Practicing What I Preach

Building anything new can be overwhelming. Even if you’re creating something that leverages your core strengths, there’s no roadmap to follow and it’s easy to get stuck in your own head. While I’ve been connecting people to new ideas, opportunities, and each other for decades, building this practice into a business that others could understand and want to engage with was going to take a lot more than my own vision and entrepreneurial drive.

I set out to create The Connectors by engaging others to help me think through ideas, challenge my assumptions, and create new things that I never could have imagined on my own. I am fortunate to have many longstanding relationships with people I trust who serve as my personal board of advisors. All of those people continue to help me shape this company – there are far too many to list – and I’m grateful for all of them. But let’s focus on one connection whose contribution is perhaps the most visible, especially on this website.

While I have a lot of skills and talents, design is definitely not one of them. I knew I needed someone to guide me through that process and create my logo, brand identity, materials, and website. I had some ideas of what I liked and what I didn’t, but my lack of design skills meant I also struggled to fully articulate what was in my head. I had the privilege of working with Penny Maurer many years (and many careers) ago, and we’re still close today. When I first reached out, I had some sense of what I needed to get the business launched, but no idea where to start or how we’d get there. Thankfully, Penny is not just a talented graphic designer, but also a patient and dedicated partner. She heard what I had to say and translated my murky vision into the dot connecting brand identity that you see on this site, in our materials, and on social media.

Does The Connectors logo and brand identity look like the rough picture I had in my head? Thankfully, no. It’s a whole lot better because of what Penny brought to the table. She breathed life into my partially baked idea and took it to a different level that I never could have envisaged. She understood the ethos of this company and created a whole visual identity that matched perfectly – connective, fun, bright, clear, and professional. Penny created new things that were “beyond the scope of work” simply because it was a natural progression for her, and she started to “play around” with the ideas in her head. The “hello” graphic on our contact page and business cards, for example, was borne out of her vision and translation of our email address. It’s one of my favorite elements and ended up being the inspiration for our first post to kick off The Connectors’ LinkedIn page.

Founders and visionaries can become wedded to their own ideas and ways of thinking. Our work with Penny is a prime example of why we need others to push us outside of our comfort zone and open up our aperture. Engaging others in your vision, especially when it’s not fully formed, will help you rethink your plan and uncover new next steps. Quite simply, your end product will always be better if you invite others to contribute and/or challenge your thinking. Listening to others’ feedback doesn’t mean you will abandon your vision completely. If anything, incorporating others’ ideas will only help make your vision stronger and uncover beautiful new innovations.

Or, as the adage says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”