11.20.25 | The Ask & Offer Formula: Mastering Networking That Drives Outcomes

Well, hi, everyone. Welcome to the Ask & Offer formula, Mastering Networking that drives Outcomes. I'm so excited you were all able to join us this evening. I'm May Goodjohn, Athena's program manager. I'm responsible for bringing our portfolio of programs to market each year. Before we begin, I just wanted to go over a couple of housekeeping items. First, Judy mentioned this for those who were here, but just if you can please make sure that your name on Zoom states your actual name. That will help us utilize AI as we and as AI sorts you into your breakout rooms later in the session. And then if you can all please plan to be fully present with your video on, settled in one spot, and free from distractions so we can all get the most out of this session together, that would be wonderful. I know we're all human and things happen, but let's just to set that intention as we move into this really impactful program. So with that, I'm going to go ahead and pass the mic to Holly Smithson, Athena's President and CEO. Holly, are you ready to kick us off?

Yes, I am. Thank you, May. And welcome, everybody. There's a topic that I have great fondness for, as you might imagine, running a women's global leadership lab. And it's ironically, one of the things that most people in our membership community dread the most, which is networking, this long-standing traditional activity called networking. I get feedback from our members and our event surveys, and every year they say, Teach us how to do this. Help us get this down bigger, better, and badder, such that we don't actually dread We actually enjoy it, right? Like a nice good bowl of pasta on a rainy night. I'm excited about teeing up this program for a couple of reasons. Number one, we are obviously looking at the ubiquity of AI across everything we do in touch, and the idea of connecting seems like it's even more removed than it's ever been. So number one, there's just a greater sense of urgency to really our game on connecting and networking and bringing that community together in the wake of so much uncertainty and so much division in the world today. So that's number one. Number two, what I love about this is because what Judy is going to do is she's going to showcase what I would submit is one of the differentiating factors around the leadership training that we offer, which is extremely dynamic.

It's very workshop-oriented. It's not sit in front of your laptop, get your sweet, get your hot tea, and buckle up. This is very interactive, and that's why I may ask all of you to really step up the engagement, to be present, to be intentional, because this is exactly how we're going to get you to enjoy and embrace networking. I'm excited about that aspect of tonight's program. Then the other reason that I like this topic, particularly, is the fact that more people, and we have seen this in our trend, in our membership trend. We've seen this trend in our program engagement, and we've seen this within our partnership. There is a, I would call it a paralysis, where people are just frightened with what's happening, which is a normal, which is an absolute normal response, no judgment. But it's times like these when it really calls on us to lean into our community. While we may call it networking, For me, it's really about leveraging and fostering and cultivating our network so that when we... It's great to have this great network, but if you're not nurturing it and fostering it and you need it in times like these, then it's a bigger gap.

We're going to be talking about that gap tonight and how we can close that gap between what we need and how we can best leverage the people that we work with, the customers that we work with, the people that we want to work with, the people in the room that we want to build relationships with. And so tonight's content is going to be super cool because it's going to be predicated on reciprocity. And that is what makes the world go around. I want to help you because I know I have things that can be offered to support you. And I can't wait to see how you might be able to support me because that's the human journey. So it's not that complicated. I think it's just something that we traditionally have resisted because we perceive it as something that might be vulnerable or it might be seen as very uncomfortable when in fact, it is the most empowering opportunity. We're hoping that at the end of tonight's program, you leave understanding the reciprocity, the ask and offer formula, and ways that allow you to put this into action now. Before I hand it over to Judy, I also want to invite everybody because we like things to happen now.

Now, now, now, now, now. We want to invite everybody to upload your LinkedIn so all of you can get connected and make sure that we have that active networking in real-time. With that, I want to hand it over to Judy Sanwise. She is an executive and leadership coach at Blue Spark. As you're about to experience, she is not your average bear, and she is going to take this electricity and light up our next hour together. So with that, Judy, I'm going to hand it over to you.

Thank you, Holly. Thank you, May. I'm so excited to be here. I also want to I introduce my partner in crime, another coach and facilitator, LaChelle Lo, who's going to be supporting us with music and with putting some of the instructions in the chat and helping us break out and come back to the larger group. So, yes, I am a leadership and Mindset Coach. After working in HR at companies like Qualcomm and US Bank, I realized the thing that people need the most is human interaction skills, the things we call soft skills, which are really power skills and the ones that are the most critical for people's ability to get things done, to be successful, and to feel fulfilled in life and at work. So I'm here to help us get more comfortable with asking for what we want and offering what we can give. I was listening to a recent podcast where Brené Brown, who I love, Brené Brown said, We're neurobiologically hardwired to be in connection with other people. And in the absence of connection, there's always suffering. She goes on to say, To me, connection is the ability to be in a relationship where we can both give and receive, where we feel seen, heard, believed, and valued.

And I think that underscores what we want to accomplish here today. We really, truly want to create and experience a sense of safe connection and practice conquering the fears and maybe discomfort and awkwardness around networking. To really create a radical flow of generosity. And I think that the world needs some love right now. Would you agree with me? I know many people feel alone. They feel stuck. They feel like they spend more time on their phone scrolling than talking to a friend on the phone or seeing a family member. And so this is just a foray into helping you have real conversations with people wherever you go. Because what you actually realize that one conversation that can create the spark that you didn't know of a connection that really makes all the difference in your life. May is going to share with us the agenda, and we're going to start with a little grounding after this, and Alishelle is going to help us with that. Then we're going to talk about our purpose. Why did you all show up here today on this soon to be rainy afternoon? Then we're going to clarify our purpose, come back to the bigger group, and then break out again into another small group and practice our asks and gives.

