Joanne McCall and me

I’ve been reluctant to attend any of the new networks I started going to when I moved to NYC nearly two years ago. I have met a handful of wonderful women, particularly through In Good Company. But I am not feeling the love or sense of connectedness that I used to experience back at the Entrepreneurial Woman’s Network some years ago.

True, the entire fabric of business has changed radically, but something still has been missing for me.

So I began, as any good entrepreneur is wont to do, making up my own networking strategy. It’s been terrific, and I’m going to stick with this plan for the near future. I wanted to share it with you so you can try it on for size yourself.

I’ve been holding my own set of get-togethers, meeting 1:1 or 1:4, as a way of getting to know other women business owners and professionals in a more up close and personal way than shaking hands, exchanging business cards and trying to find common ground.

Much of it has happened organically. Living in New York City now, people I’ve interacted with virtually over the years are contacting me when they’re going to be in the Big Apple. I loved Norwalk, CT, but it wasn’t the hub that this great city is. For instance, Joanne McCall, whom I’d met via a webinar on creating webinars several years ago, gave me the heads up that she’d be in the city last week. We arranged to have lunch at Le Pain Quotidien and immediately connected in person after knowing each other across the miles.

Joanne inspired me with her mantra: All the way in, all the way out. The deeper you can go into yourself, the further outside of yourself you can also travel. For someone who has just circumnavigated the globe, I nodded enthusiastically.We also talked about partnering to offer a retreat for women that addresses that concept.

In addition, Joanne shared a study she’d read about that was literally shocking. Published by the University of Virginia, it tested people’s ability to spend time alone with their thoughts. More people would actively seek out brief experiences with painful electrical shocks rather than remain totally quiet for under 15 minutes.

The investigation found that most would rather be doing something – possibly even hurting themselves – than doing nothing or sitting alone with their thoughts, said the researchers, whose findings will be published July 4 in the journal Science.

Back to my networking program. You can see how excited I get when I share ideas with other creative women! I’ve been meeting referrals from good friends. I started a new writing group with women I’ve met in NY who have mentioned editing, memoir writing and teaching writing.

The point here is, I’m not sitting around waiting to meet people. I’ve established my own calendar of events so that I’m out there in a meaningful way once again.

BTW, I’ll have an offer coming out this week for those of you, especially in Connecticut, who also miss EWN and would like to have a meaningful evening where you can meet like-minded women entrepreneurs in an intimate, educational and fun environment. If you find that you want to connect and would appreciate my assistance in gathering remarkable women, stay tuned for the announcement and invitation to attend these sessions.