It’s Not Just Coffee

A message from Mia Johnstone, Business Advisor with the Small Business Development Center in Aberdeen

“I recently had 4 other women Business Advisors from the Washington Business Development Center (WSBDC) spend the weekend at my house. It was not a work sponsored event nor did I get any compensation.

My organization has over 30 business advisors. We are spread out in offices across the state of Washington. We have a biannual conference where we all come together. We are usually pretty busy with professional development and don’t get a lot of time to hang out.

So I decided to have a sleep over because I wanted to just hang out with my colleagues.

Think business minds meet sleep away camp. Together we have decades of experience in Business Advising but here we were with no stress, no work and just

fun a head of us for the weekend. We cooked and ate meals together. We took a cold dip at Lake Quinault and explored the rain forest. We ventured to Seabrook and walked on the beach. We stayed up late and played card games. In essence, we bonded.

Inevitably, we talked about work. We took and borrowed ideas from one another.  We talked about some challenging situations and how to approach them better. We even discussed specific tasks we all have to do and how to be more efficient at them.

Also, through this time together, I got to know more about the strengths of my fellow colleagues. In our WSBDC network we often do co-advising when it would benefit our clients. I learned that Julia in Spokane is highly adept at Instagram and knows a lot about running a high-end retail business. Hillary in Lacey is amazing at projections and excel spreadsheets. Cindy in Mt Vernon is passionate about sustainable workplaces. Though linked to their work, these are a part of their individual passions.

After these discussions, the biggest take away for me was this: I get to tap into these areas of expertise by asking these advisors to co-advise with me and my clients here in Aberdeen. It is more clear how they can help me, help my clients. They have a wealth of knowledge that is not in my area of specialty. It is now about 10x easier for me to call one of these advisors and ask them for help. This is a huge plus for my clients too.

So, magic happens when you decide to just hang out with someone you know through work. Seriously. Take a colleague or fellow business owner to coffee. Just chat. Take time to be yourself and relax. Ask them about what they love to do. Find their strengths. Listen, appreciate, and reflect. In the end, it is not just coffee. It is human and it builds our awareness and communal bonds with one another.  And that is the essential foundation for growth.”

Mia Johnstone is the Business Advisor with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The SBDC offers free of cost business advising and aids businesses with loan acquirement, tax questions, cash flow analysis, marketing, human resources and much more. Her office is in Aberdeen and she can be reached at 530-538-2530 mia.johnstone@wsbdc.org.