i wanna talk about networking
i wanna talk about networking
on scarcity mindset, and why saloon is working
I’d been assembling emails for three months, I guess, but also sort of several years. I had an ongoing Google spreadsheet of folks I’d worked with through various jobs, people I admired, projects I was following, galleries, networks, newsletters. I knew I was going to do something with all this info, eventually, though initially I thought I’d use it for something like a magazine.
The idea for
came out of wanting to throw multidisciplinary parties in my apartment—I wanted to have a featured artist whose art would hang along the walls of my apartment like a gallery. I wanted people to perform—do a reading, a comedy act, play music. I wanted someone to make canapés, an importer to pour wine. I wanted it to be like one night at the artist’s residency I want to open, employing the idea that cross-disciplinary spaces inform and expand the craft of each artist within them. But I realized in devising the idea that what everyone wants, more than a space in which to feel important, is a means to. AKA: a job they like. I realized there was no cross-disciplinary networking space with a personal element to it, and direct access to the contacts that can make it happen. There were jobs newsletters, of which I subscribed to dozens—and were often full of depressing opportunities like “social media manager at PetCo”—and LinkedIn. Otherwise, it was, as it ever was, Who You Know.I thought how strange it was that there’s no existing space in which people in different fields can find a space to collaborate and make connections, especially considering the pervasiveness of pop-ups and partnerships these days.
In my New York experience, the creative job market has been closely gatekept by people with already-existing means for success. But this long-standing structure of Knowing The Right People is massively permeable, actually, especially with the internet, and especially as we’ve learned anyone with the right aesthetic inclinations can puncture the milieu of the bourgeoise. We see it with content creators every day. Sure, sure, some are silver spoon or nepo babies, but many are just people that knew their bit, knew their taste, looked for a way out of their dull circumstances.
Strangely enough, the people who have most prickled at
are the content creators themselves. I think there’s some sense of scarcity that makes them withdraw. I think there’s also a sense of disgruntled scrappiness—that in the instance an individual “made it” without help, they don’t owe help to others. I think we see this often in media and fashion as well, where there’s a proven scarcity, as entire companies keep shuttering with a 48-hour notice. Even someone who knows someone at Condé Nast is unlikely to connect you. I wanted to undermine that attitude and dissolve that kind of economy by connecting people directly.So far,
has drawn the following crowds:People that can recall the horror of the rat race, the torrid confusion of their career journeys, and want to help others locate opportunities.
Or some people, already successful in their fields, understanding the immeasurable benefits of building a resourceful community, which is what saloon offers. At their fingertips is a rolodex of talented writers, chefs, strategists, freelancers in every field, etc.
Small businesses and freelancers looking to expand their networks to amplify their reach and build their portfolios.
People with ambition but without connections looking to better their situation and break into the industry they care about.
It’s been incredibly gratifying to receive feedback from those in
that they’ve already located opportunities and initiated friendships and mentorships before our one-month mark. It’s been especially uplifting that it’s working. (Above is a photo of a team meeting at allover apparel that sourced its staffers through saloon.) I have always had a darkly competitive understanding of the world: believed that people aren’t looking out for people—that we’re selfishly-motivated, and that a person can’t really wish the best for another person because of our scarcity mindset. I’ve, accidentally, proved myself completely wrong. People are slinging contacts left and right in our Discord, recommending their friends for jobs. I receive nominations every day for our community of other folks that might have opportunities or connections to contribute.I had a wine date with a girl I connected with through
last week, and it was so moving to speak to someone who was exactly where I was 2 years ago—new to New York, confused as to how everyone else seemed to be so plugged in, doing something cool, dressing even cooler, working their dream job, making any sort of friends. I couldn’t understand how to nail down a single detail of anyone else’s enviable life. But the unanticipated, amazing part of is the way its giving us direct access to real expectations—its turning out the Substacker you follow with 15.6k subscribers is actually unemployed and seeking copywriter gigs, and she would be super grateful if you could pass along a connect to your company. The person running events for an esteemed “member's club” establishment with 300k Instagram followers is detrimentally understaffed this weekend for an event and needs bodies running the shrimp cocktail. The magazine you’re dying to work at has just done an egregious round of lay-offs, and someone in the chat is giving you the scoop. The designer you adore, as it turns out, is an absolute menace to work for, but this up-and-coming brand you’ve never heard of is hiring a studio assistant and her email is directly in front of you.It’s a peek behind the curtain of the envy that fuels our despair and delusion. And behind the curtain is an entire, ineffable network of people wanting to help you, and needing your help, that have never met you, which is the most bizarre part of all of this.
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From an it-girl scorned, a God-Muva is born 💋