About me

My awkward introduction

I accidentally became a networker a few years out of college when I attended my company’s welcome reception for our annual sales meeting. It was my first day on the job. I walked into a hotel ballroom full of dozens of colleagues chatting and getting reacquainted. I knew no one. I stood frozen feeling like I had just crashed someone else’s party. Welcome to the deep end, I thought. 

I decided being a wallflower wasn’t the impression I wanted to make so I pushed past the nervousness and awkwardness and dove in. I mustered up the confidence to introduce myself and join a conversation. Soon my anxiety eased and I began enjoying connecting with my new colleagues. 

Turning my story into a strategy

From that one event, I started making important contacts that aided me throughout my time at the company. And as time went by, I learned that focusing on building relationships would be the easiest way to open doors for my next opportunity. 

The next time I had to rely heavily on networking was when I returned from an eight-month travel sabbatical in South America. Returning to the United States I decided to settle in a new city and enter a new industry (tech). I was eager for a new start. 

But my ambition soon hit a brick wall. The tech industry was close-knit and I wasn’t making much progress with regular job applications. So I knew I needed to rely on my networking skills to break in.

I first reached out to a woman who was active in the local tech community and she agreed to meet with me. She offered to introduce me to others in her network.

Soon my contacts were growing and expanding. After about five months, I expanded my network to include connections with people in the local tech sector. It was from this effort that I was presented with two offers in a market I was new to and a sector in which I had no experience.

Sharing my networking playbook

Over the years I have used my career as a networking experiment. I have spent years learning about professional relationship building and communication while developing a networking playbook of tips and tricks. This playbook has helped me get results allowing me to rely less and less on traditional job search strategies. 

Today, I help career growers and struggling job seekers leverage their new and existing network connections to find their next role. I share both the science and the art of how to network in a way that yields short-term results and pays dividends for years to come.