Ask and Ye Shall Receive

As my partner and I plot how to earn enough income to stay afloat, we've learned to tap into our network in new ways. I asked my cousin, who's a pretty big wig at a university here in town, to give me some advice about getting new teaching gigs. I'm awfully excited about the nonprofit financial management and intro to fundraising class I teach at DU, and I wanted to figure out how to approach others in the college and university system in a way that would at least get me in the door.

In the nicest way, he said that it was pretty much a fool's errand to go chasing after new teaching gigs. The curriculum is already jampacked, my class would have to be an elective and they wouldn't be likely to add it, etc. Being the pragmatist that I am, I moved on to other things--no sense in wasting energy where the payoff will be small or nonexistent.

At a Women'sVision Foundation event last week, I ran into someone who is working on her Master's thesis at the Women's College at DU. We chatted for a few minutes, I asked a couple of pointed questions, and she recommended that I contact the Women's College to see if they might be interested in my topic areas. The next day, I figured what the heck, what would it would cost me other than a few minutes of time? I emailed the dean, and within an hour I had a response from one of their reps, who scheduled a meeting to talk with me.

The moral of this story? I need to follow my own advice--the advice I give other women: If you don't ask, you don't get.

Good Things Come to Those Who Work Hard

Linda Brisnehan of Lockheed Martin, the 2007 Women'sVision Foundation "Woman of the Vision" was the intro speaker at the Women'sVision Savvy Salon last week. She had three tips for the career women in the audience. I found myself nodding my head in agreement after everything she said, and I thought her advice was worth sharing.

1. Work hard and give 100%.
If you work hard, you get a good reputation, and those who have a good reputation see lots of opportunities come their way.

2. Continuously learn.
This really means create your own opportunities by getting smarter and better all the time.

3. Build your network.
Amen, sister. Can't say enough about this one, because all of the new contacts in my network have opened my eyes to whole worlds I didn't even know existed.