Most people walk into a networking event trying to collect as many business cards as possible. Cara Truitt walks in looking for one person.

In this episode, Melissa Taylor sits down with Cara Truitt, TEDx Sugar Creek Women Founder, keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and self-described neurodivergent brain running a million miles a minute, to talk about why the way most of us network is actually getting in our own way, and what to do instead.

Cara's framework didn't come from a business school textbook. It came from years of switching industries, raising two young kids, producing live events, and learning the hard way that presence isn't a personality trait, it's a daily choice.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• The "Choose the One" framework — why walking into a room with one intentional conversation beats working the whole crowd
• Why the person who can move your business forward is probably already in your network (you just haven't gone deep enough with them yet)
• The difference between networking and net weaving — and why one builds a business while the other builds a pile of cards on your desk
• The ultraviolet moment — what Cara's 7-year-old said in the car that reframed how she thinks about perspective in every relationship
• How she turns corporate coworkers into a community in a single day
• Why connection isn't about the amount of time you have — it's about how present you are in the micro-moment
• The one question to ask instead of "So, what do you do?"
• Her go-to tool for tracking who she meets and when (HiHello)

Connect with Cara Truitt: 🌐 caratruitt.com 🎤 tedxsugarcreekwomen.com

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