Speaker 1: LinkedIn News.
Speaker 2: When I think about like when you're just starting college
Speaker 2: and you don't really have that much to offer, It's like,
Speaker 2: what am I offering? The bread roles? Like seriously, like
Speaker 2: not a lot. But I like to challenge people with
Speaker 2: that mindset because regardless of where you are in your career,
Speaker 2: a lot of people feel like they don't necessarily have
Speaker 2: a lot to offer. But I think that that's a
Speaker 2: really misconstrued concept because we forget that we as people
Speaker 2: having lived the unique life experiences that we have, that
Speaker 2: is intrinsic value. You have intrinsic value in just like
Speaker 2: being yourself.
Speaker 3: From LinkedIn News and I heard podcasts.
Speaker 4: This is Let's Talk Offline, a show about what it
Speaker 4: takes to thrive in the early years of your career
Speaker 4: without sacrificing your values, sanity or sleep. I'm Gianna Prudenti.
Speaker 1: And I'm Jamaye Jackson Gadsden. Networking, Am I right?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 2: That?
Speaker 1: Jokay? I mean love it, hate it? The truth of
Speaker 1: the matter is networking can give you the but it's
Speaker 1: also a really important part of advancing your career. Now. Look, networking, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: is not just those happy hours and sliding into people's DMS.
Speaker 1: Trust me, I wish it was that easy. The real
Speaker 1: challenge is what comes after figuring out how to build
Speaker 1: and maintain those relationships.
Speaker 4: Look, I'm sure most of us have exchanged numbers with
Speaker 4: somebody at a networking event and just never follow it
Speaker 4: up me or you know, had that coffee chat and
Speaker 4: kind of ghost to the person double me. Also, you know,
Speaker 4: I'm not here to tell you it's okay. The reality
Speaker 4: is networking requires time and it can feel socially draining.
Speaker 3: So it probably stresses you out. I get it.
Speaker 4: We're going to talk today about how you can foster
Speaker 4: those professional relationships and play the networking long game without
Speaker 4: it feeling ichy.
Speaker 1: Okay, guys, so today we are talking all about networking,
Speaker 1: But honestly, our girl is a little bit of a
Speaker 1: facelift Gianna, I mean botox, little filler. She's coming out.
Speaker 1: She's coming out, she got a new attitude. Okay, we
Speaker 1: need to give networking a rebrand. Now, let's just take
Speaker 1: a step back. Okay, networking feels really daunting, but I
Speaker 1: think even more so, it feels so transactional for people.
Speaker 1: You know, you're approaching people thinking okay, what can this
Speaker 1: person do for me? What do I even say to them? Like,
Speaker 1: how do I even introduce myself? There's just so many
Speaker 1: things that are always happening in our minds that makes
Speaker 1: networking feel very anxiety inducing. You guys already know my
Speaker 1: art pits are always weady, and they certainly gets sweaty
Speaker 1: for networking. But the truth of the matter is mastering
Speaker 1: the art of networking is really going to set you
Speaker 1: up for success in your personal and professional life. So
Speaker 1: we want you to start thinking more about networking as
Speaker 1: a relationship building exercise and that you are also creating
Speaker 1: this community for yourself.
Speaker 4: I love this rebrand and I like that you mentioned
Speaker 4: this idea of networking feeling transactional because I definitely approach
Speaker 4: networking that way when I was starting out, especially when
Speaker 4: I was like full on on my job search as
Speaker 4: a senior in college. And I think that transactional feeling
Speaker 4: is what really stops you from taking the next step
Speaker 4: in your networking efforts. So you know, it's easy to
Speaker 4: go to an alumni event, for example, and exchange numbers
Speaker 4: or connect on LinkedIn, but.
Speaker 3: Then you're like, what do I do with this?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 4: You know, what's the next step that follow up and
Speaker 4: maintaining the relationship hard gets a little bit tricky, So
Speaker 4: a lot of those interactions, you know, end up being
Speaker 4: these one and done meetings, like you got the coffee
Speaker 4: and then that's it. But like you were saying, investing
Speaker 4: in your network and those relationships is super important and
Speaker 4: it's kind of a long term thing, right, Like you
Speaker 4: have to have that mindset going in. So later in
Speaker 4: the show, we're going to bring on gen Z content
Speaker 4: creator and LinkedIn learning instructor Morgan Young, who's been documenting
Speaker 4: her career journey on LinkedIn. What I love about Morgan
Speaker 4: is that she's kind of mastered networking at an early
Speaker 4: age and has kind of built her network and her
Speaker 4: brand online and it's led her to all these opportunities.
Speaker 4: So I'm excited for her to join us in a
Speaker 4: bit to talk about, you know, playing that networking long game.
Speaker 1: Oh look, a friend of Gianni's is a friend of mine.
Speaker 1: I'm excited for that convo. But first, Gianna, let me
Speaker 1: ask you, how have you approached networking? I mean, what's
Speaker 1: your relationship with networking been?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, networking is like it's like flirting, Like
Speaker 4: it's awkward and people are good at it's some aren't
Speaker 4: like oh, but like I was saying, when I started,
Speaker 4: you know, full on job searching during college, I definitely
Speaker 4: kind of view it as transactional because I thought, you know,
Speaker 4: I need referrals, I.
Speaker 3: Need any money me sobbing any money you help me?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 4: But like, yeah, but I think the nature of our
Speaker 4: industry too. You know, who you know is really important. Right,
Speaker 4: That's the same across the board, right, It's not about
Speaker 4: what you know, it's who you know.
Speaker 3: But especially in media.
Speaker 4: The reason why my parents wanted me to go to
Speaker 4: a good journalism schools for that alumni network. They were like,
Speaker 4: we have no connections, honey, so we can't help you.
Speaker 4: Like if you want to be an account and like
Speaker 4: we said, will help you, but in journalism you're out
Speaker 4: on your own. So I definitely like was hardcore networking
Speaker 4: when I was looking for jobs, just to get a
Speaker 4: better understanding of like what roles are even out there,
Speaker 4: what's it like to be in a certain industry. And
Speaker 4: then also when I was applying to certain jobs, reaching
Speaker 4: out to people at those companies or recruiters, you know,
Speaker 4: expressing my interest. You know, I definitely didn't maintain those relationships.
