When I started my writing career 10 years ago today, the digital media landscape looked vastly different from what it is today. Twitter was an avant-garde way for journalists to connect with one another, identify sources and share essential information in regards to their work. At 21 I got my first ever full-time reporting job by taking a social media risk: I DM-ed a female science journalist I had met through an internship and asked her if, by chance, she had the bandwidth to take on a mentee. She wrote back that she was more than happy to take me under her wing, and the rest is history. At the time, the way I found my full-time gig was unorthodox. In fact, talking to total strangers on the Internet about anything was much more of a cybersecurity and safety threat back then than it is now.
The media community was large, but fragmented by topic, geographical location, editorial style and even marketing strategy. As a young reporter who was often the only person under 21, the only woman, and the only Latina in the room, I was willing to take the risk of reaching out to fellow writers who didn’t know me because I felt like I didn’t know my place in a landscape where people like me were the tragedies being reported on–not the ones telling the stories. The first journalist in my family, I was trained by being out in the field instead of in the classroom.
As a result, I was often in unfamiliar territory around people, conversations and ideas that often felt strange or unsafe to me. I often wondered why those around me didn’t look, or sound, or act, or think like I did. Some of that imposter syndrome even caused me to leave some writing positions that maybe I could have otherwise stayed at. I spent a lot of time educating myself on what to do and not to do, hoping that whatever I was learning on my own time as an English major would stand up against the deeper knowledge of a degree in journalism.
Over time, and thanks to that very first woman in news that took a chance on me, my networking circle of journalists grew to include not only other women and Latinas, but men, members of the LGBTQIA+ community and fellow writers who, like me, also have disabilities. They have invited me to in-person events, introduced me to online forums, and encouraged me to join journalism societies. Within the past decade, many of them recommended my expertise to others, even when I wasn’t present in the room (this includes a male friend of mine who started working at CMP years ago, and continually encouraged me to join CCW because he believed I’d be a “culture fit.”)
These people have advocated for me, stood up for me when I was backed into a corner, and created safe places for me to explore my writing style. As a result (and with much trial and error), throughout my career I’ve interviewed the likes of A-List Celebrities, Grammy-winning musicians, and Nobel Prize winners. I’ve traveled around the country for conferences, had my writing featured by major news networks, and even won awards. And while each of those things is something I’m proud of–and ultimately has led me to CCW Digital and CCWomen, they’re things that I absolutely could not have done without the kindness, knowledge, and generosity of other people who have helped me build my confidence and develop my eye for storytelling.
Today, as part of my personal mission statement, I try to pay it forward. To me, my community has been everything–whether it’s friends, family, partners, co-workers, or even kind strangers who share my work beyond my immediate circle. As a woman, networking and community building is one of the most powerful personal and professional tools I have. The idea of community is something that I want to discuss with all of you so that by the end of this piece, whoever you are or want to be, you can feel welcome to join CCWomen, too.
At the beginning of my networking journey, most of the connections I made were free of cost. Twitter was fully free, events had free RSVPs, and applying to most societies had no to a nominal fee that allowed you immediate access to tools like resuming building, career coaching and writing classes. That’s not quite the case today. At a time when digitizing experiences is a key goal for most, if not all industries, even the business networking space has its share of CX expenditures. As the World Wide Web progressed over the past decade, so too have organizations’ abilities to diversify, formalize and even commodify the community-building experience.
Just as every other business sector is pushing for higher quality, more exclusivity, omnichannel offerings, and a larger online presence, so too are some of the groups, ideas and networking models that in years past have flown under the radar or gone largely unnoticed. In the mid 2010s specifically, new organizations emerged, many targeted at women and people from marginalized communities looking for the same sense of belonging that I did, but at a premium price that boasted amenities that no “Can I pick your brain?” coffee chat could quite replicate. Their websites, social media posts, webinars, invite-only events boasted champagne flutes, smartly dressed white women, luxurious bathrooms with free feminine products, locally sourced baked goods and organic cafe items, private work pods, nap rooms, lactation stations, and the backing and investment of some of the most notable women in business today. They oozed Instagram worthy decadence, and for those that weren’t financially limited or could get their employer to expense the subscription, they were a place of solace, connection and carefully curated “girl power.”
