Welcome to the Marketing Mindset and Motherhood podcast, where we dive into the dynamic world
of marketing strategies, personal growth and the unique challenges that come along with
being a mom in business.
I'm your host, Leona Burton, and I am thrilled to embark on this journey with you.
This podcast is proudly sponsored by LiquidLypo, your trusted partner for staying healthy and
happy even during the busiest of times.
Join us as we explore the art of marketing, nurture a resilient mindset and master the
delicate balancing act of motherhood, all whilst discovering the incredible stories
and wisdom of mothers who've conquered this trio of challenges.
So grab a cup of coffee, find a quiet corner and get ready for a dose of inspiration.
It's time to unlock your marketing potential and embrace the beautiful chaos of motherhood.
Welcome to the Marketing Mindset and Motherhood podcast.
So hello everybody, I'm Charlotte.
I am the leader for Mums in Business Networking Group based in Newton Abbot in Devon.
And my business is called Teal Box Designs, where I print a wide range of branded merchandise.
So you're talking workwear, signage, various other products alongside those.
And we've got the lovely Dawn today, joining from all the way over in Detroit, I believe,
to chat and answer some questions about networking for success.
So Dawn, did you want to just introduce yourself quickly?
Yeah, so I'm Dawn.
For MIM, I actually just expanded our one of our locations in Michigan, one of the gals.
So I just became leader of our Blue Water St. Clair, Lapeer County in Michigan here.
So I'm just working to build that right now, getting some ladies joining us there.
And I am an operations for property management company full time.
I also DJ at night.
And I did start my own business last year, which is consulting, personal and professional
to kind of take all of my traits that I've been doing for years and allow me to help
as many people as I possibly can on my own.
Perfect.
So is the plan kind of long term to be solely self employed and be running your own business?
It would be wonderful not to have so many things on my plate, but I really thoroughly
enjoy all the things that I do.
I don't know if I can let them all go.
Obviously, I've been DJing for like 25 years.
So that's just something I do.
That's I enjoy it, but I'm also making money at the same time.
So I found that one niche that I can enjoy, I can entertain people and just socialize
with people and still get paid for it.
So that's pretty much it.
You can't go wrong, can you really, when you find something that you're really passionate
about and you can earn some money from it?
Oh, yeah.
Absolutely.
That's what we're all here for in the business networks and everything that we do.
Yeah, exactly.
So how do you make meaningful connections in your field?
A lot of times with my connections, I engage with empathy because I'm a very empathetic
person.
And like I said, I socialize with people all the time.
And I do have a tendency to talk a lot because I love talking.
So I think that's where I gain most of my connections because I just talk to people,
even if they're strangers.
But I do like to listen.
I've always been a dear Abby, as I've been called for most of my life.
And I almost attract it naturally, attract people to come and talk to me.
So that's a good thing.
And so I actively listen to them.
And in my business, I listen to them to find out what they need.
What do they need from me?
What is it that they're actually desiring or they need that would help them reach their
goals or reach whatever their objective is?
There's always OKRs as they talk about business all the time.
But there really isn't an objective to everything.
And there's key results that people are trying to reach, whether it be their goals or their
objectives and their work or professional or actual professional or personalized.
That if you listen to people, you really do connect with them because you better understand
their position in their life or their business.
Yeah, absolutely.
And like you say, listening intentionally and taking on board what they're saying actually
makes a big difference than just listening because they're talking.
Yeah, they always say like, listen to understand, actively listen.
But there's 50% of people actually listen to respond instead of listening to actually
understand what the person is saying.
And if you listen to respond, you miss half of half of that, what they're actually getting
through to you.
Absolutely.
Yes.
So what's your go to, I suppose, like you're saying about being empathetic and being naturally
quite chatty.
What would be your go to for leaving a good first impression in a professional setting?
Actively listening, like we just talked about for one.
But I tend to tend to just walk up to people.
I smile a lot.
So even in the most despair times, I smile that I got my nickname Sunshine when I was
a young girl from my dad.
So that became my DJ name.
And that's just because I just have a tendency to smile through things, even pain.
You smile.
And sometimes that really does make a difference in somebody's life if you just smile at them.
