Episode 32: Networking for Working Moms: Making Visibility Easy & Effective
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In this episode, we're confronting the often-dreaded topic of networking and exploring how to reimagine it to fit into the busy lives of working moms. Forget about stuffy events and endless networking cocktails—this is all about staying visible and top of mind in a way that feels good and is also manageable. From simple actions like engaging on LinkedIn to thoughtful check-ins with your network, learn how networking can become an effortless way to keep opportunities at your fingertips—without sacrificing family time or burning out. Whether you’re looking for the next promotion, considering a career change, thinking about re-entering the workforce after a pause, or simply want to do a better job of staying connected, this episode will empower you to make networking work for you.
In this episode, you’ll learn…
00:57 The reason networking can be hard for working moms
02:04 Visibility is key to letting people know what you're up to
06:08 Rethinking networking. It can be simple and tailored to fit your schedule
09:31 Staying Top of Mind. Small, consistent actions matter.
12:54 Practical networking tips and ideas
19:27 It's never too early to start building your network
links & resources mentioned in this episode:
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You are listening to the Life Coach for Working Moms podcast, the show where we are talking about what it actually takes to make life work as a working mom. I'm your host, Katelyn Denning, a full time working mom of three and a certified life and executive coach. I'm so glad you're here and I hope you enjoy this week's episode.
Hey, welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I want to dive right in today because I want to talk about a topic that I don't know, it's often paired with , the title or the phrase working mom, and that is networking. I get a very vivid Mad Men image in my mind when I think of networking for some reason.
I picture
traditional corporate settings, I picture male dominated settings, and I get a little bit of an ick when I think about networking, or at least I used to. But hang with me here as I make my case for why this is such an important topic, especially for women, especially for working moms. From my vantage point in working with women across so many different industries, experience levels, positions, companies, you name it, I've seen a lot of it, and too many women, I think, are not in the positions I'm from.
that they want to be in. Too many women aren't where they want to be in their careers. Too many women aren't getting promoted into the roles that they know they deserve.
Or they aren't even in the career that they actually want to have.
I know I'm not alone in feeling that post pandemic we have been hearing more and more stories or experiencing for ourselves these deeper questions that we are asking about our careers and what a fulfilling career looks like or what we want to be spending our time on when life is so precious and so short.
And so if that is you, if you have been wondering that same thing, I want to encourage you to think about networking as a form of visibility. And if we think about the women who are not in the careers they want to be, they're not in the positions they want to be, they're not where they thought they would be at this stage in their career.
I think a lot of it goes to, not all of it, of course, there are always circumstances beyond our control, but for what we can control, we're not doing enough to make ourselves. visible. There are so many reasons for this. I identify as an introvert, though I think I can do a pretty great job of working a room, introducing myself.
I've just learned to be comfortable with that uncomfortable experience. But also there is the time and the effort and the energy component. When we think about making ourselves visible, when we think about networking and connecting with other people, we just don't have the extra time for these quote unquote, extra things.
We have our work, we have our kids, we have our households to take care of. That is more than enough on our plate. Especially right now, we have so much work to do. We are experiencing across the board cutbacks, layoffs, consolidations, restructuring, which, as we all know, really just means that then those who are left have to do more.
We have to do more than what our actual job is. And on top of that, we have kids. We have sick kids. I have one at home with me right now. I'm a little congested myself, if you can't hear that. Thank you to Afrin for sponsoring, not really, but for getting me through the recording of this episode today. We have Kids who aren't sleeping well, therefore we're not sleeping well, we are juggling all of the things at home, at work, and left with very little energy for above and beyond what is required of us.
I think also there are a number of women who aren't putting themselves out there. They're not networking, they're not making themselves visible because they are worried. of what they might actually get if they do that. If they actually get the promotion, they actually get the dream job, the bigger job, the career change, do they have the time and the capacity to manage that, or would it be too much?
And so they stay where they are. They don't network, they don't make themselves visible because of what it might create. And I totally respect that. I have been there myself, asked that same question. Could I handle getting this job if I actually apply for it? What then? It sounds great, but do I really have the energy for that?
I have coached so many women who have made, ultimately, the choice to coast. To stay where they are, because in this season of their lives, having a consistent, comfortable position, something that you know where you have tenure, and maybe some flexibility because of that tenure, it's so important. Because it allows them to prioritize other things.
Time with family, training for a marathon, taking on a side project, perhaps building a business, anything. But that is about a choice. And so if that is you, I want you to make that choice intentionally and own that choice. But if you're not going for what you really want because you're afraid you can't handle it, well that is something that deserves some coaching.
Be sure that you've explored that fully. And if that's you, I want you to reach out, fill out an application for coaching, let's definitely,
but I think all of this comes back to an assumption about what networking is and how much time it actually takes. It is not easy when you have kids. I think of the different seasons in my life, in my corporate days where I worked a flex schedule. Right, started earlier so I could end earlier and be home to relieve the nanny at a set time or to pick up from daycare at a set time.
