We were lucky to catch up with Shelly Lombard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shelly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Any thoughts around creating more inclusive workplaces?

I had a demanding Wall Street job at a firm that allowed me to work from home which was perfect for raising a family.

But after 10 years of working long hours, from my house in the suburbs, while balancing child care, I realized that my network of business relationships had evaporated. I wanted to do a career pivot; but headhunters will only call you about jobs in your industry, not for jobs that you’re dreaming of doing. That’s when you need your own network of relationships to call on.

Then later, when I started serving on corporate boards, I learned that roughly 80% of board of director roles are filled through relationships. No wonder, according to e.l.f.’s new ad campaign, there are more men named Dick on corporate boards than there are certain underrepresented groups.

Of course, the lack of inclusivity in corporate America is due to a lot of factors, including unconscious bias. But most of the successful women that I interview for the Schmooze newsletter can point to at least one relationship with a senior person at their company, male or female, whose sponsorship changed the trajectory of their career.

That’s because, in business, relationships are everything. People hire, refer, and promote people they know, like, and trust.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

A strong network of business relationships can help close the gap between where women are in their careers and where they want to be, whether that’s a promotion, the C-suite, or a board of directors role.

I launched Schmooze to help & encourage women to build those types of relationships. Schmooze members get access to mini master classes that teach them how to develop & maintain those business relationships; for example, how to create the network you need for the job you want; how to approach someone on LinkedIn; and how to stay visible when you work from home.

The mini master classes are only for Schmooze members. However anyone can attend Schmooze events. We host IRL & virtual events that women can invite clients, potential clients, contacts, colleagues, mentors & mentees (women or men) to, in order to build business relationships.

Shared experiences are a proven way to do that. Think of Schmooze events as an alternative to the sports tickets & golf outings that men use to woo clients and that are paid for by their companies.

Schmooze events include virtual poker lessons, coffee and spirit tastings, and our signature event, Manicures, Massages & Margaritas. We’re also adding group outings to WNBA and NWSL games and Top Golf. Schmooze members can get discounted tickets to these events.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I worked on Wall Street for over 30 years. I was pretty good at networking but I was never very intentional about it. And I definitely wasn’t intentional about staying in touch with the people I met along the way.

So I did not, and still don’t, consider myself as an expert at networking or building business relationships. Schmooze started as a LinkedIn newsletter. Instead of trying to become a “thought leader”, I decided to interview women who have been successful, primarily because they created a great network of relationships. I ask them how they did it and what advice they’d give to others.

This approach may work for other people who don’t aspire to be thought leaders, Ironically, I’ve built my own network and social media presence because of the Schmooze newsletter. I’m leveraging these contacts to launch the Schmooze membership and event businesses.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I’m not afraid to be vulnerable; to tell all of my story which is full of missteps.

My origin story is about me ignoring the importance of networking and then having to spend 10 years making the career pivot that I longed for.

I’ve talked about how I was the only senior person of color (out of 300 bank vice presidents!) and how, because of that, the top guy knew me by name. But I had no clue how to leverage that into a relationship.

I’ve talked about how I’m the first in my family to work in corporate America. (My parents were teachers.) I was told that I’d have to work twice as hard; but no one ever told me how important relationships are or how to create them.

I’m also frank about the fact that I’m a shy introvert. One reason I probably never invited a potential mentor for coffee or lunch is because I was terrified about having to make small talk. The nice thing about Schmooze events like our coffee tasting is that, if you bring a client, a contact, a potential mentor, you don’t have the full burden of making small talk. It’s an event. There is a barista talking about coffee and other people to chat with.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Schmooze.biz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellylombard/

Image Credits

Katy Andrascik of Willow & Bond