And that's where I keep that good first impression with people is just to know that I'm on a
happier note.
I'm an open door policy.
And I'm just an open person.
So I hope that I'm portraying to be an inviting person by keeping a smile on my face.
It makes a big difference, doesn't it, actually, smiling.
And even if you are, you're just out and about and you're walking down the road, having a
smile on your face can make the difference to somebody's day.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And then following up, I think, and being thankful.
If you are connecting with somebody, like I'm thankful for you today.
I'm thankful for our leaders and stuff that connected us with this meeting too.
And to be thankful to just have connections with people and let them know that you're
thankful for meeting them and thankful for speaking to them or even thankful for whatever
they may have brought to the table for you to learn.
It's definitely nice for somebody to hear that when you say thank you to somebody.
It makes a big difference too.
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
So have you got any tips?
It probably ties quite well in actually with the smiling and the being friendly and being
open.
Any tips on keeping and growing those professional relationships?
I say keep open communication.
Communication is the most important.
As we said, listening is good, but part of listening and part of communication is listening
and speaking too.
But showing my appreciation, I keep those professional and personal relationships with
everybody I can, but I appreciate them always and I try and stay positive.
I guess my biggest thing is I try and find the positive in everything.
So when you're growing relationships, there's not everything is positive, especially when
you're growing a business.
And not everything is positive.
There's many obstacles.
There's hurdles.
And trying to find the spin, the positive spin on everything does really help to grow
professional relationships because somebody could come to you with a problem.
But if you can put a positive spin on it, whether it be professional or personal, you
almost draw their attention that, hey, this person is actually listening to me.
They're really engaging with me and they're trying to make it better for me.
Even if I just think about it being better, they're trying to make it better.
Yeah, and absolutely.
And you might give them a little idea or something that they haven't thought about.
If you put that positive spin on something, they might, if they're just thinking of the
negatives, then they might not see it.
And it might be something that's like glaring them in the face.
But so sharing that right.
Yeah, could completely change kind of like what they're what they're doing and where
they're going.
Yeah, absolutely.
So well, the next question was about why is listening important?
But I think we've already covered that.
We do.
Listening to everybody, you gain a better understanding about them, you know, and you
collaborate with them if you listen to them, because that gives you that open invitation
to collaborate on whatever you may be gaining from listening and understanding them.
Yeah.
And if you're understanding them, you're going to build those relationships better because
they know that you are listening and you are taking an interest and you're taking on board
what you're communicating about.
You're not just listening for your gain.
Yeah.
But you also develop part of the relationships and listening part of everything.
You're also developing trust.
You know, you're gaining their trust, you know, and you're developing that relationship
bonding right there just by gaining their trust that they know that they can come and
speak to you about things.
And maybe maybe they didn't think they could, you know, and then they start to tell you
about how the paper shredder doesn't work.
But then they end up telling you about what happened to them yesterday, you know, because
they see that you're open and you're listening to what they're engaged, you know, you're
engaged in the conversation.
So, you know, it does make it a much better conversation, no matter whether, you know,
professional or personal, you can collaborate with them and understand them.
So yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, that is absolutely perfect.
So have you got any good recommendations for connecting online for professional purposes?
So online, I actually utilize a lot of different tools.
I mean, obviously, this is a new one.
Stream Art is something new to me.
So that's an online tool that I haven't used.
But I use Zoom a lot.
I use Teams.
I do use the messenger built into Facebook and Instagram.
I find those messengers a very easy connection because those platforms are so user friendly
that you just find a, you know, somebody's page or their business link and you can just
click message or send a message and you're right in with them.
You're communicating with them.
And if they accept that message by responding back to you, you know, they want to engage
back with you.
So it's almost that instant gratification, like, okay, they do want to talk.
And if they don't, you're already notified just by their non-response that, you know,
you maybe don't have to have that engagement with them.
Maybe that's just something that they're not interested in.
And, you know, and I think that that does help people that maybe are not good at communicating
the messengers instead of the videos because they have that option to just not respond.
Even if it's unprofessional, even if it's not appropriate in some people's minds, somebody
that is not good with communicating, that's their way of not communicating.
They just don't respond.
So I think that I recommend, you know, utilize any platform you have.
