Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Here’s a thing I hate about business consultants: They always behave as if there is some big magic secret to being successful. And if you only HAD THIS SECRET THAT WE’VE PACKAGED INTO A $2,000 WEBINAR - you’d be successful.
That’s just not true.
In the last month, I’ve had several conversations with mentors, meetup participants and friends about the exact details of “how” my business went from solopreneur venture to a company with a few employees, vendors and contractors on the books. Perhaps more importantly, the real questions was how we built a client base and continue to work to build it to support that kind of infrastructure. It’s not something you’ll find in our business plan or an enterprise software I picked up. It was something quite simple.
It really just comes down to one big thing I always, always do: I put a great deal of thought into my follow-up.
We all do it. We set up countless networking meetings. We attend dozens of meetups and “get to know you” coffees every month. But have you ever thought about what comes out of those conversations? I am constantly amazed at how few people I meet with as a favor or for a casual conversation never reach out ever again. And you know, that bothers me. Because it communicates clearly that because I wasn’t immediately helpful to them - I wasn’t worth continuing a conversation with. I have put a ridiculous amount of thought into what I want to achieve out of these meet and greets. And here is what I’ve learned:
1. Have an internal agenda for every meeting, even if it’s just a casual coffee.
It is never stated out loud, but in my mind, I go into every networking event or meeting with a clear internal agenda about what I want to accomplish. Usually it’s that I want to talk to a specific person OR I want to make a connection with someone in a new industry or potential client space. If it’s a one-on-one meeting, my agenda is usually to figure out how we can help each other succeed. It’s not printed on paper, but it’s present in my mind.
2. Leave every meeting with a REASON to follow-up.
Sometimes I just want to make a new industry connection. Other times I am looking for a new client or partnership. Which is why people who have spent time with me in these settings know: I end every one of these meetings with a clear list of things I’m going to do after that meeting. Oftentimes it is something as simple as: I’m going to introduce you to another helpful person in the industry OR share an article with you that reminds me of our conversation. In the best case scenario, I am following up with a project proposal for future video work together. Whatever it is, I always say to that person: “I’m going to follow up with you about x, y or z.”
3. Follow up! Follow up! Follow up!
You know what my clients have told me again and again? That they have met with countless people who have never bothered to follow up with them. This actually amazes me. It takes 2 minutes to write a thoughtful email. Five minutes to put together a thank you card and throw a stamp on it. If you value people and the connections you’re making, you’ll show them with these simple gestures.
4. Be strategically helpful.
There is making introductions and connections because they are valuable and there is making introductions because you want to appear to be helpful. Be the first person. Find ways to add value and before you know it, you’ll have the reputation of being the kind of person that makes things happen.
5. Be open to change and feedback.
When a project doesn’t happen after we put together a proposal at Mighteor, I used to get frustrated. Now, I view it as a learning opportunity. I’m not afraid to follow up with our potential client and ask specifically what we failed to deliver in the proposal and what they would have liked to see that was different. Sometimes, people are too shy to be honest. But, I do think that it has made me better at personally developing plans for our future proposals that results in a higher success rate.
As we work to hire our summer interns, I’m shocked at how many people seem really excited about the job when they come in for the interview, but when I actually follow up with them with more questions or information - it takes days to get answers back. On top of that, so few people actually follow up with questions about why they didn’t get the job, that it’s actually disappointing to me. We can ALL be better about how we approach our lives and our business.
The most important part of all of this? Don’t treat business like it’s about some magic secret clue hidden in a temple behind a web server in TRON. We ALL want to succeed. Helping each other do that is the key to fruitful relationships inside and outside your business.
I have been in a shitty mood lately. And I’m not afraid to admit that. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. Overworked. Overtired. Over it. It’s easy to think that the cure to these problems is just hunkering down and focusing in on the things that stress us, but really, that’s not always the medicine we need. For me, the medicine I often need is a total distraction. A total escape from whatever bullshit my brain is choosing to wake me up at 3:30 in the morning stressing about.
