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The need for networking is to create business connections, collaborations, business besties, and so on. It’s about sharing with others to build trust and help achieve goals. As an introvert, this can be a super impactful way to create lasting relationships with other entrepreneurs and business owners. One thing introverts aren’t crazy about when it comes to networking is coming off salesy or spammy. However, showing up as your most authentic self helps you shine, even more so for introverts when you build those connections.
Our guest on the podcast today is Kari Ginsburg. She nerds out about supporting people through personal or organizational transformation. She is a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and one of the first 500 recipients of the globally-recognized Certified Change Management Professional accreditation. As the HBIC (that’s Head Badass In Charge) of Uproar Coaching, LLC, Kari supports women and femme leaders who want to spread out, get loud, and be boss bitches. In her free time, Kari enjoys anything true crime, snuggling with her rescue dogs, and she is losing the battle against the weeds in her garden.
In this episode, Kari and I dive into:
- Going from a corporate career as a non-traditional leader to becoming a Certified Professional Coach
- Not letting others mold you into something that doesn’t feel authentic to you
- Balancing your energy as an introvert to truly shine
- Using your introvertedness as a strength and not a weakness
- …and much more
From Corporate Career as a Non-Traditional Leader to Becoming a Certified Professional Coach
Kari was a leader in the federal government in her corporate career. Through this role, she supported people through moments and opportunities of transformation, supporting the business or organization to have these opportunities to have a lasting impact on their employees. Coaching has always been important and valuable to her as she established herself as a non-traditional leader. Not only did she not look like other leaders surrounding her, but she didn’t think like them.
Kari’s approach to problem-solving was drastically different than what was advised or authorized in leadership books. It felt like mentors wanted to mold her into something else and take the colorfulness and sparkling things out of her that made her genuinely dynamic. At the time, she felt like being held back was stifling a good portion of who she was, her growth, and being able to evolve to try those new and innovative things.
When the pandemic happened, Kari was at a weird place in her corporate job. She decided to take the opportunity to figure out what she was passionate about, which was supporting people in organizations through moments of transformation. She had also been doing some change management consulting work, so she decided to step into coaching fully to help mentor others through those same experiences, like the feeling she had to behave in a certain way, which wasn’t authentic to her. So Uproar Coaching was born.
Since then, Kari has supported over 200 individuals in identifying and achieving the goals that allow them to not only spread out, get loud, and be boss bitches, but to be their most authentic, most colorful selves; however that looks for them.
Do You Want to Be Molded Into Someone You’re Not as an Introvert?
In the coaching industry, it seems that coaches focus on molding you into themselves or who they think you have to be to achieve those goals. But, as Kari said, that takes away your sparkle, colorfulness, and who you are authentically. So when a coach can really look at you as a person and help you achieve your goals in a way that makes you feel empowered and as though you are living your most authentic life, that’s when a coach plays their proper role in your life. They listen, understand, and allow you to shine in whatever ways you are looking for support. Coaching isn’t about molding you like playdough into a basic shape like everyone else.
That’s exactly where Kari starts her coaching relationships by understanding what makes her clients tick, what brought them to coaching, and what they are looking to get out of coaching. This allows her to support them best and meet their relationship expectations.
A good bit of the people Kari works with is introverts or omniverts – those who get great satisfaction from engaging with people in business but need lots of recharge time afterward. Something she is continually startled by is that introverts are so often expected to behave in a way that is counter to their comfort zones to find and feel successful. That should not be the case.
Balancing Your Energy as an Introvert to Be Your Most Authentic Self
As you are being truthful to yourself, you must have healthy boundaries. You should understand what balance you need to make this happen, and where your energy comes from. To balance your energy, it is essential to have the tools at hand to rest, recover, and get excited in a way that is truthful to you. You need to pause and reevaluate your actions and why when something becomes unhealthy.
Boundaries are important for entrepreneurs, especially introverts. Managing your energy could look like setting boundaries around how many days per week you do calls or meetings virtually and having to engage and show up on camera. If you know that doing more than two or three a day drains you, set yourself up for success by balancing that energy with how often you have to show up.
Speaking of energy and being mentored, especially by someone who is an introvert, wouldn’t it be nice if they had the opportunity to talk about what it means for them to be an introvert and to share that with other introverted people? That would give so many introverted entrepreneurs and business owners the permission or opportunity to learn how to manage their own day-to-day lives as an introvert and to know what tips or tricks they have come up with, for you to be then able to try as you continue to grow and prosper beyond where you are now.
