Built To Last

Please allow me to introduce myself

“Please allow me to introduce myself”

Oops! Wrong lyric!

These might be more fitting for the topic at hand:

“All the stars are gone but one

Morning breaks, here comes the sun

Cross the sky now sinking fast

Show me something built to last”

Wall Street Dead aHead Networking LLC®

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Many years ago, I would see posts online about Wall Street Dead aHead Networking LLC® (WSDaH) and was intrigued by their business model especially since it involved people who loved the Grateful Dead networking with one another. Does it get any better than that? I didn’t think so!

Fast forward to 2015, I joined the mailing list and a few days later, found myself sitting across from Deborah Solomon in her office. I was dressed in professional attire (after all, it was a business meeting) but after spending just a few minutes chatting with Deb, I realized that while she is all business, there was also such a down-to-earth vibe about her as well. I had such a good feeling about WSDaH after that meeting that I formally signed up to become a member shortly thereafter.

Over the years, I loved getting to know other Family members through events I had attended as well as “meeting” them in the private WSDaH LinkedIn group. I’ve made some incredibly wonderful close friendships as a result. And in 2018, while still working for another online blog, I wrote an article about my first WSDaH networking event. I made sure Deb was comfortable with the content before it went live. Who knew this would be a “test run” in disguise to see if she and I could work well together. Shortly thereafter, Deb asked me if I wanted to become the Feature Writer for WSDaH. It was a dream job for me as it incorporated my two passions: writing and the Grateful Dead. It also afforded me the opportunity to get to know Family members on a deeper level which was an added bonus.

Then in March 2020 everything changed.

As the pandemic “raged” on over the last few years, I started to re-evaluate (as many of you did), if I wanted to continue going in the same direction and still remain an active member of WSDaH. Let’s be honest here, like everyone else, WSDaH had to pivot during the pandemic to maintain their primary focus of networking and bringing people together. As a result, it became super challenging for me to maintain that same level of enthusiasm I had in the past. It just wasn’t the same not seeing other Family members at events where I had previously made such great connections.

Ironically (and while I became famous for my 10pm Irish exits from the monthly jam sessions), deep down, I was really missing everyone and everything I had once loved about WSDaH. For me, the momentum was lost. Deb and I had remained in touch throughout the pandemic (We both live in NYC and we commiserated with each other during those dark days) but I found myself slipping away from something that at one time had brought me such joy and had enhanced my life in so many ways.

A few months ago, Deb called to see if I wanted to participate in the WSDaH networking buses. In my pandemic funk, I told her I just wasn’t feeling it and wasn’t sure if I was going to move forward with WSDaH.

She encouraged me or in her words “I know you like to meet new people so why don’t you check out one of the networking buses? Even if you don’t want to remain an active member, you should at least try one of the buses.”

And as we all know, when Deb Solomon talks, people listen (Just like EF Hutton).

Taking her advice, I boarded one of the WSDaH networking buses, heard from some new members after the bus left the station, and after a few conference calls with one of them, I landed a new writing assignment!

So why am I telling you this? Because if you’re like me, at times you’re stubborn, in a rut, want life to be the same as it was, or are just not feeling the proverbial mojo. This has certainly been magnified tenfold during the pandemic. I get it and I hope you choose to be open-minded and continue to appreciate everything that WSDaH has to offer. WSDaH has changed my life for the better, and now I’m realizing that it has helped to pull me out of my pandemic funk. Who knew? Apparently I didn’t!

With so many new people joining the Family, I personally feel rejuvenated and look forward to expanding my WSDaH circle of friends as I continue to write articles while also embracing new business connections as well. If I’ve learned anything from this experience, it’s that you just never know when you might “find direction around some corner where it’s been waiting to meet you.” Which reminds me of a familiar song…