Now, this is not to say that turning community building into a business venture is a fully morally wrong thing–some individuals are stressed with families, overworked, personally struggling, filled with social anxiety, lacking in networking experience, and don’t even know where to start on networking when a simple web search yields innumerable results. In some cases, paying for a curated experience when finding that right connection for a next job or new venture opportunity is worth the peace of mind. Not only this, but for women who struggle to build genuine non-competitive relationships in the workplace, knowing you might meet someone who isn't in the business of tearing you down can be invaluable.
Sandy Ko, Founder of CCWomen, an inclusive community for women and allies.
Sandy Ko, Principal and Founder of CCWomen, also has had personal and professional moments of networking struggle. Born in Korea, Ko moved to the United States at the age of six and at the time was wholly unfamiliar with ways of life and cultural customs in the U.S. In order to learn about American culture, she and her family observed other Koreans that lived in the states, and those people organically became a part of her community. As an adult, when she entered the customer contact space, she describes experiencing similar feelings of being estranged.
“I didn't really belong anywhere, it was just a job. It was a to-do list, almost,” she tells CCW Digital. A woman of color like myself, Ko struggled to find a mentor in the field to help shape and support her professionally and personally.
When she joined CCW at CMP, however, she met women the likes of which she never had before.
“There were a lot of really strong, powerful women that did not label themselves as a ‘community,’ but they all knew each other as a network,” Ko recalls.
At the beginning of her customer contact career, she describes her move to get to know them and pursue professional relationships as self-serving.
“Selfishly, I was trying to see if there are some things that I can learn from them,” she states. For women the idea of asking for help or admitting being green in an area is viewed as a negative admittance of weakness or lesser intelligence. Asking for help was once something that was out of Ko’s comfort zone. She grew up in an environment where “asking for help or sharing successes were not culturally common, and as a result says that she is mostly self-sufficient.
“When I came to CCW and realized there are so many successful women here, I said, ‘I think I need to take advantage of this, pick their brains, see what they’re doing, how and why they're so successful… I thought, ‘Yeah, I could email them.’ But then I thought that if I can create incentives like a mimosa breakfast on the last day of the conference, they'd show up. And they did! And I'm glad I did that because that's what led me to establish CCWomen.”
As Sandy Ko and I both know, everybody just wants a sense of belonging. We all want to belong somewhere, fit in somewhere, “and people want to know that they’re valued and they’re seen,” Ko notes.
In comparison to other organizations that operate to serve women professionals, she wanted to ensure that she created a community that is both inclusive and open to everybody in the customer contact field–even if they aren’t women.
“We invite everybody… There’s no interview or application process,” she says. “We really welcome people to be a part of something where they can be their authentic selves. It’s the key importance of building a successful community.”
For those who have insecurities about standing out over fitting in in groups like CCWomen, Ko advises you not to beat yourself up over the concept of “normal.”
“If it’s not the ‘norm,’ you bring that self and you own that and come as you are. You have the power to change the narrative… the concept of ‘normal’ is always changing. Somebody somewhere is going to resonate with that and relate to you.”
Standing out and not being afraid to be yourself is essential to living a fulfilling life in any aspect, but the concept of community groups can sometimes challenge ideas of individuality with operational offerings that feel homogenous.
As Ko argues, being part of a community group by virtue of similar hobbies, life experiences and professional backgrounds doesn't make a person the same as their group members. Rather, their unique perspectives on those uniting topics can create a diverse gathering of thought and minds.
“That's what makes a community a community. Embracing the fact that you are different–and that and you can be–helps make a community mesh well together,” she says.
When people of all walks of life gather together, like our community does at CCW events throughout the year, they are able to share those parts of themselves with each other. And those who attend CCWomen events don’t just find a work buddy or conference acquaintance–some find mentors and make lifelong friends.
“It’s really, really empowering to see them go out of their ways and have deep conversations,” says Ko. From job references to venting sessions, she's seen at all happen at CCW events, both on and off-site.
