She Connects, She Builds Community, She Shines w/ Danielle Price – She Leads She Thrives Podcast Ep 43

Shannon Dunn  01:59

A huge hello everyone. My name is Shannon Dunn. I am the host here at She Leads She Thrives podcast. A long term business and leadership coach and a lover of having an amazing or co-hosting, I guess, co-creating amazing conversations  – all of that. So good. Another awesome guest to share with you today. Danielle Price I’m gonna tell you about her and kind of that formal sense in a moment. But Danielle and I met goodness may were in the early part of 2023. It was probably six or seven months ago now. Right? And yeah, it was from my desire to look at, or to create, or to be a part of something that was different in terms of networking for business women. And I’d seen some people sharing in my network, my broader network interstate here in Australia, about this thing called She Will Shine. I’m like, what is that? That sounds like something I want to know about. And it’s yeah, we’ll find out a lot more about that today. But this is Danielle, the founder, she was on the network that’s been around for some time now. And so we reached out had a conversation is like the long lost friends reunited.

Danielle Price  03:02

It was, exactly. 

Shannon Dunn  03:02

It was just an instant connection and understanding. We’re both on the same platform and come from the same space where we around networking and what we wanted to create. And so I love it.  I said to you, have you ever thought because I knew you’re in Victoria and in on the east coast of Australia. And you already had kind of like a chapter or groups that were in Brisbane and in Wollongong, south of Sydney. And I remember saying to you, have you thought about coming west. And you were like, yes, at some point. I said what are we doing now? 

Danielle Price  03:07

And why the hell not!

Shannon Dunn  03:37

And so I was very excited and proud to be come the WA Ambassador and now we have a small and growing community of of She Will Shine members and attendees at our events. So we’ll talk more about that as we go along. But, you know, aside from the fact that Danielle has this incredible community, I want to talk to you about networking, because networking is a big kind of frustration for a lot of business owners. So we’re going to get dive into that part of the conversation very, very soon. But welcome, beautiful soul. I’m so happy to have you here.

Danielle Price  04:08

Thank you so much for having me, Shannon. I’m really excited to be here this morning.

Shannon Dunn  04:12

Very excited. So let me share your bio so we can tell everyone a bit kind of the like the bits about your background and then we’ll dive into some conversation. So with over 14 years small business expertise Danielle Price has created an Australia-wide – you can say that now, not just east coast anymore – membership based network of professional female business owners. She left the corporate world in search of flexibility and upon starting a home based business with an almost exclusive client base of women, she soon realized the importance of connection support and sharing common objectives in business and life. 

Shannon Dunn  04:42

So in 2014, which I love being able to say just as a side note to our visitors to the West Australian coffee conversations and events that it’s been around that long. I think people appreciate and then go why didn’t we know about it before? In 2014 she founded She Will Shine,  the community, support and connect female founders. So Danielle was based in Melbourne and she’s grown the network across regional Victoria to New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia where I’m based. She has developed in person online networking opportunities specifically designed for women to build and foster genuine and meaningful connections. Created a nurturing, supportive and safe environment where women are empowered to rise together. 

Shannon Dunn  05:22

And just as a side note to this bit too, before I get to the end of your bio, one of the things that stood out for me, when I reached out to my connections in Victoria, who were the ones that were mostly talking about She Will Shine was the way that they told me about how you supported and really led a whole nurturing space during the pandemic. Anyone outside of Australia may not know this, but where Danielle is  based in Victoria, in the south east of Australia. That state was hit kind of hardest in many regards with Covid and was locked down for ridiculous amounts of time. So that was a big thing that and I didn’t ask about that,  unsolicited told me about the way that you kind of lead that movement of connection. And some of them did say to me like that, that kind of kept me going. 

Danielle Price  06:15

So that’s making me quite emotional hearing that Shannon, I didn’t know that you knew that. So yeah, thank you.