Why limit it to one?
You know, just utilize what's available.
And if somebody has one that they like and you're wanting to engage with them and that's
something they're comfortable with, try it.
Use whatever their platform is or whatever their link is that they're used to using because
it may make it more comfortable for them to engage with you.
Yeah.
So like after today, you might go and do a little bit of exploring on StreamYard and
see how you could maybe utilize it.
It's really good for streaming live into Facebook.
Absolutely.
I see that.
And I like the recording aspect of it.
Yeah.
And podcasts.
I didn't know until this week that you could use it for recording podcasts.
So I've only used it for Facebook.
I did see that as an option when I first, when you sent me the link of it, I see that
as an option.
I was like, hmm, record a podcast.
I go, that's going to be something interesting.
I'm going to look back at when we're done with these.
So you're right.
And that's the same thing.
It's something I never use.
People are comfortable with it.
And then you learn something new and this might be an option.
Yeah, absolutely.
So how do you find the balance between quality and quantity when you're networking?
I always find that quantity is great.
The more you put yourself out there, the more you network, even in different places.
I try and go to a different MIB event, even if it's not in my area, just because I may
meet somebody, being that our business, like your business as well, you make graphics,
you make merchandise and physical things for people, but you can do that from anywhere.
They can send you a graphic from across the world and you can ship it to them once you're
done with what you do and your expertise.
So I can go into a different city and meet somebody and I don't have to engage with them
physically in person, but they could be engaged with me online.
So quantity there is very beneficial because the more I'm out there, the better.
Now the quality of networking that I find, and I think it's even more than just networking.
I think it's more on the lines of quality communication, quality bonding, quality interactions
with people and the networking part.
My quality comes if I'm learning something.
If I'm not learning something new, then I don't find that I got value or quality out
of it.
So even learning about somebody is something new, but also learning something about myself,
I find a lot in networking too, because you bond with people or you hear their story and
it resonates inside of you too.
So I think that quality for me in networking is me learning something new, whether it be
about myself, somebody else or in business, what I can use tools to move forward with
myself in my business.
Yeah, no, that is absolutely perfect, isn't it?
Like you say, it is that the quality side of it, but then the quantity side of like
you say, the more you get out there, the more you're meeting people, the more chance you
have got of making those quality connections.
Yeah, absolutely.
So have you got any advice on using informational interviews to build your network?
I think that informational interviews are fantastic because they're mostly informational
based.
And you may have just a speaker talking, no interaction, no questions backed.
It's not even so much as an interview as it is somebody telling you, this is what it is,
this is what I've learned, this is how it is, do you have any questions?
But they're bringing information to you that you might not otherwise have to help build
your own network, build your own team, build your own business.
So I think that any information is great and I always am open to new information.
I always keep my mind open to learning something new.
So informational based interviews or informational based podcasts, or even if you're just going
to a speaker event where you're just there, you're listening, you're not even engaging,
but most speakers will make you engage with them somehow, some way, but if they're a good
speaker.
But yeah, informational is always good.
I guess that's the best way to build anything is to learn something new.
Yeah, I suppose that chances are you will learn something even if it's something quite
small.
As human beings, we are always learning new information.
Yeah, absolutely.
And for instance, our informational, we're learning about each other right now and we
would never otherwise have been connected.
We're across the globe from each other, as you say, and these kinds of networking has
brought two people together that wouldn't otherwise even know each other.
And then we're learning about each other and we're learning tips that you're asking me
questions, but I'm hoping to learn from you as well with your perspective.
So it's informational both ways too.
Absolutely.
So I think this one would probably go back to kind of like you were saying about using
the messenger options on social media.
Have you got any tips for introverts looking to network effectively?
Yeah, I think if you take the informal out of it, like if you take the formal part of
it and you make it more informal, like in the location setting, make it a more comfortable
setting where it's more coffee house drive instead of sitting in chairs and desks while
you're back at school, you know, and put yourself in their setting.
So if you know somebody's an introvert, you know where they interact, what they're trying
to do, maybe put yourself in their shoes for just the thought process of going, okay, what
do I think would make them comfortable or even just ask them.
A lot of introverts would rather prefer you to ask them, where would you like to do this?
