The Power of Community and Connection - Michelle Jensen Session

Michelle: I think coming out of COVID, we all really craved connection. And COVID was this moment where we got to pause and think about what's really important in our lives. And a lot of people are rebuilding their lives post-COVID in a new way. And one of the things that I've been thinking a lot about, and you and I have talked about, is this idea of community and building community and finding people who are on the same page as you. In hospitality, you know, it's an older industry. And then you've got people who are innovative and want to think about things in a different way. And when those two groups collide, it's not always pretty. And so someone who's innovative really is looking for other people that they can bounce those ideas off of and feel seen and not think that they're crazy or too dreamy or off the wall. And so, Josiah, I know you're working on launching this new community, which I am really excited to be a part of. And I'm honored that I'm included in this mix. The other project that just came up this week, actually, since you and I talked, was I started talking to women in the Bay Area. I live in Alameda, and I'm surrounded by really amazing working professional women. And we were talking about the fact that there's not a great community for professional working women outside of some very specific ones that are harder to join. So for example, Chief is really big here in the Bay, and it's pretty expensive. You have to apply. It's C-suite only. And then there are other, you know, CREW is really big for real estate and ULI is huge for all kinds of land development. But in terms of supporting women in a professional network, regardless of the industry, that's something that I've really been looking for myself coming out of COVID that doesn't exist. So I'm starting to work with other women to build out women of any industry, making it more accessible, more inclusive. And just coming together to support each other, to bounce ideas, it's finding your people. It's about connection. And I'm really into diversity of thought. I'm really into interdisciplinary overlap and bringing together these different perspectives to talk about big issues. And I'm really hoping that in both of these platforms that I'm focusing on for this last quarter of the year, that's where I'm going to be spending a lot of my time.

Josiah: I feel a lot of people talk about community and they want the benefits of it. They don't necessarily put in the work and the effort and the intention to make it happen. And getting to know you, I think one of the things that I see that you do that others don't do is with all the things you have going on, you intentionally carve out time out of each day to connect with others, to learn with others, to figure out how you can be helpful. You shared with me some of the conversations that you've had that have been very impactful, but I'd love if you could talk a little bit more about what you think you do differently to go beyond just the notion of community, to make it a part of your daily and weekly rhythm, and then kind of what the results of that have been.

Michelle: Coming into 2023, I was launching a new business, something I had never done before. And I started networking again in a very intentional way for a business. And there are a couple of things that I saw that were really effective in building relationships that mattered. And I've heard other people talk about this, Melissa Maher talks about this, and she and I have had many conversations on this. When you show up, you can't come off as a used car salesman, right? It's never fun to talk to someone who's only interested in what's in it for them. There's this thing about connection where when you are genuine and authentic, and it's sometimes vulnerable, it builds connection in a very powerful way. So that's, first of all, is just being authentic, being who you are, and being a little bit open about what's important to you, what you're thinking about. It's getting into these deeper conversations. than just, I'm so-and-so, I work here, I live in LA, or whatever, right? I went to school here. That's super boring, and it's hard to connect with unless you went to that specific school, right? But if you talk about, you know, I'm really passionate about sustainability, I'm really passionate about women leadership, I'm really passionate about exploring other cultures, that's something that people can kind of grasp onto. That's step one, showing up authentically, openly. The second part of this, though, is the follow-through. And this is where I think a lot of people drop the ball is you may have this one conversation, and then it ends there. And so what happens after the conference? What happens after the network mixer? Right. So spending the time to schedule calls to follow up or even just send a note You know, reinforcing, it was great to meet you. I love talking about this. And then creating a relationship. A relationship means that there is continued contact. It is not one-and-done, right? And as you're building out your network, there's this great saying from both David Kong and Dorothy Dowling from Best Western that your network is your net worth. that looks at it in kind of an economic, cold way. But at the same time, I think a lot of us have spent time thinking about what brings value to our life, especially post-COVID. And at the end of the day, connection, relationships, being seen, finding your people, that adds value. For me, I know that my relationships are the gold in my life. And the more that I pour into different kinds of conversations, relationships, and networking, the more that comes from it is what you put in, what you get out, right? So if you can show up in a consistent way where you are reliable, you are authentic, people work with people that they like. And to do that, you really do have to be yourself and you have to be accountable.

Josiah: It's super helpful, and I appreciate you breaking that down because I think, I don't know if you've experienced this, but I felt sometimes it's very hard to know exactly what opportunities are going to open up. But it does feel like getting to know good people, building these strong relationships, wherever life takes us, I feel like that's kind of like the one sure thing that you can count on, right? Because who knows where innovation is going to go, or technology is going to go, or where opportunities will open up. But to do anything in this world, you have to do it with other people, right? And so this feels like, as we head into 2024, a really a core thing that's not only you've seen be meaningful for yourself, but I think for all of our listeners, this is something really to think about and focus on.

Michelle: You never know where those connections are going to come from. And I think we all have these stories I have two stories in particular that come to mind. I remember 2008. It was an interesting time job-wise, economically. I had a job, but my partner didn't. And I think he spent eight or nine months without a job. And his first job coming out of that was from someone that I met on the bus. I used to take the bus from downtown San Diego to La Jolla. It's a 45-minute bus ride every day. And generally, it's work hours, so you get to see the same people. And I met some random person who was really into weird stuff like crystals and tarot cards and things. And it turns out he was also a software engineer, like my partner. And that's where his job came from, he was someone that I met on the bus. You just never know where opportunities will show themselves. Yesterday, I had coffee with a friend of a friend who I've seen socially through the years, but we've never gotten together, just the two of us. And I was really picking her brain on tech and some of the hiring trends that she's seeing right now in different positions. And we talked about that for maybe 15 to 20 minutes, but she kind of stopped me and said, you know, I have this idea about women empowerment. And we spent the rest of the time building out a plan for some project that we want to do together. which when I scheduled this call, was not my intention. You know, this was a person that someone else that I should talk to. And turns out, you know, we may end up doing something really fun and cool together. But unless you show up to those meetings and carve the time for them, those things don't just come knocking on your door normally unless you've put in the work.

Josiah: Got to put in the work! It's a great reminder for us all.