In present, professional networking spaces, “careful, cautious, methodical relationship building” is the through-line of purposeful networking, said Megan Roudebush, founder, keepwith, an enterprise platform that helps the world network and build relationships better. In this week’s Outside Insights Podcast, Megan explained that sustainable networking requires reciprocity. She offers five, trending networking processes that deliver professional and personal support. It’s key to nurture relationships “even when you don’t need anything,” she noted.
This week’s Outside Insights is the deep dive providers need to uncover on point, now- networking precepts – everything from quality (over quantity) to leveraging micro steps! What are those? Listen and find out how new technology and keepwith are key to genuine networking for positive outcomes.
In present, professional networking spaces, “careful, cautious, methodical relationship building” is the through-line of purposeful networking, said Megan Roudebush, founder, keepwith, an enterprise platform that helps the world network and build relationships better. In this week’s Outside Insights Podcast, Megan explained that sustainable networking requires reciprocity. She offers five, trending networking processes that deliver professional and personal support. It’s key to nurture relationships “even when you don’t need anything,” she noted.
This week’s Outside Insights is the deep dive providers need to uncover on point, now- networking precepts – everything from quality (over quantity) to leveraging micro steps! What are those? Listen and find out how new technology and keepwith are key to genuine networking for positive outcomes.
Well, I'm here today with Megan Roudebush founder of KeepWith. I met Megan once before and she was very focused on bringing networking forward in an incredible positive way and talking about the importance of it. And I know Megan, it's great to have you back. It's great to be talking to you again. I think it's been a very busy year for you. Would you say that it's been a busy year for you or is that an understatement?
Megan Roudebush:Chris, thanks so much for having me. I do think that would be an understatement but I am thankful that it has been a busy year because we have just had so many exciting things going on. And I'm thrilled to be here. Thanks for having me.
Chris Burkhard:So you're the founder of KeepWith, perhaps a good opening question is to simply explain what keepWith is and I've alluded to this busy year. Tell us about the journey of the last year and what KeepWith is all about.
Megan Roudebush:So KeepWith is a platform that is helping the world network better. And when we say network at its very essence, it's building relationships. And we started as a company as a startup back in 2017. Very bootstrapped as a services company going into companies across industry sector around the globe, teaching their people how to network better. And what we have discovered is that there is a gap in the world with people's comfort level ability, dedicated amount of time that they put towards strategic relationship building or networking. So over the course of the last year, since we spoke, we raised a bit of capital. And we have developed some technology that is designed to help the world network better. The idea behind it is that there's no spam, there's no ads, it's really based on actual relationship building. And I'm happy to say that two weeks ago today, we released the technology into the universe. So that's what we've been up to, we've been raising capital which is probably a story and a series of podcasts in and of itself, especially as a hashtag female founder. But we've raised some money, we've built some tech, and we're really hoping to help the world network better.
Chris Burkhard:So I'll bite. Is it harder to raise money or start a business?
Megan Roudebush:Oh, that's a really interesting question. I think it's harder to raise money. So when we started our company, we did that because there was interest. So people reaching out to me and saying, Hey, can you speak and write about networking? Can you speak and write about networking? And so we knew there was a need and we know in the marketplace right now, people find this hard. And, welcome to my kitchen. Right? We found it harder in the course of the last couple of years, as we've been physically isolated. And now as we dust those skills off. So I do think actually starting a company, I believe is easier. Raising capital is super hard.
Chris Burkhard:Oh, I tend to agree with you and I was also a bootstrapped entrepreneur. And I definitely found it easier to solve a prospect consumers problem than pitch the big idea of my business and ask people to back it. I don't know why that is, perhaps that's a founders passion. You know, like, I think businesses are founded on our passions. And I don't know if our passion is raising money, it's just a necessary way to make our passions come alive, if you know what I mean, interesting. So I think I know the answer to the question of what prompted you to start a networking company. So maybe the better question is, how did people tap you on the shoulder and know that you were good at this and then therefore asked you to start this company?