Speaker 4: It was a lot of those one offs like I
Speaker 4: was describing before.
Speaker 3: But now I feel.
Speaker 4: Like when I'm reaching out, I will always send a
Speaker 4: follow up after. You know, if I'm the one who
Speaker 4: asked you for the coffee chat or asked you for
Speaker 4: the call, I'm always going to follow up to thank
Speaker 4: you for your time, because fifteen minutes out of a
Speaker 4: day is a lot, honestly, Like everyone has fifteen minutes
Speaker 4: to spare, but it's still asking something of another person.
Speaker 4: And so people who I feel like I have, you know,
Speaker 4: strong ties with, I kind of think about networking that way,
Speaker 4: like weak ties strong ties. People who I have strong
Speaker 4: ties with, I feel like I'm so connected with them
Speaker 4: on LinkedIn that we're constantly commenting on each other's stuff,
Speaker 4: you know, we're texting or messaging. And then there's like
Speaker 4: the weaker ties of people who maybe I don't interact
Speaker 4: with so often. And I think that's where I struggle
Speaker 4: with networking, because you know, maybe I meet somebody at
Speaker 4: a networking event who I think is great, but we're
Speaker 4: busy and we don't really maintain the relationship, and something
Speaker 4: comes up that I want to reach out to that person,
Speaker 4: but it feels random to be like, hey, remember me
Speaker 4: from like a few months ago.
Speaker 3: So yeah, but what about you?
Speaker 4: How do you kind of approach networking?
Speaker 3: How do you feel about it?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean a lot of things that you mentioned.
Speaker 1: I was in the very similar boat. I was going
Speaker 1: to have to get out there and I was going
Speaker 1: to have to learn how to network and talk to people.
Speaker 1: And it was really an encouraging thing because as someone
Speaker 1: who tends to be a little bit more on the
Speaker 1: choir or introverted side when it comes to being in
Speaker 1: networking rooms, I know, right, but literally it's so anxiety
Speaker 1: using it. But you know why, it was because I
Speaker 1: always saw networking as transactional and I don't like I
Speaker 1: don't like asking for help. I'm always open to giving help,
Speaker 1: but I hate asking for it. And it was one
Speaker 1: of those things where I was like, oh, gosh, I'm
Speaker 1: going to go into this room and I'm gonna have
Speaker 1: to ask them for a job or if they're gonna
Speaker 1: be like, so what do you do, I'm like, I'm unemployed.
Speaker 1: Can yeah, I work for you aspiring and we know
Speaker 1: you don't like that time. I do not like aspiring. No,
Speaker 1: listen to our personal branding episode guys. But I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: let me figure out how to talk to people, how
Speaker 1: to market myself. I had to learn when I walk
Speaker 1: into different rooms, what is the most crucial information about
Speaker 1: myself that I present. One thing I will say is
Speaker 1: that I have learned over my career that your network
Speaker 1: is truly your net worth. I had an incident years
Speaker 1: ago and a friend of mine who was like a
Speaker 1: high sitting lawyer, like she's been in the game for
Speaker 1: like thirty plus years. She was like, Oh, don't worry,
Speaker 1: it's handled, called up one of her friends who was
Speaker 1: also a lawyer, and her friend gave me like free
Speaker 1: legal advice and help and got me out of a
Speaker 1: very sticky situation. And I say that because I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know what, when we say that your network is
Speaker 1: so important, we're not just talking about your professional development.
Speaker 1: We're talking about all realms of your life and that
Speaker 1: personal board of directors of people who are going to
Speaker 1: help you and help you get to the next step
Speaker 1: and just help protect you. You know, we are such
Speaker 1: a communal based entity. Humans are so like if you
Speaker 1: think about it as building community versus a transactional what
Speaker 1: can I do for you or what can I get
Speaker 1: out of you? I think you get better now. One
Speaker 1: thing I also add is that because I've had so
Speaker 1: many jobs as like a contractor or a freelancer, my
Speaker 1: network was extremely crucial because I would work on projects,
Speaker 1: whether it was cover stories or smaller contract periods. And
Speaker 1: I am banking that that editor will remember me, because
Speaker 1: those editors are hopping to different places and they're gonna
Speaker 1: hopefully take their people with them. And so all I
Speaker 1: can say is that networking is so important. I get
Speaker 1: it that it's cringey. I get it that it feels uncomfortable,
Speaker 1: and it's going to feel that way right. Small talk
Speaker 1: in and of itself is also very nerve wracking for
Speaker 1: a lot of people. But I will say that if
Speaker 1: you can master the art of networking, if you can
Speaker 1: master the art of speaking about yourself, but also if
Speaker 1: you can master the art of saying, I can offer
Speaker 1: this to you and then we can figure out what
Speaker 1: you can also do it as an exchange versus transaction,
Speaker 1: I think you would be set up for success.
Speaker 4: And I think that's key. Right when you're early in
Speaker 4: your career. I hear this all the time, What do
Speaker 4: I have to offer this person if you're viewing networking
Speaker 4: as transactional, then you're going to have that mindset. But
Speaker 4: when you view it as you're bringing a perspective and
Speaker 4: they're giving you advice or whatever it might be, in
Speaker 4: that situation, you kind of start to approach networking differently.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, because I'm going to let you in on a
Speaker 1: little secret, that feeling of what do I have to
Speaker 1: bring does not stop once you get out of your
Speaker 1: early career. I get in rooms now with people who
Speaker 1: have been in their industry for twenty thirty years and
Speaker 1: I feel the same way. And I'm sure they feel
Speaker 1: it to people who are even more senior than them.
Speaker 1: So that feeling, what I think, is kind of like
Speaker 1: professional imposter syndrome. I don't want to say it never
Speaker 1: goes away, but what I'm saying is if you can
Speaker 1: learn how to master it early in your career, you
Speaker 1: will know that any room you are in, you belong there,
Speaker 1: and that anyone who you build a connection with it's
Speaker 1: meant for you.
