My favorite entrepreneurial mentor, Barbara Winter, always reminds us to talk to everyone we can - in lines at stores, in elevators, on planes, in cafes - it doesn’t matter where it is.  Find out what they do - you might get a great idea - and  spread the word about what you do or want to do.  You never know who they will tell.   

While I was waiting for a class to start this week, I saw an acquaintance sitting in the lobby at the YWCA waiting for her child’s class to end. When I told her that I was there to do one of my “What Do You Want to Do?” classes for a group of mothers, she immediately responded with a great story. 

She and a friend were sitting in the bleachers at the ball field last fall watching their kids play.  As they were talking, her friend mentioned that she had decided it was time to try going back to work, at least part-time, since the kids were now in kindergarten.  

They went on discussing her background in International Business Law  and the “problem” that she had no interest in getting back into the full-time grind of a corporate office . Suddenly, the Dad in front of her (whom she didn’t know) turned around and handed her his business card.

“I need someone to handle mergers and acquisitions for my company - send me your resume.” he said.   A month later she had a position as a consultant who works from her home with once weekly trips to the office for meetings.  She was able to negotiate a high billable hourly rate since she did not want to be full-time with all the perks just yet. 

This is a win-win for a small company who just acquired a very skilled team member to do only what they need her to do, and for a Mom who wants to get back into the flow of real work but with the flexibility that a pair of kindergarten-aged twins are going to demand.   I’m guessing she may never go back to the full-time grind of corporate law - she’s carving a niche that she can take to other small companies.  

I can hear you saying, “well, that was just a lucky break.”  Wait - there’s more.   My friend continued that she also found her part-time, home-based, media writing position by telling people at a cocktail party that she was a writer who was looking for free-lance assignments. 

Then, once I got into my class, two of the moms there had similar experiences to relate.  Sooooo…. what do you answer when someone asks what you do?    Work on constructing your career goal statement - here is one way to do that. 

I want to work with (who)______, doing (what)________at a (where)_________ during (when)_______ because I (why)_____________.  

Then start saying it a lot - to anyone and everyone around!