Megan Roudebush:So, I know we're going to talk about this. There's the as a grown up reason why I started KeepWith and there's the as a kid growing up in New York City as an eight year old reporter reason. As a grown up to speak in my seven year olds terms, I started KeepWith because I was getting those requests to speak and write about networking a lot. And the reason why was because I was an east coaster who had moved to Chicago, didn't yet know anyone. I got plugged into the executives Club of Chicago, thank goodness, because that's how I really started to network. But I'd always been very careful and cautious about relationships. I had had thousands of informational interviews in undergrad and law school and business school, before I even you know, graduated from from on business school. So I think I had a reputation for being careful and cautious and the methodical about relationship building, about networking. And so it was a confluence of events I was asked to speak, I was asked to write it kind of all happened at the same time and I thought, I think there's a start up here, let's go for it.
Chris Burkhard:So, I still think there's and I'll dig a little bit on that. There's something behind that. There are a lot of people that are decent networkers. I've been called a rainmaker for a long time as a guy who started a business. I hate the term, by the way, but I understand the sort of relevance around it. You talked about this sort of cautious, almost systematic approach. Where did that come from? Not the seven year old, not the kid story yet. But where do you get this general approach to networking?
Megan Roudebush:Well, we can talk about the fact that I was a chief compliance officer. I spent my entire professional career in the investment world as a chief compliance officer. And so as a compliance officer, you're managing risk and you're building relationships with the business and you're building relationships with regulators. I even worked at a regulator when I was in law school. And so trust but verify, right? That's a really important phrase. And I think it is very important to consider who you let in to your circle. In some markets, this doesn't resonate, excuse me, in all countries but in some markets we say, you know, treat your network like your house. Who would you let into your house? Now, that's personal to me, it's not even personal to everybody on the KeepWith team or all of our clients. Some people say, let me at anybody, I want to meet the world, it's totally fine. Everyone has their own personal approach for sure. But for example, I will not connect with somebody on LinkedIn unless we have met or had a conversation, right? Other people just connect, connect, connect. So I recognize that it's personal. I think for me, understanding that true relationship building meaningful and authentic relationship building has to be done on purpose.
Chris Burkhard:Well, I believe that people have to have an operating philosophy. And for you to be so crisp and clear with your philosophy around relationships and networking. It makes it much easier for me to understand and defined and it makes it dependable, makes it predictable and I like that. So that's really interesting. If we are going to talk about networking and a networking company and content education and the platform, there's always a definition or working definition of networking. And I think you gave a quick one, would you give your whole answer?
Megan Roudebush:Yes, absolutely. So our longer answer is that networking is the building and maintaining of meaningful relationships for both personal and professional reasons, in supportive of the goals of the people that you know and the people that they know. So the building and maintaining of meaningful relationships for both personal and professional reasons, in support of the goals of the people that you know and the people that they know. Our short answer is that networking is building relationships. I think it's important to have a short answer but it digs in deeper in terms of the personal and professional meaningful relationships and having networking be reciprocal, being a contributing member to your network.
Chris Burkhard:Megan, but it does explain why people have such frustrations when they attempt it. You know, you describe something that was very reciprocal, you describe something that was very sustainable, and many folks go at it as if they're supposed to get something very quickly from it. So I think it's a really important and good definition long and short answer. I've heard you talk about why networking is hard. Would you share that with my audience?
Megan Roudebush:Absolutely, Chris. You know there are so many things, traits, practices, habits that go into how we build relationships. One of those is whether we're an introvert an extrovert or an ambivert, right? If we're an introvert we might be exhausted by networking. Extroverts can also get exhausted but then also can get overextended and then ambiverts are figuring it out. So that's one thing. The other reason that networking is hard, I mean I think let's talk about, we would be really remiss if we didn't talk about the last couple of years in the world. And so something that was inherently difficult, networking is inherently difficult for a lot of people and we can talk more about why. Then we are in our houses and isolated and figuring out everything we figured out over the last couple years. So a lot of us are dusting off those people's skills, even people who love to do it. But you said to that, oftentimes people treat networking as transactional and don't treat it as reciprocal. That's another reason why it's hard. And I would close this question by just saying, we need to dedicate time and energy to it and really think about how can we contribute to the benefit of our network? How can we add value to others? We need to make time for strategic relationship building. We tell people to do that every week. We say hey, put a time slot on your calendar as a recurring meeting invite and that's your deliberate networking time. So when we don't make time for things, they tend to fall by the wayside.
