page Rebecca’s philosophy is that we all want to be seen and heard, acknowledged and appreciated in some way, even if we don’t know it. It’s a driving force in how we relate to ourselves, others, and the decisions we make when it comes to creating our livelihoods and lifestyles. Rebecca’s career is about this concept, whether that is conveying relationships and metaphors through her art, or doing a TEDx talk about the importance of story and connection. In her talk at TEDxConcordiaUPortland, she discussed the power of metaphor to help us understand our own struggles and …

  Location: Portland, OR Her business: Small Business Systems and Technology Consultant How we met: Christy and I met on the last night of Pioneer Nation. We went out to dinner with some other ladies and decompressed from the conference. Christy is in the process of growing her community by fostering relationships forged at Pioneer Nation, and by asking people about the need for systems in their businesses. Like me, Christy was impressed by the presentation Shenee Howard made at Pioneer Nation.  Since the conference, she’s been asking lots of people about their struggles with using systems in their businesses. Using technology is very frustrating for a lot of …

Location: Portland, OR Business: Words Cure How we met: The Pioneer Nation Facebook group Carrie describes herself as “an extreme extrovert.” According to the Strengths Finder test Carrie is a natural connector.  She is driven by other people’s stories and always wants to find out what makes them tick. She is always helping people and connecting with them. She has a knack for understanding the perspectives of others. Her Facebook feed is a “happy place” as well. Even though some people tend to post negative comments on Facebook, she never responds to those comments, and only focuses her energy on positive interactions. She loves reading her newsfeed to find out what is …

Location: Bellingham, WA Business: Marli currently works at Western Washington University, where she “helps college kids navigate their universe”, but she is hoping to become an inspirational speaker and consultant who works with high school and college students to help them follow their dreams. How we met: Through the Pioneer Nation Facebook group Marli is in the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey, and she is getting out there by saying “yes,” and, in her words, “putting my passion and ideas out there and saying this is what I want to do.” A friend who works in a high school recently asked Marli to present to a group of her students.  …

Location: Denver Business: Yoga and meditation for corporate businesses Like me, Grace is seeking out many opportunities to learn about how to network effectively. She took an online class called “Connect With Anyone” from Scott Dinsmore, in which she and 8 other people worked together to identify people with whom they wanted to connect, and then to brainstorm together how to connect to those people. Grace said she learned that there are different ways to connect with different types of people. For example, connecting with a well known, industry leader, can be more challenging than connecting with a peer, and might take longer to accomplish. On connecting with influencers: …