If you’ve been following me on IG and Tik Tok for a while now you know that I can’t stop talking about how grateful I am for my network, the personal and professional opportunities I have gotten through them and thank them for my ability to host a podcast and share their incredible advice and stories with all of you!
Truly I wouldn’t be half the person I am today if it were not for my village, my network and community both online and offline and the experiences that have come my way in the last 5 years. Networking has played a meaningful role in my evolution and as I have discovered my gift for connecting people and with people, it has become a pillar of the content I share.
My role at Rella, discovering that I can combine social media and law and build my own career doing both, my podcast, my involvement in community organizations, all are made possible because I wasn’t afraid to put myself out there.
Sending a DM, an email, a message on LinkedIn. That’s all it took! And starting that conversation led to fostering relationships that have time and again proved valuable. I have friends and mentors across the country because of my intentional outreach and every single job I have had since I was 18 has been because of someone I knew.
In Hamilton, Aaron Burr says “I wanna be in the room where it happens.” Networking is how you do that. In an increasingly interconnected and global world, its all about the people you know and the opportunities they bring to your attention.
If you have an extended network through your family, high school, sorority/fraternity, organizations you were apart of in college you have a solid head start! If you don’t it’s ok, get on LinkedIn and start building a network for yourself.
I wrote two blog posts for my law school’s Institute for Professional Leadership on the importance of networking and how to use LinkedIn to do so effectively and you can check them out here and here!
Once you’ve built your profile out following my outline in the above posts, its time to make some connections. Confidence is really helpful here so fake it till you make it!
Any connection is valuable because it connects you to their network, which is the key. Access, resources, being in the right circles and rooms, so to speak. So you can start wherever you’re comfortable. Use your Alma Mater as a filter and go through alumni and connect with people you knew in school, people in the grades above and below you working in the industries and companies you wish to be. Look up those companies and connect with people in the roles you want to be in. Research their backgrounds and make connections in those companies and with people from the schools and organizations they are members of.
If you’re in grad school, connect with your classmates and follow the companies and firms they are members of and that they follow. Also connect with the local magazines, business journals, newspapers, chambers of commerce etc in the cities you want to live in.
Now that you’ve made some connections, start reaching out to them! You can use the template I share with you in the above blog post to put yourself out there or create your own, up to you. This is the fun part: fostering these connections. An integral step in the process. Because this is a process and you have to be patient! A vast network doesn’t happen overnight and in order to tap into it for opportunities such as jobs and charity positions takes time.
Build rapport with these people, like their posts, comment on what they share. Celebrate their accomplishments and achievements as you see them on your feed. Check in periodically so they remember you. And when they know of an opening you might be a good fit for they may reach out to you! Or when you see an opening at a company they’re at you can let them know you applied.
Its impolite to directly ask for what you want from someone without laying the ground work so be sure to actually have conversations with them first! Ask them to coffee or an informational interview, virtually or in person, the beauty of the last two years is that now we can connect with even more people because of Zoom!
Once you’ve built relationships with a few people, be sure to keep fostering them. And don’t only go to them when you want something, be a resource to them too. Support them however you can! These people can become incredible mentors to you, even if they aren’t the people who get you a position.
You never know where the connection can lead!
The same goes for social media too BTW, connect with people on FB, IG and Tik Tok in similar ways and whether you’re looking for clients for your business, travel tips or advice on how to work with brands as a creator, they will be more willing to help you if you’re friendly.
This is how I have built my podcast! Which is an incredible resource of knowledge, insight and value if I do say so myself so be sure to check it out here!
If you have any specific networking questions you want me to dive into detail on leave them in the comments, shoot me a DM or lmk in an upcoming Q+A on stories, you know I’m always happy to help!
And don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn too. Thanks for reading!
xo Kayla