Where would you feel comfortable having this conversation or meeting?
Would you like it virtually?
Would you just like to talk over messenger?
If you open up the door to them to make that decision themselves, they're an introvert,
they would probably much rather you ask them and then tell you the truth than you not ask
them.
They're in a comfortable position and then they end up just closing in on themselves
and they don't interact and then they don't learn anything.
It's not like we just said, quality and quantity.
They can go to 25 different meetings and not get any quality out of it.
But if you see that person and you interact with them and you notice that they may be
introverted, you can always just bring a smile and let them know that they're welcome no
matter where they are, whether it be virtual or in person.
And then just make them comfortable.
That's the most important thing.
Every introvert, there's people with anxiety issues and there's a lot of mental health
issues in the world nowadays.
If you can cater just by making one small adjustment, I think it makes a big difference
in somebody's interaction with their networking.
Yeah, absolutely.
And building those connections, obviously the more comfortable people get, they'll come
out of their shell.
That introvert will shrink back a little bit and they will come out of their shell and
they will hopefully then make more connections and make more friends and be more confident
in reaching out and going to these networking events.
Yeah, you would hope so.
I'm a very bubbly person.
I love to talk, but my first MIB event was kind of quiet.
I didn't really do very much.
I was just kind of feeling it out.
But I'm a very talkative person.
But there are times where I'm an introvert for a time being that I'm just feeling out
the waters, exploring my surroundings and seeing where I may fit into the network or
the group or into the situation that I put myself in.
So I think everybody kind of in a way is their own introvert in many aspects.
They may not last very long, but they are.
I don't know any one person that walks in a new place they've never been.
Yeah, exactly.
There's a little bit of introvert in all of us.
And equally in the people who would say they are an absolute complete introvert, there
will be a little bit of them that is an extrovert in the right company.
And that's the whole point of us networking.
We're surrounding ourselves with like-minded women and even somebody that has already done
it and it's somebody who makes you comfortable because you're like-minded together and you're
doing it in a matter of maybe they've already done it and they can show you how to do it.
So yeah, it's definitely something good to just put yourself out there.
But it's not always that easy for people.
They can't always just put themselves out there comfortably.
So yeah, yeah, yeah.
Having that platform to try and draw them out, draw them in and give them that community
feel so that they feel comfortable coming in.
Have you had in your leadership, I know you're asking me questions, I'm asking you questions,
have you had in your leadership groups being a leader?
Have you experienced having an introvert at one of your meetings that you maybe had to
bring out of their shell yourself?
Yeah, because we, I have only just become a leader literally at the beginning of February.
So we haven't had our first meeting yet.
I haven't either.
Yeah, so but I'm sure there will be.
So at the moment, I'm just trying to build that community feel in our Facebook group
and so that yeah, so we can kind of see, get an idea of who might be those introverts hiding
in the background.
Right, absolutely.
Because they'll be there.
I know they'll be there.
Yeah, of course.
So how crucial would you say following up in networking, how crucial would you say it
is and how do you do it?
How do you do your follow ups?
Aside from communication and listening, it's probably the most number one thing.
I think it goes hand in hand.
It's communicating back to the people that you connected with.
Your follow up is your follow through.
I look at follow up as a follow through.
You're actually not finished with whatever you started with that contact that that member
of the network or a new client or anything like that.
Your first interaction with them, you're never actually finished until you follow through
with whatever you may have said, promised or maybe discussed or anything like that.
So your follow up is kind of a follow through to me that it's not it's never really an end
unless somebody does stop the conversation.
They'll let you know that.
But a follow up is a follow through.
And I think the best way to do it, I find, is again, going to be thankful to people.
I try and think of in person when I still can, if that interaction is available and
then thank them in writing.
I try and send a message, usually within like 24 hours, I will try and send a message depending
on the situation.
Just thank you for your time.
I hope you, whatever the case may be, I hope you enjoyed our conversation.
Let me know if I can do anything else for you.
I'm going to work on the things that we discussed.
And if you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me while I'm
working on this.
So I say stuff like that.
And then listening, because I always try and leave an open door at the end of all my conversations.
So I think that follow up is also important is that I'm still available just because our
our 60 minute free consultation is not there.