If you’re like me and you want to escape into total childlike glee, give these things a try this weekend:
1. Skip a real meal and eat all your favorite desserts for one meal.
Pie. Ice cream. Cake. Whipped topping. Sprinkles. Chocolate chips. Cookies. Candy Bars. Or if you’re more of the salty type: Chips. Pretzels. Fries.
2. Rent a Vespa scooter and tour your city in a new way.
A day rental is most cities is only about $50 and I truly recommend taking a training course first to make sure you won’t injure yourself or anyone else. But, if you’re quick to learn and even just a little bit brave - this is the kind of thing that will lift the adrenaline and make you feel totally free. Wind in your hair. Sun in your eyes. Nothing but road ahead.
3. Binge Bee and PuppyCat on YouTube. Twice.
Do I need to explain this? I guess I do. It’s silly. It’s colorful. It’s like being high on catnip, human style. I really can’t explain it more perfectly than that.
4. Go volunteer to play with kittens at the animal shelter.
Perhaps I’m just kind of obsessed with cats of all kinds, but most animal shelters and humane societies need people to come brush kittens, play with kittens and be nice to kittens. After spending your morning binging Puppycat, you’ll be working very hard not to bring home your own leather jacket lusting furry companion.
5. Engage in a glittery craft project and don’t worry about the damn mess.
Glitter will make you feel like a child. It’s impossible to control. It’s best used in crazy whips of joy and silliness. It’s generally unimportant what you do with it - as long as you enjoy the process.
6. Invent an all new pancake recipe. Including the toppings!
You know what makes me feel like I’m a kid again? Thinking about how my parents used to make pancakes or french toast every Sunday morning before church. So maybe you don’t have that memory. But if you have a similar one, I recommend getting the basic ingredients for pancakes and going wild. Blueberry white chocolate with almonds and cinnamon. YUM. Bacon siracha and peanut sauce. SALTY.
7. Organize a late night Skype session with all your best friends and agree to each bring a bottle of wine and a juicy bit of girly gossip about your sex life.
Most of my best friends live in different cities from me. I truly believe that spending time with the people we love makes us all happier. We laugh more. We smile more. We relax more. So if you need to, you should organize a Skype date. Just make sure you have a naughty agenda.
8. Go skydiving.
I tried this for the first time last month with my mom and I have to admit, I had no idea what to expect. I knew I should be a little scared, but mostly, I was anxious to know how it would FEEL. And you know how it feels? Freaking ridiculous and insane and invigorating and giggly and wooooooooot.
9. Get an artful manicure with a crazy pattern.
As a girl boss, I always get boring manicures. Solid colors. The occasional glitter. When I’m feeling crazy, I’ll get two colors or a stripe. Well, here’s a fun idea: go get the words: LOVE HATE on your nails. Or little smiley faces. Or peace signs. Get rainbow colors on every nail. Just do what your 5 year old self would do.
10. Be naked. All day.
Have you ever just hung out in your apartment naked all day. I have. And it’s damn liberating. It reminds me of being a child, because as a little girl, I hated my uncomfortable tights and itchy sweaters. Now as an adult, I still hate it, but I have a ton more patience with clothing, in general. Going without clothing is like channeling my teeny self all over again.
What makes you feel childlike glee?
So you’ve just gotten back from Comic Con. Your feet feel like lumps from a decrepit tree. Your throat hurts from yelling over crowds. You’ve taken two showers, but you still smell weird. And yet, you’re happy. Weirdly, contentedly happy.
That’s the post Con Coma.
If you’re just getting back from your first Con, here’s what I always recommend:
1. Sleep. Sleep as much as you possibly can. Take naps at any random moment just because you have a free hour and it’s possible to squeeze it in. Sleep on your ride to work if you can. Sleep on your lunch. You will need this sleep so you don’t cry.
