How to network with confidence for mom founders….. ever been disappointed in yourself that you missed an opportunity to talk to someone you admire or to put yourself out there and introduce yourself to a major investor or prospective client?  If you said yes, then this is the episode for you! Come this fall, are you going to be ready to do this with confidence, or are you at risk of disappointing yourself because you didn’t feel ready or didn’t do everything you could when you had the opportunity? If you do not want to feel in-ept as a former client told me, she originally felt then this is the episode for you!

I had cold feet myself when I first saw Shelly Lazarus and Beth Comstock however… I knew what to do once I was in front of GaryVee. I rehearsed my stories, questions, and asked. There was prework, follow-through, and strategy. No PR team, no big following, no former c-suite position. I knew how to work with my impostor syndrome. 

What was different? What did I do that produced different results in me? How did I build my own confidence to have the guts to perform when the time came? How do you get your podcast guests? This is the number one question I’m asked by podcasters who know how hard it is to land a guest like GaryVee, much less as your tenth guest! The second question I get often came most recently from a client in the fitness industry who asked: how did you have the confidence to interview GaryVee? My answer to both is my three-step method.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Importance of shifting from transactional to genuine connections.
• How genuine connections lead to more meaningful and lasting relationships.
• Understanding your goals and the value you bring to the table.
• Building relationships based on genuine interest and mutual benefit.
• Research and rehearsal to build confidence.

My Imagination to Impact to Income Method ™ gives me a reliable process to identify who to talk to, where to find them, and what to do once we connect.  It helped my client like yourself go from feeling intimidated to talking to people like GaryVee, Beth Comstock, Suzy Batiz, Zibby Owens to saying hi to them and pitching your ideas without hesitation. The method is your step-by-step solution to networking anxiety. When you join now as a member of the five mom founders this summer I will be offering an exclusive one-on-one session role-playing their biggest encounter! I’ll look for their elevator pitch, see if their stories would resonate with their contact, and even help them with their delivery!  You want to look confident around confident people. 

This unexpected approach to networking will change your life just like it has for this doting parent in North Carolina 

“At the core of it, for me, it was about re-building and projecting confidence. I doubted myself. This program was critical to re-build my confidence and realize that I was not doing the right things to stand out. With this confidence, rejection has not been an issue, and now I am looking at opportunities without any hesitation.  Melissa knows how to motivate people to make those things happen. I will continue building my brand and networking.  This new habit will allow me to continue growing and reaching my potential.” -J. Hernandez, Artificial Intelligence at Sales Factory 

Inside of Fertile Imagination to Networking Success you get access to: 

• 9 weeks of live networking coaching and community 
• Value-packed on demand curriculum on everything from navigating impostor syndrome to who to network with, how to find them, what to say, and on planning your fall and winter 2024 networking calendar focused on your business growth goal. 
• 3 hours/ weekly investment this summer (2 whenever or wherever you wish) to hit the ground running in the fall and feel ahead for a change 
• Lifetime access to tools and resources built for mom founders including meditations and unexpected ways to let go of mom guilt and overwhelm 
• Exclusive opportunity for the first five mom founder participants including a multimedia podcast guest feature, two private bonus sessions, and a 30% discounted investment Special extras: Daily Wins Workbook, Impostor Syndrome Journaling, and Networking Email Templates and More! 

I’m also offering an exclusive bonus for the first five mom founders only which is a guide on how to boost your productivity as a solopreneur and/or delegate or farm out things in your business so you can easily fit this into your summer calendar. 

Click HERE to schedule a 30-minute call with me to learn more about Fertile Imagination to Networking Success for Mom Founders and jump in on this exclusive summer offer for the first five mom founders. Join this cohort now and get your productivity bonus and your free role-playing private session when you are in. Class starts very soon and will be capped this summer to only 5 mom founders.

About Melissa Llarena

I’m a bestselling author (learn more on www.fertileideas.com), imagination coach behind the Fertile Imagination to Networking Success Group Coaching Program, consultant, speaker, contributor to ForbesWomen articles that have garnered 4 million-plus views, and the podcast host of the Mom Founder Imagination Hub. Featured guests include GaryVee, Beth Comstock, Suzy Batiz, David Meltzer, and hundreds of other unconventional thinkers. Melissa has been featured in the WSJ, Business Insider, Fox Business, CNN Money, The Huffington Post, and other publications. She holds a psychology degree from NYU, an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and a Transformational Coaching Academy certificate and is training to become a meditation practitioner. Melissa lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and three sons (one singleton and a set of identical twins).