Shannon Dunn  06:20

I do.  That just added to that, Okay, I really do need to know this woman. As an expert networker, oh, my goodness, you sure are, an elevator of female business owners, Danielle facilitates connection and support between like minded women in working towards a common goal of creating a successful business, around personal responsibilities in life. And her passion is sharing and giving a voice to Australian women in small business. So there’s all the bits and pieces with my own interjections. 

Danielle Price  06:50

That’s a lot. It’s interesting when you hear it back, I’ve read it before but hearing it back with someone else’s sort of thoughts around it. Whoa. 

Shannon Dunn  07:00

I know it is. It’s cool, isn’t it? Sometimes I’ve heard my bio read out. And I’m like, Oh, she sounds like a cool person to know. 

Danielle Price  07:06

Yeah, I’m gonna get to know her. 

Shannon Dunn  07:09

It’s very, very cool. So considering that female founders are a big deal in the She Will Shine network, I want to hear your founder story. So how did you actually get into business?

Danielle Price  07:17

Wow, yes. So I had no inclinations ever to run my own business. So my background is in graphic design. So I was just like, working for someone else, you know, happy as Larry kind of thing. But I knew I wanted to start a family. So for me, that was quite important that I was around my kids as they were young and growing up. So I thought, Okay, well, then why don’t I just start a business from home, like, that was my thing, I’m just gonna start a business from home. So I’ve got flexibility. And so I did that. 

Danielle Price  07:43

And, you know, I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal. I just thought, this is what I’m gonna do for the rest of my life. I don’t really think beyond that point. But I started working with some amazing other women, because I didn’t advertise my business. So it was all word of mouth. So my friends were talking to their friends. And, you know, somewhere along the line, someone knows someone, you know, a woman who owns a business and word gets around, and I sort of was working with women, I was like, Oh, this is awesome. You know, you kind of don’t realize how awesome it is until you’re like, hang on a second, this is a lot better than what it used to have it but not just because it was women’s, like we just connected like you and I have connected Shannon, it’s just like, you just connect on a level that’s deeper than a business transaction. Yeah. And you just understand each other and life and responsibilities that we have, and all these different things. And I loved it, I really loved it. Because not only was I having great working relationships, like these people are becoming my friends. And I was like, that’s really nice to have all these women in their own businesses doing all their amazing things. And, you know, I’d never experienced that before.

Shannon Dunn  08:47

No. And I think when you’ve been an employee, irrelevant of what industry you’ve worked in, yes, you can create friendships in a work environment, but there’s very different kinds of connection and engagement. And when you are working as an online service provider, no matter what you do, so you and I both in that space, you end up knowing so much more about people than you ever thought you would. I’m grateful for my counseling and therapy qualifications, as well as the coaching sometimes. 

Danielle Price  09:18

But that’s the thing, right? You just kind of you build upon these connections. And it’s not even like, I don’t see people’s clients, I see them as friends. So kind of, you know, does gray the edges, but in a good way, and so on. This is great. This is fantastic. And then along came a day. So along came a day when someone said to me, do you do web design? So we’re going back a long time ago when there was kind of like, web design sort of just starting out and everyone was sort of got to have a website, got to have a website. And I needed to find a web developer Shannon, and I didn’t know what and I thought how am I going to find I wanted to work with a woman because I’m having these awesome relationships with my clients. I want to have that relationship with my supplier. I want to be on the other end of this kind of relationship. 

Danielle Price  10:02

And for the life of me, I couldn’t find one. So this is the deck going back, oh, geez, well, this is going back maybe 15-16 years, something like that. And there was no such thing as personal branding back in those days. If you went to a website, or you found someone somehow, so it’s like, the team will blah, blah, blah, if you’ve got an about us page, it’s not, there’s no photo of the person that work there. Just what the team can do for you. So well, it’s about the company, it wasn’t about the people behind the company. And I wanted to know the people behind the company, always. 