2. Don’t look at all you pictures right away. Sometimes the truth about life is that looking at happy things can actually be sad. Just watch Inside Out to see what I mean. Give it a few weeks before you get into all the feels.
3. Make fun plans for the week after Con. Go out to dinner and a movie with your girlfriends. Get to yoga every night. Start planning your next vacation. Take on your next big craft project. It’s really hard not to look back at the weekend and not feel a bit of “wah wahs” about it. So, make plans and distract yourself.
4. Engage in your nerdery with verve. A midnight premiere is a perfect decision post Con. Binging Netflix? Another perfect decision. Basically, anything that allows you to escape into a fandom you’ve been ignoring or find a new fandom all over again.
5. Don’t start planning for next year. Yet. The Baker Street Babes always take a hiatus after SDCC before starting all the emails on SherlockeDCC. Even if it’s just talking about how to do things better next year, it’s so much more articulate and helpful to wait a month or two to dive into details.
So tell me, what do you do after a Con to get through it?
Nerds are a weird breed. We do things… compulsively. Impulsively. Repeatedly. Obsessively. We just, embrace our lives with a certain verve that could lead to regrets.
You know what I mean. Mountain Dew induced gut rot regret on a Wednesday morning at work from a long-night of binge watching Doctor Who on Netflix the night before.
Here are the things I just refuse to regret as a nerd:
Why write this? Well, because I want to get beyond just not regretting these things. I want to … celebrate them. So awesome. Take those slightly embarrassing nerdy things you do and turn that on its head. Instead, shout it out and be weirdly parade-levels of proud.
Sometimes life is just a painful pile of ugly, uncomfortable and unfortunate. And while I’ve recently been reminded that you can survive anything if you take one small step at a time, sometimes, it can be just as valuable to completely lose yourself in moving pictures.
Here are five movies I fall back on when I need to be reminded that life is still G.D. Beautiful:
CORALINE
While tonally dark for a children’s movie, I have a tremendous amount of gooey soft spot feelings for this movie because it dances with the questions kids ask themselves, but adults can never really answer. Why are things the way they are? What really hides in the dark corners of our minds? What does it mean to be creepy? Humans are so imperfect. It’s good to be reminded.
CASTAWAY ON THE MOON
This movie made my heart literally skip beating when I watched it the first time. I cried, not just because it’s poignant and touching, but because it has staying power. I find myself thinking about its simple scenes all the time and their resonance in my life at any given moment. Give it a minute to get you in. I promise, it will get there.
THE SESSIONS
I have a weird sense of connection with actor John Hawkes. I think he is one of the most under appreciated actors of our time and no film could make that more apparent than The Sessions. He absolutely carries this movie straight from possibly weird to entirely soul-altering in its humanity. Sure, I cry like a baby every time. But there’s something about the honestness of that which I just love to admit.
NEVER LET ME GO
So you’re thinking: I want to feel truly weird things about being a human. I want to feel like I’m part of the world and humanity is good. But then you wake up and realize, eh, sometimes the world and people are total shit. What if they were worse shit? Well, that’s this movie. Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley and Miss Mulligan just wrench you until the end. And again, you’ll probably weep like a baby. But, it’s worth it.
THE DARJEELING LIMITED
Is there such a thing as a list written by myself that doesn’t include a Wes Anderson reference? Feels impossible these days. But I like this movie for examining our emotions because it taps into our human desire to be connected. As a person with a sibling, I never feel untethered from my brother, no matter the distance. There’s something about that dynamic, that truth, that is so beautifully conveyed in this slightly wacky, but totally worthwhile film. When Owen Wilson says I want us to ask any question, no matter how uncomfortable, I feel it so freely. What if we asked ourselves any question, no matter how uncomfortable?
So I guess this begs the question: when you are emotionally tapped and just need to escape into your feelings and cry it out, what do you turn to?
