Hi Beautiful,
Tonight we ran our monthly Networking Session. The first minutes are always the same: a screen of unfamiliar faces, everyone waiting to see who goes first, and that small voice asking whether this was a good idea.
An hour later the room sounded completely different.
If you missed this one, the next session is already open for registration.
HOW IT WENT
Ten women, and nobody stayed a stranger
Everyone took 60 seconds to say who she is, what she is looking for, and what she can offer. Data science, accounting, UN finance, product, law turning into DevOps, and a pillow brand launching in December. Tampa, Chicago, Manhattan, Hawaii.
Then something shifted. The discomfort that everyone brings to a room of strangers turned into the pleasure of being heard, and of hearing somebody else say out loud the thing you have been struggling to say about yourself.
By the end LinkedIn profiles were flying into the chat and coffee chats were being set up: a CPA journey compared, an introduction into a UN network, a conversation about breaking into Chicago tech.
"This community is helping me so much and I recommend it to everyone I meet. Because it really helps you to think about your career path in the ways I did not think before. It's really helping. I appreciate your feedback."
That is the whole point. We remember each other now. Next month, when one of us hears about an opening or meets somebody useful, there is a face and a name attached. A network grows exactly this way, one remembered introduction at a time.
WHAT WE HEARD
Being remembered is a skill, and it is learnable
Three things came up again and again in the feedback.
Concrete beats general. "Twelve years in accounting" asks the room to take your word for it. "I built a billing-to-accounting reconciliation system that held up across acquisitions" gives the room a picture, and a picture is what somebody repeats to a third person later.
Offer before you ask. The strongest introductions said what the person can give before naming what she needs. Asking gets easier right after you have handed something over.
Slow down. Nobody needs more words in 60 seconds, most of us need a pause after the important sentence.
Every woman who came tonight gets personal notes from us this week on how her introduction landed and what to sharpen before the next room.
THIS WEEK
Tue Sep 22 · 6:00 PM ET · English Speaking Club with Iuliia Dubrovskaia. This week's topic: from "whatever job I can get" to the job I want, and what your first U.S. job is actually worth. A speaking club rather than an English class, no grammar drills, and mistakes are part of how it works. Free and open to everyone. → https://luma.com/v8ncad3i
Thu, Sep 24 · 6:00 PM ET · GTM Minds: Group Session with Azhar Imanakunova and Maria Gordienko. Bring your challenge, leave with a plan. We take one real case from the group and work it through: what is already working, where the gaps are, what is being missed entirely, and what to do next. For anyone breaking into GTM, building a business, pivoting, or hitting a wall she cannot name. Pro Members. → https://luma.com/q59u16ax
Fri, Sep 25 · 6:00 PM ET · Business English Practice Circle with Azhar Imanakunova. Four seats and no spectators. You bring something real from your work, present it for 10 minutes, and get 5 minutes of feedback on clarity, executive presence and word choice. Not grammar. → https://luma.com/p09lfsfq
See you inside.
Introduce yourself to one new person this week, and keep cheering each other on.
Azhar & Maria
Founders, She's NTAP (New to America Pro)
P.S.
Hit reply with the one sentence you want people to remember you by. We read everything, and we will tell you honestly whether it lands.