Then we'll come back to the big group, and that's when we're going to do the full group ask and offer. And if you don't know what that means, I'll be explaining it to you as we go. Then we'll have a reflection and insights for the last 20 minutes. And then at 6: 00, we'll have an optional opportunity to continue connections, and we'll have breakout rooms available for you to break out and connect with people that you may have found that you have a match with, where you can either offer something or receive something from them. So that's our agenda for today. And I want to actually let you know that while we're not using AI at the moment, we plan to be using AI to sort our asks and our offers and to be able to find matches. So I want to request your permission. And then we're We're going to at the end of the session, we're going to grab the chat, all the ask and offers, put them into a prompt, find out where there are automatic potential matches, and share your names and information so that we can send this list back out to you, because I know that you're probably going to want to have each other's contact information.

So right now, I really want to ask for your permission that we send that information out. If you're not comfortable with it, if you want to just send a note to May and let her know you're not comfortable sharing your personal email address and information, we'll just omit you from the list. And with that, I'm going to hand it over to Lashelle for some grounding, some nice calm music, potentially in the background.

Do we have some music? Okay. So I know if you guys are like me, that you probably have had a crazy day. I've lost my electricity three times, so I Hope your rain doesn't bring that electrical storm. But for me, it's always nice to take a breath because so often we're in all these meetings and we don't really take care of ourselves. May reminded me right before we got on. She said, Does We're going to have a drink? So I see some of you guys sipping some tea, but I want to actually get back to our breath because it's through our breath that we can actually ground and be able to center ourselves. And so I want you to take the biggest deepest breath in that you have taken today. So I'm going to do it, and it's going to be loud. So just follow along. And hold it for as long as you can. And then when you can't hold it any longer, blow it out through your mouth. Just that can actually help reset your vagus nerve. And if you have a stressful meeting you're going into or you're about to have that conversation with somebody, or maybe you're going into a breakout room and you're a little bit nervous because you haven't done this before.

So I'm going to have you breathe in one more time, big as you can, and then breathe out. And I'm just going to take you through a really, really, really quick thing called the perfect breath. Okay? So I'm going to have you just... It's just basically breathing in and breathing out. And the HeartMouth Institute has done research, and the perfect breath is five and a half seconds. And so if we're breathing at five and a half seconds, we've come into what's called heart coherence. And so we can actually regulate ourselves. Most of us have such shallow breaths. We're not actually resourcing ourselves. We're helping to feed our body with the right amount of oxygen. So I'll just do this really quickly so we can get into the ask offer. So I'm going to have you breathe in, and I'm going to count, okay? So I want you to breathe in. Two, three, four, five. Breathe out, two, three, four, five. Breathe in, two, five, Three, four, and breathe out, two, Two, three, four, five. Breathe in, two, three, four, five. Out, two, three, four, five. Breathe in, two, three, four, five, and breathe out, two, three.

So that was just a minute of breathing. And I just want you guys to do a little check in with yourself. How does that feel? And if you would, go ahead and put that in the chat, how you were feeling. I love that. Relaxed. Sleepy? Yes, sleepy is very, very... It's hard at this time of the day, but sometimes I just need a little refresh. Oh, I love that refreshed. Ready for a nap. Yes, that was me last night. More calm. Awesome. So any time during the day, I just want you to remember this little gift. If you touch in with your breath, you can actually give yourself, calm yourself down, especially when you're stressed out, because I was just reading something today about women are more stressed than men because of the way that our physiology is made. Because we're supposed to be having babies and taking care of them, and that's part of our protection mechanism, is to stay stressed and alert. So anyways, I'm going to turn it back to Judy, and thank you for coming tonight.

Thank you, LaChelle. I know I needed that. Wow, I feel so much more relaxed. So now I can tell you about the paradox of connection. Yes, we live in a paradox. We are more connected than ever. Many of us feel more isolated, though. How is that? We have AI that can draft our perfect messages, schedule our meetings, and We even mimic our voices. But we still struggle with real conversations. Let's be honest, networking can feel awkward at times and uncomfortable, and even sometimes transactional. But what if we reframed it completely and we think of it like this? We're not here to network. Networking is actually what you do. We're here to connect, and connection is a feeling. So we're going to get into that feeling state. The connections that can change our lives don't often happen through an algorithm. They happen in moments like this where we're in community with others. It's about creating the connections that energize rather than drain you and the ones where you walk away thinking, I'm so glad I met that person. I hope that each one of you will walk away from this meeting with that feeling in your head and your heart.

The ask and offer formula isn't just feel good philosophy, though. It's strategic strategic relationship building. And when we can show up with both an ask or something that we need and an offer, something that we can give, we create reciprocal value, which is what Holly was talking about. Ai can optimize our workflows, but it can't build the trust, spark the ideas, or open the doors that come from human connection. So we're really happy that you're here. Now we're going to begin with a A short reflection, and we want to ask you a question and have you take out a pen and a piece of paper, and we're going to let you brainstorm on a piece of paper for about 60 seconds. The following question, why is it important for you to be here today? Why is it important for you to be here today, personally and professionally? Think about why you set time out on your schedule to dedicate this group of people. Why is it important that you are here today?

Okay, looks like we had about a minute there. Now we're going to send you into breakout rooms. Michelle is going provide the instructions in the chat. We're going to send you into groups of three and want you to select one person to begin and share your thoughts about the questions we asked. Why is it important for you to be here today, personally and professionally? And spend about two minutes, and the others will acknowledge what you said, and then pass the baton to the next person. And then-Not too far.

Nice. And so Why did you both come here today?

You want to go first?

