The Power of Partnerships

The Power of Partnerships

I got to do something magical this past week.

I spent over an hour sipping iced coffee and indulging in an in-depth conversation with a friend and fellow creative about what it’s been like stepping out on our own to build our creative perspective practices over the past few years.

What started as us comparing notes on all the lessons and roadblocks we’ve uncovered along the winding paths of building our businesses, turned into a purposeful discussion about the ways in which we could grow by partnering up to pitch on projects that harnessed the power of both of our creative teams combined.

I left the meeting feeling reignited—inspired by the promise of the work I know we will create together and reminded of the power that comes from building relationships and partnerships in business.

I believe that in the working world, relationships are everything. I believe this because they have defined every step of my personal career trajectory, and have played a huge role in how my team and I have grown?Fearless Foundry. I am reminded of this every time I reconnect with someone from a past project, every time we get a shout-out from a connection on social media, every time I get to introduce a client or collaborator to some other amazing human in our network.

But all too often, we tend to get so caught up in the work at hand that we forget to nurture the connections that we have created over time. In our desire to complete the task at hand, we don’t realize the growth that could come from simply making a point to stay connected with the people we’ve met along the way.

My advice??

1. Build a roster of key relationships, whether collaborators or referral partners and make note of the people that have supported your business journey.?

2. Reach out to reconnect regularly, whether it’s once a quarter or once a year, carve out time in your calendar to catch up and share with the folks that matter most.?

3.?Make an offer of support or collaboration. No one gets through this journey alone; everyone needs help every once in a while. Lifting others up by offering a lending hand whenever you can strengthen connections and shows you care about others success.??

It’s when we take time to invest in our business relationships that we can recognize all of the opportunities and abundance we can create simply by connecting with and supporting each other along our own entrepreneurial journeys. It takes intentionality and action, but by making the time to prioritize relationships, we create valuable experiences with others that can help us reach our goals faster than if we were going at it alone.???

That is the true power of partnerships.?

—Madeline?