Danielle Price  10:37

So I kind of went to bed one night thinking “how am I going to find someone?” that could be someone literally working down the end of my street at the end of the block? A woman who’s doing this flexibly around whatever life responsibilities she had. And I had no way of finding it. I kind of felt like, if you were selling a product, you had Etsy or you had markets that you could physically go to – you had something to show people. Yeah, but as a service based business, where do you if you’ve got a website, how do people know that your website exists? So this is also a very early days of social media. So you know, it wasn’t like it is now. So I thought, I’m going to be clever here and have a little side business, because you know, we don’t have enough hours in a day, why the hell not.

Danielle Price  11:27

So I started an online directory back then. And it was for service based business and service based Mums predominantly in business because I was working around my young family and all that kind of stuff. And it was called Clever Mamma. And it was that it was like a Yellow Pages. It was an online directory where if you had your business, you could list it on there. And you could get found. So that kind of went along for a little while alongside the design business. But I kind of found that people still came to me rather than connecting with each other. So I had all these awesome businesses listed on this directory

Shannon Dunn  12:02

You positioned yourself as the hub of all knowledge around who was who. 

Danielle Price  12:06

And I kind of said to myself, I feel like a meat in the sandwich. Like, I have to kind of help everyone. This isn’t really how it’s supposed to work. This is supposed to be my side thing that kind of goes along, automated sort of thing. How am I going to get these women to start connecting without me in the middle. So I decided I’d run an event. And it was like a networking morning type of thing. And it was amazing, Shannon, because in my mind was like if I get all these women in a room, they can not talk to me at once, they need to talk to each other.   And it was amazing. I remember leaving that event and just being so like, energised, I was exhausted. But I was so energised. And so like, Oh, my God, this is something that’s  tangible. This is something that needs to happen more often. 

Danielle Price  12:59

And so I ran a couple of events. And at the time, so had the two businesses had a second child and it was all getting a bit too, too much the workload and just the mental load of it all. And I sort of thought, hang on, what am I actually enjoying doing? And I remember sitting out, because I used to work on my dining table, my husband walked in, and he goes, I can tell what you’re working on by the look on your face. Oh, yes. What I was enjoying, and I wasn’t enjoying the design work anymore. I was enjoying working with these women. I was like, Okay, let’s see what we can do with this. 

Danielle Price  13:35

So I decided to, you know, like the business Clever Mamma also had a few other things that was kind of making me feel negative. I had women who didn’t have children who wanted to become members now experiencing the same sort of challenges that we all were experiencing. It’s like, who am I to say no to these women who need this support. But I felt that the branding was limited. So this is also when there was a bit of Mumpreneur stuff going on. And I didn’t like the title. And I was like, we’re actually professional women in business. This is not a hobby. This is what we do. We’ve worked in corporate, we’ve done the work, we’ve done the hours, we know what we’re talking about. But I felt that the title of what our business was, was putting us in a category that I did not want to be in. I didn’t want to be in from the start. It just kind of happened that this sort of evolved around the business at the time.

Shannon Dunn  14:27

When you are a Mum in business, particularly if you’ve got small children. You know, there is a lot of juggling going on. But I’m so glad you’re able to see the bigger picture because I know I’ve shared this with you and I don’t hold back from this but definitely have not shared on the podcast before but as a woman who doesn’t have children, I have been in some very uncomfortable situations and literally been told I cannot attend events because they’re for Mums in business. 

Danielle Price  14:52

It’s ridiculous. 

Shannon Dunn  14:53

It’s disgusting. So excluding and you wouldn’t understand, you can’t contribute to the conversation. I’m an Auntie. 90% of my clients have children, you know, I do have things to contribute. Have a lived experience? No, but that doesn’t. Yeah.

15:08

Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. And I was like, Who am I to judge someone else for not having children. That’s not what my business is about. That’s not who I’m about. And so started to have these feelings around what I was doing with Clever Mamma, especially around the name of the business, because for me, that was like, well, obviously Clever Mamma, I come from an Italian background. So that’s why I put Mamma in there, I thought, that’s kind of fun and cool, and whatever. But it was like, there was all this negativity in my mind about it. I really enjoy what I’m doing, but I don’t like these bits about it. What can I do? If I’m going to pursue this, what can I do to take this in another direction and be more inclusive, etc. And so that’s what I did. 

