Write Big: People Are a Good Use of Time Part 2

Jennie Nash shares a Write Big episode recap of a last-minute trip to a Boise conference, reinforcing her belief that spending time with people is valuable. She describes meeting her business coach Claire Pelletreau in person, reconnecting with author and strategist Pam Slim—whose $3,000 VIP day years earlier was pivotal to Jennie’s business growth and relationship with money—and forming a new connection with a former concert cellist turned creative-business consultant named Kate, whose book she bought at the event and has already read and recommended.

Jennie also recounts being recognized by podcast listeners, enjoying family time with her sister, niece, and the baby, and acknowledging the energy toll of conferences and her need to skip evening events. She found keynote talks less energizing than participant connections, influencing plans for a coach retreat in 2027 using Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering.

• The Widest Net by Pam Slim

• The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker

Write Big: People Are a Good Use of Time

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Jul 10

Jennie Nash introduces a Write Big episode of the #amwriting podcast focused on prioritizing people, drawing on KJ’s reminder that “people are a good use of time.” She explains a sudden decision to attend the Craft and Commerce conference in Boise despite costs in time, money, and energy, noting travel is difficult for her as an introvert with migraine-…

[00:00:00] Hi, I’m Jennie Nash, and you’re listening to the #amwriting podcast, the place where we help writers of all kinds play big in your writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most. This is a Write Big episode, where I bring you short conversations about the mindset shifts that shape the work.

And today I’m talking about my trip to Boise to go to the conference that I decided to go to kind of at the last minute. And I spoke before about the idea that people are a good use of time. So I wanted to just follow up on that and talk about what happened there and why it was great and why I’m so happy I did it.

And will be looking for other opportunities both to be in person at things as a participant, and also probably to have a retreat in 2027 for my coaches, because I was just reminded of how powerful it [00:01:00] is to be in a room with people. So I did get to meet my business coach, Claire Pellatro, as I had hoped.

And we went out to lunch, and it was just amazing to be there and see her smile and, like, actually her physical body. And her energy is her energy, whether she’s on Zoom or in person. But it was, um, just delightful to be there, and we went to a workshop together and It was just another level of our relationship, another connection, another thing that we did, and that was just amazing.

Totally what I wanted it to be and totally worth it. And being in that room with all the people that I don’t know, and the whole experience of, you know, you have a name tag on, and you’re sort of wandering around and needing to go up to groups of people and introduce yourself, and that whole energy, which is just awful.

Like, does anybody like it? I don’t think so. But I, I did [00:02:00] that on, you know, a whole bunch of occasions, um, during the three days of this conference, and the first is so delightful. The very first conversation that I had with somebody, like literally the first time I spoke to somebody at this conference, was I was standing in line.

They had a coffee, like a fancy coffee cart, and I was standing in line to, to get this fancy coffee. And, you know, the person who was standing behind me and I started to chitchat just the way you do. Like, “Oh, where did you come from for the conference, and what do you do?” And we had just launched into that introductory chitchat conversation when she said, “Wait, I know who you are.

I listen to your podcast.” I was like, “What?” Like, it was just, what are the odds of that? It was crazy and cool. And so that was a really amazing experience. And then that happened to me actually a couple of times, which was [00:03:00] just wild. And then there was another moment- When I saw somebody walk in the room and I said, “Oh, I know who that person is.”

And it was Pam Slim, who is the author of many books that I love, um, including The Widest Net, which is a book about marketing that, um, I- is required reading in my Book Coach Certification course because Pam’s idea of thinking about your business as an ecosystem and thinking about your, the web of connections that hold up your business as a way of thinking about marketing has informed a lot of the way I think and teach about marketing.

I just adore Pam’s work, and Pam was a person, one of the first people that I ever invested in for my own business growth years ago, like six, seven? I mean, before the pandemic. How many years ago is that now? A long time. But Pam [00:04:00] had a product or a package that she offered, which was a VIP day, and you were required to fly to where she was, which was in Phoenix, Arizona, and spend a night in a hotel and get up and start working with her at 8:00 AM, and she had this giant whiteboard in a room.

I mean, it was the whole wall, and you worked all day on this whiteboard, and she had hired, she hired somebody to record the whole thing, um, both notes and also audio, so there was, there was a audio recorder, so you didn’t have to be taking notes. And then in my case, she brought in a audience segmentation specialist to help with my particular issue that I was working on.

But that day, that VIP day was $3,000. It was a huge investment for me at the time. It was the first time I’d ever spent that much on my own business growth, and I was really excited to see what it was like to be in [00:05:00] a space like that, to buy a high ticket service like that, to be coached like that. You know, I’m running a business teaching coaches how to coach.