Chris Burkhard:So Megan, I'll ask permission. I don't think my audience minds when they hear me say that we would never get on a phone call without preparing our discussion. But I'd like to ask a follow up question just based on that, if you don't mind?
Megan Roudebush:Sure.
Chris Burkhard:So I'm in the world of human resources. And you know, frankly we help people manage careers and career systems have completely been really disturbed, certainly with the past two years of the pandemic, but generally speaking, people are more and more responsible for their own career every minute. You know, the role of a parental company, it's faded, perhaps gone but it's still something that you know, it's enough of a remembrance that people kind of get it. What I see related to your expertise, is how a job seeker surfaces to network in the spirit of their job search. But it's so obvious to their network that they're, you know, they're not there with that scheduled appointment, like you've said. It's to serve their purpose, it's not reciprocal. So I think you're posing something incredibly challenging, where you're asking people to commit to something that's really for a long term benefit versus a short term goal of say, getting a job and I just think it's very admirable. And you know, if you've ever bootstrapped anything, you have no choice but to do things that way, the right way, the long way. But that's what I see as an example of the challenge is that the job seeker needs a job, needs more money needs to do something impactful and doesn't understand that, you know if you do this the right way and have reciprocated, your network will be glad to help you. But if you show up just needing help, they're not really going to help you in the same way.
Megan Roudebush:You know, I really feel like I should send our marketing team over to you Chris, because you've just kind of hit the nail on the head on one of the reasons why we exist. I think that there's a statistic that approximately eighty five percent of jobs are filled through networking, right? I landed my first Chief Compliance Officer job standing on the 703 train platform and CCO roles are often not posted because you don't want to say, hey well, we need someone to head our compliance.
Chris Burkhard:We don't want that out there right?
Megan Roudebush:No, for sure.
Chris Burkhard:Yes, your right.
Megan Roudebush:To your other point, you want to be nurturing your relationships all the time when you don't need anything. And so if you are sitting down, for example and maybe one week during your deliberate networking time you come up with a list of ways you can be helpful to others. Maybe another week, you're just sending thank you notes. But one of the things that we encourage people to think about our network goals, and those are objectives that you're looking to accomplish through the power of your network with your network at your back. And it could be I am networking to find my next job and X industry, it could be a networking to meet other moms of seven year olds, because seven year olds are quirky. It could be I'm networking to meet more people who are as into fitness and wellness as I am or I'm networking to land a board seat. But you don't want to find yourself in a position where you have something you need to accomplish and it's like a now, now, now and you don't have that network that you've been nurturing over time. That's why we tell people to work on it every week.
Chris Burkhard:Megan, I like to strengthen this discussion by the examples that you gave. We network for lots of reasons and that's just a very clear mental picture. This is in all facets of life, quite frankly. And I think that's important. I think that's where a lot of people miss it as they don't view it as that. The light bulb for me is we go through that. Would you mind, I know you have a handful of principles around networking that you teach, would you mind sharing them?
Megan Roudebush:Sure. So there are really five key principles that we like people to focus on. The first is that it's the quality of your relationships that matters far more than the quantity of your connections. The second is that you should learn a fun fact about everyone you meet because it will serve you well. The third is that you should consider having an executing a networking plan that includes networking goals, we can talk about what all that is and how our tech solves it. The fourth is to talk to strangers, even if doing so is outside your comfort zone because you never know what will happen. And the fifth is to leverage micro steps or small gestures as you continue to strengthen your relationships, those small gestures can have huge impact. So quality over quantity, learn a fun fact, have a networking plan with networking goals, talk to strangers and use micro steps to improve your relationships.
Chris Burkhard:I almost feel like we have to exchange fun facts Megan but we can work that in as we go, you know along the way. Just something I've read you know, over I guess over a long time is there's a couple of folks that sort of think about relationships in more of a physical construct. Like I don't know if you've ever heard of The Relational Ladder, you've ever heard that concept.
