What if we came here to network?
Stay with me.
I've always hated networking.
It felt like something I had to do. Schmooze. Be "on." Make the right connections. Walk into a room wondering who I should meet, who I need to talk to, impress, connect with — while usually feeling a little insecure at the same time.
But I'm reading my friend Aaron Strout's new book, Wired for Purpose, and he made me look at networking completely differently.
What if instead of walking into a room thinking about who I need to connect with, I look around and think about who I can support, or who I can connect to someone in my circle?
Who can I introduce?
Who can I help?
Who might need to know someone I know?
That feels completely different.
And much more like me.
But then, because apparently I can't leave a perfectly practical idea alone without turning it into a question about the meaning of life, I started wondering:
What if that's actually why we're here?
To network.
To connect. To co-create. To help each other make things we couldn't make alone.
Think about how much of your life exists because of another person.
Someone you met at a party said, You need to meet my friend.
Someone in yoga told you about an opportunity.
Someone at the Hollywood Bowl wanted to bring friends to your next fundraiser.
Your friend's boyfriend believed in an idea you had and knew exactly who to connect you with.
Someone said one sentence you needed to hear.
Someone in an elevator became a good confidant.
Someone opened a door you needed to walk through for your next chapter.
And sometimes you were that someone for somebody else.
Maybe we think we're each down here building our own individual lives, when really we're constantly co-creating one another's.
Maybe that's the network.
And as our world becomes more digital, more automated, and more AI-driven, I wonder if this becomes even more important.
Technology can connect us to almost anyone.
But it can't replace what happens between us when we actually care about one another.
When I see something in you.
When you know someone I should meet.
When I have an idea that sparks something in you, and you add something I never would have thought of, and suddenly we've created something neither one of us could have created alone.
Maybe the more digital our world becomes, the more important it is to remember how to be human.
And maybe when we walk into a room, networking was never supposed to be about working the room, but connecting the room.
Experiencing the room.
Being in the room and getting curious about all the souls who somehow made it there at the same time.
Because maybe nothing is an accident.
And when we show up more present and curious — less forced and controlled — magic can happen.
The room isn't something to conquer.
It's something to experience.
Every person in it has something to offer. And so do you.
So the next time you find yourself "networking" because you think you "have to"...
Try asking a different question.
Not:
Who here do I need to know?
But:
Who here can I know, support, or connect?
Because maybe we're not here to see what we can get from each other.
Maybe we're here to discover what we can create together.
Love,
Jenn
P.S. Since this whole note is about connecting people, it only feels right to connect you to Aaron. :) His new book, Wired for Purpose, is about staying deeply human and purpose-driven in a world increasingly shaped by technology and AI. If that speaks to you, you can learn more about Wired for Purpose here.