The Ripple effect of Networking
Hello, my name is Kerryn Powell. If we are yet to meet, I am so glad you found me and am reading this piece I’ve written to help you better understand the ripple effect of networking. I’m feeling quite sentimental as I write because a major milestone has just happened in my family. My first grandson has recently joined us and our hearts are filled with love for this new little person who has entered our lives.
As I have been reflecting on this new chapter in my life, I have been considering what brings me joy. At YTM we provide forums and programs to help you have deeper professional conversations, develop your networking skills while also giving you access to business insights and strategies to build a bigger and better business. When my grandson can talk and asks me ‘What do you do?’ I will say I connect people and help them find the solutions they need to achieve what matters to them. This is at the heart of why I do what I do at YTM, and brings me great joy.
I believe that relationships we form throughout our life are the key to our success. There is no doubt that networking enriches our lives personally and professionally. I believe that through networking we learn so much that we could not possible achieve or learn alone. Through the connections we create at YTM and insights we provide, we have been able to create so many opportunities for others.
Leigh Powell, one of YTM’s Business Strategists & Mentors, and I have been long time supporters of Fitted for Work. If you are yet to meet Leigh at one of our events, he is a business mentor. Leigh believes you don’t need to be told what to do, you need someone who will listen to you respectfully, ask pertinent questions that help to explore the details and implications of your strategy and challenge so that you can identify and strengthen potential weaknesses in their business.
Our support for Fitted for Work is one of my favourite examples of the ripple effect of networking and the opportunities we want to create for others. If you are not familiar with Fitted For Work, this is a not for profit organisation that helps women experiencing disadvantage get into work and keep it.
Their CEO, Donna de Zwart, has spoken at our events and we’ve encouraged some of her clients to be part of the networking conversations at these events to help them boost their confidence and continue to learn, grow and achieve.
Fitted for Work offer employment services which help women build their skills and develop their confidence in order to achieve meaningful work, as well as leadership and advocacy so that their clients and thousands of women like them have a voice. They use their knowledge and experience to inform and change government policy and strive to inform perceptions around how women come to be faced with adverse conditions and the impact it has on them, their family and the wider community.
We are proud to help build awareness of many fine organisations and the work they do for others and we are inspired by the persistance, resilience and efforts to make a difference. Other examples of the ripple effect of networking I have made with people who’ve attended YTM events and I have met through the development of my business include Rowville Community Kitchen , The Mother’s Day Classic, Urban Lifesavers , Connors Run and START foundation.
START Foundation has been created to assist Amputees to achieve their sporting dreams. It was established in 2013 through the inspirational story of Kerryn Harvey, who contracted a life threatening flesh eating bacteria as a result of a seemingly minor cycling accident. Radical surgery was required and a right forequarter amputation (arm and shoulder) was performed. Through the generous support of their sponsors, donors and volunteers, START Foundation provides grants for a new limb, limb modification or equipment modification, to enable Amputees to participate in sport.
It was through a co-working event that YTM ran, that we first became aware of the START Foundation which later enabled us to introduce our YTM Brighton community to the Foundation as they heard the story of Kerryn Harvey through the eyes of her sister in law Michelle Jellef, who is the organisation’s Founding Director.
Michelle spoke earlier this year at one of our events in Brighton. Her experience and the story of Kerryn and both inspiring and sobering. It gives me great satisfaction to provide a forum that helps raise the profile of START Foundation. I am very proud to have helped Michelle connect, strengthen relationships and encourage others to get behind this cause.
It is the ripple effect of networking and having meaningful and deeper conversations that create opportunities for ourselves and others. Networking is bigger than ourselves.
Hi, I am Kerryn Powell, and I help people connect by creating opportunities to have meaningful conversations, learn and grow to achieve greater business success. If you’ve attended one of my Your Time Matters events, you will know that we value our strategic partnerships and collaborations. Please join us at an event soon. Find out more here.
