My friends! What joy I experienced when reading the following headline on NPR: How To Make Networking Events Less Awkward: Be a croissant, not a bagel
It seems that our beloved pastry is really having a moment, which is good since I got a croissant tattooed on my arm just before starting this Substack (on an impulsive and unrelated adventure with my sister).
{pictured below: some basic bitches with croissant tattoos}
We decided on a croissant image about 2 hours before walking into an unresearched tattoo shop, but we did have the awareness to google “Are Croissants canceled?” before proceeding. Luckily, we didn’t find anything too troubling. Now, author Robbie Samuels has branded croissants as a symbol of welcome and support among peers.
Just look at that sweet cuddly pile!
This NPR article and the book it’s reviewing are about networking, which I would normally consider a banned topic from this particular newsletter, but the conclusion he presents is:
If we all adopted a more croissant-like attitude – that is, a spirit of openness, like the pastry's shape – he says people would understand that networking is about being generous with our professional knowledge and helping each other succeed in our careers.
So while I may have fallen into a crowd of bagels at my career event, that shouldn't stop me from projecting a sense of openness to other professionals. "Ask yourself what you can do to be the croissant, to welcome people into your space," he says.
It’s important to note that I also REALLY love bagels, and as a jew I am slightly concerned about the slander against one of my tribespeople’s best contributions to the culinary world, BUT I think he is mer
One of the frequent questions you get while traveling around the country is “What’s it like living in Nashville? It must be so competitive with so many musicians there. How are you going to make it?”
Folks are often surprised to hear that the collaboration and supportive community here in town is the main reason that I choose to live here. I have this theory that there’s an unspoken communal economy among Nashville network. It kind of works as so:
As musicians and bands develop, move to town, and sometimes move out of town, certain bands and artists rise to prominence. Nobody’s heyday lasts forever, and most bands eventually break up or stop touring. Artists take time off or decide they are done, romantic relationships end, people get fired etc. So there’s this whole group of people that needs employment, and whoever is doing well at the moment usually hires their friends to play in the band, make videos, do the artwork for their record, etc. Sometimes we get hired by our friends to tour manage or tour nanny, or sell merch. In this way, one person’s success becomes the community’s success. And when one person has to leave a band for whatever reason, they pretty quickly get swooped up by another.
Wise musicians in town have learned that welcoming newcomers, and being supportive of one another’s work is not only a great way to live and be inspired musically, it actually pays off financially too. People’s economic situations change very quickly in the freelance world, and you never know when you’ll have to lean on your friends for work!