Megan Roudebush:Yes
Chris Burkhard:So, it's not to cross pollinate authors and those kinds of things, but I like that you've quantified something that people don't typically put quantification to, interesting. The small gestures, is that a way of establishing authenticity with the person in your network? Is that what that's about?
Megan Roudebush:You know, it's about a lot of things. Sometimes I have found just generally as a human being on the planet, that if something feels like it's going to take a lot of time or has to be really formal or really involved that we tend to stay away from it. Like oh, I'm too busy, I can do X.
Chris Burkhard:Yes, too many steps. I can't do all that, right.
Megan Roudebush:Right. So, I just won't do it at all. And I think sending a text letting somebody know that you're caring about them, or you're thinking about them, or you know, we've seen this during the pandemic. Being on a text thread with a couple of friends and saying something for which you're thankful. Whatever, that's a personal example. But using micro steps and small gestures, sending somebody something, reaching out and asking about a meaningful introduction that you would like to make. Those are all really small things, you're not in a suit, you're not standing in a ballroom with a drink in your hand but they're still part of networking. And by doing those small gestures, I can't tell you I've gotten some cards at just the right time, especially as we were fundraising and releasing tech. Whether it was from investors or friends, many of whom overlap. But it's those small gestures that enable you to really build relationships at a time when we've gotten more and more authentic. Over the last couple of years, we've seen little heads popping up on zoom calls. And we're talking right now from my home. And so I think, you know, micro steps are small things that go a really long way.
Chris Burkhard:Well my two Aussie Shepherd Dogs are being kept at bay. They would love to show up and photobomb our session here today but I don't know, they're more interesting than me. They tend to take over, you know. So Megan, you've just given me permission, I was actually at the dentist this morning and I'm sitting in the waiting room. And I often take that fifteen minutes and I simply send notes to my network. And I would not have said it to you because I would have thought you would have thought I was cheesy, but I'm kind of known for that, you know. I didn't even connect it to what you're suggesting. It's just my way of staying in touch with people that I care about. But it's a mix being an entrepreneur, it's a mix of business. You know, it's a DNA, it's everybody in my network. So, you've given me permission to not feel you know, funny about that.
Megan Roudebush:Well Chris, I have I'm very fortunate and however much you want to talk about seed round fundraising, being a startup founder, we can talk about that as much or as little as you'd like. But I'm thankful that on our cap table for our seed round we have predominantly entrepreneurs, so the people that have had invested and KeepWith get what it's like to run a business. And I have one investor, and she will send me notes that are just how are you today? And so leading up to launch there was all this, I'm great, it's awesome, you know, really positive and there are days that a founder where it's not great and it's not awesome and things are hard.
Chris Burkhard:In fact, the peaks and valleys for an entrepreneur are much steeper.
Megan Roudebush:And I appreciate that she sends me those notes and that I have equal permission to say everything is awesome and everything is not awesome at this moment in time but I'm very thankful for her outreach.
Chris Burkhard:So I hope you don't mind the sort of, it's not whimsical, but it comes to mind. How much did your expertise help you accomplish the fundraising?
Megan Roudebush:Oh, lots and lots. So I grew up in the investment management industry kind of accidentally. I was a paralegal at Skadden Arps, the law firm in New York City and I got assigned to the Investment Management Group. So as you know, on my way to law school and didn't know what that investment was, and never held any investments and didn't know what they were, and just learned and loved it and literally fell in love with the securities markets and how they work. And so I built my career, whether it was going to the SEC or compliance group or Deloitte solving compliance challenges around the globe and then ultimately becoming a Chief Compliance Officer. So understanding the obligation I have to investors to spend every single dollar responsibly, understanding the documents, understanding how a cap table works. The data privacy and security responsibilities I have as a tech founder. So I'm hugely thankful for my background in the investment management industry and my law degree and my MBA, as I've been a founder.
Chris Burkhard:So for me, and this may be a dead end of the dialogue, I think we have choices as entrepreneurs. I only ever did it myself, I was sort of told, be careful about giving up shares, you know, partners are hard. You know, be an operator, better to be a little smaller than to have all those mouths to feed and messages to give. But I just think there's lots of ways to accomplish things and I give you a lot of credit for leveraging who you are, what you know into what you love. That's the cool part about it to me. So, all right. There's a long answer that kind of makes Megan tick. I hope you're not tired of that long answer story. I think it's really interesting. I hope you still think it is but there's a reason why you're so curious about people. Would you share that?
