I’m super woo about one thing—connection calls
A few years ago, when I was dating, I realized that when I approached first dates with a good attitude—thinking, “I enjoy my own company and most people are pretty cool”—I never felt like I was wasting my time. Even if there wasn’t a romantic vibe, I’d usually learn something interesting or have a nice conversation.
What does dating have to do with business?
I feel the exact same way about connection calls.
And last year, I did an accidental experiment and learned their power. After niching down to exclusively serve women business owners, I started doing regular virtual coffee chats. Almost immediately, my calendar filled up and I was booked out for months.
But then I got burnt out and stopped the calls. Guess what happened?
Work dried up completely.
After a long summer vacation (and returning to crickets), I started the connection calls again. Within weeks—booked solid.
Get ready for the woo!
Here’s the woo part… very few clients come directly from these calls. But there’s something magical that happens when you’re regularly connecting, talking about your work, and putting yourself out there. It creates this expansive energy that yields abundance (and yikes—there’s a woo sentence for you!).
I have some tips!
If you want to try adding connection calls to your business without burning out, here are my hard-earned tips:
Add structure and boundaries. I only take calls on Mondays and Tuesdays and I limit them to 2 per day.
Keep them short. 20 minutes is plenty! Some people do 30 or 45, but I promise you can have a meaningful conversation in 20.
Have a goal for every call. Maybe it’s learning about a new industry, understanding someone’s business, or exploring potential collaborations.
Be generous. Is there a connection you can make or a resource you can share? People remember kindness. And it just fucking feels good!
Be strategic about who you talk to. Don’t take calls with just anyone or you’ll burn out fast. Are they in your ideal client profile? Do they interact with your ICP? Or do you simply think you’ll vibe?
When you approach these calls with a spirit of genuine connection and service rather than immediate sales, I think they always feel worth the time.
Goodies Just For You
WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT: Ezra Klein's podcast episode on parenting in the age of social media. He and social scientist Jonathan Haidt have a really thoughtful conversation about the perils of screens and social media and they share some ideas about what we can do about it. I was almost feeling hopeful and then they got to what's happening with AI 😱 But it's still a great conversation that we need to be having.
WHAT I'M COOKING: Crispy Gnocchi With Burst Tomatoes and Mozzarella. This is a perfect weeknight meal. I use the Trader Joe's frozen cauliflower gnocchi and add chopped spinach and pretend that the veggies are a good counterweight to all that cheese. My son gives it 10 stars. I think he said something like, "I was full, but now I'm going to eat this for dessert." And it truly comes together in under 30 minutes.
WHO I'M ADMIRING: Lila Smyth is the branding photographer of your dreams. She did my personal branding photos a few weeks ago and I could not be more thrilled (an example above). I love the photos, but I also loved the whole process of working with her, from the thoughtful intake interview to how fun she was during the actual shoot. If you're in the Bay Area, she'll come to your space. But she also has a great studio, if you want to go that route.
