Aussie in the USA, Pontificating Prince of Positive, Director of Digital at charity: water
@ Fair Folks and a Goat, SoHo NYC
Me: soy latte / PY: soy latte

Paull (with two 'L's) gave me the idea to start fifty coffees.

PY and I worked together at charity: water for almost three years. We first met at a cw event in San Francisco, before I was officially hired. His positive energy, enthusiasm, and accent (he’s Australian) immediately drew me in. We're both extroverts who are fueled by social interactions and learning new stuff. He is a connector, a mover & a shaker, a very intelligent, well spoken guy. And Youngy (as his rugby mates call him) has always been a big cheerleader of mine.

He is responsible for a lot of the big partnerships charity: water has benefitted from over the years, including being one of the highlighted companies when Instagram launched their video platform in 2013. But more impressively, he wrote and performed an original rap about his team at our annual staff holiday party.

#legend

Discoveries
1. You never know when your A-HA! moment will strike.
Sipping non-dairy lattes, we brainstormed job ideas based on what he thinks I'm good at (building community, developing relationships, representing people and brands, authentic "networking"). What type of position and company will help me leverage my people skills? What companies really value relationship building?

2. Recruit others to identify your skillz.
I was invigorated hearing an outsider's perspective on my skill-set (I was big-time questioning whether or not I even had one of those). Oh, right, I'm personable. People trust me. Ok, this is going to all be fine. But our strengths are easy to get used to and forget about. We sit in our strengths every day, and those skills and personality traits become normalized.

3. Keep your eyes and ears open for inspiration.
Paull told me to read Reid Hoffman's book and mentioned an article he'd read a few months ago in FastCompany (or Inc. or Wired?) about a guy in the San Francisco tech space (maybe? he couldn't exactly remember) who recommended that you set up a bunch of casual coffee meetings when in a transitional work phase.

This is interesting. A transition period blog. I could do this.

What do I need to start a blog right away?
1. A good name
2. Great photos
3. People to meet with

OFF TO THE RACES!