Back in the days before Covid, which is going on five years now, we used to go to a networking event at Dave and Busters. It was hosted by a networking organization we belonged to, that my wife still belongs to, called BNI. It was at these events that I felt like we got most of our business or made our best connections. Since then I have missed this type of event.
Last night I finally went to the monthly networking mixer that has been sending us e-mails for the last few years, and it was excellent. I don’t know if I will end up with any business from it but I do think I made a couple good connections.
I do not consider myself a salesperson, but I do enjoy connecting with people. As much as I dislike crowds I do enjoy face to face interaction with people and there is freedom in talking to a stranger. I believe there is something psychologists call the stranger paradox. That people, in general, are more willing to be open to a stranger than someone they know.
I wasn’t opening up to anyone last night as it was a business event, but it did feel good to talk to people about the business we have and to hear some feedback. We have had extremely low employee turnover over the past several years, and I was told several times last night that is the mark of a good company. I still don’t know if I am good to work for as I am impatient and irritable at times and have a general frustration with beach time.
This was overall a great event and another reminder that I need to focus on the business we have. We have built something nice that helps busy pet parents in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and moving into Portsmouth and Suffolk.
The other day I stepped outside of my house and looked at the new Lexus and the house I am currently living in and felt like the singer from that Talking Heads song Once in a Lifetime, “This is not my beautiful house…this is not my beautiful wife,” and I did ask myself, “How did I get here?”
That is the purpose of a gratitude journal. To wake up each morning and count your blessings, but gratitude journals never count on strong Millennial imposter syndrome kicking in. Last night there was none of that. Only the moment and the crowd and flowing through it trying to find the next stranger, uninvolved in a conversation, to find out about their business and to tell them about mine.
David Huzzard Writes 