I’ve said it before, but I’m about as smooth as a balled up Bounty paper towel left on a hot park bench after a picnic.

I’m awkward, struggle with small talk, and silently wear my emotions on my face. Yes, MY FACE HAS SUBTITLES.

In an attempt to broaden my network and foster new industry peers, I tried a strategic way to network. (As an introvert and notorious celebrator when plans cancel, this was like turning over a new leaf…or turning over an entire tree.)

Last weekend I was the keynote speaker at Create&Cultivate in Austin, Texas.

I traveled alone, but instead of hiding in my hotel room in a fluffy bathrobe and ordering a Whole Foods pre-made salad while I binged on Netflix, I made a dinner reservation.

WHO AM I??

But wait, there’s more: I made the reservation for a party of five.

Who were the other five people to join me? I had no idea…yet.

I didn’t know any of the other speakers or attendees at the event, so I posted this story on Instagram, and tagged them.

Less than an hour later, a few people replied and reposted the story.

I sent those people a Direct Message and invited them to dinner at our hotel the evening before the Summit.

Side note: When I was a kid, my family moved to a new neighborhood and I was desperate to make new friends. One day I saw a group of kids playing in the street and yelled from our front window, “Hey kids, do you wanna play?” Then I hid under the couch, terrified they’d say no. Sending those Instagram DMs made me wanna crawl under my couch as an adult.

Much to my honor and delight, I enjoyed dinner with Jera Foster-Fell, Tieghan Gerard, and Maya French.

I followed the networking advice Nick Gray shared with me on my podcast (one of my faves!) and:

• Ensured we sat at an intimate table,
• Were able to cross-communicate between seats with ease, and;
• Had three main ways to keep the conversation going by creating connections between each person at the table.

Not only did we have incredible conversations, we made each other stronger by getting real and going deep talking about scaling our businesses.

Now it’s your turn. Post an Instagram story (or LinkedIn post) tagging people at an event you’ll be at, or simply a group of people in your neighborhood you’d like to get coffee with.

The possibilities to make magic are endless.

To not hiding under the couch,

j*