Quotes by Melissa, that can change your perspective:

“Intention matters. If you feel shaky on your intention, if you are faking that you intend to have this person on your podcast, to ask this person to invest in your business, if you feel like it’s transactional, it is not gonna work. You’re gonna flop, it’s gonna come through and your insecurities are gonna catch you. And chances are you’re not gonna say what you had originally intended to say. So your intention matters.” 

“I was in an elevator with Shelly Lazarus… I was not the most confident person in the entire building. It was something that I eventually learned and I came up with a method that I teach my clients to also use in their lives so that this way, they network with a lot more confidence than that example right there.” 

“When I started going outside of my comfort zone, it was something that I had to make a very deliberate choice on doing, and doing a lot, and doing it in parallel with feeling the butterflies in my stomach. It was also something that I had to feel ready before I opened my mouth.”

SHARE this episode with your fellow mom founders and anyone looking to transform their networking skills! Learn how to move from a nervous novice to confidently connecting with influential figures and make networking a natural, effortless habit!

Supporting Resources:

Schedule a free call to see if Fertile Imagination to Networking Success my signature program is the right fit: https://www.melissallarena.com/sessions/

Podcast: Mom Founder Imagination Hub: https://www.melissallarena.com/podcast/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MelissaLlarena/

Or, grab for free your copy of the “From Contact to Connection: The Mompreneur’s Go-First Networking & Follow Up Playbook”: https://witty-thinker-2643.ck.page/21e52edb87 

Subscribe and Review

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 I’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast for writer moms. 

TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00 Melissa: Intention matters. If you feel shaky on your intention, if you are faking that you intend to have this person on your podcast, to ask this person to invest in your business, if you feel like it’s transactional, it is not gonna work. You’re gonna flop, it’s gonna come through and your insecurities are gonna catch you. And chances are, you’re not gonna say what you had originally intended to say.

00:00:26 Melissa: Welcome to the Mom Founder Imagination Hub, your weekly podcast to inspire you to dream bigger. Plan out how you’re going to get to that next level in business, find the energy to keep going, and make sure your creative juices are flowing so that this way you get what you really want rather than having to settle. Get ready to discover how mom founders have reimagined entrepreneurship and motherhood. Ever wonder how they do it? Tune in to find out. And stretch yourself by also learning from diverse entrepreneurs who might not be moms, but who have lessons you can tailor about how you can disrupt industries and step way outside of your comfort zone. I believe every mom’s superpower is her imagination. In this podcast, I’m gonna give you the mindset, methods, and tools to unleash yours. Sounds good? Then keep listening.

00:01:19 Melissa: How to network with confidence as a mom founder. I did not start out being the most confident person on the planet by any means. I remember my first job, I worked at Ogilvy & Mather. This was actually the first job that I really wanted. I had several before that, but I always wanted to work in advertising. And one day at the office, I was in an elevator with Shelly Lazarus. For anyone that knows about advertising, for anyone that knows about marketing, chances are you’ve heard her name. She is an icon in the industry and I admired her beyond belief. 

00:01:58 Melissa: So that day that I was in the elevator with her, I cannot say how nervous I was. I think it just showed. I may have looked completely pale. I certainly did not say one word. And when the doors opened, I jetted straight out the door. And that’s how I began in my career. I was not the most confident person in the entire building. It was something that I eventually learned and I came up with a method that I teach my clients to also use in their lives so that this way they network with a lot more confidence than that example right there. 

00:02:34 Melissa: Now, fast forward a really long time. There came that day where I interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk as my 10th guest on my podcast. And it was really, really interesting because I thought the fact that I got Gary Vaynerchuk, who has millions upon millions of followers on my podcast, was ambitious and impressive enough. However, one of my clients during a group coaching session asked me this question. He said, “Melissa, how is it that you had the confidence to talk to Gary Vaynerchuk? And how is it that you looked like you were having a good time while you were doing it?”

00:03:21 Melissa: And that question was so much of those life moments that you say to yourself, holy cow, how did I get there? That I had to really contemplate what the heck I was gonna answer my clients. It boiled down to the fact that by that time, decades after that Shelly Lazarus moment, I had already come up with a method, a three step method that was going to help me be a lot more confident when I spoke to anyone that I admired. By that time, I had already a really clear idea of what I needed to do before.

00:04:00 Melissa: I actually got ready to reach out to Gary Vaynerchuk directly, not his people. I also knew what I was going to say when I met Gary Vaynerchuk, and I also knew how I was going to use that content or that information after the fact. So there was a lot of strategic thinking that went into that one interaction, and it’s a lot of what I show my clients on how to do, specifically mom founders who may have not found their voices when it comes to networking or really interacting with people that are very influential or very wealthy or can really take your business to the next level like someone such as Gary Vaynerchuk. 

