I recently went on an adventure to the Arizona desert and wanted to share the story of how it came to be (*spoiler alert: it involves networks).

Back in 2023 I met a wonderful women from York University at an event – we hit it off, caught up over a call after, and she referred me into the university to potentially deliver some networking workshops. This lead to another call with a fine fellow who supports student with career progression and he asked if I’d be available to give a short talk early in 2024. Of course I said ‘Love to!’ and we booked in a date for delivery.

How does York lead to Arizona I hear you ask? Well I’ll tell you…

That session in York was pretty short, and was 99% undergrads looking for some tips on career progressions. The other 1% however was a part-time PhD student who’d seen a last-minute email about my session and as his own research included network theory, jumped in the car to join. Alongside his PhD it turns out that he’d just been appointed the new Global CEO of an international franchise consultancy and following the workshop asked to chat about potentially working with their teams. And the rest, as they say my friends, is history.

After two trips to their headquarters in Kent to work with their exec team, we facilitated a two-day workshop in London Gatwick working with their European teams, I set off across the Atlantic to a four-day conference in Arizona where I delivered a workshop, offered 1-2-1 support slots, and a keynote speech on network strategy. All because I sat next to a lovely lady at an event in 2023.

I guess the moral of the story is that you never know where networking might take you (geographically and metaphorically!). It’s why I love what I do so much – the smallest interaction can lead to the most amazing experiences and opportunities if we’re just open to it. So next time you sit next to someone in a seminar, or chat to them over a cuppa, just know that they could be the key to your next big adventure.

(Check out these short videos from DAY 1 and DAY 2 of the trip!)

Happy networking x