CHANGE LEADERSHIP #2

Turn in 

• A list with short descriptions of different networks you are plugged into regularly. 
• • Instagram 
  • Facebook
  • Snapchat
  • Youtube
  • Google news

Provide written  answers to the following: 

• How do these support your efforts as a changemaker through entrepreneurship and innovation?   
• • I use Instagram as a multipurpose network site. Mainly, it helps me to discover others who share my interests. Such as local artists who inspire me to try new art styles and grow my creativity and  I also follow many people who develop innovative/sustainable products. I use Instagram to spread my art. I post videos of myself painting, collaging, selling jewellery, and making animation. Finally, I use it to connect with friends and family. I should also mention that I sell my art and jewelry via Instagram. 
  • I use Facebook to discover events in Bellingham. This honestly happened recently. I didn’t like Facebook or understand how it could be beneficial until one day I found the Makeshift which posts their events here. I then share these events and I am able to find friends who want to go with me which is very useful. 
  • Snapchat is mainly used as a communication tool with friends. However, I gain followers on my instagram when I promote myself on my Snapchat story. This is a really helpful tool. 
  • Youtube is something I use to educate myself. I do not post on this network. I instead use it to help myself gain knowledge on subjects for class or things I think are personally interesting. 
  • I use Google news a few times a week to stay up to date on local and world wide events. I think this is important for small talk with others. I also use it to create empathy for the world around me. 
• How might these become even more beneficial?   
• • I could reach out to more people who ‘create’ on Instagram. I often follow really amazing artists but I have lacked the action of reaching out to these people. I think it would be a good idea if I took time to find artists I would like to collaborate with. 
  • If I ever wanted to share my art at an event Facebook would be a great source to advertise for this. However, I would need to work on my following because currently I am only connected to family/friends. 
  • Overall, the things I would need to do to make these networks more beneficial would be better communication of my purpose, higher following, and starting to collaborate with people who can inspire and work with me. 
• Where do you believe you have work to do related to building Nourishing Networks? 
• • I should work to establish my LinkedIn network. So far, I have not put very much time or energy into this. Possibly due to my lack of understanding for its use to me ( but I know it must be important because many people have told me ). If I read the emails that LinkedIn sent me then I would probably be able to create a much more established network for myself.  
  • I also need to establish what my “30 second pitch” would be when trying to explain my interests. Currently I think I am very all over the place and fail to address my interests in an organized manner. Which does not explain what I have to offer very well and that is something I need to fix. But first I need to understand what I want others to know first, second, and third. 
• What have you done to successfully build Nourishing Networks? 
• • I have spent a lot of time putting my creations for art out into the online networks. While I was selling my jewelry I had a lot of solid customer relationships established. 
  • I’ve worked very hard to find specific mentors to follow and I often reach out to them for guidance. I come to these mentors prepared. 
  • I am able to finetune my message for who my audience is. To me this means creating connections with whom I am speaking to. Along with this I am able to explain what they did that inspired me or that I appreciated. Saying thank you! That is something I work hard to do and it is something that is now natural to me. 
• Take 2 people inside IDEA that you don’t know well out for coffee (or whatever), whom you believe could be part of your Nourishing Network. 

Turn in 

• A description of who you took out, how this went, and what you learned (about the person, process etc.) 
• • I met with Amy Kellogg. On Friday the 21st, she had a dessert party at her apartment down the road from Western. She was very kind to let me come over and she made so many desserts! The evening went well. Amy and I worked together to get the heavy cream to become whipped cream. It was a fun task. That’s how I learned that Amy works at a chocolate shop downtown called Chocolate Necessities. So, she spent her whole day around sweets, only to come home and have a dessert party! She and I talked a lot about food since it seemed to be something we both have a passion for. I mentioned how I used to have a small cupcake shop called Zosia’s Cupcakes which led us to a conversation about how she has never tried selling her delicious desserts (however she wants to start selling them). Then, we chatted about how to make the best pizza. I brought up how my mom makes the best gluten free crust. Amy makes crust too but she does not measure anything! She is really good at making food. Later, I learned about her trip to Europe. She tried cooking then but the girls she was staying with did not care for her food and tended to be really mean to her. I learned more throughout the evening but those were the highlights. 
  • I met with Tori Corkum. She also attended Amy’s dessert party on Friday the 21st. She and I got to know one another over the cookies that Amy made because Tori brought milk. Our conversations were mostly about family. I learned that she is in a very long and committed relationship with a boy named Kurtis. He lives about three hours from here but he tries to come visit her once every month. Tori was planning to go to Italy for spring break this year with her family but due to the CoronaVirus her dad was forced to cancel the trip. They were afraid that they wouldn’t be let back into America. Tori has a lot on her plate. She is taking 18 credits this quarter. Plus she is starting her own photography business online. Her website looks great! It was really great getting to know her outside of class. We are on the VP2 project together but we tend to only talk about the project. This was very beneficial to our group dynamic. 
• Go to one event in our community that is meant for networking.  Prepare well, go and intentionally build your Nourishing Network.   

Turn in 

• A description of you met and how this went and what you learned (about the people, the process etc.) 
  • I went to the scholarship fair that was on Western’s campus on Tuesday the 25th. I met with a woman who runs the social and behavioral science scholarships. We went over what scholarships are available this year and for next year, how much money each scholarship covers, if I qualify for all or any of the scholarships (3 in total). 
  • I met a female artist whose music I have seen live around Bellingham. She is very talented and was very happy that I recognized her and her music. We did not exchange contact information but I know that Seraphima has hosted a house show with her as a performer. So, I plan to ask her for her contact information. I really want to know where she will be playing in the future! 
• Take 2 people outside IDEA that you don’t know well out for coffee (or whatever), whom you believe could be part of your Nourishing Network.   
• A description of who you took out, how this went, and what you learned (about the person, process etc.) 
  • I met with Dr. McNeel Jantzen. She recently became a professor in the linguistics department, before that she was in the psychology department. She is a cognitive neuroscientist with a major focus on language. I have taken two of her classes at WWU and she has a very interesting cognition lab on campus. I wanted to meet with her because I am majoring in psychology and I plan to minor in some sort of language studies in my future education. We discussed what career paths I could take such as doing more research in her lab which can lead to acceptance into labs in the future. We went over how to get funding and how it can be very challenging until you find someone interested. Which is why she came to WWU; Western funds her research and gives her the ability to do really cool things. Another career idea was to work with people from all around the country because I mentioned I like the idea of studying human happiness around the world. She made it clear that it is very important to gather reliable relationships if I were to further that career path. Finally, I learned a little about her history in psychology. The story I thought was the most interesting was that she worked with the government doing research in submarines. Of course she told me nothing more due to it being classified. That factor made the story much more intriguing. 
  • I met with a woman named Kacey and she runs the Bellingham Meal Program. My leadership class provided donations for this month’s meal and 02/29/20 was the day of the meal this month. I met her and was very interested in how she spreads awareness about the monthly meal. It’s really only via word of mouth and the Bellingham volunteer page. I really wanted to know if she needed anyone to run her marketing sector because it didn’t seem like they had much support in that area. I was correct. She loved the idea of me helping out because of all the money we raised and all the donated supplies we got in under a month.