Community Spotlight: Starting Somewhere New

By: Katie Upton / August 17th, 2020

Community Spotlight: A series highlighting Aspire to Her community members and their experiences early in their careers.

Who we’re featuring this week: Katie Upton
Position: Internal Consultant at Beam Dental

You recently took an exciting opportunity working in strategy in a city where you had no existing professional or social network. While moving to a new, unfamiliar city is always difficult, a global pandemic makes it a million times harder. How did you make the decision to take the leap, and what advice would you give to other job seekers?

I was super lucky in this job market to be offered an opportunity that aligns very well with my interests and experience, but the thought of moving from New York, where I had built strong professional connections and friendships, to Columbus, Ohio was candidly very scary. There were two key points that ultimately helped me decide to go for it:

We spend so much time at work - The right role and company fit is important! Enjoying work plays a major role in my overall happiness, and my current job is an awesome fit culturally and for my specific role
Nothing is forever - I couldn’t know for sure whether I’d like my new city, but I knew that it wasn’t set in stone. I can always move back to New York or try another city!

For those in the process of moving to a new city and trying to meet people, do you have any tips?

First of all, welcome to your new city! I’m learning right along with you, but here are some things that have helped me network and feel less lonely in a new place:

Professional Network

Join all the events - I attend every single company event that I’m invited to. You’re probably connecting with your team daily, but this is the perfect way to meet people across the company
Turn your camera on - I am the queen of yoga pants and ponytails during quarantine. Howeverrrrr, I really believe people connect more with faces than with blank screens. Think about it: these people may have seen each other in the office, so they already have a visual in their heads of what other teammates look like, but they have (most-likely) never seen your face in person. It’s a little harder to connect with a black box that lists your name than with a face!
Video coffee chats - If you’re brand new to a company, you have a built-in excuse to meet new people! I’ve made the goal for myself to schedule a coffee chat every Friday with someone new.
Join your local professional community - Check out the professional networks in your area. I joined Columbus Young Professionals, and they do a ton of programming both virtually and in socially-distanced settings

Social Network

Ask around - Don’t feel silly spreading the word to all your friends, family, previous coworkers, Instagram followers, etc. that you’ve moved to a new city and are looking to connect with people. You’d be so surprised whose sister’s college roommate lives near you or whose cousin went to school in your new city
Use the apps - For some reason, I feel embarrassed even writing this tip and admitting that I have used Bumble BFF in my new city, but there’s nothing embarrassing about it at all! Through Bumble BFF, I’ve connected with other people who are new to the city and have explored new parts of Columbus together
Find your spots - I walk with my dog to the same cafe every morning. Even if I don’t become best friends with the barista, this city started to feel like home once the workers started to know my order and call me by my name each day

Moving literally means moving out of your comfort zone, and a lot of these tips are easier said than done. However, it’s all about mindset: this is such an exciting new adventure, and you have even more new experiences to look forward to once your new city returns to normal!