I better be getting coached my own self. And this was the first time that I really made a big investment like that. And I selected Pam for all the reasons. She’s incredibly smart. She’s incredibly strategic, very well-connected. And that day was pivotal to my growth in many different ways. It was pivotal to me as a manager of a team of people.

It was pivotal to me as in my relationship with money. That was one of the beginnings of my understanding of my own value and how to think about my own value and how to think about money and pricing, which is a core thing that I teach people now. So there were just a lot about that day that was incredible.

And I remember saying to her... I remember looking at my watch at 10:00 AM, we had started at 8:00, and [00:06:00] at 10:00 AM, looking at my watch and saying, “This was already worth the money that I paid and the effort that I went to be here.” It was, it was amazing. So Pam Slim walks into the room in Boise, and I had never really quite put this together, but she’s a real insider in this world, and this world includes a lot of big players in the online business and education universe, and she’s really in with all of them.

So of course, she was here at this event. And so I, I saw her walk into the room, and I went up to her, you know, sort of fan-girly and was like, “Pam Slim, you know, you probably don’t remember me, but I came to one of your things back in the day, and here’s who I am and, and what I’ve been doing.” And we had a conversation, it was maybe, I’m gonna say 10 minutes, in a room, bustling room full of people.

But what I remember about this conversation was we were looking each other in [00:07:00] the eye. We were talking about something important and, and deep and vibrant and cool just instantly. We got instantly to this place where we were having this conversation, and I got to hear about the new book she’s writing. I got to hear about some new things she’s doing.

I just... This conversation, this moment, this 10 minutes was so amazing. Um, I got to reconnect with her, obviously, reconnect with her in terms of like, “Here’s my contact info. Here’s your contact info. Come onto the podcast. Let’s talk about your writing process. Let’s talk about marketing. Let’s talk about all the things.”

Nikki, it was just amazing, and the kind of thing that you could not have planned for or thought might happen or anything. But because I was there in the room, it, it happened, and I loved it. I loved that moment. I [00:08:00] also made myself reach out to people, like literally across a table. I was in a session. It was a, um...

It was actually about podcast marketing, and, um, it, it was a, a great session, and there was a woman sitting at... We were all at tables in like a, you know, a hotel conference room, and there were like 10 people at a table. And there was a woman across from me who made a comment that sort of made my ears perk up, and I thought, “Oh, who is she?”

And because we all had name tags on, I was able to look on my phone right then and there about who she was and, um, learned that she was a, had been a concert cellist who now runs a consulting business, a coach consulting business for- Creative people, including musicians, dancers, artists, and she had a book that recently came [00:09:00] out.

And so I was able to go up to her, you know, reach across the table and say, “Hey, can I, can I stop you a second? You know, I just looked up who you were, I’m really interested in your work, and your new book looks great.” And she said, “Oh, I happen to have a tote bag full of my books. You know, would you like to buy one?”

Which I loved. Like, please, yes, make me buy your book. Invite me to buy your book, you know. Here’s my... She said, “Here’s the Venmo code, you know, shoot me the money.” And, you know, she signed the book and gave it to me, and I mean, I love that. Marketing a book in person, having the tote bag, not just giving them away, just the whole thing.

And I have already read the book. I’ve only, I’ve been home, I don’t know, a week since I’m recording this here today, and was a fantastic book. I, I just loved it. It, it’s the type of book I think I might have written had I been patient enough to write such a book, which I probably will never be. But just about [00:10:00] embracing a different kind of career and making a pivot.

Um, this person, her name’s a little hard to pronounce, so, so that’s why I’m, I’m not saying it out loud, but I should, I should l- look it up, and I will look it up and share it in the show notes. It’s kind of ridiculous that I don’t have it committed to memory, and I, I can’t... The book is actually in front of me, but it’s upside down where I can’t reach it, so I can’t even say her name.

It’s Kate, but her last name is hard to pronounce. Um, but anyway, um, you know, I was able to then- connect with Kate, and now we’re friends, uh, online, and I, I-- You know, this book is amazing, and I’m sure that I will do something with her, uh, someday. And that was a type of connection that was super surprising.

I, I just had never really thought that, of course, there would be a coach consultant in that space, and of course, I would have things that would overlap with what they do. And, um, I’ve already recommended that book to somebody who scooped it up, and it’s perfect for where they are in their life right now.[00:11:00]

So all of this is just to say, I got to be in person with somebody that I’m investing in, my own business coach. I got to be in person with somebody I have invested in in the past and reconnect with them. I got to meet somebody new that is going to probably be somebody that I connect with in some way in the future.

And these are just a few of the examples of being with people and how that resonated and how that worked. And, you know, I got that amazing experience of being recognized in a room for the work that I do and the business that I’ve built, and that felt amazing. Of course, I also got to have a bunch of dinners with my sister and go on walks with my niece and her baby and go out for ice cream with them and, you know, reconnect with my family.

