Thrive Remotely champions the sovereignty of remote and independent professionals, so we can thrive on our own terms.
Hello, independent operators,
Remember when networking happened while you were doing something else?
Hallways. Lunch. That random conversation after a meeting.
Remote work killed the accident, not the opportunity.
This week, we’re talking about building professional connections on purpose, locally and beyond your usual bubble and how to create your own collisions, on purpose, starting now.
Go engineer a few collisions.
— Ric & Shellie
P.S. Know someone brilliant who’s been professionally hiding at home? Send this referral link their way. 🙌🏼
SOVEREIGN CAREER
Beyond the Circumstantial: Building an Intentional Network
What do you need?
By Rachel Thompson
One of the hardest parts when I needed to quit a job was realizing that too much of my social life was intertwined with my workplace. My external network was weak to non-existent and non-work friends were dispersed across the country. So, I made intentional changes and then quit.
The purpose of a school or office was never explicitly designed to make friends, build networks, and support our social needs as humans.
School is an education system. The office is for getting a job done.
SOVEREIGN CAREER
The Watercooler Was Gone: How I Rebuilt a Remote Professional Network
Networking on Purpose: Connection in the Age of Solo Work
By Rob Manne
The office used to handle much of our networking for us.
A conversation in the hallway could lead to an introduction. You might sit beside someone new at lunch or run into a former colleague near the elevator. Grabbing coffee near work required little planning.
Those encounters felt casual, but they helped us find advice, job opportunities, clients and collaborators.
Working alone removes much of that everyday contact.
QUICK TAKES
Engineer Your Own Collisions
🧲 When Nobody Has to Show Up, How Do We Find Social Connection? Loneliness as being unseen.
🧲 How to Network in a Remote World: Practical Strategies That Go Beyond LinkedIn.
🧲 How to Create Virtual Coffee Chats for Networking in 6 Simple Steps. A short conversation with a clear purpose.
LAST WEEK’S POLL RESULTS
What's your biggest block to building a network solo?
MEME OF THE WEEK
The Field Report
What's real this week, the gap between freedom and follow-through, closing.
THE VIBE
News to Use
🧭 ‘We’re Putting a Camera Up Your …’ A Billionaire’s WFH Rant Cost Him 23 Employees Overnight. The billionaire’s viral remote-work surveillance policy sparked outrage online, but the data shows employee distraction is a real problem for managers.
🧭 Hybrid Work Only Works When the Office Has a Purpose. The value of being together comes from mentoring, problem-solving and relationships that are difficult to recreate when everyone works separately.
🧭 How to Invest in Your Future as a Solo Entrepreneur. Small, low-pressure experiments can help you develop new skills, services, and income streams before your business depends on them.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Collide On Purpose
No office means no accidental hallway chats anymore, so this week we're manufacturing some.
Nine cities, nine chances to turn strangers into your professional weak ties before you actually need them. Pick your city. Show up.
Let the network build itself the old fashioned way.
POLL – NEXT WEEKS TOPIC
Next week: Clear Writing Is a Remote Work Superpower - Your writing is the only version of you most colleagues and clients ever see.
What trips you up most with async writing?
This Week’s Partner
Quantitative Thinkers Are Building Ideas Worldwide on WorldQuant BRAIN
WorldQuant BRAIN is a global simulation and research platform for students, aspiring researchers and quantitative thinkers from around the world.
On BRAIN, that spirit of exploration continues through challenges, collaboration and opportunities to develop new quantitative research ideas.
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