The customer experience is important–even within the industry itself. That mix of in-person and online isn’t just essential to customers in the world of customer contact, but holds values within the very organizations who are digitizing and creating the customer experience. That’s why this year, in addition to its in-person summit and presence at CCW events across the country, CCWomen is also launching its own website and a membership portal, so that those who might not be able to meet their CX networking match one way will certainly find it in another capacity. At a price point yet to be determined, employees individuals–but preferably their employers–will be able to pay to join CCWomen’s online portal with exclusive access to content, mentorship matching services, advice, and events focused on customer contact. “We want to make sure that it's worth the dollar value, whatever the amount is,” says Ko.
“Thinking about how organizations can push for their employees to join CCWomen is one way they can strategically support their employees in the customer contact space, so that employees don't have to pay out of pocket.”
Brooke Lynch, Deputy Divisional Director of the CCW Digital portal.
Brooke Lynch, Deputy Divisonal Director of the CCW Digital portal, sees networking not just as as a customer experience, but an internal customer contact tool that offers users those on and off-site experiences that Ko mentions at a high, professional level.
“I think that working at CMP, where I came from another events company within our brand, networking has always been a part of everything I’ve done professionally. I've literally never worked outside of the events space,” she explains, “so connection has been such a huge piece of that. It’s also such a big part of what we do here.”
Over the years, people at conferences have told Lynch that outside of these networking opportunities geared towards those in the CX space, rarely do they have the opportunity engage with anyone that has the same job description as them, “and they feel isolated and like the only person, like they dont have someone to lean on or someone to rely on.”
She sees in-person events and organizations as worth the price point, sharing that the bonds she forms on-site with people are so much stronger in person.
“If you’re interested in meeting people in your field and you’re interested in the industry and you don't feel like you're really meeting people or feel that connection–even in your own workplace–then it’s definitely worth going to in person events.
Despite the ROI on in-person events as we adapt to pandemic-cautious social settings, there’s still much to consider, improve, learn and enjoy in regards to online networking as well.
“Now that we have the option for both, sometimes your messages get lost in the shuffle. We’re not as tuned in to the virtual world as much as we were a couple months ago, or even a couple years ago. At this time there was an excitement for being online, that has shifted a little bit,” she admits.
Even though virtual events and online content might not have the same allure for everyone as it once did, “reaching out to people online isn't something you should ignore,” she advises. “It’s also a good way to form connections if you can’t go to live events or you can’t meet people in person… when we were virtual, it was easier to connect because everyone was online–nobody was seeing people in person,” she recalls of early 2020. Today, that's still true for many people working in the field of CX, whether they’re immunocompromised, disabled, or have opted to go fully remote for convenience’s sake. But regardless of who you are or what your work needs may be, Lynch recognizes that there’s no limitation to how technology can inhance the CX networking experience. At CCW, we do a mix of on and offline events, so it’s a topic front of mind for not just her and myself, but for many of the people and brands we work and engage with on the day-to-day.
“Community building is a really big piece of digital CX,” Lynch has noticed in her work at CCW. “There are plenty of companies that have brand advocates online, who are running online communities, where they are almost acting as their own customer service agents.
There are groups on Reddit or on Discord where there are customers who engage with each other, who answer their own questions, and almost act as a virtual FAQ page.
But they have no professional association with the brand. They're just brand advocates taking the time to engage with other customers who feel connected…they're that invested in the brand, and people are learning something about a product without interacting directly with that brand at all.”
As it turns out, community building is two-fold, because even companies and customers network. Lynch says that online community building is one of the best wats for brands to truly note what it is that their customers need and want, and it adds a layer of personalization and authenticity to the digital customer experience. From the metaverse to NFTs, generative AI and online forums, groups are looking to community build in all kinds of ways. It’s something Ko is looking to highlight and enhance with CCWomen’s new membership, regardless of price point.
“Products, resources, content, events, webinars, podcasts,” even if a customer contact curious person doesn’t pay to access the membership portal, Ko is making sure that in front of the paywall they’ll still be sure to find information that will help them take their CX and professional skills to the next level. For now, and as CCWomen works to structure the future of their programming, Ko has these takeaway for any woman or person looking to connect in the field of customer contact:
Encourage women to ask for help. "If you're going through something, somebody else is too. Somebody else has the answers that you're looking for, and there are other people who have got really great solutions."
Be selfish. "If you're not taking care of yourself and you're not going after what you want, it might never happen. Go after your goals, ask for help, and we have a community of women and allies that are very much willing to help you to achieve your goals."