Danielle Price  15:49

So basically, I started, I worked really hard in my design business for probably six to 12 months after that, just to get some cash in my back pocket, so ready to go. And then I re-branded the business to She Will Shine. And I really extended our offerings. So at the time, we just had the directory and every now and again, we’d run an event. So when I rebranded to She Will Shine, I started running workshops, more regular events, but also we had online resources, all this sort of stuff around it, and really took it the next step was like, No, we’re not just about a directory, we’re actually about human connection, and supporting women, all women in business, to come together. Because in my opinion, working on your own is so bloody hard. Like we choose to do it, it’s a choice that we have. And it’s not the easy option. It’s because we love what we do. So if I can make you know, I with my community She Will Shine members, if I can make your life that little bit easier, then I’ve done my job.

Shannon Dunn  16:52

Yeah, yeah, no, I get it completely. But you’re right, you know, working from home, by yourself. Even if you were talking to people all day, it can still be very lonely. And as you said, it can be very difficult. And when you don’t have a community to lean into, not lean on so much, but I think lean into and contribute and receive. So I see a true community is really giving and receiving, that you feel like you’re certainly missing out too. So that’s a big part of it. And as I said to you, like when I first heard about She Will Shine from those connections that I have that are interstate and not where I am, because we weren’t over here yet. You know, there was something kind of different about the whole energy of community that they talked about, that I hadn’t heard talked about in relation to networking communities that I have been part of, both in person and online. So that was another thing about like, I need to know what’s going on here.  But can you tell us, you know why you think community is so important for business and entrepreneurship?

Danielle Price  18:00

I just think we give so much of ourselves in our business. And for that to be ongoing, we need our own support. They say it takes a village. It’s like, yes, it does take a village to run a business as well, because we can’t do it on our own.

18:23

That’s exactly right. And it’s like, I need my support networks, not only for when I’m like, oh, you know, I’ve got a client, this is the situation, how can I deal with it, blah, blah. Also, because I need someone there to say, You know what, you’ve done a really good job, keep going. Because I think when is the hardest point in your business? Who do you have in your corner to turn to?

Shannon Dunn  18:47

Yeah, often your friends and family are not the places to go to. You can’t go to your clients for that either. Because that’s not appropriate for that relationship. So I think it is coming down to having friends in business that get it. They’ve, they’ve kind of walked their own version of through the business trenches. They’ve had their challenging times, they’ve had their amazing times, they know that ups and downs and the ins and outs and the rollercoaster that it can be. But then sometimes when you don’t have many of those people or you’re relying on kind of connecting with the same couple of people all the time, that’s not even useful. It’s often also not mutual, in terms of the support.

Danielle Price  19:25

That’s right. And you want to feel like, like you said, it’s a two way street. It’s about giving and receiving. So you want to feel valued in that relationship as well. So I think having those people around you, that you can just be honest with Shannon. How many networking events have you gone to? I know I spoke to you about this before. All right, I’ve got a networking event. We’re gonna get dressed, put on a lippy, alright, and you feel like you’re putting on a mask when you walk through the door.

Shannon Dunn  19:50

Yeah, I’ve done it. I’ve had people share how much that’s the case and you know, like just talking with you about even just that handful of events that we’ve had in Western Australia, our coffee conversations, which, you know, your model of that is that it’s a small intimate group, there’s like 10 or 11 women maximum. And the delight on women’s faces when they walk in and see, it really is one table, like a little long table, you know, where you can talk to everybody who’s there. And just the way that the conversation is guided, it’s not forced, but it is guided, so it is meaningful, useful purpose and they’re like oh, this is so easy, like, this is refreshing. Like, it was so good to meet different people and have different conversations. And I feel like I’m walking away with connection, not some business cards shoved in my face,

Danielle Price  20:41

That you’re gonna throw out when you get home.

Shannon Dunn  20:44

Even who carries business cards these days.

Danielle Price  20:46

I haven’t had business cards for years, but don’t tell anyone. 

