If you've moved cities, started a new job, gotten laid off, or are switching careers, this is for you: CREATE the rooms you want to be in. Don't rely on someone else to invite you into the right rooms. Those invitations will likely come later.
Build the Room: Stop Waiting to Be Invited
The Judgment
When I moved to Western Washington from Idaho, and before that, Missouri, I quickly noticed the underlying judgment attached to where I had previously lived. Places perceived as politically opposite from where I was now trying to build a life. It was nonsense, but I understood it.
Nature and opportunity have always been the catalysts for my moves. Still, people will make assumptions about you before they understand you. But you can somewhat control that first impression.
Show Up First
It's up to you to be brave enough to show people who you are before their assumptions decide for them.
Host the gathering. Start the walking group. Organize the coworking session. Invite people to dinner. Create the event you wish already existed.
When you create the room, people begin to see you as legitimate, competent, and worth knowing. With just enough curiosity to wonder: "Who is this person, and how did they bring all these people together?"
Stop Waiting
Stop waiting for someone else to validate your place in the community. Build the room. The invitations will follow.
This is exactly why I started what’s now Cowork PNW, my coworking series in Woodinville. The room I wanted didn’t exist yet, so I built it.
Here's the thing: when you wait for permission, you're handing your belonging to someone else. When you build the room yourself, you prove you belong before anyone can question it.
What room are you still waiting to be invited into?