00:04:49 Melissa: So that was something that was really, really informative to me because once I realized that my client saw me as this confident human being talking to a leader and an industry disruptor, then I realized, holy cow, I’ve changed. I’ve evolved from that person who originally could not even say hello, let alone excuse me or have a nice day when Shelly Lazarus was in the same elevator as myself. Now, here’s what I want to share with you. 

00:05:22 Melissa: In terms of how I have built up my own confidence, it is something that has been through a lot of exposure. And this is something that is really important for you to realize. Early on, when I started going outside of my comfort zone, it was something that I had to make a very deliberate choice on doing, and doing a lot, and doing it in parallel with feeling the butterflies in my stomach. It was also something that I had to feel ready before I opened my mouth. And that’s something that I teach my mom, founder clients how to do. 

00:06:00 Melissa:So this is what’s really important. Let’s just imagine that you have a conversation that you’re excited about, that you know can really change your business. You want to absolutely think about how you are going to approach these three ideas before you even open your mouth, before you even put yourself in that room. The first idea is the following. Okay, what is my intention?

00:06:23 Melissa: Intention matters. If you feel shaky on your intention, if you are faking that you intend to have this person on your podcast, to ask this person to invest in your business, if you feel like it’s transactional, it is not gonna work. You’re gonna flop, it’s gonna come through and your insecurities are gonna catch you. And chances are you’re not gonna say what you had originally intended to say. So your intention matters.

00:06:51 Melissa: And it’s something that I work with my clients on very, very deliberately, because I can tell, I can tell whether it’s in the content of what you say or the delivery of what you say, whether or not your intention is clean and clear. And I would say that individuals who are approached as often as someone like Gary Vee or Shelly Lazarus, or anyone that I’ve had on my podcast, they also know whether your intentions are clean. 

00:07:15 Melissa: Here’s the second thing. In terms of practice, you can absolutely practice what you intend to tell someone without knowing or being a mind reader and knowing what they’re gonna say back. And here’s the thing you should have curated stories that you will use in order to actually ensure that you have a conversation that resonates with the other person and the only way that you will know what stories to say when the moment happens is If you would have done that pre-work and if you would have already vetted them by someone who understands what someone like Gary V’s intentions or priorities are in that given year. 

00:07:57 Melissa: Now, again, you’re not a mind reader, you’re totally not, but there’s a certain amount of research that needs to happen whenever you go and approach someone. And if you have not done your research, you’re not gonna be as confident as if you had done your research. And that’s something that I’ve helped my clients really think through because there’s some research that everybody knows and it’s not that interesting and it’s not gonna make you stand out. And then there’s some research that’s like, holy cow, how did this person know this about me? 

00:08:25 Melissa: Not in an eerie, sneaky, weird way, but in a way that’s like, wow, this person truly wants information from me and actually does wanna partner with me, not just anyone who will take this invitation. Here’s the third thing that was really important if you wanna be a lot more confident. And all of this I cover in that method, my imagination to impact to income method, which is how I approach networking, how I approach relationship building, and how my clients ultimately feel super, super confident when it comes to networking with anyone, anywhere, any place. 

00:09:00 Melissa: Here’s the third thing. So what’s really important in terms of networking and being confident is that your words match their words. And it’s not mirroring as much as elevating yourself to that point of leadership where you know you are the leader of your business and your business is a real business and your message deserves to be heard. So there has to be a sense of complete alignment. You’re there, you’re having a conversation with a business leader and you yourself are a business leader. 

00:09:31 Melissa: So how is it that you’re introducing yourself? Are you saying, I just have a business? Or are you saying, I am the CEO of my particular organization? Are you saying, you know, I started donating X dollars to the beneficiaries of my nonprofit, and you’re saying it with like, you know, kind of like a little soft voice and not very confident, or are you saying it with a very like loud and proud, but absolutely sincere and high integrity tone of voice? So that matters too. 

00:10:02 Melissa: I’ve noticed that a lot of individuals, a lot of mom founders in particular shortchange themselves. Rather than saying that they’re the founder of an organization and the CEO of an organization, they might say, oh, I opened up a business or oh, this is my nonprofit and my partner and I co-founded it. While that might be true in that moment, you’re the only founder that that person is experiencing. And if you have to carry the conversation and you feel like you deserve to be there, then express the fact that your role is your role and you own it.

