“The Social Network” Starring Justin Timberlake - Part 2

"Justin said under his breath, 'This is going to ruin the tour.'

The cop replied, 'What tour?' Justin said, 'The world tour.'”

I knew I could get you here to talk about networking by firing off multiple non sequiturs about Justin Timberlake. I’m no fool.

Anyways - welcome back to Part 2 of our blog series on ✨ Networking ✨! In Part 1, we focused on you! We learned to how to step into our Big Deal Energy and that we are marketing ourselves first and foremost. We also posed the question - How do you want the people in this room to remember you?

Here in Part 2, it’s all about the Who and the Where!

Where’s Waldo?

Get the idea of networking out of your brain for one sec. Think about your friend group or the folks you spend a lot of time with in your life.

Is there a through-line? Something or things that you all bond over?

Start thinking about who you want to be networking with in the same you’d think about who you might want to strike up a friendship with. I’m not saying that you should aim for a lasting and endearing friendship - but I am saying that a genuine connections go further than a superficial ones.

In deciding who your people are in the context of networking, ask yourself:

• What is important to them?

• What makes them tick?

• What types of values do they have?

Finding a genuine connection as neurodivergent folks can be trickier in a world that is built for neurotypical folks. Toss in weird unspoken languages, behaviours, and nuances of The Workplace - oh, honey. Hot take - the basis for social interaction and social skills that we have universally adopted are pretty ableist, limiting, and breed shallow interactions.

We don’t really need studies to tell us this either - you, my fuzzy little peach kittens, know exactly what I mean. And, if you don’t, ask any of your NeuroQueer friends or family. This is why looking for your “Who” might take you some time. And that is totally okay.

Being intentional about how you want to be remembered in the rooms where your people are is just as important as being intentional about who you want to be connecting with in those rooms.

In the beginning you may find it easier to be like, “These folks are certainly not my people.”

That’s also totally okay! In fact, I’d encourage that.

You’re being intentional!

Where’s Waldo Hanging Out These Days?

There really isn’t a magic to this one - you know the core of Your People and you’re gonna know where to find them. And I don’t mean that in a cryptic way!

If you want your people to be active in local coalitions - you’ll find them at a volunteer shift for your neighbourhood mutual aid organizations.

If you want your people to be active in animal rights spaces - you’ll find them organizing for your local sanctuaries.

If you want your people to be active and in nature - you’ll find them at your local Queer Run Club.

If you want your people to be Book Worms - you’ll find them at book club meetups for your local library or bookshop.

One time after applying for a job that I really wanted, I reached out to the manager for the position and found we both had connections at an animal sanctuary. It didn’t feel forced for me to reach out to this person because I knew we could connect on a mutually shared value. And, if you’re wondering - no, I did not get the job but connecting with that manager about something real felt good and human!

Just like finding Your People, it’s okay if it takes a little longer than you expected. Connecting with people in a meaningful way takes time. Take that time - Because You’re Worth It.

I had to. I really really had to.

I am so sorry.

If You Forget Everything Else, Remember This →

I feel obligated to dedicate an entire section to this. I realize that is dramatic. If we at Colorful Futures can give you a single piece of advice to remember from this entire series, it would be this:

“Networking” events are not the place to be networking.

👏 I 👏 KNOW!

You weren’t expecting that! But listen... they are trash. They are transactional at best and exhausting at worst. If you want to attend in order to answer the question of who your people are not, then, proceed at your own risk.

And if you want to share any Networking Event Horror Stories, we’d really love to hear them.

That’s All, Folks 🙇

Well, I hope that ended up being a little bit more fun and a little less daunting than you expected! A little TLDR: Showing up as your most magnetic self and finding your people is less about forced handshakes at stuffy events and more about showing up where your values already exist.

Networking isn’t about collecting contacts — it’s about building legit 🪄connections 🪄. And the good news? When you lead with intention and curiosity, the right folks tend to find their way to you.

Now go forth, be your Big Deal self, and find your humans — not at the networking mixer with the sad cheese plate, but out in the world where your passions already live.

If you want to take a deeper dive into networking, we dedicate more time to this subject in our Claim Your Career program! Maybe you might wanna come and find Your People with us over here, idk idk 👉 👈

Catch you next time, pals!