Shannon Dunn  20:49

Some of those events, I remember early days in business like you like we’ve both been in business a long time, and you go to certain events and it was literally like looking at the people that were on a mission to collect every business card in the room, give out business cards, hound you with emails, add you – illegally – to email databases, and reach out to you and hound you on LinkedIn, and all this kind of stuff. And it was such a negative experience. It wasn’t connection. You felt like you were just a name on someone’s list.

Danielle Price  21:23

That’s transactional.

Shannon Dunn  21:24

Yeah. If that. 

Danielle Price  21:25

Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. And I didn’t like that. I’m not putting my name to something like, no, but it’s just so nice, like I said, to walk in, like, even on an online event, walk into a space, where you know you’re not going to be judged. Where you know you can just let your guard down, just relax and be yourself. Like, it’s so refreshing. And it’s so like, it becomes effortless. There’s so many things in business that you, you know, you’re riding by the seat of your pants, you’re learning as you go. And you just in so much information overload that we’ve got to kind of keep going with, keep learning, keep developing, that I feel it’s really like, it’s just a nice space to just enter and just go, Okay, I’m here. Let’s just let it flow.

Shannon Dunn  22:10

Yeah, yeah, no, so good. So something I do want to talk to you more about,  just what we talked about before about that it’s a two way street. When you are part of a network, in community, you’ve got to contribute to get something out of that, right. It’s not just my name’s part of the group. And now I’m going to get referrals, or, you know, people are going to suddenly see me and that kind of thing. So how do you guide or like, kind of nurture your members to really understand how they can embrace who they are as business owners and stand out within a community? Yeah. Aside from posting every day following the guidance in the Facebook group, like, that’s not at that that’s not creating community if you are only contributing content, and not interacting, but how do you kind of guide your members because, as I said, on the inside of the Facebook community attached to She Will Shine, it’s very different to what we see in other networking related communities. 

Danielle Price  23:09

I think it’s all about making people feel comfortable Shannon. Like, I’m very much the person that, you know, you come to my house, I kind of give you a drink, sit down, relax, he’s something too, you know what I mean? Like, maybe it’s the Italian in me, that’s I’ve got to be there for everyone. So it’s kind of like, I just want everyone to sort of sit down, relax, and enjoy. And I think, because of that, when I meet people online, or in person, we’ll have an event like the coffee conversations, or we’ve got into International Women’s Day events, things like that. I’m like, okay, so Shannon, lovely to meet you. Have you met so and so. And so I start facilitating the connections initially. And I think because of that people start to feel welcome. And they start to feel at ease. And like I said, you know, you can contribute to a Facebook group, you can post every Monday to promote whatever you’re doing. But if you’re not actually in there, you know, someone says, Ah, I’ve had this experience, if you’re not in the giving, sort of useful. But it’s just if you’re not contributing and sharing your experiences beyond promotion, I don’t think you get anything out of it.

Shannon Dunn  24:26

No, no, and I think that’s appropriate. And it doesn’t take long for people to really see or it’s almost like see through in some regards. That’s the words that are coming to me when someone is only there to…. I don’t see it as much anymore as I used to, probably because I’m not in many Facebook groups. But you kind of almost could tell when somebody’s allocated their time to go in and kind of hammer Facebook groups. And this is going back a little because you’d see variations of the same content posted in all the groups that you’re in together. And that just going in and its like spamming people, isn’t it? It’s like here’s me, hello, look at me. And there’s no interaction And I think from a social media perspective, because it’s a lot of the time we do see things like Facebook groups are a community platform in relationship to networking communities. People forget the word “social” in social media, and that it’s about interacting and remembering our human-ness. That’s a person at the other end of the transaction. And if someone’s had something, they ask a question, they’ve had a bad day, or they’ve got something to celebrate, go and be part of that conversation. Right? 

