Style for Grace

Yesterday was an incredibly long day. I took the 3:05 p.m. train to New York City to attend the Savor the Success Holiday Party and Trunk Show. When I arrived at Penn Station, I took a cab downtown and landed at Delluva Spa and Salon on Franklin Street to make my way to the party. I'm typically a late arrival to parties. However, last night, I was among the first arrivals. I was immediately handed my goodie bag - which was filled with many wonderful items - then greeted by Angela Jia Kim, CEO of Om Aroma, co-founder of Savor the Success, Concert Pianist extraordinaire and recent muse of Tim Gunn via his Bravo TV show "Tim Gunn: Guide to Style." Angela shared with me the event layout and off I went to shop and network!

I should mention that Angela is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and someone I have enjoyed getting to know over the last few months! It was so nice seeing a familiar face immediately upon arriving!

So here I am, arriving alone at a spa in NYC with my laptop backpack (dorky, huh? I needed the hours on the train to work!) greeted by sweet Angela and I quickly realized, I only knew one other person (Gwen Gardner) at the entire event! Gwen is the owner and designer of Little Chickie Wear and she was selling her eco-friendly organic cotton t-shirt and onesies. Admittedly, I did linger at her booth quite a bit!

As I began to take steps towards the crowd, I immediately begin to panic. I soon began feeling anxiety, similar to those slight pangs of fear on the first day of school! It seemed like everyone had someone to talk with except me! Can you imagine? In retrospect this is slightly exaggerated, but nevertheless, I was nervous and couldn't muster the courage to introduce myself to anyone! Yikes!

So I'll admit, I choked. I did manage to make one new contact in-between my fits of networking distress: Rupa Bihani Shah of Bring it in a Bag. BTW, check out her Web site - she sells these fantastic jute bags that will help you reach your "green" goals - I left with two bags for my weekly grocery shopping trips and will now make the leap to being a "green" grocer. For those of you who are Capital Region residents, Rupa is originally from Niskayuna - small world, huh?

Now, for a person who naturally is an extrovert, I'm wondering what happened? Typically, when attending events, I come prepared to network, filled with energy, and eager to meet new people. Last night, I walked in feeling charged and ready to meet and connect, but left early to catch an earlier train. Perhaps I wanted to arrive home at a relatively normal hour (10:55 p.m. vs. 1:15 a.m.), perhaps I needed more to eat and drink, but one thing is evident, I entered the door energized then developed cold feet in about 5 minutes.

Regardless, I would love to hear from you regarding your best (and worst) networking moments. What tips do you have to offer people going solo to events?

Special thanks to Angela, Mark (Angela's husband, co-founder of Savor the Success, and top notch cook!) and Delluva Spa - it was a fantastic event and I walked away with lots of goodies and gifts!

Labels: bring it in a bag, holiday parties, little chickie wear, networking, om aroma, savor the success, tips