Sure. Yeah, I can jump in. One, similar to you, Athena, when it was presented to me, I didn't know what to expect the very first time. And then suddenly I realized when I would start to go to the events or to take part in them, I always came out feeling really energized and really good. And it was a feeling that I really enjoyed. And so for an event like today, even though part of me was like, oh, my gosh, I'm stuck at work. My last meeting ran over. I was already thinking of all the excuses why a call would not be doable right now. I need to get home. I need to beat traffic.

I need to do all these things.

And I was like, you know what? I just need to take this time out for myself. I deserve this time, too. And I deserve to meet people, meet people who make me, who help me feel a little bit better about just me being here and doing things.

Yes.

I love that. Yeah. So that was my definitely a big intention in joining the call today.

Amazing. Stephanie, did I don't know if you have a chance to go. I saw you put yourself on mute, so maybe you had to step away for a second. But I'm assuming she's also in San Diego. I'm assuming everybody is in San Diego or there are members who aren't.

My apologies. I was trying to transition to my computer.

I'm trying to do the same thing. It's not working, so I'm just going with my phone.

But I think you were asking where I was located, right?

Yes.

I'm busy in Rancho, San Diego, next to La Mesa. Okay. I work from home most of the time, but also from a co-working space. I started a consulting firm, so I have some flexibility. I can work wherever I want most the time.

Nice. That's great. Then what made you join Athena?

Well, it's my very first meeting. I went to a joint event between Athena, a woman in bio, and HBA a few months ago. That's how I heard about Atina. I would like to make new friends, meet also potential clients to grow my business. I love networking.

Several years, and had to be back and involved now that I have a little bit more time.

Hello.

I'm just jumping around a little bit, wanted to see how you're all doing. But were you all able to introduce yourselves and chat a little bit? Great.

We lost Tochi, though.

Oh, we lost someone?

Yeah, she was connecting on her phone, and then right after she gave her- She, oh, no. Her two-minute thing, she fell off. And we thought she'd be back, but she's not.

Well, hopefully she can jump back on.

We'll see. She was having some technical issues, but yeah.

It happens. But yeah, I'm excited to be here. And one of the things I wanted to get out of all of this is learn more about all of you and get some insight into our members. Oh, looks like we can head back back into the main room.

Is there another way to go back? I think I just exited that message, or we just get- I'm sure it will close.

It's going to close.

Down at the bottom and bring up the menu bar over to the right. It should say leave room.

Okay. Maybe on the more.

I see it. Yeah.

Okay. See you in a second. Thank you. Thank you.

Welcome back, everyone. Welcome back, everyone. I'm going to ask for one or two voices to be heard. Raise your digital hand if you want to share your experience in that conversation. Who would like to share your experience? We have a brave volunteer. Does everybody know where the digital hand is that you can raise? Diana's laughing. She's saying she doesn't want to share. Okay, Okay, come on. Let's see. Can I- I just can't find the digital hand.

That's what I was saying.

Okay. I was looking for it, so I got it. It's right at the bottom.

It was.

Are you there? Okay. It looks like I'm being spotlit right now. Okay, Diana, would you like to share? What was that experience like for you?

Well, if you're just talking about a general experience, I think it was easier to talk about that Because we all had an assignment, right? Here's your assignment. Share about it. And I think we all were able to establish some common ground and get to know each other a bit better from that common ground of why we're here and what we want to take away from this.

Great. Well, good. Sounds like it was positive. Mm-hmm. Okay, good. Is there anyone else that would like to share your experience? What came to light from the experience?

I'd be happy to share.

Okay, Christine. We'd love to hear.

I think, one, it was just really nice to I guess we did a little bit of networking, because, of course, we were talking and connecting, but to do a little bit of that, but also get to talk about what it's like to network versus just doing it. It's like, oh, dancing is awkward. I'm scared. It was just a nice... Felt like a low-stakes opportunity, Diana. I feel similarly that it was a nice intro. It was really great to hear what others wanted from this and why they came. I sense some similarities around just where some of the discomfort maybe comes in or also wanting a different approach to networking.

There's a lot of content out there around networking, and so this is a different angle. Great. Thank you. Sounds like meta, meta, meta, meta, meta Wonderful. Well, we will bring... If you can take us off spotlight so we're all back together. And we're going to transition into the next part of the agenda today, and that is introducing you to what is asking and offering all about? This experience is a simple, powerful structure that creates value with every connection, because asking for help is not always easy, and that's where we often let our fears get the best of us. But here's the thing, asking for help isn't with weakness, it's really courage. And offering what you have isn't bragging, it's generosity. So when we can be clear about both, we can create the conditions that allow for real reciprocity. Because who wants to go up and say, I'm an expert in such and such, and here's what I can give you? So it doesn't have to be like that. It can be like, is there anything that you need? Let's talk about what's important to you in your life. So we're going to make it more comfortable for you to have those conversations.

We're going to practice. Research actually shows that people who are specific about their asks are three times more likely to receive help. And people who clearly articulate the offers that they have, what they can support others with, are perceived as more confident and credible, not braggadocious. But here's the key. Most people struggle with both, and we're either too vague or we're too afraid to ask at all. So my general advice as we go forward is to be brave with your ask and to be generous with your offer, because it could just be one conversation away from what you actually really are needing right now in your life. So at this point, I am going to share three simple guidelines just to make this experience as valuable as possible. The first is that participation is encouraged, but it's never required. So if you ever feel uncomfortable or don't feel like opening up and sharing, it's not a requirement. So if you're not feeling it, that's okay. The second is that we We ask that you give with no strings attached. So that is, treat each other as peers, not prospects. There's no fees, discounts, or incentives.

