16/06/2026
You don’t outgrow networking. You outgrow what it used to feel like.
Networking works. It builds relationships, it supports people, and it opens doors.
Some people find something that fits them and stay in the same rooms for years, and that works really well for them. This isn’t that.
I’ve realised I don’t want to just “network” anymore. I want to feel something when I walk into a room. I want to meet real people who are pushing themselves, people who are building something, people who are thinking properly about what they’re doing.
I want real conversations. Honest ones. The kind where you actually learn something, where you’re challenged a bit, where you leave thinking that was worth it. I want to feel the energy, share energy, and leave feeling energised.
And for me, that doesn’t come from doing the same thing over and over again. The same rooms, the same format, the same conversations. I need new environments, new energy, new people.
What’s started to click is that some of the best “networking” doesn’t even feel like networking. It happens when people come together through something else. Shared interests, activities, proper conversations that aren’t forced. It’s when whoever’s leading the way removes the barriers between people so they actually talk, share and do something together.
That’s when it works. That’s when you see people properly. That’s when the energy changes. That’s what I want more of.
For me, it’s about carving out my own way of doing it. Not the version I’ve been told to follow, and not the one I think I should be doing. The one that actually works for me.
It’s a bit like leaving school. At some point you stop following the path that’s been set and start figuring out your own. What you’re interested in, how you want to learn, the kind of people you want around you.
It has to be the one you work out for yourself. Once you do that, networking doesn’t stop working. It just starts working in a way that actually gives you something back.
If networking worked the way you wanted it to… what would it actually look like?