networking: the really fast + fun way to broaden your horizons
Written by Helené van Tonder
This week I had such a fun superconnect with Vasudha Seetharaman! I called her up to chat about… well… superconnects.
Over the last few months, I’ve had numerous inspiring, informative, interesting, and fun conversations with leap.club members. These conversations are literally changing my life one by one. The changes attributed to each conversation are mostly small, but because I’m having them regularly, they’re starting to add up!
I wanted to find out if other leap.club members are having a similar experience. It seems…[🥁 drum roll 🥁]… they are! 🤩
Below are some transcribed snippets from the conversation I had with Vasudha.
What’s your approach to superconnecting?
“Well, first, I spend all my superconnect credits every month. Three really aren’t enough for me. One month, I spent them all within three days! 🙈
But let me take a step back. I’ve been part of leap.club for a couple of months now. For the first two weeks, all I did was scroll through the member directories and read member profiles. I couldn’t believe that I could connect with all these people! It’s still one of my favourite activities. I scroll, and star people I want to connect with.
However, in the first month, I was also overthinking superconnects too much. Because one has only three, I was a little nervous and wanted to spend it in the best way possible. But I ended up planning too much, instead of just getting started! Eventually Disha from the leap.club-team gave me a little nudge, and that’s when all the lovely conversations started. 😊
Now I use superconnects to learn about all the small-small, micro niches that I’ve always been interested in, but never really knew how to explore. Sometimes I don’t even know whether the things I think about actually exist. But then I speak to people, and I find out that they do! It’s like having a vague idea in your head, and then opening a book to find that thing that’s always been in your mind. Now you know what it’s called and you even know someone who does it! I learn so much through superconnects, and it gives me even more things to explore.”
What do you expect when superconnecting with someone?
“All these conversations are really just eye-openers, I think. It will grow into something or it won’t grow into something. You never know and it also doesn’t matter. I take something away from every conversation.
Just having a conversation with an amazing person and having the opportunity to get to know them a little — that’s an asset in itself.
I think a lot of people approach networking with a very narrow focus, thinking: ‘How will this help me achieve my next goal?’ But then they’re expecting a quick outcome from the conversation, and they’re not open to really exploring what this conversation and this relationship can be.”
What do you love about leap.club, and superconnecting in particular?
“Having access to people doing cool things — that’s amazing! I see founders of companies I really admire on leap, and then I think: ‘Wow, she’s on leap! She’s accessible. I can connect with her.’ And then I see the posts these inspiring people make on the feed, and I think: ‘What? She has the same questions as us? She’s actually so much like the rest of us?’ You know, it makes me perceive the world differently. It changes how I think about myself, and how I engage.”
Highlights from Vasudha’s superconnects
Sri Lasya Gade: “Lasya is an investment professional who had been on a break and was looking to get back into things. She gave me so much clarity of thought! I left the conversation with so many things to think about and process. It was really eye-opening to me.”
Neetika Malhotra: “Neetika is working in the micro-SaaS space, and she has the most amazing ideas. Her plans and dreams are so big! I left that conversation feeling very inspired.”
Nitya Gupta: “Nitya is from Skillr, and I think it’s an amazing platform. I really just wanted to connect and talk with her. We spoke about so many things, like personality traits and how it’s something to take into account in the HR-world. We also spoke about how to use Skillr. The conversation just went on and on! She even took notes about the things I said, and that was such a boost for me! I was thinking: ‘Wow, I can actually help someone!’” 😁
Dipika Singh: “Dipika has such amazing energy — even just on a small phone call. I can only imagine the effect she has when she gets people together in a group! We spoke about stories and career stories, and how important they are. She gave me so many ideas for how I can tell my career story, how I can represent my career to people.”
Harsha Jain: “Harsha is the founder of Wofactors. Her women-focused mission really resonates with me. The passion with which she tackles her mission stuck with me long after the conversation.”
Ranjini Loyalka: “Ranjini has a lot of experience in the wedding industry as she’s from weddingsutra.com. I wanted to pick her brain because we have a virtual weddings-product at Sarcon Technologies, where I work.”