Speaker 4: We've all got those questions that run through our head
Speaker 4: when it comes to networking. What should I say, when's
Speaker 4: a good time to reach out? What do I even
Speaker 4: have to offer?
Speaker 3: Well, don't worry.
Speaker 4: We're bringing in gen Z content creator Morgan Young to
Speaker 4: teach us all about the art of networking that's next.
Speaker 1: So I know what you're probably thinking. Networking is so cringe,
Speaker 1: and honestly I get it. But thankfully Jihan and I
Speaker 1: have a heavy hitter in today's hot seat. We have
Speaker 1: a guest star who is going to tell us all
Speaker 1: about how you can network and make it a little
Speaker 1: less friend to Gianna, who do we bring in this week?
Speaker 4: All right, We're bringing in Morgan Young, and I feel
Speaker 4: like heavy hitter is the best way to describe her.
Speaker 4: She's a twenty twenty four grad who recently joined Shopify
Speaker 4: as an apprentice product manager, and how I first met
Speaker 4: Morgan is through LinkedIn. She's a gen Z content creator
Speaker 4: and LinkedIn learning instructor who helps professionals build their personal
Speaker 4: brands and leverage LinkedIn. She's been documenting her journey on
Speaker 4: the platform for quite a few years now and hopes
Speaker 4: people can take away valuable insights from her story to
Speaker 4: help push their careers forward.
Speaker 1: Hey Morgan, Ay Morgan, Hi, we are so excited, But
Speaker 1: let's first start from the very beginning. What do you
Speaker 1: tell people as far as how they should approach their
Speaker 1: mindset when it comes to networking.
Speaker 2: Don't go into networking conversations and don't approach networking with
Speaker 2: a transactional mindset or an agenda, because I think that's
Speaker 2: what most people, especially in my generation, get wrong. I
Speaker 2: get like that my generation's impatient. Everything for us is
Speaker 2: all about getting things instantaneously. But that's not what networking
Speaker 2: and that's not what relationship building is. It takes time,
Speaker 2: and so the best way to approach networking is through
Speaker 2: a relationship building mindset. It's all about the long term
Speaker 2: and the long game. To give like a real example,
Speaker 2: I went to my very first career for and I
Speaker 2: had a speed lightning round interview with a CEO of
Speaker 2: a local startup that wanted to interview me for an internship.
Speaker 2: And I ended up leaving in a really big impression
Speaker 2: on the guy, and he followed up with me later
Speaker 2: and offered me the internship. Turned it down because I
Speaker 2: had had another opportunity come my way. But then I
Speaker 2: kept everything good, didn't burn any bridges, and stayed in
Speaker 2: touch and I started posting on LinkedIn, and then he
Speaker 2: reached out to me later and said, hey, like I
Speaker 2: feel like you remind me a lot of me. And
Speaker 2: even though I'm kind of salty, didn't you know take
Speaker 2: the internship. I still have to be a part of
Speaker 2: your journey somehow, So like, can I can I step
Speaker 2: into a mentor role for you? Three and a half
Speaker 2: years later, he's still my mentor and he has done
Speaker 2: so much for me. He has written me letters of recommendation,
Speaker 2: He has helped me get through like major life and
Speaker 2: career decisions, and not only that, he was just the
Speaker 2: first donor of my nonprofit that I just started. So
Speaker 2: and but then again, I didn't go into that conversation
Speaker 2: with him, and I didn't go into that meeting him
Speaker 2: thinking of all that. It was just like I want
Speaker 2: to form a relationship with this person, and that's how
Speaker 2: it should go, Like always play the long game and
Speaker 2: go into networking thinking to establish long term relationships, not
Speaker 2: just trying to do transactional things.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think that when you really go into these
Speaker 1: conversations saying like what can I give to this person
Speaker 1: or how can I help this person, it shows them
Speaker 1: that you're genuine, but also that you probably have something
Speaker 1: to offer. But let me ask you, I think that
Speaker 1: a lot of people, especially when whether it's you're starting
Speaker 1: out in a new job or you're just graduating, you
Speaker 1: may not even know what you bring to the table,
Speaker 1: like are we bringing like steak? Are we bringing the vegetables?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: What are we bringing?
Speaker 2: You?
Speaker 4: Know?
Speaker 1: So, like what what advice would you give to someone
Speaker 1: who is early in their career as to how they
Speaker 1: can articulate what they can offer to a potential connection.
Speaker 2: I love what you use that analogy because when I
Speaker 2: think about, like when you're just starting college and you
Speaker 2: don't really have that much to offer, it's like what
Speaker 2: am I offering the bread roules? Like seriously, like not
Speaker 2: a lot. But I like to challenge people with that
Speaker 2: mindset because regardless of where you are in your career,
Speaker 2: a lot of people feel like they don't necessarily have
Speaker 2: a lot to offer. But I think that that's a
Speaker 2: really misconstrued concept because we as people having lived the
Speaker 2: unique life experiences that we have, that is intrinsic value.
Speaker 2: You have intrinsic value in just like being yourself and
Speaker 2: your perspective is unlike anyone else's in this world because
Speaker 2: no one has lived your life, and so starting there,
Speaker 2: that's the intrinsic value that you have to bring. And
Speaker 2: here's my thing in terms of networking, like networking up.
Speaker 2: Chances are you might not have, you know, a lot
Speaker 2: of value to give to that person. Chances are they
Speaker 2: probably in that relationship and in that dynamic, they pro
Speaker 2: probably have a lot more to offer you. But if
Speaker 2: you can go into it just like you said, where
Speaker 2: it's like offering that person like, Hey, my favorite sentence
Speaker 2: to say in a networking interaction is if there's ever
Speaker 2: a way that I can help you or support you
Speaker 2: in what you are doing and what you're building, please
Speaker 2: feel free to let me know, because that kind of
Speaker 2: leaves the door open of like you don't necessarily have
Speaker 2: to know what your value is. You can kind of
Speaker 2: just open the door and say like I'm here to help,
Speaker 2: I'm here as a resource, and then that puts it
Speaker 2: on that person to say, like, oh, could you help
Speaker 2: me with this? Not only is that a great way
Speaker 2: to establish and deep in a relationship with someone, but
Speaker 2: that could also help you figure out what your value
Speaker 2: is because some other person might see it even if
Speaker 2: you don't love that.