Danielle Price  25:37

Yeah, that’s exactly right. That’s the human side of business. And I guess with what we do at She Will Shine, yes, the Facebook group, but we have other opportunities where people can contribute to conversation. So we’ve got things that are very business focused, like online speed networking, that kind of thing. But then it’s also you’re getting to know someone at the same time. So it’s kind of contributing to the conversation. We’ll have catch ups where it’s all about Oh, Hi, how you going? Like, it’s not about how your business is going. Shannon? How are you going?

Danielle Price  26:10

I think because we have, like, we come from a different angle where it’s, here’s your business, but you’re a part of that business. So how are you? And I think because we kind of envelope all of that, that it has a different tone. A different feel.

Shannon Dunn  26:27

It’s something that we often forget, we talk about our business, but our business doesn’t exist without us. Yeah, and I often find myself having conversations with business owners around that interrelationship between business and life, and something happens in life, it will potentially, usually highly likely impact your business and vice versa. So when you are in a small business, or entrepreneurship, whatever you term you want to use, the influence of your business and life is acute. It’s not like when you’re an employee, and you maybe come home at the end of your day at 4 o’clock or 5 o’clock, or whatever time that is, and you can switch off. Or as a business owner, you have to consciously do that. Often you don’t do it, because the excitement of the interaction and like the fact that there is someone on Facebook messaging you at your 9 o’clock at night, because for them it’s a whole different time zone. 

Shannon Dunn  27:22

So you’ve got to be really clear about your boundaries. But I think, coming back to that, you build networks, like I have a massive international network, because I contribute. I contribute before I take. How can I support someone. If  someone’s done something amazing, I want to cheer them. I also have Inspirer Believer Archetype, so that is the natural cheerleader. But yeah, that’s first. Not what can I get from them? It’s like, how can I genuinely support and show that I care?

Danielle Price  27:51

And that’s the thing, like people will go, oh, you know, did a referral network and I said, Yes, referrals happen, but they don’t happen because you fling your business card at someone, they happen because you get to know the other person. And it’s the like, trust, and you know, that whole human side of the business as well. Actually, I think Shannon’s gonna do an awesome job for me. And I know that Shannon will give her best and etc, etc. And I think because you have that shared vision of not just business, of life, like that’s where these successful outcomes and settled amazing relationships happen.

Shannon Dunn  28:24

 For sure. I think to extend on this conversation, as I said, like, you and I both talked about some of our own shockers, in terms of experiences. We don’t need to go into the many more detail. And I think anyone can everyone. If you’re in business, and you’ve been to a networking event. You know right? You’ve had the experience. I know for me coming off the back end of corporate networking, and then coming into networking for small businesses, entrepreneurs, that was very different as well. But you know, the things that I’m loving about what that I’m seeing and hearing, but is seeing the visuals, but as well as the hearing for that WA coffee conversations, which I have no doubt are rippling around all the She Will Shine communities is things like, you know, the gratitude for the true connection for the welcome and that whole energy of you know, and I’ve heard these exact words, thank goodness this is not like other networking events I’ve been to. That energy. 

Shannon Dunn  29:16

But you know, for someone who is coming to a networking event, She Will Shine or something else. And they’ve maybe had bad experiences, or heard about how bad networking can be. What’s kind of two or three things that you would suggest that they do for themselves to really make sure that that experience, whatever they’re walking into, physically, or in an online space, are actually meaningful and valuable.

Danielle Price  29:42

Well, I just think you need to know why you’re there. One thing is, why are you going to the event? Are you going to the event to meet people and connect with people, or you’re just interested in the speaker? I’ve been to events where they’ve been huge, I haven’t spoken to anyone but the speaker was amazing. And kind of what’s the purpose for going to that event? What’s the purpose for you trying to network at this event. And I think that will give you the answer of what you need to do when you’re there as well. And like, even when you want to go meet new people, great. Meeting 20 people – not so great. Because it’s all going to be surface level conversation. Meeting one or two, having a deep conversation with those two people – that’s going to be worth its weight in gold long term. Yeah. And I used to hate going into networking,  I still hate going to networking events that aren’t mine, but I used to be really overwhelmed by it all. I’m not very big in stature, I’m quite short. So I feel like I’m just kind of walking in and no one’s seeing me. And I feel like I’m invisible. And so it’s kind of like meet one or two people, sitting down at a table was always better, because then you can talk easily to the people around you. Whereas if they’re walking in, and a stand up event….

