How Do I Establish My Network from Scratch? | S1E3 | New Here

Okay. When I sell my business, I want the best tax and investment advice. I want to help my kids, and I want to give back to the community. Ooh, then it's the vacation of a lifetime. I wonder if my out of office has a forever setter.

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Gael, please tell me what is the preferred way to pronounce your name.

I feel like in Spanish, I would love if everyone would just say Gael, just how it is.

Mm-hmm.

But of course, like in, just in the US I'm always like, "Okay, my name's Gael, Gael Aitor."

Gael.

Yeah.

Gael. Welcome to New Here, honest conversations and practical advice to help you play the game called work. I'm Elainy Mata. This week we're going to look at networking, specifically when you're starting from scratch and need to make all those awkward first reach outs and introductions. Wait, so now I'm curious, what's everyone's full name pronunciation in Spanish? Mine is Elainy Mata.

Interesting. I'm just Gael Aitor.

Aitor?

Mm-hmm, Aitor.

Nice.

Yeah. Gael Aitor.

And-

I'm Erik Jonathan [laughs] Rodriguez. My parents wanted me to fit in so bad [laughs] in the '80s.

But you say like

Sí, sí, me dicen Eddy.

Como Eddy.

Yeah, me dicen Eddy.

You might not buy into the idea that networking matters, or you might think that it'll always feel fake and inauthentic. You might even think, "I have LinkedIn. Isn't that enough?" One thing I've learned is that networking is more about finding ways to support other people and building real relationships, and those relationships can help you in the future, even if you can't see it right now. Reframing networking this way has also helped me get over some of the awkward first interactions that a lot of us dread. Another thing that's helped me is thinking about building a professional network in the same way that I build friendships. Today, we'll explore different ways to start these relationships in a way that feels authentic, and we'll learn how to sustain those relationships over time. Let's start with the first step. You just heard me making small talk with our guests before we started our taping, and usually we cut that part out of the episode, but we wanted to show it to you because we were actually finding connection within each other before we begin. And even though small talk may feel forced and uncomfortable, it is an important first step in building relationships. Another way to break the ice is a good old-fashioned elevator pitch. Before we begin anything deeper, I want each of you to tell me how you would introduce yourself to me as if we were meeting at an event. [laughs]

Okay.

That's the challenge.

That's, that's-

And then I'll do it too, and I'll do it too. I'll do it too.

That's always difficult. It's always changing. It's like, how do you find the balance between not making