Speaker 4: So, Morgan, I kind of got a question for me.
Speaker 4: What's your advice for people who might be more introverted
Speaker 4: in nature and feel like a nuisance sometimes for following up.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think anyone gets anxiety from a follow up
Speaker 2: because it's like, am I bothering this person? But number one,
Speaker 2: following up is always a good thing, and it's almost
Speaker 2: never a nuisance. For example, I did a venture capital
Speaker 2: fellowship a year ago, and I got it kind of untraditionally.
Speaker 2: I didn't apply like normally, like I actually just knew
Speaker 2: someone in the fellowship and they referred me and this
Speaker 2: and that and the person who was the director. I
Speaker 2: emailed them once and it quite literally took me a
Speaker 2: month of follow ups, like emailing her probably about every
Speaker 2: four or five days, and she kept saying, thank you,
Speaker 2: please keep bumping this. I'm so sorry, like I just
Speaker 2: have so much work this month. I ended up getting
Speaker 2: the fellowship, and that wouldn't have happened had I not
Speaker 2: followed up with her quite literally five times. And so
Speaker 2: it's not usually a nuisance. People do get really really busy,
Speaker 2: and sometimes they need those friendly inbox bumps, those follow ups,
Speaker 2: And as long as you're polite and friendly and warm
Speaker 2: in the way that you approach the follow up, it's
Speaker 2: never going to be received. Negatively and as far as
Speaker 2: like just getting over the anxiety to like send the
Speaker 2: message to begin with, people are always nice with me.
Speaker 2: Think that's that's like a motto that I like to use,
Speaker 2: and so that applies for both follow ups and just
Speaker 2: like sending out the email to begin with and worrying
Speaker 2: about annoying or you're pestering the person like it's it's
Speaker 2: not like that. That's how we naturally feel the way
Speaker 2: to get over that is to assume, just to assume
Speaker 2: that people are nicer than you give them credit for.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I like to always call that like polite persistence,
Speaker 4: and I think too when it comes to like that
Speaker 4: anxiety piece, you really just have to like also think, yeah,
Speaker 4: people are busy, So if you're not hearing back, like,
Speaker 4: it's not rejection honestly, like people like have busy live
Speaker 4: so just like don't let that from you know, deterring
Speaker 4: you from moving forward with networking exactly.
Speaker 1: So now we have a really fun part where we
Speaker 1: get to get questions from our listeners. Morgan, this is
Speaker 1: Dear Work, Bestie, where we are answering questions from people
Speaker 1: who listen to the show, and this week's question comes
Speaker 1: from Ashley in Utah.
Speaker 5: Question that I have often when I'm trying to network
Speaker 5: is who I should specifically be trying to reach out to.
Speaker 5: Should it be hiring managers, recruiters, or someone in my
Speaker 5: same position? Is there any kind of insights you could
Speaker 5: give on that, Morgan, what do you think?
Speaker 2: I would say all of the above again, like, don't
Speaker 2: like network when you need a job, always be networking,
Speaker 2: Like don't. It's not like a It's not like a
Speaker 2: one time thing out of a couple of years. It's
Speaker 2: like a you should consistently make a habit out of this.
Speaker 2: It's almost like working out, like you just have to
Speaker 2: like build a habit out of it. And so I
Speaker 2: think you should be reaching out to not only hiring managers, recruiters,
Speaker 2: and people in your position, but a variety of people.
Speaker 2: So in my LinkedIn learning course, I had this thing
Speaker 2: called the thirty three thirty three thirty three role in networking,
Speaker 2: which is where thirty three percent of the people that
Speaker 2: you reach out to and talk to should be people
Speaker 2: that are on your same level. Think like, for me,
Speaker 2: I just graduated college, I'm starting a job, So for me,
Speaker 2: that would be people early in their career, and those
Speaker 2: are the people that are number one going to be
Speaker 2: going through the same things as me, so they might
Speaker 2: be able to like commiserate with me for lack of
Speaker 2: better words, but also relate to everything that I'm going through.
Speaker 2: The next thirty three percent of people that you should
Speaker 2: network with are people that are above you, more advanced
Speaker 2: than you, a lot further ahead in their career. For me,
Speaker 2: that's a lot of people because I'm not that far
Speaker 2: into my career, so it could be someone in a
Speaker 2: mid level position, a senior level position, or even an
Speaker 2: executive level position. And then the last thirty three percent
Speaker 2: that you should network with is people that are behind
Speaker 2: you in your career. For me, that's people like still
Speaker 2: in college, still in high school. And in that dynamic,
Speaker 2: you are probably the one that has more value to
Speaker 2: give to them than they have to give to you.
Speaker 2: And the reason that's important for me particularly is paying
Speaker 2: it forward. I've asked all of the people that have
Speaker 2: mentored me, you know, I don't pay them. They're just
Speaker 2: in my life and they do all of these things
Speaker 2: for me, and they look out for my best interests
Speaker 2: because they want to. And whenever I ask them why,
Speaker 2: they say the same thing, which is I just want
Speaker 2: to be a part of your journey. I see your potential.
Speaker 2: I want to make sure you hit that. And at
Speaker 2: the same time, they've all hinted to me or said
Speaker 2: to me outright, when you get to that age or
Speaker 2: when you get to the ability of doing so, we
Speaker 2: want you to pay it forward. And so for me,
Speaker 2: I feel very lucky to have those people ahead of
Speaker 2: me that are willing to give me their time, give
Speaker 2: me their mentorship, and so I pay it forward to
Speaker 2: the people that are a little bit behind me in
Speaker 2: my career and I can help them in that way.
Speaker 2: So that's like my how I strike a balance of
Speaker 2: who to network with, not just hiring managers, recruiters, or
Speaker 2: people that are in the career that you want to
Speaker 2: be in.
Speaker 3: I love that framework.