We're really here with no strings attached to support each other. And finally, we just ask that you speak one voice at a time. And this makes more sense when you're doing this a thing in a room together, live, not in a virtual the Zoom room, but just to ask that we listen to each other fully and have one voice at a time. So now we're going to actually begin to take our pens out once again and identify 2-3 asks and 2-3 offers. And you're going to be articulating them in small breakout groups once again. So we ask, though, that you be very explicit in your request. And the more explicit you are, the higher the likelihood you'll get someone to respond to support you. So for instance, rather than saying, I need help with my job search, you might say, I am a data analytics expert who's looking for a mid-level role in such and such company. Does anybody have a contact there? Or whatever it might be. But to be as specific as you can be, I'm also going to do one thing now, and that is to introduce categories. So when we have categories, it really helps us together here group what our requests are, what our asks and what our offers are.

And the categories, the first, and L'Achelle's put them in the chat, the first is the introduction and skillset category. So it's connecting with the right people. It could be that you're looking for an introduction to engineering leaders at Qualcomm or at another company. That's the introduction and skillset category. The second is knowledge, resources, and expertise. So for instance, if you're trying to write a book, you might want somebody that can help you, figure to figure out what the process is for writing a book. Or if you need somebody who's good at writing proposals or grants, this is the category it could fit in. The next category is recruiting and hiring. That's pretty straightforward. You may be You may be hiring for a role or you may be looking for a role. The next category is professional support and collaboration. So that's where you might need some guidance on challenges, or you face some opportunities, or have some strategic decisions to make it work or even a collaboration. It might be that you are looking for somebody who has experience getting onto boards. I know that's one thing that we're all encouraged that we try to do is get onto a board.

So that would fit into this type of category. And finally, there's the catch all other category. Those are the five categories. It's less important that you fit it exactly into the category because some could be overlapping. And more important right now Now, as we give you a couple of minutes to reflect and write once again, is to really take out a pen and paper once again and Starting with asks, what your asks are, what is it that you need? Write down maybe two, three or four asks that you have. What are some things that you need? And Michelle is going to put some music on, and we're going to give you about 60 to 90 seconds to write down two or three things that you need and try to make those requests as succinct and clear as possible. And when you have two or three, I'm going to ask you to put your favorite emoji into the chat so that we know that you have completed, you have brainstormed the two or three asks that you have.

Okay, we've When you've got a few emojis in the chat, when you've got two or three of your asks written down, put your favorite emoji in the chat. We've got a burrito, a dancing lady, and somebody who's celebrating. I love these emojis. I'm getting hungry. The burrito.

This was harder than coming up with an ask or give.

What coming up with the right emoji? Yeah.

There's so many cool emojis. I was waiting for the dancing Penguin, but I couldn't find it.

Oh, great. Okay. So it looks like everybody's just about there. Yeah. Is that... Lachelle, does it look like everyone's about... Oh, we got the bright double eyes. This is great. Okay, well, we're now going to move on to gives or offers, and we're going to give you another 60 to 90 seconds or more for you to write two, three, or four things that you can offer. What do you have? What's a superpower, skill, or something unique, or something not unique, something that's just valuable, that's helpful? Write down two or three of those, and when you have completed that exercise, again, another emoji.

Oh, my God. These are cute. There's a dinosaur. I didn't even know there was a dinosaur. That's adorable.

You always know where the dinosaurs are if you raise boys.

That's great. Great. I didn't even know that one existed. Wow. Are we about ready? We've got four. Let's see. Give you another bit of time. Blueberries.

Okay.

It's like we're getting there. Okay, so now what we're going to do... Yes, this is the process. Now what we're going to do is we're going to look at our list of asks and gives, and we're going to pick one ask and one give, and we are going to make them as succinct and clear and understandable as possible and make it fit into the size of a note, a post-it note. This is so that We know that it's so succinct that it's clear and it doesn't have any extra explanations around it. So if you can circle one ask and one give and then hone in on those, making them as clear, concise, and brief with enough flavor to help others understand what it is that you need or can offer. We'll give you about a minute to do that.

Great. I did not know there was a troll emoji. That's great. It's not as easy as it sounds to make your your statement concise and able to fit on a post-it note. Okay, so when you're done, put an emoji, your favorite emoji in the chat. It looks like we got a handful of you. Oh, a squirrel. Okay, so now that we have that, we are going to do what we love to do, and that is send you out to breakout rooms once again. And this is going to be your opportunity to actually articulate one ask and one give with a small group. And it's interesting that people find it interesting. Actually, speaking it is different than writing it. So what we're going to do is the breakout room instructions have been put in the chat. Thank you, Lashal. You're going to select the first person to go, and you're going to briefly and concisely share one ask and one offer. I use the word offer and give interchangeably because it's really the same thing. So just so you know, if you're wondering. So you're going to offer one ask Share one ask or one offer, then pass the baton to the next person, and they can do one ask or one offer, and then pass the baton to the next.

And then if you want to go around and do another round, And even another round. If you want to take a break, we're going to leave it to you. But if you want to then take some space and have a conversation and maybe see if you actually already have a match between you where you can actually support somebody's ask there in the room. You take the time in this eight minutes to do that as well. So is everybody clear on what you're going to do next? So we're putting you into breakout rooms for the next eight minutes. Everybody okay with that? Okay, well, we will send you out and we'll see you in eight minutes. Have fun.

Yeah. Okay, so I know we have to talk about what we want or ask. And so what I actually was looking for was the ability to connect with companies that are looking for talented free intern labor. And so if your company is in the process of looking for a project, doesn't necessarily have the budget or capacity for a full-time hire. My company can offer free of charge a project with a team of five students. They can be undergraduates or graduate students from across the nation to support you in a six to eight week virtual practicum.

That's so cool.

Yes.

Can you remind me your company name? I missed that.

Sure. It's called Goal Beyond. Okay. Yeah. Goal Beyond, we're a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that focuses specifically on the intersection between AI, higher education, and workforce development. So basically building the talent pipeline of the future, but from a grassroots community-based approach.

