we talk a lot about building in public but we don't talk enough about building meaningful professional relationships.
i'm not the most social or extroverted person is what i used to believe.
for the longest time i kept to myself, convinced i had probably nothing interesting to bring to a conversation (uk classic self-sabotage).
that's a trap, by the way.
job searching is isolating by nature. you're putting yourself out there every day but most of it happens alone.
at some point i just started reaching out anyway. not with an agenda, not with a perfectly curated message - just with genuine curiosity about someone's work, their journey, their experiences.
because networking can feel very corporate-ish, but it doesn’t have to be so!
it can actually feel like being part of a community. talking to designers who just get it - some who've been there, some figuring it out alongside you.
you end up learning something from every conversation.
to every designer sitting on a message they haven't sent yet - just send it.
most people are warmer and willing to help than you'd expect, and you might end up meeting some really great people along the way.