We're done now.
That doesn't mean that you can't reach out to me.
I'm not going to charge you $25 every time you say, hey, what about this?
No, because I'm still building a profile for you.
You know, I'm still trying to see what I can do within my means to help you.
And so it's a matter of just following up and following through and letting them know
that your door is still open, your ears still open.
The phone is, you know, is definitely available.
Messenger, anything that you need, I'm here and we'll work on things as we go along, you
know, take it step by step.
I never really end the conversation.
Yeah, that you know, that is exactly the same.
I would say the same with that.
You've said about having that open door at the end, leaving it so that it's open so that
they know they can come back if they want to chat, if they've got any questions, if
they if they have any ideas, you know, having that, leaving it as an open book really does
make a difference.
Absolutely.
So have you stumbled upon any unexpected opportunities through networking?
Yes, recently I was in a networking with one of the empowering moms.
It's one of our Mib leaders that I that I actually found out about Mib through.
She had a actually a book signing.
She wrote her own book.
So it was really nice to be there with a group of ladies.
She one of the ladies allowed her to, you know, have her little introduction there too
as well.
But during that process, I had a couple of we was kind of talking about the things they
have done and they were talking about their past a little bit or where they may have found
their niche or found, you know, maybe how she found out that she wanted to be a writer.
She always wanted to be a writer.
And going around the table, we were just talking and it reminded me of I wrote my own book
when I was in elementary school and I kind of I didn't forget about it, but it's always
in the back of my head.
But it was like a contest.
You had an elementary school, like third grade or first grade or something.
I think it was first grade.
And everybody writes a book and then your teacher helps you write the words out and
then you draw the pictures.
And the winner in the district got their book back as a hard copy, a hard cover book.
And I actually got mine back as a hard copy, hard cover book of my book.
And so we were going around the table like, well, you technically are already an author.
You do realize that, right?
I'm like, I didn't even think about it that way.
You know what I mean?
I just want to contest his first grade.
But it was something that opened my eyes to I've always written stuff down in the background
and I probably have two or three books started, never finished.
And that being said, it kind of opened my eyes to, you know what, maybe I should do
that.
Maybe I should finish something that I started.
And all the ladies there were very supportive and one of them was a writing coach too.
So it kind of opened up the door for that too.
So not what I came there for.
I came there to network about other things and it just kind of opened up the door like,
oh, wait a second, I can do this too.
It's definitely great on your resume and as your title, like I'm a published author.
You know, does it have to be number one or best selling or anything like that?
But just to say that you're a published author would be a great thing for me to put next
to my name.
You know, so I'm kind of looking forward to that.
You know, so yeah, I got that opportunity just opening to me.
Have you still got that book as well?
You know, this is the thing.
I've actually spent, I spent a little bit of time trying to find it, but I've moved
recently so I haven't quite unpacked all my boxes yet and I do know that I have it.
I just don't exactly know which box it's in and I've been mentally keeping it in the
forefront of my mind to at least keep my eye open for it as I'm going through things.
So when I say recently, I moved like two years ago, but you know, you're never on a time
loop.
My partner moved in like 10 years ago and he still hasn't finished.
I know and I have a pole barn, I think, because it's out of sight, out of mind on my property.
It's like it's my own little storage unit and it's like, okay, I probably I'll get to
it.
But it's given me the inclination.
It's actually given me the driving factor to actually start going through some of the
stuff that's sitting there.
You know, and one of the ladies is a declutter mom, you know, professional.
And so just listening to her talk to really got me motivated to go, you know what, I'm
going to find this book and I'm also going to declutter all this stuff that I haven't
touched in years.
So I get it's out of sight out of mind, but I'm not using it.
So I might as well either sell it or donate it to something that can.
So it did get me inspired to do that too.
That sounds like yeah, absolutely.
Say completely not what you went through that event for that.
Yeah, exactly.
A couple of minutes away from that.
So when you find your book, you have to share it in the group.
You'll have to come and show us all.
This is me with my book.
You know, yeah, I am a published author.
You never know.
It might inspire other people.
I could probably redo it too.
It made me just take the original copy of it.