Nice.

So we work with a lot of universities. We're now starting to build more and more tech partnerships with AI companies and basically helping with everything from curriculum design and faculty upskilling to then placement in jobs, micro-internhips, credentialing, et cetera.

Are these educational institutions across the United States or is it more of a focus? Yes.

Okay. Across the United States. Actually, we're We're working on a project right now with California State University, which is obviously one of the biggest higher education institutions in the country. I would almost argue to say they have about 500,000 students per year that go through their programming. And we're working specifically with the biotech arm. So all 22 campuses across the state of California have come together to form a consortium that specifically focuses on helping students and faculty in the life sciences industry to really stay at the cutting edge of research and also be able to support California's innovation economy. So what I'm trying to do is basically start working with a lot of the member companies that work with Biocom. I'm pretty sure you guys are familiar with Biocom. So they're one of our partners in terms of reaching back to employers to then start finding out ways in which we can help different students along their journey, whether they're matriculating from a postgraduate degree or they're maybe five years into their career and they're looking to pivot. We're making sure that they're getting all the upskilling and wrap-around services to be competitive in the market.

So that's the ask is if you, as a company, are looking for really talented people who just want exposure, or maybe to do so in a way that's low touch, that gives them a sense of whether or not this is a career path they want to pursue, we're launching our next cohort in January of 2026.

Cool.

That's great. That's awesome.

Sorry, I took up a lot of time. I'm going to make sure that I pass the baton, so I'll pass the baton to Samita.

Sure. We can do ask or offer, right? Yeah. Okay. I'll do an offer. I feel like the things I could think of... I was trying to think of things that actually I wasn't making things up, but they're not all I guess, relevant to this group of people, but I was just doing the exercise. But I'm just going to say it. I guess the offer that I have, and it's something that I've done before and I do enjoy doing, is offering advice to UCSC students navigating life as a biomejor. I've done some of those peer mentorship I've also done these kinds of little events where you're invited to speak and stuff. I've done little informational interviews where people reach out and they're like, Hey, tell me more about yourself and how I can learn and stuff. I enjoy giving back in that in vain. So I guess that's a continued offer.

That's great.

Awesome.

I said UCSC, specifically, only because I went there. It doesn't have to be UCSC.

I was I'm being specific in what I know. And then Jackie?

Sorry, I just wrote a bunch of things, but it's over the place. Also, I'm genuinely curious about the Go Beyond program because I got distracted by it. I had so many questions about it, too. Yeah, no worries.

Yeah, I wish I knew it because I applied to a bunch of internship myself.

The accounting firm Pricewater Housekeepers or PwC. Oh, okay. Yeah, actually, J&J is an auditor. They are.

They actually have an office across the street from J&J in New Brunswick. I've seen it. They have a little permanent office there.

It's like the I'm watching you office. Probably just the service J&J. Yeah.

It's literally watching the headquarters. That's funny.

Hi, Mae.

We found a few connections or a few matches, I think.

Oh, that's really cool. Did you all already share an ask or an offer? Yeah. Oh, great. Great to hear that you found some connections. I was just thinking on mine. I'm just hopping in and out because I'd love to get to know you all better and what you have to offer and what you need. But I would say for me, I'm new to the job as a program manager. So I would love to hear from people, and I think I could get this from most everyone in our membership, but things they've done or seen people do in their first six months on a job to build credibility, how to stand out, and then going along with that, just tools that I could use as far as AI to propel myself forward as well. So that was my ask. And not saying any of you need to do that, but that's what I was putting out there. And I think it's good for me to be able to practice articulating that in moving forward in all of these events where I'm able to meet so many people.

It's definitely a good ask. And I think it's also important to capture a bit of that freshness in a new role, right? Because if you're in a role for a long period of time, you maybe don't get to see things the same way because you've always done it that way. So that's the way we do it here. And so I think that's really helpful to be able to capture some of that freshness and look at it with new eyes.

Yeah.

That's a great point. I'll try to remember that when I'm feeling, I'm like, Oh, I have a new, a fresh set of eyes. I have something to offer.

I love that. That's right.

And I think just being new your role, too.

You're in a great position to just ask people what they want.

Like, Hey, what do you like about this?

Is there anything we can do differently?

Or maybe it's looking at surveys or whatever. Sometimes it's You almost have the ability to do that because you're new.

Yeah, that's so true.

It can feel very natural. But the AI is an interesting one. One that our company is definitely pushing a lot is for us to figure out how to bring that AI in.

Yeah, that's cool. Yeah. It's interesting. It's an interesting time.

Yes.

All right. I think we're going to get back.

Welcome back. Hello.

Hello.

Okay, welcome back. You know what my question is. Any voices, anybody want to share whether you had a good experience with that, or whether you learned something new, or whether maybe you had a match already there. Anybody want to share? Okay, Tochi. Am I pronouncing your name right?

Yes, you pronounced it perfectly, Judy. Thank you. I'm actually happy this happened because I had gotten taken out of a room previously with some rate. And so I wanted to reconnect with her. So I'm so glad we got a chance to see each other this round. But no, it was just great to hear from their perspective what their offers and offers were, both her and Jackie. Also, I was able to make an ask, which is an offer at the same time. I had a two in mind. And just the fact that what we're doing in my company is offering accordion style talent support for free. So these are life sciences students, and students of all all different kinds of technical backgrounds that are looking to get their first company exposure. And so all of you who might be looking for interns, don't have to pay for them and don't have to manage them. I'm your lady. So feel free to find me on LinkedIn and we can talk.

