I had the pleasure of introducing someone who inspires me yesterday. Alana Muller is the President of the Kauffman FastTrac Program, published author, motivating speaker, world traveler, dynamic mom, and all around amazing person. She spoke to the Women’s Association of Credit Union Leaders (WACUL) at the Central Exchange in Kansas City on the topic: Being an Intrapreneur. If you haven’t heard the phrase intrapreneur before, the concept is taking what entrepreneurs encompass (creativity, risk taking, new developments) and creating this same culture for colleagues within your organization. Even if you already have a successful venture, the inspiration that internal and external ground breakers harness needs to be nurtured to continue to grow.
One of the most fascinating conversations I have with others is how they got to where they are today. “What’s your story?” and “Who inspires you?” I love to ask. I am always amazed at the responses I get. For Alana, she found her inspiration in a most unlikely place: Networking. Those of you in the business world, or for any world for that matter, engage in networking on a daily basis. We start conversations with strangers, acquaintances, our best friend and others on the premise of learning more.
Alana found that networking not only opened up new doors for her, but brought forth a new project for her: writing. www.CoffeeLunchCoffee.com was born as a way to share her trials and tribulations on her networking quest. Her networking venture started with 9 months of meeting with over 200 people during the times of a mid morning coffee, lunch time, and an afternoon break to generate new information, connections and an ever expanding knowledge base of the community she serves. The face to face interactions she has with others continues to open doors for her, and allows her to engage and connect in ways she never imagined. I invite you to check out Alana’s blog, buy her book (Coffee Lunch Coffee: A Practical Field Guide for Master Networking) and see what inspirations develop.