20A – Growing Your Social Capital

1. Nike shoe designer for track and field innovation- Domain Expert

The first individual is based in Beaverton, OR. I have worked with a shoe team since 2015. I asked someone I am close with to refer me to someone outside of the team that I could speak to about a school project. As a professional athlete, having the best gear can be advantageous to provide a competitive edge to your opponents. Nike invests heavily into their research and development department so they can be the world's leaders in innovation. They strive to set the bar but also create patents to protect their work. 

When discussing the product with him, he was very intrigued as he hosts many meetings daily and weekly where many of his team may have issues with being completely present. As many members of the group are working multiple projects at one time, it is difficult to turn the brains off and solely focus on one project. This comes with the possibility of being called out of meetings to meet with people on other projects. He immediately found this as something of interest and believe it could help the quality of the meetings. 

Including this person in my network is beneficial to me for several reasons. I plan to have some form of future in this specific field at Nike and having a contact in the department could be a way to get a reliable reference but also have someone back the quality of work I provide due to our extended history and success. I believe concepts like "Campfire" additionally demonstrate my ability to locate opportunities and find a solution. 

The exchange I had with this individual was my napkin idea. Explaining the technological concepts, I wished the product to possess and seeing what ideas immediately came to him on ways I can better the product. 

This experience did not differ from experiences in the past as I am continually working to extend my network. I enjoy meeting new people and building relationships. It was easy for me to reach out to someone in my "target market" because I have witnessed the issue, first-hand, and believed the Nike employee could relate and appreciate this as soon as he heard about it. 

2. Pastor, motivational speaker, business owner-Market Expert

This individual works full-time and has two young children. As gaming and texting are extremely popular with the younger generation, getting his kids off the phone around dinner and homework time in a continuous battle. He has attempted to ask the children to avoid the phones during these periods but sometimes goes unheard due to the lack of support from his wife who also struggles to leave her phone from the dinner table. 

This individual was a guest speaking at a dinner I attended and I thought it would be a neat ice breaker to present my idea to him. I contacted him directly after his presentation and this was an approach others weren't taking, which enabled me to capture his interest. 

The exchange I had with this individual was presenting my elevator pitch and discovering how clear my message was. The return expectation was to receive constructive feedback that can help me introduce the concept and product more transparently while also convincing the individual that this is a "Must-have product."

This experience enabled me to see how quickly I could build my network because he was already speaking to other parents about similar issues and knew friends that would be interested in something like this.  I believe word-of-mouth recommendations go a long way with parents and they are always looking for ways to making parenting more efficient and beneficial for the entire family. 

3. Montessori teacher/influencer- Supplier

This individual is a firm believer in the Montessori method of teaching and is a mother. She is extremely passionate about getting children away from their cellular and mobile devices and getting them more involved with the real world. Having hand on experiences that enable them to process and learn differently. 

I found this person through a mutual friend. She is a teacher at a school my friend sends her daughter to. I am interested in the type of learning style and this was a good way to exchange information.

The nature of this exchange was both the elevator pitch and my napkin idea. The return I was expecting was tips of ways of improving both areas. Also, to learn more about the school. 

Including this person in my network would be huge as she is a teacher amongst hundreds of children and their parents who couldn't quickly learn about this product and spread the word to similar thinking parents but also to parents that don't have their children enrolled in the school. 

This networking experience was effortless as I was dealing with someone that thinks very similar to me. I will continue to expand my network but working through the current network and seeing what external connections I can make through that.