00:10:34 Melissa: So those are the three things that I have found have been really helpful in terms of increasing your confidence in networking. They are the complete surface. I mean, there is so much more that is involved with regards to really going out there and making sure that you’re talking to the right people and introducing yourself because they are not going into our kitchens. They’re not going into our small offices and they’re not visiting us on our terms all the time. 

00:11:02 Melissa: But there’s also a lot of things that have to happen get in those right rooms, having the conversations, owning the space, owning the fact that this is what you are there to do. And then there’s a lot that needs to happen in terms of practice. So it’s not just a matter of like cold talking to someone and not knowing what’s gonna come out of your mouth. Although that does happen when you have nervous energy and you haven’t practiced or role played enough, but it’s really important to be very prepared. 

00:11:29 Melissa: And I know that this September, I know that the rest of this year, they’re gonna be networking opportunities, some of which you are not gonna know about because you’ll have to create them yourselves, that you’re gonna need to be very, very confident, more confident than you might feel inside your body, but you need to exude the real confidence that your business deserves and your clients deserve and the beneficiaries of your organization deserve. Otherwise, you are not gonna get to the goal that you have set out for yourself at the end of this year. 

00:12:02 Melissa: And that is why this month, I am inviting up to five mom founders to my group coaching program. The group coaching program is gonna help you get that confidence, have access to me for role playing and know what to say, when to say it, how to say it so that this way the person on the other side resonates with you, respects the fact that you have the guts to talk to them about these business matters, whatever they might be. And takes you seriously so that this way the conversations go into that revenue generating conversation as opposed to just, it’s nice to partner with you and I love what you’re doing in your organization. 

00:12:44 Melissa: So let me tell you a little bit more about that because I think it makes such a big difference. And before I do that, I wanna just share with you what one client had to say about networking. And for me, I just find it so amazing when I hear back from clients that I’ve helped in courage. So my client says this, at the core of it for me, it was about rebuilding and projecting confidence. I doubted myself. This program was critical to rebuild my confidence and realize that I was not doing the right things to stand out with confidence. With this confidence, rejection has not been an issue. And now I’m looking at opportunities without hesitation.  

00:13:25 Melissa: Melissa knows how to motivate people to make those things happen. I will continue building my brand and networking. This new habit is going to allow me to continue growing and reaching my potential. This comes from Jay Hernandez, who is now doing artificial intelligence at Sales Factory. So the group  program that I wanted to invite you to specifically that is happening this July at a 30% discount only for this July, five mom founders only, is gonna be nine weeks. It is only gonna require three hours of your time, two of which will be at your schedule because you’ll have some content that’s recorded, but one hour of a Q&A session with like minded mom founders, four other mom founders. 

00:14:12 Melissa: We’re gonna go through networking coaching, you’re gonna have a community. It is so hard to do things on your own, especially during the summer, when the tendency might be to take a step back, take a break from your business, but has consistently bitten a lot of mom founders in the tush, including myself, if I’ve ever let my foot off the gas during the summer. Come this fall, you wanna feel ready to rock and roll, and that is what this group coaching program will get you to do.

00:14:42 Melissa: You’ll have its curriculum that is gonna navigate everything that I spoke about, including imposter syndrome, which I had especially early on in my career. You’re gonna know who to network with. You’re gonna have an actual list of people that you will need to get to know who can absolutely help you take your business to the next level. You’re gonna know how to find them. And let me just say this, it is not about just scouring the web. It is a lot more sophisticated than that.

whether it’s in a big organization or it’s an influencer like Gary Vaynerchuk as an example. 

00:15:16 Melissa: You’re gonna also know what to say and you’re gonna plan out, check this out, plan out your entire fall and winter 2024 networking calendar based on your business growth goal. That is so important. How often do we just almost kind of like go to events without pre-thinking whether these events are gonna be a waste of our time or the part that  use of our time and give us real business results. I would say just leaving it to chance is the more common option. I encourage you to really rethink this. 

00:15:51 Melissa: Have a networking strategy plan. Be intentional. Know who you want to talk to. Know what you’re gonna say. And be ready to be confident in your conversation so that this way you get the opportunities and create the opportunities that you deserve. You’ve been working so hard so you want to be sure that you get something out of those events and those conversations, including coffee chats, which are also networking opportunities. You’re also gonna have lifetime access to the tools. 

00:16:20 Melissa: So let’s imagine that in this summer season, you prefer to just learn this information in terms of how to network more confidently, how to get into the right rooms, how to talk to the right people, say the right things, open the right doors of success for you. You’re gonna know how to do all of this and you’re gonna have this wisdom and insights for the rest of your life. You’re gonna have the tools also for the rest of your life, including the modules. And you’re also going to have exclusive bonuses that is only gonna be for the first five mom founders that are in this program during the month of July. 

