Believe Like A Boss

Network Like a Boss

• Nandi Camille • Season 7 • Episode 15

Share episode

Send us a text

Visibility anxiety affects even the most talented entrepreneurs, especially when they're stepping into networking situations. In this candid, on-the-go episode recorded from my car, I break down the unnecessary drama we create around being seen in business spaces and offer practical mindset shifts to transform networking from a source of stress to an opportunity for authentic connection.

Ever found yourself freezing up at a business event, worried about saying "the wrong thing"? You're not alone. When we focus on avoiding mistakes, our energy flows toward anxiety rather than opportunity. The solution isn't perfect preparation but rather deciding who you want to BE in those spaces beforehand. By practicing your introduction in the mirror and validating yourself first, you free up mental bandwidth to focus on having fun and connecting genuinely with others.

Many entrepreneurs, particularly women, get stuck in rigid definitions of "networking" that don't align with their personality or values. I share how I created my own networking opportunities through a meetup group that grew to hundreds of members. Networking doesn't require stuffy events or corporate settings – it can happen in pole fitness classes, co-working spaces, or anywhere you authentically connect with like-minded individuals. The most powerful networking happens when you stop trying to fit into someone else's box and instead create visibility opportunities that feel aligned with who you are.

Remember: people need what you have to offer, but they can't benefit from your gifts if they don't know about them. Your visibility isn't just about business growth – it's about connecting your valuable services with those who need them most. What room will you walk into next where you can practice introducing yourself and your business with confidence and authenticity?

- - - - - - - -

ENJOY THE PODCAST?
Leave us a 5-star review so more people can find us!

LEARN MORE ABOUT COACHING
NandiCamille.com

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE DISCOVERY CALL
Click Here

EVENTS
Click here to learn view

LISTEN TO MY CONFIDENCE SESSIONS IN THE MARIGOLD APP
50% off annual membership: Use code: NANDI50
---> Click below to learn more
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/marigold-self-confidence/id1463889202

LET'S BE SOCIAL
Email: hello@nandicamille.com
Instagram: @nandi.camille

Learn more about Nandi and Life Coaching at: NandiCamille.com


Speaker 1:

Hi, friends, and welcome to Believe Like a Boss. I'm your host, life Coach, nandi Camille. Join me as I teach you how to smash your goals and expand the possibility of your life through mindset management, spiritual alignment and authentic action. I'll teach you how to create what I like to call a life of thrive, with ease and authenticity. It's time to play with what's possible. Are you ready? Let's go? Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to another episode of Believe Like a Boss. I am your host, life coach, nani Kamel. Welcome back, my friends.

Speaker 1:

All right, friends, you are in my car with me, so our audio is going to be a little bit different. Today. You're going to hear me taking some turns, putting my blinker on, hopefully not yelling at anybody. I have a little little little little little bit of road rage, I wouldn't even say road rage. It's get a little cranky, a little snarky when people don't use their blinker, but I'm not the type to chase anyone down the road, flip anybody off, honk at anybody, though if you sit at a green light for more than five seconds, I will honk at you, but I will count. I sit there, I say five, four, three, two, one, and then I will lightly little beep, beep. That's it, you know, because we're at a green light. So welcome to my car. My friends, we are recording on the fly. In full honesty, because I chose not to record the podcast at the time that is designated for me to record the podcast and because I'm a person that I'm going to make sure this podcast gets out, I'm now having to squeeze it into another time, which is my travel time, so you're with me in the car. So apologies in advance, but it doesn't mean the message is going to be any less than it's just that the audio might be a little bit less than on this particular episode.

Speaker 1:

But today we're going to talk about visibility in business, so we're going to unpack a little bit more. Last week we talked about just visibility in general and what can get in our way of showing up, of being seen right, whether it's going on Instagram live, whether it's just literally being seen online. I feel like I'm going to stop using that example, because I use it all the time. But being seen online if you are a business owner, if you're an entrepreneur, it's letting your business be seen, letting yourself be seen as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, maybe in the workspace, being seen as a leader, letting those around you know that, hey, you can trust me, you can lean on me. And I want to step into more leadership roles. I want to take on bigger projects. I want to be more visible in that way. So we're unpacking visibility specifically to business today because, as I was thinking about my business and just my career in general and the way that I've had to practice visibility both in a corporate setting and in entrepreneurship, today we're going to wear the entrepreneurship hat and talk about visibility in business and in entrepreneurship. Today we're going to wear the entrepreneurship hat and talk about visibility in business, in entrepreneurship, when you're going out in the world.