Megan Roudebush:Sure, and I would love to put a pin in what you just said about being a solo founder for later in the conversation.
Chris Burkhard:Ok, well work it into the long story and impress me. How about that?
Megan Roudebush:So from the time I was eight until the time I was eighteen, I was a kid reporter and editor for the Children's Express News Service. So I grew up in New York City, a very humble means. I oftentimes compare myself to the character Matilda from the Roald Dahl books.
Chris Burkhard:Oh, that's wonderful.
Megan Roudebush:And as an eight year old, I became a journalist. My mom read an article in the New York City newspaper and knew I love to write and said, Hey, I think you should go do this. And not to be serious but my first interview as an eight year old was on crack addicted children. So I was an eight year old myself and I think about this now with a daughter who just turned seven and what would I even think about with my daughter writing the article on drug addicted babies?
Chris Burkhard:How much did you really even understand?
Megan Roudebush:Right.
Chris Burkhard:Well, pretty quickly you figured it out I bet.
Megan Roudebush:So from the time I was eight until the time I was eighteen, I was a kid journalist and I learned two most important things. One, the importance of asking questions and two caring about the world. And now fast forward, networking is really all about asking questions and caring about the world. So whether I was in Bosnia during the Dayton Peace Accords, when all of the leaders of the countries that were in conflict were in Ohio trying to figure everything out, or I was in DC as a nine year old on a dais interviewing Janet Reno and Senator Paul Simon about youth violence. Or I was twelve running around Madison Square Garden covering the Democratic National Convention in my hometown. Those were all experiences, interviewing Amy Tan. I'd love to say that I interviewed Amy Tan, Bella Abzug and Chuck Norris. That's a really interesting trifecta.
Chris Burkhard:Who I'd invite to dinner.
Megan Roudebush:But in all seriousness, as a Children's Express reporter from the time I was eight and then editor you become an editor at thirteen until eighteen. My Bosnia decision, my trip to Bosnia influenced my peace and conflict studies major at Bryn Mawr. I might be getting a little long winded here. So I'll just say that as a kid journalist, I had to ask open ended questions and care about the world and that's what networking is. I'm very clumsily going to tie this to your previous statement. Only by saying hey, I want to go back to your previous statement. And you know, it's interesting as a solo founder, because I do as a solo founder I have all of the equity currently right? And there's a lot of responsibility, and you want to really be careful of dilution. And there's all these things. And, you know, I founded the company. And that's so it's mine. That said, when you are the only founder, and you're handling everything from social media posts, to interviews to getting technology out in the world, it's a really interesting seat in which to sit. So there's pros and cons for sure.
Chris Burkhard:So Megan, I always had a very strange, simple goal and I'm twenty one years into that journey. It seemed like I worked really hard to be able to create ways I can hand all those tasks off to someone who could do it better than me. And frankly, twenty one years in, I still do that. We create roles all the time of like, it's for the solopreneur it's a constant role of what am I doing? What do I do best? Should we invest in this? And it's not always roles, it's technology that takes stuff on. But it just seems like forever, I'm outsourcing something still that I started doing when I started the business all those years ago. And I mean, I have a thirty million dollar company. It's just a matter of perspective on that, you know. It's just that I don't think it ever really stops.
Megan Roudebush:And what's interesting, too, is building out a team. So we do have a team and then we do also partner. We partnered with a tremendous female owned app development company called AppIt Ventures in Colorado to build our tech. But the most important thing that we did as a team in September, when things started to heat up for us, and there was investor interest and we were going to release some tech is I surrounded myself with an Ocean's eleven crew of experts. And that was the Chief Compliance Officer in me who didn't want to make a mistake. Our counsel became an investor so we had to get a new attorney. We wanted to make sure that we had the right financial advice at the table and making sure that we had all of the pieces in one place. I surrounded myself with a team of experts in addition to our advisory board that we already have in order to ensure that I wasn't doing it on myself and that I was going to make a mistake.
