WILTON MANORS, Fla. – If you’re a woman and an entrepreneur, you undoubtedly know how necessary networking can be to your company’s success. Depending on your personality, you might also be reluctant to spend an evening in a room full of strangers, many of whom might be just as reluctant to share space with you.
Enter Michelle Talbert, CEO of Her Power Moves, who has created a business concept designed to take the awkwardness out of networking by transforming the way women connect with each other. The Broward-based monthly event held exclusively at businesses owned by women is taking over Fashion Take Out in Wilton Manors on Aug. 18.
“This is un-networking,” Talbert shared in a telephone interview. “In South Florida, when we go to networking events or conferences…people are just handing out their business cards like they’re playing cards, but you don’t really make connections.”
Talbert explained that networking should lead to more than the accumulation of a stack of business cards that end up “on your desk…and you forget who the people are when you get ready to send an email.”
Instead, the former corporate attorney has created a networking model that she encourages women to think of “as connecting, because that’s how women are anyway.
Women can connect over hair, purses, shoes, ‘oh girl, you look so fly,’ and the next thing you know, we’re transacting.”
The mother of two has essentially developed a business model that is a reflection of her personality – vibrant, thoughtful and approachable.
The Aug. 18 event will include a mini-workshop on “Un-networking, what does that look like and how can you benefit from connecting with the other women in the room,” the Queens, New York native said.
To maximize the two hours, the session begins with each woman answering three questions during a rapid-fire introduction:
What do I have, what do I need and what is my name on my favorite social media platform?
“That way, at the outset, you know who has the peanut butter to your chocolate. You don’t have to figure it out,” she said. “I like to say we connect, we collaborate, and we create cash flow unapologetically. There’s no need to apologize for looking for customers when you do it from a heart-centered place.”
A unique aspect of Her Power Moves is a space specifically designed for the introverts in the room.
“We’re creating an environment that can work for everyone’s personality type. With the ‘Her Power Down’ section, you’ don’t have to dip into the bathroom. You don’t have to leave when you get overwhelmed. You can go sit, and no one is allowed to talk to you there. No one is allowed to say ‘hey how are you doing, are you ok, is anything wrong,’”
Talbert explained. “Her Power Down is where you can recharge and reset your literal and figurative batteries to come back into the group.”
She said it’s ideal “because a lot of introverts don’t like too much crowd time. But, they don’t want to leave, so they knuckle through and then they feel horrible and they can’t be authentic.”
Talbert’s advice for introverts, extroverts and those in between: “Leave at home all preconceived notions about what it means to network, whether they be negative or positive. Just be open to the experience. Don’t be focused on the dollars, because they come. We attract (money), we don’t chase (it).”
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Her Power Moves Broward
WHEN: Saturday, Aug. 18 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
WHERE: Fashion Take Out, 2643 N. Andrews Avenue, Wilton Manors.
COST: $15
CONTACT: To purchase tickets or for more information, visit https://HerPowerMoves.com/brow ard.
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