Speaker 1:

And so, first and foremost, I think the buzzword that for me came up was networking. When I was first starting my business and I was thinking about visibility, the first word was networking, the second word was marketing. Right, when you think about being visible, when you think about being seen as both a business and a business owner, because those two things are not always correlated right, if you have a personal business like a life coaching business, or your business is about you as a blogger, right, those two things might be correlated. But if you own a boots boutique right. There's two different forms of visibility there you walking around the world and telling people about yourself as the entrepreneur who runs this business, and then your business itself being visible. People knowing what your boots boutique is right. So let's start as the entrepreneur and who you are and your own visibility.

Speaker 1:

The first thing that came up for me, like I said, was networking, and when I first started my entrepreneurship journey, networking for me was a really fun word, but also a really daunting word. It was fun because I was really really excited about the idea of connecting with more people, of telling people about my business, and the word networking, I think honestly had a lot more drama to it than there actually is. And when I say there was a lot of drama to it, it was like networking is also kind of scary and you have to say the right thing and you have to connect with the right people and you have to have your elevator pitched down. While those are all intended to be helpful comments, all of that drama is unnecessary. What it came down to was networking was connection.

Speaker 1:

Networking meant connecting with other like-minded people, and like-minded means so many different things. Here's the other caveat to that. I want us to also be in the practice of connecting with not like-minded people. It doesn't mean that you do business with those people, but, as we're seeing in our world specifically in the United States of America in 2025, we're noticing how adults are having a really hard time disagreeing, having a hard time having different perspectives. So I do want to echo here that, while we want to do business with people who are like-minded and share our similar values, I want to also encourage you to, when you are networking, when you are in new spaces with new people, to also talk, to, be curious about and connect with people who have different values, different ideas and different goals. Again, you don't need to be their best, you don't need to take down their number or their information, but what I want to encourage you to do is to have more open-minded conversations, even with people who you don't see their perspective. Be curious in that. It's a really just great practice, I think, for making us well-rounded humans. Now let's come back. Networking again, excuse me is just connecting, right, connecting with like-minded people. So let's go into visualize with me. Visualization One of the number one things when I'm working with clients, when I'm working with women who are business owners and are working to network, the number one thing that we end up working on is actually the anxiety and the fear that we feel in being visible in these networking situations, in these networking spaces.

Speaker 1:

Right, we walk into a space and we have all these beautiful intentions. I can't wait to meet these people and shake their hands and tell them about my business. But what often happens for the women? That I getting perfectionistic about it. I have to be perfect. I have to say the right thing. So what I want to bring to you all today are some thoughts and some questions to unpack, to think about Again. Mindfulness is awareness. We're going to be aware of whatever comes up as I'm asking you these questions and these prompts and some of these scenarios, but the heart of it being how do you want to show up in the world and who do you want to attract? How do you want to show up in the world when it comes to networking and making connections and, as a result of making those connections, who do you want to attract? That's what all of this comes down to.

Speaker 1:

But again, when I'm working with women, often what comes up is I don't even know what to say. Right, that's what women say to me I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say when I get to a networking event. I don't want to say the wrong thing. Notice that mindset when you are thinking the thought I don't want to say the wrong thing, I don't want to say the wrong thing. I don't want to say the wrong thing. Where is your focus and where is your energy? Right, your focus and your energy is on not saying the wrong thing. What I want to offer is, instead, we focus on what do you want to say and who do you want to be.

Speaker 1:

As a homework assignment, I would offer that you do this before you go to a networking event, right, get out your journal, be in your mirror in your home. What do you want to say to the people? Who do you want to be in those spaces and in those rooms? How do you want to represent yourself? Don't decide that when you get there. I mean you can, right, if you haven't done the work and you're listening to this podcast literally before you're going to a networking event. Decide right now Take five minutes before you walk into the networking event, right, but if you're listening to this before you, it's like weeks before you're not going to a networking event for another day or whatever it is.

Speaker 1:

Take some time to sit down, think about practice. Who do I want to be? How do I want to show up? What are the literal words that I'm going to use to describe myself and to describe my business? And I want you to practice those words. Practice those sentences in the mirror to yourself. This is what I have my clients do. Go in the mirror and practice this right, because when we practice this, it's not about showing up to the event Now you're really fake. But now you're not thinking about what am I going to say? Now you're not thinking about who am I going to meet and what are the no. Now you're thinking about I'm so excited to shake hands and to talk to people because I've already practiced what I'm going to say. I already know how I want to represent myself and my business. So now I can just focus on having fun.

Speaker 1:

Looking around the room, seeing what energy I'm drawn towards Right. Notice where, looking around the room, seeing what energy I'm drawn towards right. Notice where your focus goes. Your energy flows. When you have been going to networking events, where has your energy been flowing lately and is it flowing the way you want to? Is it flowing into anxiety, or is it flowing into excitement and you're feeling effervescent? Or you're feeling like I want to connect with people. I'm feeling turned on and excited about being here. You're like oh my gosh, I don't know what I'm going to say. I don't know what I'm going to do.