And my thought was to like take the original if I find it and, you know, illustrate it
in the back of a new book, like redo the book, new, new illustrations, similar to those,
but have them actually like, you know, done professionally and then maybe put that book
in the back of where it originated from.
So it should be cute.
Sounds like a really good idea.
So how, so how long have you been, how long have you known about Nib?
How long have you been a part of Nib as a community?
I think, well, as a community, I probably about maybe eight months, maybe longer than
that, but about eight months.
And so I've been to about three of the events over those eight months.
And that was last summer.
Yeah.
So probably about six months, but we're going into March now, so eight.
And it was just around the holidays that I had asked the question to my leader and I
said, Hey, how does one go about getting a Nib in their area?
Like another leader maybe in their area, you know, and I wasn't really speaking to get
it myself, but I, you know, that's how it ended up turning out.
Cause I, you know, I asked the question and my leader was like, Oh, let me get you in
touch with Dana.
And then all of a sudden it was Dana and it was like, Oh, here's your page.
You're all set.
Sign this contract.
You are great.
And I'm like, what just happened?
You know, not in a bad way though, it's such a positive way.
They're so inspiring and positive.
And it was, it was a very good interaction.
And I jived with the both of them during our communication.
And you know, unfortunately I didn't get started right away.
I'm like you.
So you started in February.
I didn't start building the page or inviting people until February because it was the holidays
and I got sick.
So I'm starting to now feel better after six weeks of being sick.
So in some other family issues, but yeah, it's, it was, it was kind of like, Hey, you
know what?
This is good for you.
And I'm like, well, I'm not going to say no, because if it doesn't work, they have the
chapter, they have the, or they have the chapter and they can put a nice leader right in position
of that.
But at least I know that I at least helped get started in the area for other women to
be able to join.
So, you know, that's.
So how, how would you say that MIB has helped you with growing your business?
For all the reasons we just talked about for one, because I can have a good interaction
with people.
I'm learning from other business owners or other professionals because obviously don't
have to be a business owner to be part of it, but other professional women that are
in different industries.
And I'm also learning from, you know, some of the women that are in the groups are also
just starting out like I am.
They are just getting their net, trying to figure out where to narrow down.
They're doing different things.
And with my experiences with all, I'm an operation.
So, but I worked for a very small company.
So when you're in operations for a small business, you wear all the hats.
I was HR, I was marketing.
I was training.
I was traveling.
I was helping build new construction.
I mean, I was literally getting dirty with the construction guys.
So I learned so much for 16 years that I can wear many hats.
And being with MIB, I see and meet so many other women that have found their niche and
how to narrow down what their passions are.
And that's helping me narrow down my passions.
Yes.
Can I wear a lot of hats?
Do I know a lot of things?
But my passion really is just to help people.
So that's why I leaned more to consulting and some of the ladies actually helped me.
We were in one of the meetings and it was Instagram, mom.
She was there.
She helps people build their Instagram pages.
She gave us tips and tricks during the meeting.
And here I am and she's like, oh, here, this is how you share your Instagram.
And I'm like, here I am in the meeting going, I haven't started my Instagram yet.
I have a business idea.
I don't have the business yet.
I don't have the Instagram yet.
And in that meeting, I literally set up my Instagram just so I had something to share
with the ladies.
But it also gave me that push that I needed to, you know what, now or never, what's the
point of sitting around and might as well just try it.
Even if it takes me two years to actually build, I'm at least trying and I'm doing what
I had set out to do.
So it did.
It actually helped me grow my business.
Actually, it helped me start my business that I had been talking about for so long.
So the next meeting I went to, the ladies were like introducing yourselves.
And we went around and they go, well, I did start my LLC and I have my Instagram up.
And they were like, really, that's great.
So it was just supportive.
And you're kind of going each month and everybody's learning about each other, but everybody's
still there to motivate each other and keep pushing you along down the path that you're
going.
So I mean, that's probably the best thing I can say is that it's helped me expand.
I've met so many people.
And then I've also just really pushed me to get over my obstacles and my adversity.
And same thing for learning from them.
I've seen so many women that have had obstacles.
They've overcome adversity.
They've had trials and tribulations in their personal lives leading into their business
lives.
