THERE, I’ve said it!
It’s in my LinkedIn headline but I’ve never taken the time to explain what I mean in a post
In part, that’s because I’ve been a little nervous about the push back. After all, if you listen to entrepreneurship/freelancing advice, you’re almost certain to hear the message “find your niche to be successful” over and over ad nauseam (followed by, “you need to diversify”, which sounds like a direct contradiction)
But every time I encountered this phrase, I’d shutter in disgust. This felt like the antithesis of who I sought to be, this identity I have embraced as being a Renaissance Woman.
This doesn’t mean that I don’t have areas of deep knowledge. It just means that I don’t lean into a single a topic with all of my energy, pushing everything else to the side. Instead, I have multiple niches I’m operating in (and I’m adding new ones all the time) and that makes me MORE valuable to my clients and collaborators.
Why?
Because I’m staying current in many different realms, I can connect the dots and cross pollinate impactful ideas and help others flourish. The ideas I bring in help them think outside the box and reduce how frequently they’re “reinventing the wheel”. Not everyone has the time to do this, and that’s ok.
But just know that if you’re another person who can’t stand the message that you MUST have a niche to be successful, join me in rejecting that and instead embracing cross-pollinating! You can follow my hashtag on LinkedIn, #CrossPollinating to find my posts bringing impactful ideas across industries and pop the social media bubble the algorithm tries to trap you in.
And if you’re looking to bring in a collaborator to help your team grow new ideas, check out my consulting services. Much of my work focuses on building inclusion and belonging in STEM through both formal and informal education opportunities.