Speaker 1: I want to know though, like for someone like Ashley
Speaker 1: who wants to maybe get on the radar of let's say,
Speaker 1: for instance, she's gone on LinkedIn. She has identified a
Speaker 1: role that she thinks is really awesome and she sees
Speaker 1: that there's the recruiter attached to it. Do you have
Speaker 1: any language that you might suggest to someone on how
Speaker 1: they can kind of do that cold email? Like, because
Speaker 1: I would say, hey, big head, and I know this.
Speaker 1: Not you make the cold email warm? Basically, how do
Speaker 1: you mean how do you warm up the dish? Exactly?
Speaker 1: Can you not tell me you don't have mistake?
Speaker 3: When it bread? It's breads?
Speaker 1: What do you offer.
Speaker 2: Butter? That's how you wore it up? But no, Actually,
Speaker 2: Number one, don't ever use the phrase can I pick
Speaker 2: your brain? I so agree that is like my biggest
Speaker 2: pet peeve, and the reason is is it's so vague.
Speaker 2: Number two, the way to warm up a cold emails
Speaker 2: First of all, be personal. I feel like the art
Speaker 2: of like greetings and pleasantries has kind of been lost
Speaker 2: in this generation and I kind of get it. But
Speaker 2: at the same time, I have a lot of friends
Speaker 2: who are recruiters and work in the recruiting and hiring
Speaker 2: like space, and it can be a very thankless and
Speaker 2: unforgiving job. So even as simple how are you, how
Speaker 2: is your day going? Can really do a lot. The
Speaker 2: second thing is be specific and be concise. Do the pleasantries,
Speaker 2: but also get to the point explain who you are
Speaker 2: and give that person a little bit of context, because
Speaker 2: remember you're a complete stranger to them. They don't know you.
Speaker 2: And so the best way to warm up that relationship
Speaker 2: is to help them get to know you, and so
Speaker 2: do a greeting, you know, ask them a question about themselves,
Speaker 2: do an intro that introduces who you are and kind
Speaker 2: of what your objective is and what you're trying to do,
Speaker 2: and then say like, hey, can I have fifteen minutes
Speaker 2: of your time to speak to you about this? And
Speaker 2: also I'm personally a really big fan of going the
Speaker 2: extra mile beyond, like even like a LinkedIn DM like
Speaker 2: if you can find a person's email, like most people,
Speaker 2: surprisingly including myself, actually put their email in their profile,
Speaker 2: like email them. If they have their email and their profile,
Speaker 2: take that extra step and actually email them. But the
Speaker 2: way to warm up a cold message is to just
Speaker 2: sound like a human being and like you're talking to
Speaker 2: another human being. You're not trying to get this person
Speaker 2: to like give you a job or give you a referral,
Speaker 2: Like you're just a human trying to have another conversation
Speaker 2: with a human.
Speaker 4: I love that you said that because I think it's
Speaker 4: so important just to be authentic in your outreage and
Speaker 4: be personable. I feel like a lot of times people
Speaker 4: reach out to me who are around my age, and
Speaker 4: it's so formal, and I'm like, oh my god, like, no,
Speaker 4: we give you friends. Like I was like, just like,
Speaker 4: you know, it's intimidating when you're reaching out to people
Speaker 4: who you don't know. And we feel like in the business,
Speaker 4: you know world, we have to be so formal, and
Speaker 4: yes you should be professional, but like just be yourself
Speaker 4: and like add some flavor into it so you stand
Speaker 4: out a little bit. But I really love those tips
Speaker 4: on like being personal, being succinct, and making that ask.
Speaker 1: But on the flip side, ge I get a lot
Speaker 1: of people who hit me up and they just start
Speaker 1: talking to me too much. I'm like, goodness, you couldn't
Speaker 1: say good morning, you couldn't say hello. Like it's almost
Speaker 1: like if you just walked into a room and you
Speaker 1: just started yapping. No, not with Jimmie.
Speaker 4: I'll say it again, Jamay is anti apping, and it
Speaker 4: all comes back to apping.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 4: I really want to dive into this maintaining the relationship
Speaker 4: aspect of networking. You know, a lot of gen zers
Speaker 4: I speak to, honestly myself included, have a trouble maintaining
Speaker 4: the relationships. You know, past let's say the first few
Speaker 4: networking calls and like like you said before, no, networking
Speaker 4: is not supposed to be transactional, but a lot of
Speaker 4: times you do find job opportunities from people in your network,
Speaker 4: So maintaining those relationships is important. And I'm just wondering, like,
Speaker 4: how do you even go about that?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 3: Like, is there any rule that you follow?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So there's a couple of different ways that I
Speaker 2: do it. First of all, I'm a big app I
Speaker 2: kit of posty on LinkedIn. But the reason being is
Speaker 2: that you know, hopefully you're connected with these people that
Speaker 2: you're networking with on your LinkedIn. If you're not, do that,
Speaker 2: and if they're in your network, they will see the
Speaker 2: things that you post. One of the reasons I started
Speaker 2: posting was to keep my network updated on what I
Speaker 2: was doing. And so that's a really good way. Think
Speaker 2: of it as almost like like when you post on
Speaker 2: LinkedIn to your network, it's almost like sending a Christmas
Speaker 2: card of like, hey, I'm here, this is what I'm doing,
Speaker 2: I'm alive. Still, I'm so relevant, and this is why
Speaker 2: you should you know, read what I'm doing. The second
Speaker 2: thing is keeping like a regular pace. Friendships are like
Speaker 2: one of the first examples of relationships that we have.
Speaker 2: You think that you have to like talk to the
Speaker 2: person and see the person every single day to have
Speaker 2: a relationship with them. That couldn't be further from the truth.
Speaker 2: You don't need to like see someone or talk to
Speaker 2: someone every day to maintain a relationship. It just needs
Speaker 2: to be regular communication. And so the way that I
Speaker 2: do it, and this is just an easy, like think
Speaker 2: of it off the top of my head, is like
Speaker 2: once a quarter, so four times a year, I'll usually
Speaker 2: make a point to reach out to people that are
Speaker 2: really in my close network circle at least once a quarter.