Chris Burkhard:So that's an incredibly flexible, scalable way. And that's fantastic and that probably will never stop happening, right? It just continues to change shape and form. And I, that's probably one of the hardest things I did is that I didn't feel like I had the governance needs because I'm a solo printer. But when I added the governance of an advisory board, my business grew differently. It was a unique experience as a way of holding myself accountable. So it's very interesting. I'm checking in with you, are we talking about the right things relative to keep with other topics that are of interest to you that you'd like to touch on? We've covered a lot of ground without going through, you know, questions, sixteen, seventeen eighteen kind of thing. But what are the other themes you'd like to touch on today Megan?
Megan Roudebush:Sure. So I want to make sure that people know that KeepWith is a platform and that we have just released some technology out into the universe that's going to help people network better. I think that's really critical. We are in beta, and our tool is out there. People can go to platform.keepwith.com to sign up and try it. But I want to make sure that people know that our tool is out there and available. And that as we grow as a company, we're really looking to serve enterprises. So we want to help companies whether it be sales, talent acquisition, DEI or employee wellness. There's so many reasons why companies need to network better. So, I do want to mention that we have released technology out in beta and it's available for users to use and that we welcome any and all feedback on it.
Chris Burkhard:So you know, I think folks listen to what they want to listen to. You've built this platform differently than what might come to their head for existing networking platforms. What is different about your platform that someone should benefit from and I don't want to use the acronym but there's one out there that started as networking and now it's anything but networking. So, how are you protecting this so that it stays core to its mission?
Megan Roudebush:So we're different in several ways. The first is that there are no ads and there is no spam on our platform.
Chris Burkhard:Is it ok if we clap for that one? Yay, that would be fantastic.
Megan Roudebush:Chris, you can clap for any of our differentiators. So, then the other thing I've mentioned too, is that introductions on our platform require what we call double opt in. So if I want to introduce you to someone in my network via the keyboard platform, you will both get a message and you'll both have to consent to the introduction before proceeding. And that's really important because it prevents people from flinging people at each other. If I just say to you, Hey Chris, I want to introduce you to so and so and I just make the introduction, well you might know the person. You might not want to meet the person, the person might be a competitor.
Chris Burkhard:Megan, I appreciate that. It happens to me all the time. You know people think they're doing something and it's hard you can't always explain that story you know. So that's cool, that makes sense.
Megan Roudebush:You should think of our platform as air traffic control for your networking. So we talked, you asked for the five key things we tell people to do. And having a networking plan and networking goals, users are going to be able to set networking goals. So I am networking to land my first corporate board seat, or I am networking to find investors for our Series A later this year, or I am networking to expand our presence in Toronto, whatever the case may be. Another differentiator is that we help users put strategy behind their networking. And then the last I would just say, and it's really something we're excited about. Your people are all over the place, you have them in your phone, you have them in your social channels might use a CRM, your email, your people are all over the place. And our tool is a tool that pulls them together so that you truly have a holistic understanding of who is in your network.
Chris Burkhard:So Megan, how big are you thinking about KeepWith? What is your B hag? What do you what's the big, big, big, big problem you're trying to solve?
Megan Roudebush:Well, the problem we're trying to solve is that people find relationship building hard. And our big, hairy audacious goal is I want to stand in Times Square when we go public and see the KeepWith logo on the Jumbotron.
Chris Burkhard:I'd like to be there. And how many customers served do you think that is? I'm sure you have a rough there must be a rough, operational type thing.
Megan Roudebush:You know, I think for us it's less about the specific number of people and more about being that trusted resource. So the go to where people go to truly build their relationships. When we get closer to that goal, we can dig into metrics. But I think for us, it's about being that household name that focuses on helping people build stronger relationships.
Chris Burkhard:So I help people, help business owners think about their B hag and it's often hard enough to think about where you want to be eight to ten years from now, right? But a lot of times, I'm excited for you the way you describe your B hag because it's an emotion, it's a feeling that translates to all those stakeholders and constituents that are a part of your team to help you get there. It's something that can get behind and visualize. When you say I'm going to serve a million customers, I feel like I'm at a fast food place that just has a little placard up that says a million served. It's not an emotional thing. It's important but it's not the emotional connection of what you're hoping to accomplish. So, I think it's a great B hag because I could see it happening.