Using Your Introversion as a Strength, Not a Negative Trait
Looking at your own introvertedness, specifically growing up, I’m sure you have viewed it as a negative trait. You may have even thought that it wasn’t something to be accepted and that you needed to change that about yourself to improve. Something you must understand if you still feel this way is that your introversion is your strength.
It’s not a negative trait to try to change about yourself. This is your personality; you have to learn how to function with it. This function is true to your nature, so as you learn and grow alongside it, you become more authentic to who you are.
Kari and I have been labeled shy and awkward for our introversion growing up. I was even voted “most shy” in high school, which greatly upset me. These things make you want to shrink back into yourself regardless of whatever you try to do to connect with others growing up and even now.
So many people still don’t know how an introvert thinks, feels, functions, or what it means to be an introvert. However, things are changing, and people are becoming more aware of personality traits, mental health, self-care, etc. It’s a step in the right direction.
How to Shine in Marketing and Networking as an Introvert
I recommend a few marketing methods for introverts, but most introverts can’t stand to come across as salesy or spammy when it comes to marketing. That’s another reason why introverts tend to avoid it altogether. Like Kari, though, she recognizes that sales are only one portion of the actual discipline of marketing. So other than marketing on her social media, she uses authentic networking to make connections, build that trust, and help the people she connects with to achieve their goals along with hers.
An important way for Kari to get started with marketing was by figuring out ways to talk to people about her work, the services she offers, and the programs she runs in a way that feels real, truthful, and doesn’t feel spammy to her. Then, if she can pass her tripwire test, she feels it’s okay to go out into the world.
With marketing, as you grow your business, it is also crucial that you bring in people who have different points of view, who can push you out of your comfort zone, and help bring a little bit of professional tension that also enables you to move outside of your comfort zone to elevate beyond where you actually can be. So it’s helpful to have supporters, and these people don’t necessarily need to be somebody that you pay. It could even just be somebody who is like a business best friend or who has a point of view that you respect, who is invested in you, and the success of your business.
Networking in Person for Introverts
Something that goes against so many introvert principles and that Kari has found so impactful for her business is getting out and meeting people, either by speaking or chatting with people outside of a podcast recording, going to a networking event, or even just going to a small gathering at a local maker shop in town. You could find an event for a hobby you have, which would give you something to fall back on if you can’t talk to anyone. It would also be the perfect opportunity to introduce yourself to people and get to know them authentically.
It’s an easy way to get out of the house for the night that allows you to get out of your comfort zone slightly. So getting out and intentionally speaking with people, like being in small networking groups, knowing that you have shared experiences of being individuals in business and growing businesses, what those challenges mean, and how to balance and integrate work, life, and aspiration is also an easy way to get started in chatting about what you’re up to, and what your business is doing.
Using One-on-One Conversations to Thrive as an Introvert When Networking
As far as networking goes, one thing that introverts thrive at is speaking with and connecting with others through one-on-one conversations. However, when it comes to more significant networking events like breakout networking rooms, it’s easier for an introvert to make some connection, no matter how small, to carry that conversation outside the breakout room. Allow yourself, awkwardness and all, to start connecting and building those relationships with other people.
For example, you may find someone who loves to rescue dogs like you, who is a coffee connoisseur like you, or someone who has a similar business to yours. From there, you can build trust with each other to then start collaborating, and so forth. It’s a beautiful way to lead with conversation and get to know people without being spammy or salesy. It’s an introvert win-win situation!
If you want to try networking as an introvert, what kind of connection are you most excited to make? (business bestie, collaborative, mentor, etc.)
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A Breakdown of This Episode
[2:03] Kari’s background in corporate as a non-traditional leader to becoming a Certified Professional Coach
[5:57] Not letting others mold you into something that doesn’t feel authentic to you
[9:13] Balancing and managing your energy as an introvert to truly shine
[11:36] Using your introvertedness as a strength and not a weakness
[15:17] How to be authentic in your marketing and networking as an introvert
[18:55] Networking one-on-one with others as an introvert to help you thrive
If you enjoyed this episode, I invite you to drop a five-star rating + review with your biggest takeaway, so that other introverts can find this podcast for guidance and support through their introvert entrepreneur journey!
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