Speaker 2: That's be a text, email, phone call, whatever if you
Speaker 2: really want to like hone the relationship once a month,
Speaker 2: but once the quarter is usually enough to do it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that's a really great advice. And I
Speaker 4: think too, like you don't have to maintain a relationship
Speaker 4: with like fifty people, right, like find your poor group,
Speaker 4: because I think it breaks down what can feel like
Speaker 4: an overwhelming task when you think, oh, I have all
Speaker 4: these people to reach out to.
Speaker 1: So Morgan, one of the things that I'm always talking
Speaker 1: about with my friends is like the added pressure of networking,
Speaker 1: particularly when you're a person of color, and it's always
Speaker 1: interesting to me because whenever I chat with my mom,
Speaker 1: who is like a boomer, she will always say that,
Speaker 1: you know, the man who really helped change her life
Speaker 1: and her mentor for many years was like a white
Speaker 1: guy from the Midwest. And it really paints this picture
Speaker 1: for me that the people in your wheelhouse, whether it's
Speaker 1: a mentor, a sponsor, or even just your network, don't
Speaker 1: have to look like you or come from the same
Speaker 1: environments that you come from. But I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people are nerves because they're like, well, I don't
Speaker 1: even know how to necessarily initiate those conversations or how
Speaker 1: to identify that. Do you have any tips or like
Speaker 1: even experiences of your own of like how people or
Speaker 1: communities of color or people from marginalized groups can navigate
Speaker 1: building sustainable networks, even if it's like identifying people who
Speaker 1: maybe don't come from their world.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm so so glad you brought this up,
Speaker 2: because this has literally been like a special interest topic
Speaker 2: that I've been mulling over in my head for months
Speaker 2: because truthfully, as an Asian American neurodivergent woman in tech,
Speaker 2: it's funny because everyone thinks that like all of my
Speaker 2: mentors are like like me, and it's like, well, first
Speaker 2: of all, twenty six I think it's like twenty six
Speaker 2: to twenty seven percent of tech workers are women. So
Speaker 2: it's like it's kind of hard to get you know,
Speaker 2: when we're still the minority. It's kind of hard to
Speaker 2: get that. And truthfully, only one of my mentors is
Speaker 2: a woman, and a lot of them also happen to
Speaker 2: be Caucasian. And the thing is is, like, you know,
Speaker 2: people have a lot to say about that, but the
Speaker 2: fact of the matter is that in a society where
Speaker 2: people and in groups and industries where people are marginalized,
Speaker 2: we really really need allies that are in positions of
Speaker 2: power and influence to get you into those rooms that
Speaker 2: you would normally never have access to. Having those mentors
Speaker 2: and those allies that are in those positions to help
Speaker 2: you and lift you up in ways that people who
Speaker 2: look like you might not necessarily be able to do
Speaker 2: is something that's really important to your career. But the
Speaker 2: thing is it can be very scary and as you said,
Speaker 2: very much outside of your comfort zone. I think the
Speaker 2: thing to remember is number one, again, people are a
Speaker 2: lot nicer than we give them credit for, and number two.
Speaker 2: Just because they didn't necessarily come from the background that
Speaker 2: you had, that doesn't mean they can't understand what you're
Speaker 2: going through or that they can't help you with what
Speaker 2: you're going through. Most likely, they actually can help you
Speaker 2: with what you're going through. And as far as building
Speaker 2: sustainable networks, I would say, like, I am proud to
Speaker 2: say I have a very diverse network, and I would
Speaker 2: say that's very, very intense. When I was working at
Speaker 2: Disney a few years back, I used to hang around
Speaker 2: the burgs, the business employee resource groups, mostly in the
Speaker 2: Neurodivergent Burg, the AAPI Burg as well as the veterans
Speaker 2: Burg and the Pride at Disneyburg. And because of that,
Speaker 2: I got to hang around with a lot of different
Speaker 2: people that looked like Some of them looked like me,
Speaker 2: and some of them didn't look like me. Some of
Speaker 2: them had the same background as me, some of them didn't.
Speaker 2: And like I said, perspectives are unique and those in
Speaker 2: and of itself bring value. There's so much that you
Speaker 2: can learn from having a diverse network. So I think
Speaker 2: like it's just striving to create a balance of people
Speaker 2: that resonate with you in different ways. Because people that
Speaker 2: don't have the same background as you can still very
Speaker 2: much resonate with you, and just as much. I think
Speaker 2: it's important to recognize when you are a member of
Speaker 2: a marginalized group, or several marginalized groups, it's important to
Speaker 2: find those allies, in those advocates, in those spaces of
Speaker 2: privilege and influence, because they can probably really help you
Speaker 2: and accelerate your career. And that's I feel like that's
Speaker 2: something that's really not talked about enough.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think a lot of people either feel shame
Speaker 1: in bringing that up or again they don't know even
Speaker 1: how to navigate those But I love what you said.
Speaker 1: We are often more similar than we are different. So
Speaker 1: thank you for sick sharing that that was really helpful.
Speaker 1: Of course, thank you so much. We have had I
Speaker 1: feel like we could just sit and talk with you
Speaker 1: all day, because I do love I love big, bold,
Speaker 1: audacious women, and I just love being around them. So
Speaker 1: thank you that. Like, we had so much fun. I
Speaker 1: certainly know I've learned a lot about how I can
Speaker 1: show up in network even better and build community. But
Speaker 1: before we go, where can people find you?
Speaker 2: Okay, so people can find me on my LinkedIn, my
Speaker 2: LinkedIn like handle, after Thelinkedin dot com slash and slash
Speaker 2: is it's Morgan Young on Instagram, I'm at It's Morgan Ashley.
Speaker 2: I also have a website called that LinkedIn Girl, because
Speaker 2: that's like my nickname and my moniker. And then I
Speaker 2: also have another website for my nonprofit that I just
Speaker 2: started called Innovator dot Io. Those are basically all of
Speaker 2: the ways to find me. Quid be on LinkedIn, follow
Speaker 2: me on Instagram, check out my website, do all the things,
Speaker 2: and if this episode resonated with you, feel free to
Speaker 2: reach out to me. Love it.
Speaker 4: Thanks Morgan, Thank you.
Speaker 1: Morgan gave so much great advice and after this episode
Speaker 1: you can officially count three more people in your network. Morgan,
Speaker 1: Gianna and Me coming up. I love a good workout,
Speaker 1: but working out at work, let's discuss after the break.
