A story about the unexpected power and proximity of connection.

It’s November 2017 and I’m hosting a Colony Networking event in my home village of Lymm, south Warrington. New attendee Kate Jenkinson is setting up her business and decides to attend because the event is local to her and she’s “between things”. As she leaves, she offers a casual, parting comment that would lead to a number of unexpected events and connections.

“I really enjoyed the event. Have you spotted that new LinkedInLocal thing; I think it would be right up your street”.

I begin some research and find that LinkedInLocal is a new connection movement, founded by Anna McAfee in Australia. It aims to bring together LinkedIn connections in a local meet up; and yes, it’s definitely up my street so I decide to apply to host events. But – I decide to bring Kate with me on the journey since she shared the idea.

Kate and I arrange a meeting to discuss this. The day of our meeting, my washing machine breaks and I need to stay home for repair work. I message her to ask if she could come to my house instead and when she arrives I say that I hope she hasn’t come too far and been inconvenienced.

‘Not at all’, she says, ‘I live just over there’, pointing the house over my fence.

It turns out Kate is my neighbour and we can actually wave to each other (if we were so inclined 😉) from our bedroom windows.

Fast forward to January 2018 and I’ve arranged a loose “interview-type” call with Anna in Australia. I invite Kate too but hide her to the side until I can explain her presence. It’s night time in the UK so we both have our PJ bottoms on (as you do, when you’re out of view from the waist-down and you’re both just feet away from your bedrooms).

Anna and I chat first. I say I know her home town of Coffs Harbour as I backpacked there in my twenties. She says she knows my home-town too as she has relatives in Lymm. At which point, I stare at her name on the screen in disbelief. Anna’s nephew is one of my son’s best friends and had in fact been over to play the day before. We’ve well and truly smashed the six degrees of separation rule it seems.

The rest of our interview chat blurs into insignificance as the discovery of mutual connections across the globe becomes apparent.

And then it’s time for my admission. That I have someone beside me. Kate.

I turn the camera and explain why she’s there and that really she should be in on whatever this unexpected LinkedinLocal journey is going to be.

And so she was.

Kate and I launched the Warrington meet-up in March 2018, the same week I launched the Manchester group with Alex McCann, Mark Williams and Amanda Newman – three further LinkedIn connections that I remain in contact with, and in the case of Alex, with whom I’ve since co-hosted other networking events.

As for Kate and I since that day. Well, we’ve enjoyed plenty more conversations and ventures since that initial chat in my conservatory. Aside from co-hosting LinkedInWarrington events, subsequent adventures have included:

• Kate creating bespoke poetry for several businesses during a Small Business Saturday event I ran in 2018. I still use the piece she wrote to this day.
• Introducing Kate to Sue France to perform at any early Literary Lunch. Kate has just delivered the spoken word finale at Sue’s retirement event at Peckforton Castle, Cheshire in December 2024. And, ironically, I have just purchased the Literary Lunch product from Sue.
• Kate delivering executive coaching and spoken word content at my Cheshire International Women’s Day and Colony Women events.
• Introducing Kate to TEDxNorthwich Curator, Samantha Newey, who commissioned her to deliver event finale’s for her TEDx events and also for her Cheshire Community ReAwards events.
• Supporting Kate with her book launches and her Poetry in Business Conference in 2024.
• Selecting Kate as a speaker at my 2022 TEDxWarrington event and then booking her to return the following year to deliver the welcome address at TEDxWarrington 2023.

The list of consequences and ventures from our connection goes on. Reminding us all about the power of networking and the unexpected proximity of connection that may be waiting for us in the wings of life.

It only takes one relationship to click, one piece of information to resonate, and one introduction to open a door.

But it requires us to close the connection gap by taking time to chat to people, listen actively, and explore your connection with one another, whether mutual values, ventures or contacts.

And folk wonder whether networking is worth it!!!

Kirsty James is a networking, relationship-marketing and connections expert with a track record in supporting people to ‘Connect with Purpose’. Kirsty specialises in effective business communication and relationship-marketing using the power of networking to enable personal and business growth and community engagement. Offering networking skills training, workshop facilitation, event hosting and speaking, and marketing project management. Open to new projects, clients, collaborations and opportunities where our values align.

Values: Connection, Collaboration & Community.
Specialisms: Networking and Communications Training & Coaching; Event Hosting, Connection and Engagement Projects; Team & Community Building.
Watch my TED❌ talk on legacy-building at: https://lnkd.in/dYAJmtas