And, um, my sister’s recently moved to [00:12:00] Boise to be near her family and bought a new house, and I hadn’t seen her house, and that was incredible. And, um, just to place her in the world and, um, you know, it just had been a few months since that had all happened, and it just felt weird that I didn’t know where she had landed specifically.

And so it was all just great. And, and I had been hemming and hawing about going, about spending the time, about spending the energy, about spending the money, about, you know, all the things. And it was just a great reminder of how powerful that can be, how galvanizing it can be, um, especially when you choose a room of people that are working towards the same thing you are and in the same way that you are, the same kind of spirit that you have.

Um, you know, all that being said was also really hard. Um, when I [00:13:00] came home, I had a couple days where I didn’t really even wanna leave the house. I didn’t really wanna even move, like go exercise or see anyone or do anything. I was, I was a little bit really tapped out, I guess I might say. Um, like it was hard for me, as I knew it would be, and that energy output was hard.

And I actually bowed out of a lot of the offerings at the conference ‘cause I didn’t have the bandwidth to do anything, you know, in the evening, to do anything at night. There was a lot of that kind of thing happening, and I just couldn’t. It was... I just didn’t have it in me. So I, I’m old enough now and wise enough now to know how to be in a room with people, which is, which is great.

You know, I know kind of how much I can take in. And one-- another thing that was surprising that I just wanna say is that the big headline speakers that I was [00:14:00] excited to see were not the best part of the whole thing for me. I often feel when I hear writers speak that they’re-- what they’re saying is a little derivative of the books they’ve written or, I don’t know, um, regurgitated.

Um, you know, with podcasts and how much we get to hear people speak now, that it’s hard for them to say anything new, um, or surprising or different, and that was a little disappointing to me. Um, or it didn’t match up to my expectations, I guess. Um, and I’ve often had that experience. We have a, a amazing arts and lecture series here in my hometown of Santa Barbara, and we have a lot of great authors coming through.

And every time I see somebody exciting coming through, I’m like, “Ooh, I wanna go to that.” And then I go to it, and I, I, I never come away [00:15:00] energized in the way I wanna be energized or in the way the book energized me. And maybe that’s just because I’m a reader. That’s my primary way of connecting with thinkers, and I like the slow pace of sinking into a book and of, of bringing my own thoughts and experiences to it.

And being in an auditorium listening to a writer doesn’t usually give me the same thrill, I guess. So that was interesting to experience that, um, again in that way. The format was that there were a lot of keynote speakers. They would have kind of three in a row. Um, and I I found myself listening more to how they were delivering their speech and what their kind of methodology was and how they were deploying different tactics of storytelling or pacing or how they were using their slides, things like that.

I found myself analyzing their performance [00:16:00] more than soaking it in really. And I mean, that’s kind of an occupational hazard of mine of, of analyzing the, the communication rather than just being in it. But, um, you know, it was... Those are some of the downsides I guess was, was hard to, it was hard to be, to sit and listen to those speeches for long periods of time.

But that has absolutely informed how I’m going to create the retreat that I’m going to be creating, and leaning into something I’ve done in the past, which is making space for people to make their own connections more so than- Delivering information or, or having a bunch of like, uh, what’s the word? Sage on the stage events where people are just listening.

I’m not sure that’s the best use of, of bringing people together. But I will absolutely be using Priya Parker’s book, The Art of Gathering, when [00:17:00] I think about how to do this retreat. I love that book for so many reasons, and I love it for this use for sure, and having just been to... I mean, it’s my first conference of this kind in, in quite a while, and, um, just really got my brain thinking and, um, excited about what, what I can do.

So I will be using that Priya Parker book for sure. And I just noticed that Priya Parker announced a new book coming out that I am really excited for as well. Uh, it seems to be about conflict, which is, what a fascinating next book. I’m fascinated to hear what she’s gonna say about that, and I can’t wait to get my hands on that one.

So, uh, The Art of Gathering maybe leads to conversations about conflict. We’ll see how that, how that shakes out. But, um, the point is I wanted to, to report on my journey and maybe inspire you to think about [00:18:00] some sort of gathering that you want to put yourself out to be part of to bring your own writing to a different level, and to bring your own connections to a new level, and to put yourself out of your comfort zone and get something for your writing life and career that you’re not getting from sitting in a room.

Because we get a lot from sitting in a room, and we get a lot from listening to podcasts like this and reading books and doing our own work, but there really is something about getting out there and being with other people. Thanks for listening to this podcast. Now let’s get back to work and finish what matters most.

The #amwriting podcast is produced by Andrew Perilla. Our intro music, aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for [00:19:00] their time and their creative output because everyone deserves to be paid for their work