And just hearing their stories helps motivate you going, you know what, I'm not alone in
this.
I can move forward with anything.
I can really do anything just like anybody else can.
Everybody can just do anything they want to do no matter who tells them that they can
or no matter what they believe in their own head.
Who tells you you can is actually yourself.
Everybody knows that.
People walking on the street say you can't do that.
You're not listening to them as much as you're listening to the own voice in your head that's
going, you can't do this.
No, no.
It's just your subconscious trying to scare you out of doing something that you really
want to do.
So yeah, mid-time.
Yeah, I think that support is great.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
It's support of, to start with, it's the support of complete strangers almost, isn't it?
I think it's easier.
Yeah.
Because you just think, God, they don't know me.
They don't know actually how good or bad I might be at this.
But they're there giving me all that support, giving me the hope, giving me positive vibes
for it all.
And it gives you that push that you probably wouldn't get from family and close friends
because they're the ones.
Yeah, the family and close friends are the ones who are going, what are you doing?
Why are you doing that?
Are you crazy?
It's your age.
It doesn't matter.
I'm doing what I want.
Yeah.
So having that network of like-minded people makes a huge difference.
It's fantastic.
Yeah.
Have you had the same thing as it helps you grow your business so far?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I made, I've been in, I was in the main MIB group probably since it opened, but I
was kind of lurking in the background.
And then last year we had a bit of a rough year with my partner and he was poorly.
But at the end of the year, I was like, I'm going to make a conscious effort in MIB.
I'm going to ignore all the other shiny objects around me.
I'm going to make a conscious effort in MIB.
And it's made a huge difference.
Like the connections that I'm building, I'm joining on the coffee and chat calls on a
Monday evening and all of that.
And like the people that I'm chatting to is just because they're like, because we've got
things in common and it's easy to chat to them.
It's easy to, you know, jump on messenger and have a chat or be on a zoom and have a
chat with them.
It's just so nice.
And it's helped him build my confidence as well with all of it.
So yeah, that's good though.
I mean, and that's the whole thing.
That's the whole point.
And I didn't, you don't realize you're missing it until you have it.
And you go, why did I wait so long?
You know, or where was this when I need it?
Yeah, absolutely.
And I was saying exactly that to my partner on Friday.
I went, I traveled from Devon to Bournemouth on Thursday for a, for a MIB event, for the
Bournemouth MIB event.
So I went and met, you know, people that I'd only chatted to on Facebook and it does, it
just, it's just, you'd think, you almost think to yourself sometimes, oh, maybe I don't have
things in common with people to talk to them.
But it's because you're not talking to the right people.
Whereas I went and met 12, 13 other women who are running their own businesses.
And you know, the room was never quiet because everyone was finding things to talk about
because you have got things in common because you're running your business.
Right.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
So it was really nice.
It was really nice.
It was like a two hour drive to just over two hour drive for me to go over there and
then to drive home again.
But it was worth it just to, to, to make the people that I've met online, meeting them
in person and making those connections actually even stronger.
So yeah, your two hour drive there, you're anticipating, you're thinking, and then on
the way back, you're reflecting on everything that you just talked about.
It's really diving into your own personal, you know, goals or objectives as we call them.
And just really thinking like, okay, what can I take out of this?
This is great.
You know, and you get really pumped and motivated.
And when it's a repeat thing monthly or weekly that you're talking to these people virtually
or in person, I think it really just keeps us motivated, right?
You know, it just keeps us going.
Yeah, I think, and I think that's, I think having coffee and chat on a Monday evening
is actually a perfect way to start the week because Mondays for a lot of people are those
people dread Mondays like, oh, but you know, it sets you up for the week.
So if you've had a not a great start to your Monday, joining in the coffee and chat with
me, then you know, you're going to come away from that pumped up for the rest of the week
and ready to hit the ground.
So right.
I got to get the time difference correct because I haven't had, I haven't been on a Monday
coffee chat yet.
I have to get the time difference correct.
So I, so yeah, it's 10 to seven now coffee and chats half past seven.
So it's in 40 minutes.
So it'd be at 2pm here my time then.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Until our clocks change, I guess, because in March our clocks go forward an hour.
Yes.