00:16:56 Melissa: You’re gonna have access to me privately in two sessions. So one session, we are going to role play so that this way you are so confident about your elevator pitch about why you wanna talk to a particular person as an example, as well as how you want to move the ball and where and how often and when you want to follow up. I know that’s a big top of mind question for mom founders who don’t wanna sound persistent or obnoxious. I’ve got you covered there. That’s one private session. 

00:17:26 Melissa: You’re gonna have the second private session to implement. So it’s really a matter of execution. We are rolling up our sleeves and we are reaching out to people real time. And we’re gonna do that privately so that this way you could ask me everything and you can absolutely see what is stopping you along the way so that you can move and get the momentum necessary so that the fall is exceptional. The third thing is you’re gonna have the opportunity to be a guest on my podcast. 

00:17:51 Melissa: This very podcast where people like Suzy Batiz, Beth Comstock, Jordan Harbinger, I mean these sensational human beings have been. Imagine sharing the same platform as people with this much credibility and visibility. It is going to help you boost your confidence because now you’ll be able to say, I was on the same podcast as these individuals that I most admire. You are also gonna have an opportunity to get productivity tips and wisdom.

00:18:19 Melissa: And that is going to help clear your plate this summer so that you can add three hours of this focused attention on your business every single week for nine weeks. So Productivity Guide is also a bonus. This is sensational. Here’s the thing, every summer there has been this turning point. Either you feel completely left behind in the fall or you feel completely invigorated and jazzed up once more about your business in the fall.

00:18:48 Melissa: You have a choice to make. You can pick one or the other. And this program can help you feel completely reinvigorated. Your creative juices are gonna be flowing again in terms of your business. You’re gonna have a clear idea of what you need to focus on to hit your goals for the rest of this year. And you’re gonna have an actual plan. All of this informed by a proven method, my imagination to impact to income method where we will absolutely make sure that you’re thinking outside of your comfort zone, but that you have the confidence to execute on those things.

00:19:27 Melissa: Because I know that it sounds great to do things outside of your comfort zone, but when you’re there in that elevator and you have that wonderful person like Shelly Lazarus standing right with you, you might not say a word. And I don’t want that for you. I want you to feel confident. I want you to know what you’re gonna say. I want you to be practiced. And I want you to feel like you can speak to anyone and unstoppable. 

00:19:50 Melissa: So you are encouraged for your very next step right now. It’s super simple. Just go ahead to melissallarena.com/sessions, melissallarena.com/sessions. Again, the first five mom founders will have a 30% discount from the actual investment level that will rise way up in September. The first five mom founders very specifically that are gonna participate this summer in this group coaching program for Imagination to Networking Success.

00:20:14 Melissa: They’re also gonna have two private sessions with me. One is about role playing, one is about implementation. And they’re also gonna have access to a productivity guide so that we could take some things off your plate so that you can add this program in terms of those three hours a week to your calendar. So this way you don’t feel like you added something, but you feel like you just swapped out some time to focus on your business.

00:20:39 Melissa: And you’re gonna have a chance to be a guest on my podcast, which I think is amazing because I love featuring my guests on my podcast. I love featuring the individuals who have absolutely, you know, gone out of their way to invest in themselves and figure out how to be confident again in networking. So I encourage you to sign up. I look forward to the conversation. There’s an application. So I wanna be sure that the five mom founders are the right fit. 

00:21:09 Melissa: And when we get on the call, the 30 minute free call, you’re gonna know all the details you need to know in terms of the actual group coaching program, including the times a day that we’ll meet, including the resources that you’ll get, including the fact that you’re gonna have this for the rest of your life. So again, you’ll be able to take these transferable networking skills and apply them to anything. 

00:21:31 Melissa: So go ahead, schedule your time with me. I look forward to getting to know you and I really, really do hope that you can appreciate the fact that there’s another way. There’s another way to feel more confident about networking. It’s not about forcing yourself to do something that you don’t want to do. It’s not about feeling like you don’t have the right words. It’s not about feeling like, who am I? There’s an actual method that you can use that’s going to get you feel so ready, so confident and competent in terms of putting yourself out there and talking to people that could really change your life and take your business to the next level, like my clients, like myself, and like I know you can too with the right method, the right mindset and the right tools. 

00:22:16 Melissa: Okay, so let’s have that conversation so that this way, you do not miss out on this unique opportunity this summer to get networking ready, make networking a habit, not a chore.