Maybe your workday ends earlier because of that and so therefore, the after work networking or drinks doesn't really line up the way it did when you worked a traditional 9 to 5 or until 6 o'clock like all of your colleagues. I know so many of you are perhaps working through lunch so that you can leave on time to be there for pickup.
And so, having lunch. With colleagues, with peers. With anyone you might want to network with is so much harder. And where it used to be easy to head out for a drink or to grab something after work with colleagues or to head to that networking or professional event in the evening, now means hiring a sitter or coordinating schedules with your partner.
It means missing out on precious time to get the work done. So it doesn't bleed over into your family time.
But it comes down to A choice at the end of the day comes down to a choice. Are you choosing to stay where you are because you don't believe you have the time or the effort to put into putting your name out there? Or are you going to get creative and intentional about making networking work for you?
If we're going to start exploring making networking work for you. We're going to start with your assumptions about what networking is. So I said a couple of minutes ago that to me the image is like mad men, very corporate, very male dominated you know, these sort of schmoozy events.
Maybe for you, you're picturing like a speed networking event, like speed dating. Maybe you're picturing cocktail hour, and that's the image that comes to mind. Maybe you're picturing working the room. Working the room at an event or at a conference. Shaking hands. Passing out business cards.
Or what do people do now? Hold up a QR code on their phone? I love a physical business card, but that might be outdated at this point. What do I know? Of course! If that is what you are picturing as networking, of course! That doesn't sound fun, or at least it doesn't sound fun for me.
Some of you it probably does, and I love that for you. But if we think through those logistics again, right, any of those images that we just picture when we think about networking, they don't really fit with our lifestyle today. They don't fit with having young kids or My gosh, if you're pumping as well, the logistics of like, where do you do that?
When do you do that? Where do you store things? If you're going from work to some sort of event, it takes time and effort. It takes time away from your kids or away from the actual work that you could be doing. And so again, if that excites you, by all means, you can stop listening to this episode and just go do you.
I love that. But if any of these reasons are why you've been dreading, Or putting off, putting yourself out there, it's time to think about it differently. And so I want to offer that networking is simply keeping yourself top of mind. Keeping you, your name, your title, your picture, top of mind.
So that you are the person that someone else thinks of when they hear about an opportunity. Our brains are so full. It's not just you and me, it's everybody. There's so much that we're consuming, that we're managing, that we're thinking of, that we're holding in our minds. So the person that comes to mind when you need to make a recommendation or you hear of an opportunity is the person that's in your short term memory.
The person that you talked to recently, heard from recently, saw recently, and it doesn't mean they had to actually see you in the flesh. It could just be your photo. We're going to get to that in a minute. If that person is instead wondering, like, Oh, I wonder what she's doing, or I'm not sure if she's still at her company, or in that job, or in that industry, or I'm not sure if she's still working.
I know she had a baby recently. That's not the name that they're going to pass along or that they're going to recommend or refer, probably. Maybe, but probably not. They need to know what you're up to, where you are, what's happening with you.
So how can you stay top of mind and how can you become a connector of people and opportunities as well? These are the things that I help my clients with when they're thinking about a potential career shift or that next promotion, or even just being prepared. For what might come in the future and staying top of mind doesn't have to take a ton of time or energy.
I'm picturing LinkedIn right now. I don't care whether you love or you hate that platform. It is still. As of today, the go to professional networking site. What an amazing time we live in that we can do networking from our computers, from our phones, without having to get dressed, go anywhere, have a drink with someone.
So if you picture LinkedIn right now, the people I see who are active on there are usually people that are top of mind for me. They're posting, and even if posting feels like too hard or too much effort right now, you're tired, maybe you're not sleeping well, can you just like other people's posts? Can you re share something that's thought provoking?
Can you comment? I see posts all of the time in my LinkedIn feed that former colleagues of mine have liked or commented on, and they're the leading name up there. So and so liked this, so and so shared this. I see their name, I see their profile photo, so I remember what they look like, and underneath that I see their current role or their title.
So staying top of mind could be as simple as popping onto that platform once a week and liking and commenting on a few things. Staying top of mind could also be directly connecting with someone. This has come up a lot lately, this idea of letting others know when we're thinking of them, how good that feels to know that someone was thinking of you, and how in this context of networking it serves you as well.
So maybe it's dropping a note, an email, a card if that's your thing, a text message, a Slack or Teams message to a colleague, a former colleague, a leader, a mentor. Just like, Hey, I was thinking about you, or do you remember that time? Or I did this thing and I attribute my success or my skills or my knowledge on how to do this to you and that project that we worked on back in the day.