Speaker 1:

The way that we use mindfulness and the way that we're going to use mindset here is how do you want to think and feel? You decide ahead of time. Right, I want to think about myself as a high-powered woman, right? I'm gonna feel that way ahead of time, before I even work. Walk into the room. You validate yourself before you let anybody else validate you, right? So the next time you're walking into a space, I want you to check in. How am I feeling as you're walking into the space? Maybe you've already practiced you, okay? I the work. I wrote down who I want to be and how I want to show up. I did what Nandi asked me to do. I'm so excited.

Speaker 1:

Now, then, I want you, from that place, to notice how you're feeling as you're actually walking into the space. I have my words, but I'm still feeling a little bit nervous. I'm feeling excited. Just check in, because, again, the reminder you will hear again and again on this podcast is the only reason you want anything is because of how we believe we will feel in the having of it of it. So how do you want to feel when you are being visible and representing yourself in your business and your leadership style and your entrepreneurism? How do you want to feel when you're doing that at your best? How does that feel? Your work is to think ahead from that place. Okay then what do I say if I feel that way? The version of me who feels empowered and excited about this work what does she say to herself and others? Then practice that I also want to back up.

Speaker 1:

And the other thing that I end up working on with the women that I'm working with when it comes to visibility and business is I don't even know where to start, right, they'll come to me like I don't, what do you mean networking? Do I go to like what is a network? What? Where do I even start? They like short circuit, and I did the same thing. I was like what do you mean networking? I'm a creative, my degree is in education, right. I'm like what are you networking? I short circuited as well. Do I go into an office building? Do I, like, look for people in suits and ask them, what is this, how do I do it? And what I did for me was I brought it back down to okay, well, what is networking? And that's where I got my definition of networking is simply connection. That's how I see networking.

Speaker 1:

And so then, from that place, I said, well, who do I want to connect with? Right, if networking is just connection, who is it that I want to connect with? Right, if networking is just connection, who is it that I want to connect with? And then, from that place, I had so many ideas. I was like, oh, I love brunch and I love other entrepreneurs and I love creative women and I love being outside.

Speaker 1:

And then, from that place, I got on meetupcom and a few years ago, if you've been here for a while, I had a meetup called get it. Girls like, want to say like, started during COVID and went for maybe a year or two afterwards and we had got up to, I want to say, 200 to 300 women that were in that meetup group, right, and so that was the way that I decided to network. I said I want to meet like-minded women, and my sassy self said instead of me going and finding the networking events around the community, I'm going to create them. I'm going to bring women to me, and I had so much fun doing that. And so the reason why I bring that story up is because networking can be whatever you want it to be.

Speaker 1:

Who do you want to connect with and how do you want to connect with them? Networking can be going. Networking excuse me can be going to your pole class. It can be going to an actual networking event. You can go on meetupcom, you can go on Eventbrite and look up a networking event, or you can start going to more events where you might find again like-minded people who are doing similar work. Maybe it's you just going to a co-working space. It's not even a networking event. You just go to a new co-working space and you just bump elbows with somebody and say hello, my name is da-da-da. This is my first time in this co-working space. I just wanted to introduce myself.

Speaker 1:

Right, don't put networking in a box. Don't put yourself in a box. In what ways do you want to connect with people and what ways do you like to connect with people? I would offer that that is the way that you network. Start there. Yes, networking events that you literally Google up and are online are fantastic. That is a great way to network. And I would offer again, you don't have to be in a box, right, working with creative entrepreneurs. We don't like to be in boxes, we don't like to go to stuffy things anyway. So get creative with your visibility, get creative with the way that you network with other people. That it for today, my friends.

Speaker 1:

As always, take what sticks you leave the rest go. Be visible. People need to know what you're doing. People need to know what it is that you're giving in the world, or especially business owners. People need what you have to offer. Not everybody needs what you have to offer, but they won't know if you don't tell them. And a great way to start telling people is just literally walking around and telling people hi, I'm blank and this is what I do. How many more rooms can you be in where you can start to do that, where you can start to practice that more authentically? Right, in a way that feels good for you and for the person that's receiving the information? Always be mindful of that too, right, be mindful of your audience.

Speaker 1:

But as always my friends, take what sticks to you, leave the rest. I'll see you next week. Hey friend, if you like this podcast, I would love it if you give us a five-star rating. Share it with your friends. If you're interested in one-on-one coaching if this podcast, I would love it if you give us a five-star rating. Share it with your friends If you're interested in one-on-one coaching. If this podcast resonates with you and you're ready for some one-on-one support support for you and your journey go ahead to nandikamilcom to learn more or head over to nandikamilasme to sign up for your free discovery call.