Forward as well.
I think we'll still be the same because ours go forward as well.
This will be, yeah, we're daily at same time now and then it's spring forward.
So we're going forward.
So we'll be on the still I think on the same if you guys are going forward as well.
So yeah, five hours behind.
Yes.
So then mine will be, is it, is it seven 30 that the time is?
Coffee and chat is seven 30.
Okay.
Then I have to take my lunch from work at two 30 then I'll just join the coffee then
and just, you know, yeah, come and do it.
You know, it is.
It's great.
And it's, it's really nice actually to have those chats with people like yourself, you
know, you're the other side of the world, but it's really nice to chat and, you know,
make those connections online with other like-minded people.
Absolutely.
I think we need to do an international meeting too, where we all get together somehow, some
way.
Yeah.
I asked you a question though, since you're new to build the network group.
So am I.
I have like just a couple of people in hand while I kind of stumped on where to reach
out to people.
Have you, do you have any tips on that?
Like I know I've gone through some of the training.
I probably need to go back through it again now that I'm more comfortable.
But do you have any tips on how to get more, more women to join and be interested in joining?
So I have been doing a lot of stalking on Facebook in the main MIP group.
So I'm utilizing that search function in the MIP group to try and find posts where people
are talking about where they're based so that we can sort of try and make some connections
there.
So you could probably do a search for kind of like your local area names.
And if there's been any posts with that on, it should come up in the searches and you'll
be able to see.
I know I think it was in January.
They're going to post about where everybody was in the wild.
So if you found that post on on Facebook in the group, you'd be able to go have a little
scroll through and see if there's anybody on there that's kind of like in a similar
area or nearby and start building those connections that way.
I've still yet to go out in the wider world of like, you know, local people here.
So I'm going to do do a bit of like lurking in coffee shops and things like that and go
into town and meet people.
And we've got a shop that's recently opened just before Christmas that's got a lot of
small business owner stuff in it.
So where they kind of like rent shelves.
So I'm going to go in there and introduce myself and could get some good little community
people from that.
So OK.
Yeah, I think I think that's a great idea.
I didn't even think about doing that in the regular group.
And I could probably do it in the local group that I have next to me, because I branched
off in a chapter that's connected to the same county as another one, but right next to the
county.
And there's some ladies that are probably group that may be in my county, but they're
the only one that was available was the other one.
So that's a good idea.
I didn't think about doing that.
And then I went off into some local groups like I looked up groups that were in my county
business women groups and so that I'm liking those.
I think I'm just going to have to be a little bit more stalkerish in control.
It's the best way to be.
Yeah, find out what these women are, what they're doing.
And all of them are on those networking pages, too, just because they want to grow their
business.
So if I can offer to them, you know.
And also today being Monday is the member Monday posts in the main Facebook group in
the main group.
So you could always put a post in there today.
Take a quick selfie before you go back to work.
Put a post in there letting people know who you are, what you do and that you're the leader
for your group.
And then because you never know, people might spot that and go, oh, I want to go and join
that.
Oh, yeah, that's true, too.
Yeah, I know one of the ladies do motivational Monday with her team and just have them all
just link into the page to there, too.
So I'll get used to the days and Tuesdays and Thursdays and stuff like that.
That is always there is always something in the main group in the.
Yeah.
So today being Monday, it's member Monday.
So just use the hashtag member Monday and pull a post in there then.
Oh, thank you.
No worries.
It's been absolutely lovely to chat to you.
It's I still find it quite surreal that you are the other side of the world and we can
have these conversations and chat and like, you know, technology is magical.
I'm sure that anybody who is listening to this, they will take lots of gold nuggets
away because, you know, and I think the key one will be about the active listening.
I think that is super, super key.
So hopefully it will ensure that they're getting the best success out of their networking.
Absolutely.
It was very good when I had such a great time talking with you as well.
And I did learn some stuff from you as well.
So it's definitely quality.
Yes.
Perfect.
Thank you.
And I will see a post in the main group from you giving us all a little introduction and
you never know.
You might find some new community members for your local group.
Oh, you as well.
And I hope yours grows very well for you too.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Have a nice rest of the day at work.
Thank you.
See you later.
Bye.
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