Focus on Giving, Benefit from Results

Focus on Giving, Benefit from Results

In today's world, everything's about who you know, but one local networking group takes a unique spin to get results. Learn how you can get in on the action.

When insurance sales representative Ginger Lehman attended her first meeting with the Tri-State Business Network (TBN), she was just starting to explore networking opportunities. And she went to the right place.

"I just liked their mission, and it was to 'focus on what you give,' " she says. "And it's continued to be that way today." Lehman likes that mission because it encourages participants to support each other, and it is through that support that everyone is able to benefit.

Now, two years later, Lehman is a leader for the TBN and helps make others have the same experience that kept her coming back. While the TBN offers several different networking events, sometimes up to seven a week, Lehman runs TBN-Women.

This female-focused group meets in the morning of every second Tuesday of the month at the West Chester Conference Center. "We say that we're focusing on growing women's business, but we're not going to eliminate connecting men with those women," Lehman says.

At first, Lehman had reservations about starting a women-only sector of TBN, but after a year of requests from female members, they launched TBN-Women. "Hesitant to say I just don't want to be exclusive to women, we started it, and it works," she says. "It's a dynamic when you bring women together, they think together, they support each other, and they're professional but it's personal."

It's that "personal" ingredient that makes it work, Lehman says. The personal connections allow for a trust to form, and without the personal connections, women will feel disconnected and will not want to come back to the group.

A typical TBN meeting includes networking at the beginning and end of the meetings, and during the actual meeting, each member has the chance to give a 30- to 60-second commercial. Every meeting also has a team building exercise. One recent exercise allowed everyone to give the tagline for their company. If an individual did not have a tagline, the group helped their fellow member by brainstorming ideas for a tagline.

To get involved with TBN, Lehman suggests stopping by for a meeting. You can test the waters a little bit before you dive in. If you're ready to dive in, annual memberships are $150, and they provide you free access to all TBN meetings and events.

For more information, check out TriStateBusinessNetwork.ning.com.

PHOTO CREDITS

Photographer: Neysa Ruhl

Model: Ginger Lehman

Location: Lofts@4120

Linda Palacios -
	Linda Palacios is the editor of Cincy Chic. Send her an e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .Read More >>

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