Getting out of your comfort zone

Earlier on in this journey, Kia asked me to attend one of her networking events. It was a fashion show that she was involved with and she was eager to introduce me to people she thought would really help with my writing experience. Since I was eager to explore her world of networking, meetings, latte’s and lunch on the run, I had no choice but to man up to the challenge. I would have to act like I was a pro at this.

If only Kia knew how shy I really was. But as usual she had that bright smile on her face that said, “It’s okay Rochelle, you’ve got this.” As she introduced me from one person to another, I could feel my heart beating against my chest, especially as she was introducing me as the next big thing in journalistic history.

“What?” I nearly screamed in disbelief.

She smiled and squeezed my fingers as if to way, don’t worry, you will one day.

And suddenly I felt a little bit more reassured. You see, Kia had a way of making you feel as though you could achieve anything in the world.

“The world is everyone’s for the taking.” She would often say, “You can be anything you want to be in this world and maybe even the next, who knows. I mean ever year we get older, so why not get older chasing our dreams, right?”

She was such a free spirit. I wondered if anything really scares her. 

“Why did you choose to name yourself Kia Storm?” I shouted over the roar of the crowd. I couldn’t tell if she hadn’t answered because she couldn’t hear me, or maybe she didn’t want to tell me, but as if oblivious to my question, despite repeating it a second time again, she pulled me into the depth of a crowd of smiley importance people.

Ask yourself this question. Do you dread trying out new experiences? Am I taking the coward’s way out, just hovering by the drinks stand all evening instead of interacting with new people, pretending that I’m not listening to conversations from afar?

A sensation of déjà vu overcomes me as I know I have been in this exact situation; preferring to apply for new opportunities behind the safety of my computer without having to engage in spontaneous conversation with anyone.

Just in case I said the silliest thing and suddenly they will look at me as if I have a cat on my head or something. I remember being perfectly happy never breaking out of my own bubble, never doing anything extraordinary and never breaking out of my own space.

Someone once told me that public relations can never be taught; it is something that you must learn through practice. I used to hate networking.  Many teachers told me that I should start networking in the media field as the most interesting opportunities are passed on through making contacts.

I always felt uneasy when networking, especially if I was networking with the aim of trying to get job. I knew that I was only speaking to employers in order to get into the professional world. I was not interested in knowing more about them as an individual person and building a personal relationship with them even though I knew that this was what I was supposed to do. I rarely followed up initial meetings thus, giving them the impression that I was not serious about getting into this industry.

So has meeting Kia made a difference at all?

But when I was introduced to Kia, my fear of meeting new people seemed to vanish, at least for a while.......