Saturday night Sabina and Matt showed up at the climbing gym ready to go. They both were decked out in their respective gear, and something about the night felt like the early days of dating when they used to go exploring and do new things together all the time. Something about getting older seemed like they did new things together less often. He was excited to be breaking that pattern with Sabina this time.
The gym was beginning to fill up with couples and stragglers coming for this Saturday night experience. Matt looked around the room for Cory Schneider, whom he had only seen a LinkedIn picture of. Sabina was already getting warmed up on the low practice wall. Matt was looking around and spotted two guys make their way into the gym – one of whom he guessed could be Cory.
“Cory?” he asked.
“Yes – hey! You must be Matt…good to meet. This is my partner, Jesse.” Matt shook both of their hands and called Sabina over to meet them as well.
For a moment Matt thought to himself, What are we doing here? I asked for this night and this meeting, but I'm not sure why all of a sudden. Sabina, used to getting people warmed up in her therapy practice, broke the ice. “Is it just me or does this feel like an awkward first double date or something?” It was an awkward, but funny, comment that served to break the ice.
It was a matter of minutes before they were chatting, getting suited up to climb, and finding numerous points of connection about the gym, the neighborhood, and other outdoor activities throughout the city that were of interest to all of them. Sabina and Jesse, in particular, hit it off and were busy giggling about Matt didn't know what. They paired off to go climb and spot each other on a rather intimidating wall off in the corner.
Matt and Cory similarly made their way over to a busy wall that had other couples climbing and spotting each other.
“Hey, again, I appreciate you guys joining us.” Matt said.
“It's actually kind of funny because we have been wanting to come here since it opened but just hadn't found the time, so your note prompted it. We just thought, what the heck; let's go.”
“Well, I appreciate it.” They stood lingering amidst a group of folks waiting for their turn to climb. People were offering to spot and support each other so couples could climb together if they wanted.
“You know, to be honest,” Matt started in, “I'm on a little bit of a journey. I'm working on starting a business, exactly what I'm not sure, but I've had this good career in finance and I have this dormant passion for the outdoors and nature, and I'm trying to figure out if there could be an intersection between those two things. So as strange as that sounds, I saw your profile and thought you would be the perfect person to talk to.”
“Ha – well…I'm not sure I have any thoughts other than the fact that my career has sort of just been getting pulled into one thing after another, almost all in the public sector. To be honest, there are days where I'm really inspired but then there are days where I want to pull my hair out…I've actually been thinking a lot about what is next for me.”
“I think that's the story of most people's careers. Sabina, on the other hand, seems to have it all figured out. She's a therapist, does a great job with clients, and doesn't seem to have these existential crises like I do.”
“I can relate,” Cory said. “Jesse has been an interior architect since graduating college and loves it. He designs interior office spaces and is really interested in design, does a great job, and doesn't really ever want to do anything else. Any time I start complaining he just gives me this deadpan look like, “Really? We're going to have this conversation again?”
Matt laughed, knowing that feeling all too well from his own experiences with Sabina. The gym was picking up, and Matt and Cory continued to share more about their professional journeys and what they are hoping for in the future. Cory revealed at one point his own desire to be an entrepreneur, which Matt was interested and maybe a little surprised to hear. Not that he had much experience with randomly meeting up with people through LinkedIn, but he assumed the conversation would be more of a job interview for himself, for some reason, and instead he found himself suddenly collaborating with a kindred spirit who had enjoyed some professional success but was not wondering for himself, “What's next?”
“To be honest,” Cory continued, “I think I could be a good entrepreneur, but it scares the hell out of me. I love selling, I love problem solving, and I have a lot of networks I think I could tap into. The Forest Preserves is an amazing institution. I'm passionate about the mission, as well as the preserves themselves, but I feel like it's increasingly difficult to get outside and stay connected to that mission.”
“Well, I'm not sure how this could evolve, but I'm committed to starting small and continuing this train of thought with you, if that's of interest,” Matt offered, as they continued to explore this conversation together.
The gym was bustling with climbing and socializing. Matt remembered his homework to connect with the owner of the gym. Was he or she even here? What would he offer or ask? Over by the folding table that hosted the impromptu BYO bar and hors d'oeuvres, Matt spotted who appeared to be the manager talking to a few employees.
Matt went over and introduced himself to her. “Hey – I know this is random, but I was wondering if I could talk to the owner of this gym? I'm a new member and just interested in how it got going.”
The woman, tall, decked out in climbing gear, wearing a hat over a full head of red hair, and with a bit of a Southern accent, replied, “That's me. I'm Jodie. Thanks for joining – how's it going so far?”
And with that Matt was into a conversation with the owner of the gym. What seemed so intimidating as a homework assignment on paper suddenly unfolded in real time with ease – both the conversation with Cory as well as the conversation with Jodie.
“So, I'm interested in this gym and how you brought the whole vision to life. I work in finance and was excited to join this place, and just admire the fact that you built it.” Matt offered some flattery, which had been encouraged by the Third Shift Entrepreneurs, but meant it sincerely.
“Well, thanks, I appreciate that. Honestly, it's a dream come true to open and run this business, but it's not without it's challenges,” Jodie responded, and with that opened up with full transparency about how the gym came to be. He discovered how this was, in fact, her second climbing gym, and she was looking to grow it through a franchising strategy. He also learned that she viewed a key market, still underdeveloped, as being working with corporate teams for team building experiences. Her passion, in addition to climbing, was leadership development and seeing the intersection of climbing experiences as a way to unlock new conversations, vulnerability, and trust with teams.
Cory and Matt listened with interest, and Matt threw out an idea: “Question for you – could we organize a group of finance professionals to come climb every couple of weeks? It could be a chance to network with likeminded finance professionals who care about climbing or physical fitness, and maybe explore ways to work together.”
Jodie jumped on the idea and offered, “I'll give you the gym for free if you bring in finance types that are decision-makers at their companies. I just ask that you let me share our corporate offering at some point with them.”
And with that, before the conversation or the night had ended, Matt and Cory were partners in a climbing networking group. They both figured that, regardless of what their respective futures held, building a strong network of finance professionals beyond their current sector could be of interest.
Sabina and Jesse, who had been out of sight for an hour or more, came laughing hysterically from the bar.
“What's so funny?” Matt asked.
“Oh, don't worry about it. It's too much to explain, but Jesse's my new best friend,” Sabina said. Matt hadn't seen her this free or laughing this hard in some time, and while he had no idea what she and Jesse were up to, he was just happy to see her as happy as she was.
Sabina, who, along with Jesse, had enjoyed the bar more than Matt and Cory had, assessed the two of them. “You guys seem pretty serious.”
“Well, actually, we just launched a networking group that will be meeting up here in the climbing gym for free starting in a couple weeks. So – yeah – while you've been off doing your thing, we've been busy.” Matt put his arm around Sabina and kissed her forehead.
Cory added, “It's so random that you reached out, but I feel like we're at the start of something. If nothing else, I know that Jesse and Sabina will insist on getting together again, so it looks like we're stuck together.”