It could be leaving a review or a recommendation on LinkedIn or wherever, makes sense. It could just be when you think of someone, telling them. Sending a text. I was thinking about you today. That's it. It can be so simple to stay top of mind. You don't have to leave, you don't have to go anywhere.
It takes very minimal time. Now if you want to take it a step further, in order to have things to talk about when you connect with someone, or something to share with the people that you're going to reach out to, you could do some light reading. You could stay current on local news, business news, industry news.
You could read a couple of articles, pick up a magazine, if people still do that, listen to a podcast. Follow, a news outlet and see what they're posting on LinkedIn or some other social platform. And if you read something that you think someone else might find interesting, can you share it with them?
You could post about it, share your thoughts, or send it directly to someone. Hey, I thought this was interesting, I thought of you. Wondered if you think of this as well, or if this resonates with you, or if this is impacting your business or your line of work, what do you think? Or you don't even, they don't even need to reply.
You could just send it, Hey, I was reading this thought you might appreciate it as well. I don't know if I've shared this before, but my father in law loves to read articles. He's always current with different thought leadership topics and news as well. And he will print articles that he reads digitally.
He will print them and mail them to us, to my husband and I, for us to read. And there's always a post it on top that's just like, hey, thought you might find this interesting or pass this on to K. On to me, on to Katelyn. Figured she would appreciate this article or would like to read this as well. Now, snail mail, bonus points.
Who doesn't love getting snail mail these days? But even if that comes via an email or a text, think about how good that feels to you, and can you do that for others?
Now lastly, some networking, one could argue, might still best be done in person. And I'm going to put in person in quotes because maybe it could also be done via Zoom or some sort of video chat. I have my fair share of coffee chats with colleagues in my industry, since so many of us are virtual, seeing clients through the web, we will do Zoom coffee chats.
And there is value in that as well. I do appreciate that. But you may decide at some point, maybe as life gets a little bit easier or kids are a little bit easier to pass off to a sitter or their schedules aren't quite so tight or maybe you're not pumping anymore or you're sleeping better at night, that it might be worth it.
to you to head out for some more in person networking. Maybe you're willing to give up a lunch hour to meet up with someone, or to schedule coffee in the morning, or drinks after work, or go to that professional event that will take you away from work for a little bit because you know there will be some people there that you'd love to meet, that you'd love to shake hands with, to stay top of with.
If you've done enough of the quote unquote easier networking though, the sending articles, the reaching out to people when you think of them, the, being active on a site like LinkedIn, sharing with people what you're up to, that you're still working, that you're in this job, these are the projects that you're doing, these are the types of clients you're working with.
If you've done enough of that, You probably won't need as many of these heavier lift networking events or opportunities. And you'll be better able to discern which ones will make the most sense and be worth your time, that will be the most valuable.
So when you think about networking in this way, not as this huge lift,
not as this chore, this thing that's going to take so much time and effort and energy. But instead, just as an opportunity for you to stay visible, for you to stay top of mind, for you to be the person that others think of when they hear of an opportunity because they know what you're up to and what you're doing, that you are active in the professional world right now.
Or, even if you're not active in the professional world right now, but you might want to be in the future,
it becomes this fun thing that you get to do.
And it isn't that much of a chore, it's just something that you get to do, honestly. You get to do this, if you want. And whether or not you have a particular career goal in mind, a promotion that you want, or even if you're happy where you are in the job that you have, in the career that you have, I think we've all seen, especially lately, that nothing is certain or guaranteed.
Just like the best time to have your will done is before you actually need it, the best time to have a well primed network of friends and colleagues and industry professionals who are willing to help connect you to opportunities is when you don't actually need it.
And so can you get started today? In whatever small or easy way resonates with you to start being top of mind. To others and to start connecting with others as a certified life and executive coach, thinking about your career, going for a promotion, stepping into a leadership role are all topics and goals that I support my clients in achieving.
And I will be up front too and say that I have coached working moms. Who have ultimately chosen to transition out of the workforce for a season. That is a career choice. And I support women in doing that as well. There is no right way to do things. There's just what makes sense for you right now with the information that you have.
And so if you are in a season where you are thinking about your next professional move, you are looking. If you are actively looking for a job, or to make a pivot, or to step into a leadership role, and you want support and accountability to help you figure out your next steps, and then actually follow through on that plan, I would love to coach you.
You can fill out an application. I have spots open right now, and you can do that on my website at themothernurture. com forward slash application. I'll review what you submit and follow up if I think we would be a good fit to work together. As always, you can find everything that I've referenced here on the podcast over in the show notes at the mother nurtured.
com forward slash podcast. And if you enjoyed this episode, found something useful in it, please, please share it with a friend, with a colleague, with a working mom in your life. I am so grateful for your support. All right. I will talk with you in the next episode and until then, take care.
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