Speaker 3: That was such a fun convo with Morgan.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, she's great.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I really appreciated the advice she shared
Speaker 4: on recognizing your intrinsic value when you're reaching out to people,
Speaker 4: because I think that's something like we were saying earlier
Speaker 4: on in the episode, that you forget right you don't
Speaker 4: you forget that you're bringing in this unique perspective. I
Speaker 4: also loved that she shared how she reaches out to people,
Speaker 4: because listen, like I have gotten messages from people who
Speaker 4: are around my age. I know other people have gotten
Speaker 4: similar messages where somebody reaches out, you know, saying like
Speaker 4: I need help, I need this advice and cold sending
Speaker 4: their resume and leading with that ask. And this is
Speaker 4: the first impression that they're getting of you to potentially
Speaker 4: influence an opportunity, whether it be you know, connecting to
Speaker 4: a mentor connecting to a job so or even just
Speaker 4: sharing advice. Right, yeah, So you have to reach out
Speaker 4: knowing that there's a human on the other end of
Speaker 4: the line. Uh, don't just you know, share your resume
Speaker 4: out of nowhere, give context around why you're reaching out,
Speaker 4: and don't leave with the ask.
Speaker 3: It just makes it uncomfortable on the other end.
Speaker 4: So, you know, like Morgan was saying, lead with offering support,
Speaker 4: being like, how can I help you, or here's what
Speaker 4: I want to talk to you about, and here's how
Speaker 4: that can both benefit us.
Speaker 1: Right yeah, I really love that. What I have taken
Speaker 1: away from this conversation is that it pays so much
Speaker 1: to go the extra mile and it honestly just makes
Speaker 1: my week cold, millennial dead heart warm knowing that people
Speaker 1: are still doing that. I know, but.
Speaker 3: Handwritten.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 1: I certainly did every job interview. I certainly sent one.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I have so many more stories. Hire me,
Speaker 1: give me the money. But seriously, if you guys can
Speaker 1: go the extra mile, you know, finding their email, connecting
Speaker 1: with them on LinkedIn, right, getting their email from that, uh,
Speaker 1: just taking the extra step. I also know, picking your brain.
Speaker 1: I think that that's just such a u And when
Speaker 1: we think about this idea of like disbanding transactional commentary,
Speaker 1: that is certainly one of them. Instead of saying pick
Speaker 1: your brain, you know, going in, leading in with the hey,
Speaker 1: here's where we met. You know, your story really interested
Speaker 1: me because you pulled out blah blah blah. You guys
Speaker 1: know what this requires, intentional listening, make sure you were
Speaker 1: writing down what you took out of that conversation, how
Speaker 1: that impacted you, and then maybe even offering up if
Speaker 1: you have fifteen minutes informational I would love to follow
Speaker 1: up or take you to coffee. Yeah, exactly. You can
Speaker 1: use that as an opportunity to talk to people without
Speaker 1: making it feel like you are poaching them for information.
Speaker 1: And then the last thing I'll say is that frequent
Speaker 1: check ins are necessary. It is one thing to make
Speaker 1: an introduction with someone and have a great five minutes
Speaker 1: in the sun. But how you really start to build
Speaker 1: a meaningful network that is going to last through the
Speaker 1: longevity of your career is by checking in on people,
Speaker 1: hitting people up on their birthdays, when people get married,
Speaker 1: when people start new jobs, maybe even have kids. There
Speaker 1: are so many different life events that are happening that
Speaker 1: will allow you to just check in, let people know
Speaker 1: that you're thinking about them, without actually asking for anything
Speaker 1: in return. This is so meaningful. It feels so big
Speaker 1: or so small, but it actually is going to have
Speaker 1: long term impact on your career.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'd argue it is small, but it goes a
Speaker 4: long way, so long it has a big impact.
Speaker 1: Yeah, speaking of impact, how are you going to speaking
Speaker 1: of impact? You know what else is impactful?
Speaker 2: Guys?
Speaker 1: When I go in my purse and I pull out
Speaker 1: the receipts and we have now showed the receipts. This
Speaker 1: is a segment where we take a look at some
Speaker 1: of the headlines or workplace trends, maybe even some office
Speaker 1: myths and see if there's any truth to them. Gianna,
Speaker 1: what are we talking about today?
Speaker 4: Okay, today we're talking about working out at work. So
Speaker 4: this past year, Bloomberg published an article arguing that companies
Speaker 4: should a lot of time for employees to incorporate exercise
Speaker 4: into their day. Obviously, we already, you know, know the
Speaker 4: benefits of working out. There's plenty of receipts for those.
Speaker 4: And because of the benefits, companies are now investing in
Speaker 4: providing fitness training and wellness opportunities for their employees. So
Speaker 4: some examples, companies are building gyms at their offices. If
Speaker 4: they can't build a gym, they're dedicating space for group exercise.
Speaker 4: They're creating fitness challenges and incentivizing employees with prizes.
Speaker 3: People love a contest, you know.
Speaker 4: They're also offering discounts and memberships to gyms and fitness
Speaker 4: programs like you know, class Past Soul Cycle. And what
Speaker 4: I found interesting about this article was this idea that
Speaker 4: workplace workouts have become a way for colleagues to actually
Speaker 4: socialize and network with each other, interesting outside of, like
Speaker 4: you know, their day to day tasks.
Speaker 1: So what do you think, how do you feel about it.
Speaker 4: I think it's great because, you know, gen Z has
Speaker 4: such an emphasis on mental health, and when you think
Speaker 4: about supporting the whole being of a person, exercise is
Speaker 4: part of their life, right. So it's also tough, you know,
Speaker 4: we think now with all these RTO mandates, to find
Speaker 4: time to work out, if that's something that's important in
Speaker 4: your life, it's challenging.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah.
Speaker 4: So I like the idea that companies are providing space
Speaker 4: for people to do that. Personally, I don't want anyone
Speaker 4: to see me in my workout like I don't want
Speaker 4: people to see me like in my sports were on
Speaker 4: biker shorts. So I don't know that I'll be participating.