Megan Roudebush:You're welcome to join us in Time Square when
Chris Burkhard:Well I look forward to it. Although I'm more that day comes. likely to stand in the field in Idaho or climb a mountain than I am New York City, but I might do it with you. Do we have all your fun facts out?
Megan Roudebush:Oh, I don't know that we've really talked about that many. Let's see, you know that I hugely support the Peloton platform and love Peloton and the people that I've met and networked with through Peloton. I am a knitter so I don't make enough time for it. I enjoy taking cooking classes when I'm able to travel. That's one of my favorite ways to get to know a location. I love to write, I taught poetry in juvenile detention centers. I'm sure there's a ton more but I think t those are some fun facts that that people can glom on to.
Chris Burkhard:Well, I have a few knitters in the family and I think they're pretty good networkers you know. I wish you could see Megan's face. She's agreeing with it but I've been surprised at that because there's I guess there's always something of passion to share around that. That's really neat, now the Peloton thing. I guess people still care about the pandemic stories and things but you had a really unique example of how your network kind of tied to Peloton and personally I think Peloton could use the good press because I think they've been under the hot lamp a bit lately. If you don't mind, I think we've covered a lot of ground but maybe we wrap with your Peloton story.
Megan Roudebush:So, I should say that we would welcome any chance to support the Peloton community. You know, I got my bike when the pandemic started and didn't really know what I was getting myself into. And I landed on a particular type of training called Power Zone training. It's all about target output. But I landed on a team, we ride in teams for this kind of training of the most incredible human beings on the planet. And so many of us ride together at 5am Central every day. We have had zoom movie nights and happy hours and even though the world is opening up, we continue to do those things. A couple girlfriends went to Charleston around St. Patrick's Day this year, just four of us from the team. And what I would just say is that in November of 2020 I had a personal tragedy where my mom passed away from an accident and the team rallied around me. And I literally was supposed to hop on the bike at the moment when I got the call from the hospital in New York. And when I landed, I had a gift card in my inbox for dinner and I had text messages round the clock for what was probably the toughest ten days or so of my entire life. And so it's that team that literally supported me during one of the most immense challenges going into the hospital to say goodbye to my mom coming out of the hospital, having said goodbye. And so it's interesting to me because I know the power of community. And I know that that bike and platform brought us together and now I will call all of these people lifelong friends.
Chris Burkhard:So Megan, first off, I'm very sorry for your loss. I know it's been a bit but seems appropriate to acknowledge that.
Megan Roudebush:Thank you.
Chris Burkhard:I think what's so special about that story, is I don't know if people stop and think that a virtual community, you know can be that strong. You know, we think that it's got to be our neighbor next door right? You know, there's an example of a very modern twist on something of where it really can go so right. I think it's a really great story. We've had the benefit of chatting in the past. Are you working on other ways to distribute your content? I know that you were beginning to think about a book around this to complement your education and your platform. Is it premature to talk about that? Should we just focus on the platform or do you want to touch on your writing?
Megan Roudebush:So, KeepWith truly is as a platform that has content delivered to enterprises. We're partnering with the Girl Scouts which we haven't even chatted about. So there will be a networking badge and networking programming so some content delivered that way which is exciting.
Chris Burkhard:That's terrific.
Megan Roudebush:And there is a book project that is in the works and because our technology was being built as an entrepreneur, you shuffle things around. So we are absolutely still working on that. As a company, we are looking to strategically partner with other companies that get why we exist. So companies where you know, internal networking is hard or you know the talent landscape has changed because we're all working from home or many of us are. And so we're continuing to deliver content that way through interviews like this. And then on our app there is a content library and so users can log in to the app once they sign up and access content that way as well. So we're continuing to deliver content through many different channels, happy to collaborate on a blog post at some point, Chris.
Chris Burkhard:Fantastic.
Megan Roudebush:Looking to get out as much as possible.