Wow, that's incredible. That's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. I'm so glad you were put back in the room with her, so you got to have that exchange. Wonderful. Well, I would ask for more voices, but we are running short on time, and we're going to move to the main event now. The main event is... Well, it's all the main event, but this is where we're going to share as a large full one group. We're going to go around and share an ask and an offer, but we're going to start with asks across all categories. So I want to remind you that you're all invited and encouraged, but not obligated to participate, and that the gives are no strings attached and no expectation of anything in return, and we are treating each other as peers and not as prospects. So what we're going to do, I think Lashel put the instructions in the chat once again. So you're going to share your name, share that it's an ask. We're starting with asks across all categories. Then you're going to share the category and then share the ask itself. Then once you We've verbally done that.

We want you to drop all of that into the chat itself. Because after this, at the end of this, we're going to take all of your ask and all of your offers and then send them back out to you once we do our AI matching and such. So who wants to go first with your ask? If you want to raise your digital hand, we will start with the first ask. Ask. And we'll try to move it at a quick pace so there's energy. And you're saying your post-it-sized ask in the format that we've shared. Who would like to go first?

I'm happy to go first, but I don't know how to raise my hand in Zoom.

No problem.

We're a team shop in my company.

Oh, okay, great. No problem.

But hi, everyone. I'm Cara Bortone, and I'm a biochemist by training, and I've spent the last 25 years working in the biotech world in business development. And my ask is that I'd like to in my next life, my next career, maybe when I'm looking to retire from this role to go into clean energy. I'd really like to meet people in the clean energy space where I can apply some of that biotech and business development experience in that new space.

Beautiful. Thank Thank you. What category is that? Would you say that- I thought introduction maybe, or if anybody knows anything or anyone. Wonderful. If you want to drop all of that into the chat, that would be great. Thank you. Is it Cara or Cara?

I say Cara.

Yeah. Okay, Cara. Nice to meet you, Cara. Who would like to go next? If you want to raise your hand either visually or digitally. Don't be shy. Who has an ask they'd like to offer up or share? Okay. Hey, Elizabeth.

I'll go ahead and jump in. Be careful. I'm full of responding to Kara really quick. I am a few years away from retirement, not that many, and I want to spend my retired years doing a board membership, but not volunteer board membership, more paid board membership. I've had about six different boards that I've been on, gosh, I think about 10 years with a board service now. I'm on the Athena board as well as a committee member at this point. But that's something I want to do in my retirement. And of course, Holly was the first person everybody recommended, but I would definitely want to experience a paid board membership in my retirement years. If anyone has any one that they could connect me to, that would be Fantastic.

Thank you so much, Elizabeth. That's wonderful. Beautiful. Thank you. If you want to drop that in the chat, we can capture it there. Thank you. Who would like to go next with your ask? Okay, Stephanie.

Hi.

Hello.

So my ask would be to be introduced to quality assurance leaders and decision makers in the life science industry.

Wonderful. Great. That was simple and succinct. Beautiful. Thank you so much. If you can drop that in the chat, that'll be great.

I will thank you.

Thank you, Stephanie. Who's next? I can't see. Okay. Who would like to go next? Okay, Christine.

Hi, I'm Christine. And my ask is in the category of introductions. I'm looking for introductions to people and organizations that might be interested in my 90 Minute Self Doubt to Self Growth Conquering Imposter Syndrome experiential keynote.

Great. Wonderful. Thank you, Christine. If you can If you could drop that in the chat, it would be fantastic. Thank you. Who'd like to go next? Don't be shy. Oh, wow. Gosh. No other asks here? No other asks. Okay. Well, should I... Michelle, what's your thought here?

I can do an ask.

Oh, May. Wonderful.

I already discussed this with a few of you, but my ask would be, so as some of you already know, I'm new to my role as program manager. So just if you could make any introductions or you yourself could chat with me about things that you've seen or that you've done in your first six months of maybe previously being a manager or just at a new job that have allowed you to create credibility with your other employees or with other people, or any suggestions on things to push me forward as I enter this new position. So that would be my ask.

That's beautiful. Thank you, May. I have an idea, so I'd love to connect with you offline.

Thank you. Great.

Great. Thank you. Who would like to go next? This is your opportunity to articulate your ask. If you've already gone and you wanted to provide another ask, this is the space for it. It's an open forum for you to share.

I have another ask.

Okay, let's hear it, Christine.

I'm going to double down on asks since we're being vulnerable. I don't know the category. Probably skills. So looking for recommendations for a project management training for someone who's not a project manager.

Okay.

Anybody's taking that thing.

Thank you. Project manager training for someone who's not a project manager. And if you could put that into the chat, that would be great. Do we have anyone else that wants to share your ask? Elizabeth?

I'd like Christine to elaborate on that just a little more. That's a really broad, just a bit more meat to your ask.

I think you're on mute.

I'm not. Oh, there she is.

I'm stuck on what else to add.

A lot of times we get asked to do project management work, but that's not the totality of our role. So if you were going, have you in a training or maybe had someone on your team that's gone through a project management training where it is a secondary or tertiary role that you hold within your larger role? So I'm just looking for, is there an online course, maybe a synchronous course, something like that that might be recommended. And is it for you or for- No. Someone in my network is looking for that, and I'd love to be able to share I am a project manager. I hold a PMP, so I'm thinking- Me too. I'm stuck on that easy, that more beginner part.

Wonderful. If you wanted to stay at the end and have further conversation- Sorry. No, not at all. This is great. It's great that you have this opportunity to find a match and chat about it. Thank you. Is there anyone else that has an ask? This is the opportunity. If you don't feel comfortable saying it, you can drop it in the chat as well. And if there's no more ask, we're going to move along to give. So now this is your opportunity to share generously what you can offer and who would like to start first If you want to share your give. If you want to raise your hand visually or using the raise hand button. Anyone want to share your give? Okay, Elizabeth.