Speaker 4: We do have benefits here at LinkedIn, we have a
Speaker 4: wellness studio. I haven't, you know, done the trainings or
Speaker 4: taking classes there.
Speaker 3: I do something on my own time.
Speaker 4: But I do really love the idea. But I don't
Speaker 4: know that I'll be participating anytime soon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so really quick, guys, want to clarify, Gianna brought
Speaker 1: up OURTO mandates. That's return to office Just for those
Speaker 1: of you who are like, what the heck is that
Speaker 1: a lot of companies are starting to require employees to
Speaker 1: come back into the office after years of working from home,
Speaker 1: and so a lot of people who might have started
Speaker 1: off as remote or hybrid are now moving back into office.
Speaker 1: So this is actually an interesting conversation because I think
Speaker 1: Gean and I have dissenting opinions. Dun dundune. I have
Speaker 1: feelings about this because Number one, I feel like this
Speaker 1: is the modern day golf course conversation. The idea of
Speaker 1: like you close business deals on the golf course aready right.
Speaker 1: So it's almost like, well, what happens when you are
Speaker 1: someone who you know, maybe you have a family, or
Speaker 1: you are taking classes after work and you can't build
Speaker 1: that camaraderie with people. Are you now going to be
Speaker 1: penalized because oh, when it comes time for promotion or
Speaker 1: when it comes time for upper mobility, everyone's gonna remember,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, we went to berries together.
Speaker 4: Like, I don't think this is like a mandatory thing.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, I'm not saying that. But what I'm saying
Speaker 1: is it puts pressure on people to show because now
Speaker 1: you feel what am I missing if I don't go.
Speaker 1: Another thing I have about this is that I think
Speaker 1: particularly we see this a lot in tech that they
Speaker 1: will give you all of the amenities so that you
Speaker 1: don't go home. And as much as that sounds no,
Speaker 1: it is like there are other companies that they have
Speaker 1: barber shops and salons on their campuses, dry cleaners, daycare,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Yes we can offline about that. Yes,
Speaker 1: there are companies that will offer that. And as much
Speaker 1: as it's a beautiful thing, because you're like, wow, like
Speaker 1: I have a one stop shop, Well why would you
Speaker 1: want to go home? If I offer you breakfast, lunch,
Speaker 1: and dinner and I can clean your clothes, and I
Speaker 1: can give you an opera tunity to work out, and
Speaker 1: I can cut your caar movie. Well, we live in it, baby.
Speaker 1: So I just say all of that to say, like,
Speaker 1: although I totally can understand where this is meaningful and beneficial. Yes,
Speaker 1: mental health, Yes, physical health is so important. I always
Speaker 1: kind of look at, well, what is the trap or
Speaker 1: what is the other incentive in that I think that
Speaker 1: it kind of can displace people who don't want to
Speaker 1: work out. I don't want to work out. I got
Speaker 1: a booty. I don't need y'all seeing it up on
Speaker 1: a standmen.
Speaker 4: Also, there's like accessibility concerns, like not everybody is, you know,
Speaker 4: able to do that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I just think of the natural order of
Speaker 1: like when there's a lot of people in community and
Speaker 1: you're not there, what are you missing out on? So
Speaker 1: although I think like it's great and definitely get your
Speaker 1: you know, get your work out on, you know, you
Speaker 1: want that body, yadda yadda, like I get it, I
Speaker 1: just also kind of see, like, hmm, that's interesting. So
Speaker 1: you know, I'll continue to go to yoga, pilates, all
Speaker 1: that on my own. I'll meet y'all at the happy Est.
Speaker 4: Also, I just want to add I literally fell off
Speaker 4: the treadmill ones and held on like you would see
Speaker 4: in a movie. And that was so embarrassing and mortifying.
Speaker 4: I never went back to that gym, so God forbid
Speaker 4: that happen in a work setting, I would have to quit.
Speaker 1: You want to know my humbling story. The first time
Speaker 1: I ever went to the gym, I got on the StairMaster.
Speaker 1: Why did no one save me? Why did no one
Speaker 1: tell me that? That is actually the worst thing to
Speaker 1: episode Gianna. I literally had an asthma attack and I
Speaker 1: starfished out in the middle of that gym. I was like,
Speaker 1: good God, if this is the time to take me.
Speaker 1: Everybody know, I love it.
Speaker 3: Will the company in company work out class.
Speaker 1: Workplace workouts are not for us anyways.
Speaker 3: Let us know your take.
Speaker 4: We would love Yeah, we kind of have opposing views
Speaker 4: on this, but agree on something, So let us know
Speaker 4: what do you think about workplace workouts?
Speaker 3: Are you here for it? Are you not?
Speaker 4: You can let us know in the newsletter this week
Speaker 4: or share a post on LinkedIn tagas I would.
Speaker 1: Love that, and also we want to thank Ashley for
Speaker 1: sending in their question. You guys can also send us
Speaker 1: your questions. Okay, information on how to do that is
Speaker 1: in the show description.
Speaker 3: You know I just mentioned the newsletter before.
Speaker 4: Make sure you guys are subscribed if you're not already,
Speaker 4: it's called Let's Talk Offline. You can find the link
Speaker 4: in the show description and it's also in my LinkedIn bio.
Speaker 4: And while you're at it, another thing, make sure you
Speaker 4: guys are following the show and rate it. We would
Speaker 4: love love love to hear what you think, and if
Speaker 4: you guys have any ideas, send them our away please
Speaker 4: we're open.
Speaker 3: Ears.
Speaker 4: Before you go, remember Jimmy and I always got your back,
Speaker 4: So if something comes up, Let's Talk offline.
Speaker 3: I'm Janna PRUDENTI.
Speaker 1: And I'm Jamaine Jackson Gadsden.
Speaker 4: Stay Thriving, Let's Talk Offline is a production of LinkedIn
Speaker 4: News and iHeart Podcasts. The show is produced by Western Sound.
Speaker 4: Our producer is Sabrina Fang. The show is edited by
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Speaker 4: is our engineer, and Ben Adair is the executive producer.
Speaker 1: Executive producers at iHeart Podcasts are Katrina Norvel and Nikki Etour.
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