Chris Burkhard:So Megan, a core part of my audience is budding entrepreneurs. So just the last one or two questions. You know, I had found that a lot of times when interviewed, we tell the story of our success, not the journey of what it took to get there. So I guess a couple of things. If you were to kind of think about I mean, you're a busy person, you've played all these roles. You're an entrepreneur, you've got all these relationships to manage. What are your best habits, favorite life hacks, morning habits, things like that. How do you survive what is a pretty intense existence? What are your best practices in that arena?
Megan Roudebush:Sure. So it's a great question and just as you said, you're refining all the time what to outsource and figuring it out. I would say that making the most of my morning time is critical. I am a happier CEO founder, entrepreneur, mom, friend if I work out at 5am. And does it happen every single day? Nope, but on the days that it doesn't happen, I do it a bit later. I've also really started to ask why, when I set goals. So I do set goals, I set a lot of them and I have a friend who holds me accountable. She happened to go to Bryn Mawr with me, she may or may not also be one of our 5am Peloton friends but we set goals for 2022 and we look at them and we check in monthly on them. So I would say set goals across disciplines for the year. They're not new year's resolutions, they're everything from I have a goal to create a bucket list to you know, those types of things. But I've really started to ask why. So if I have a certain goal, why do I want that to happen? I've also become quite conscious of decisions I'm making because I feel like they're the right thing to do and the decisions I'm making, because other people are telling me or trying to tell me what to do. And so I'm focused there.
Chris Burkhard:Megan, I think that last part and there's so much that we could talk about but I think that not only as an entrepreneur but generally as a human, we have so much coming at us and so many shiny objects. But if we don't stop and know what we want, or know who we are, or what we're trying to do, and where we want to go and all that you're just distracted by all that. So I think that is not to be understated is an incredibly powerful thing if other people can work towards that. So final question, how do you work on that? Because that's hard work that last piece accountability buddy, is that what you talk about?
Megan Roudebush:I for sure have an accountability buddy. I kick it old school and I use five star notebooks. And I'm sure that everybody has all the technology tools and there are features in our technology that are absolutely meant to make life easier. I give myself grace, because I think sometimes we can have these perfectionist tendencies. And then if something doesn't, I didn't ride at 5am but I will later today. So I think it's important to be kind, have grace with yourself, allow others to do things for you and you have to step out of the weeds and look at the big picture. It's a bit cliche, but what I mean specifically is you can respond to every email, which by the way, someone once told me your inbox is everyone else's agenda. So you can be in the weeds and you can be handling everyone else's agenda or you can stop for a second and say okay, you know, what are those things that really require my attention that are going to be foundational for my business, for my health for the future? So, it's widening the lens and narrowing it as you need.
Chris Burkhard:So I was taught to things around that. My mentor used to say, what are you overpaid that you're doing and what are you underpaid that you're doing? It's very powerful and it's a very good leadership thing. That's probably enough right there. I think that there's nothing more powerful than that. So Megan, you've got boundless energy and I would just say, as you've got some of these great breakthroughs in these projects coming online, perhaps it would be great to come back and be a guest again. I certainly think your unique story about the financing could certainly be woven into the next thing that you're ready to tell the world about. Because I personally see over and over and over again, people show up at my door and they want to start a business and they say they can't because they don't have the money. And I know you know, great ideas get funded so I'd love to do that. So would you come back sometime?
Megan Roudebush:For sure. I think first of all, thank you for the opportunity and thanks for asking. I think there's a lot to be said on financing and how companies are funded, so I'd be happy to share our journey. We know we'll be raising our A later this year most likely. But what we've done with our seed and just anything in the trenches to the bigger picture policy aspects. Happy to chat about that.
Chris Burkhard:And Megan you know sometimes I think folks need to hear things once or twice. Where can they look for your platform?
Megan Roudebush:Sure. So to to join the KeepWith community, you can go to platform.keepwith.com. That's keepwith. Our website is KeepWith.com, my email is megan@keepwith.com and we have all of the regular social channels that you know either as KeepWith or KeepWith networking.
Chris Burkhard:Megan thank you, keep networking.
Megan Roudebush:Thank's so much for having me, Chris. Pleasure.