I feel like I'm already talking too much.

No, not at all. This is wonderful.

For some of our younger members here tonight, I have spent the last several years mentoring through both formal mentor relationships and informal mentor relationships. So for professional development. So mentoring is absolutely something I love to give and receive in both cases.

That's a generous offer. Thank you. Thank you, Elizabeth. That's really beautiful of you to offer that. Thank you. Who else has a give you'd like to ask, you'd like to offer? Okay, Stephanie.

It works better with my real hand. So I would be happy to help anyone who is willing to brainstorm with me. I like to be creative. If I can find ideas for you to progress in your careers or connect you to the right people, I would be happy to help. I started a consulting firm specialized in quality eight years ago, and we might open some positions next year in business development and marketing. Marketing, probably more of an intern position, but also if you know anyone who would be interested in joining us, don't hesitate.

That's beautiful. Thank you, Stephanie, for offering that. Congratulations on opening your own consulting firm. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you. If you can drop that into the chat. Thank you. Who would like to go next? Who would like to be generous with others here? I can offer.

I used to be the head of J-Labs here in San Diego, and through that time, I guess 10-year period, I'm a little more globally focused now, but in that time, I really met a lot of entrepreneurs and also venture capitalists and just that whole startup ecosystem. So happy to connect on anything related to that.

Oh, wow. That's wonderful. That's a big role. So you have a lot A lot of experience that somebody can tap into. Thank you. If you want to drop that in the chat, we would love that. Thank you. Who else has an offer you would like to share here? Anyone else? An offer. Okay, Christine. Wonderful.

My offer is 30 minutes to spend either resume review, mock interviewing, getting your story if you're in job transitions. There's a lot of times I find that can be helpful to think about story. I've done my own career transition. Anything in that space that if you're looking for 30 minutes of no sales, just support and fun, I love that.

Beautiful. Wow, that's valuable. Thank you, Christine. That's a great offer like May just wrote. If you want to drop that in. You're going to get a lot of people tapping on your door. Good.

That's what I love to do.

Wonderful. Thank you. Any other offers that you'd like to share? Anything else before we No, it looks like that... No, there are offers. Before, going once? I feel like I'm at an auction. Going once, going twice. Any other offers you'd like to share? No. Okay. Okay. Well, let me ask you, how many of you have identified at least one ask that you can support? Here. Is there an ask that you can support? Okay, great. I see some nodding heads. By a show of hands, how many of you identified an offer that you're excited to explore? Okay, great. Wonderful. Great. Who has learned something new about someone in in the room here? I think everyone has. Everyone. Well, great. So I see hearts. I see thumbs up. Wonderful. Well, so we have just a few more minutes at At this point, we're going to actually... We have one more breakout, and we'd like you to complete a survey while the experience is still fresh. So Lashelle dropped the survey into the chat, and we are going I want to actually now send you to a breakout. And the question that we're going to have you share with each other is, what is your biggest takeaway from today?

And when the next opportunity arises, how do you want to show show up. So what is your biggest takeaway from today? And when the next opportunity arises, how do you want to show up? This is the last breakout session that we have, and we're going to put those questions in the chat, and we're going to send you to a breakout room for just a few minutes and have you share your experience and how you want to take this and show up at your next networking event. And we'll just put you in maybe for five or six minutes. So here we go. You'll see a room pop up, and I I'm going to ask you to join the breakout room. I know we've got about 11 minutes.

Wait, did they not...

Oh, She was having a hard time getting out, I guess.

You're on mute, May.

On mute, May. I actually think that the way that the link I picked up, it actually probably broke that. Can you give the link again?

Oh, for the survey?

Yeah.

I think I've clicked on it from what you put in there and it worked.

Okay, good. I was like, oh, I checked it. Something happened to it.

No, I think you're good. I clicked it.

So I've never seen that happen where it was just- I have. You have?

I have. And I've been that person, too, because some of the people I could just tell. So it's okay. It's not you, it's their choice.

Yeah, it's their choice.

And you gave them permission. Right. That actually also shows, too, that why do we network? The whole point of coming to network is to actually get connections and to to move forward. So some people, I think they just need to feel comfortable. Hopefully, they dropped them in the chat, but there was a couple I saw, and I never saw anything in the chat or anywhere.

When I was When I was joining the different breakout rooms, I thought it was going well. I think people are connecting in the smaller groups. Maybe the bigger group is more intimidating. Maybe that's part of it. But it seems like everyone was doing well in the breakout rooms with I'm talking about their asks and offers.

And one of the things I was taking notes because I know one person dropped after the first when you asked. And this is normal because some people just aren't used to sharing. So I That was one of the reasons why I wasn't... I was like, trying to do something to take notes so you could know. And then another person dropped out between round two and round three. Everybody was there, but I think when we moved to give, they must have dropped out because all of a sudden... Because I had all the rooms ready and they were gone.

So maybe they just aren't feeling the...

It's them. It's their own stuff. Do not take it personally. It's their choice.

Also, I'll let you know that Kirstie Dorothy said from the beginning, she told me she could only stay for 30 minutes.

Okay. So that one- She's the one that left.

Yeah. And she's great.

That's awesome.

But she had something at 5: 00.

Well, I would love to do a debrief with you both at another time and see how we could... Because I think the process is good. Maybe we shift some things, tweak some things.

Yeah.

Well, and I think, too, for one of the organizations I'm in, we actually do it every either quarter or every three or four months just because there's new members. And it's actually a great way to actually hear what other people's skills are. And Yeah. So that's just something to...

Yeah. When they come back, or should we put it in the chat? If you're done talking, take the survey. Are we leading time?

Yeah.

Yeah, I probably would do that.

I can write that in there. If you're done chatting, please take a minute I need to take the survey.

Oh, yeah.

Great.

So in case they're like, That'll be really interesting.

They might really not have enjoyed this. That's interesting.

Go there.

I know. No, it's okay. It's an experience, right?

I think they did. And you'll know from the surveys.

It's interesting.

And that's actually probably what I would have done differently is I would have actually given them three or four minutes to do the survey and then go into the breakout room. Okay. Yeah. I didn't realize that. I guess I didn't see that or didn't notice that. Just because then if you give them a little tiny bit of time? And I know we're up against the top of the hour.

We're up against the... It's a lot of breakouts for people that are uncomfortable, don't love meeting. There's the initial one, then there's the practice, and now there's the debrief. And then it's like, wow, there's a lot of... For somebody that's not comfortable being with new people in opening up.

And the whole purpose was for networking, though.

Yeah. So it's part of it, pushing yourself.

It's part of it. It's networking in a different way because every single person was with every other person because it was such a small group.

Great. Thank you, LaChelle. That was awesome.

I also think it's nice, as they were mentioning in the beginning, it's teed up a little bit. They have questions that they're supposed to be talking about, so it should be a little bit easier than just going in blind like, What am I supposed to say?

It's really a reminder to me that you can't push people, but you can remind them that discomfort is normal. What you're feeling is normal, and it's okay. And it's challenging yourself enough that you're getting a little bit uncomfortable, but not too much that you just want to run for the hills or throw up.

That's a fine line. Yeah.

Because there are times where I'm like, I know I should go to that thing, but I don't want to.

And I actually think that today, the way that the response was, that it actually is going to give you feedback. So in the future, you won't feel like that, and you'll know that, and you can actually feed that into the enrollment so that you may feel like you're not. But the whole purpose of you being here is to ask and give so that you can be seen.

Well, and normalize what you're feeling and do it anyway.

Exactly.

Just challenge you, right? O what the F, go for it Okay. That was a phrase that I learned in a training. Oh, what the F, just go for it anyway. Go for it.

That's so cool. I'm going to shut these down and bring them back. It's not letting me move it over. There it is. Okay, they're coming back.

The few who are left, the few, the proud, the strong. Here we are. Are they coming back? Oh, it's winding down. They have a 30-second close?

Yeah, they have 30-second close.

May, you've been great.

Oh, thanks. You've been great. You both have been great. I could not have done it without you.

Welcome back. Look at the smiles. Well, we had a fun conversation. We were just acknowledging Anealaging that it takes a lot of courage to do this, to show up today, and to open up to people that you don't know. So I give you a big round of applause for that, because it takes courage, and that's what you're doing. You're working that muscle, that discomfort is normal to feel, and you're pushing through it. Great. Who wants to share what you're going to take away and what you learned today? Anyone would anyone like to share?

Maybe I could a little bit share from our group because I think we all have a little bit of the same feeling is that this is a really interesting approach to think ahead of what you can ask and offer. But the way we did it here is obviously very well laid out in terms of, do this, do that. We know what we're doing. And we were trying to think of how it wouldn't come across as awkward in a real world setting. So any thoughts or tips from you on how do you broach that? And how do you say, I'm Karen. I can offer you this. Because I would think the best way to do would come at it as I can offer you this. But when I think about it in my head, it sounds like you're really bragging, right? So I don't know.

This is the real conversation. How do you do it? And I think one way is acknowledging, oh, networking. I'm glad I showed up. I don't know. It's not always comfortable for me. But how do you feel about networking? And then just normalizing that it can be that way and say, Well, what's going on for you in your life? What are some of the things that you're looking for? And just diving into that and seeing what the needs are of the other person. And then maybe there is a way you can offer and it not feel like you're bragging, but we're really supporting them, supporting the other person. And then oftentimes that feeling of reciprocity, they'll come back and say, well, is there any way I can support you? And that's where you can then say, well, actually, yeah, I am looking for X, Y, Z. Lashelle, what about you? Anyone else want to share your thoughts on that? How you can approach that?

I love that, what you just shared. For me, I have a coach that I pay, and he coaches some very wealthy people. And one of the things that he says is, I never go into anything without first giving. And so he writes down. He'll actually go do research on people he's having meetings with, and he'll find out, who are they working with? What projects they have up coming up? And he'll always offer to give help. And then he will ask. And so it always feels... And then it's more genuine because a lot of the time when you're asking for something or you need some help, you don't want to just be like, oh, that's that person that always is asking for stuff. And it's interesting because in my life, I'm always the giver, and there's some stuff that I could really use, and it's really hard for me to ask. And so I've actually been flexing that ask muscle to actually ask for help. And it can be uncomfortable, but it's also, who can I give to that what they have is something I need. And I think it's all about, I think it was Holly said this, it's all a cycle that we're always giving and receiving We're always asking and offering.

And it really stinks if people are always just like, take, take, take, take, Does anyone else have something?

I know we're coming against the 6: 00 hours. Anything else you want to share from today?

I think we should change our mindset and think that people are actually happy to give, I think. When I help someone, I feel happy to do something good. I think as well, people, when they go to a networking event, they all have the same goal. They just want to network. We don't We were talking about that. Even if we interrupt them, maybe a little bit in their discussion, that's why they are there, to meet with people.

Yeah, that's great. I love that. It's to shift the mindset. Absolutely. Any other voices to share your experience or something you talked about? Well, it has been a full hour and a half. We are going to remind you again, if you don't mind filling out the survey, we would love to get your feedback. We would consider offering this again because we do think it's a great opportunity for our members who are so bright and diverse and all different levels in their careers. We want to offer the opportunity for people to network. I know I've gone to this last two summer socials, and it's.