Shannon Dunn  30:56

It’s very awkward standing. 

Danielle Price  30:59

And everyone’s huddled in groups. 

Shannon Dunn  31:02

Yeah, standing on your own. It stands out a mile.

Danielle Price  31:06

Exactly, exactly. So I think you’ve got to know your purpose while you’re there. But also, you’ve got to pick an event and just kind of see what the format is, like there’s kind of lots of things you can do. But just pick one or two people. And you know what, pick the people that look friendly, don’t pick the people that don’t look friendly. 

Shannon Dunn  31:22

And if people are sitting in a really tight huddle, don’t go there. So don’t try and insert yourself what seems to be a very tight knit kind of circle. It’s not that people won’t let you in, or welcome you in. But again, I agree with you. Why would you put yourself in an even more awkward situation if you’re already feeling a bit uncertain about things? .

Danielle Price  31:43

And I used to say to people, I don’t know anyone here, can I talk to you? Like, just be honest.

Shannon Dunn  31:50

Yes. And there’ll be everyone’s been in that situation more than once. Yeah, we’ve all walked into a room and not known anybody or been invited by the guest. And the guest hasn’t turned up yet. I have had that quite a few times. And go, okay, like, I did know someone, but they’re not even here yet. 

Shannon Dunn  32:10

Turned up when they said I should, and all these kind of things. But you, I love what you said about be really clear about why you’re going to the event and I’ve done the same thing, as you mentioned Danielle as an example that I went for the speaker, sometimes I went for the the learning or  the inspiration or whatever was maybe going to come from that, not necessarily to meet people in the room. But I’ve always had a goal, every time I’ve gone to an event, no matter what it is even the online things. But again, I love what you said, make it an intimate kind of number of you’re looking at, I want to create connection. 

Shannon Dunn  32:48

And I know that I’ve had this conversation with clients over the years. But I need to go to networking, where my ideal clients are. And I’m like, no, shift that idea completely. You need to connect with people and trust.  The reality is you never know who knows. So you might be talking to someone who is in a industry so far removed from what you do, might not feel like you’ve got anything in common. But they may have a personal network of friends or family or even business, full of your ideal clients. So making assumptions about where I’m going to go, or who I’m going to talk to, is  doing yourself and everybody else a disservice by shutting down that opportunity. 

Shannon Dunn  33:34

I remember going to do a coffee meeting when I was in a more formal business networking thing here. This is going back about 10 years ago now, an organization that I was involved with for about a good seven years. And I was in a very different part of the city to where we would meet every week. And there was one other business owner that was in a very similar place to me. So he said to me, he was very welcoming. He said to me, Shannon, why don’t you come around and we’ll kind of do this catch up thing. Okay, we’ll do that. Right? It was easy for us to get to each other, but I went to his premises. And I remember sitting and having a conversation. Yeah, he’s really interesting, man. That’s really fun. That was cool. I’ve done that kind of it was a tick the box thing because we had to kind of meet outside of the group as well. But it was useful and I kind of didn’t think anything of it. And two days after we had connected he sent me an email introducing me to his daughter. Who was my ideal client  and he never ever mentioned he had a daughter, let alone that she was in business. Yeah, ideal client she worked with me as a private client for a good period of time, referred me other ideal private clients. Yeah, and as someone in the business coaching space back then when I was really trying to grow my network that was gold. So if I’ve made the assumption have gone “Oh, he’s an older man different kinds of business, not really any relationship. I don’t know if I can refer to him. I don’t know what I’m gonna get”. If I had shut that down, I would have missed out on that opportunity.

Danielle Price  35:01

You’ve had an opportunity to have a deeper conversation with him. And so he’s learned about you, you’ve learned about him and look what’s come out of it. And I think just having those opportunities for deeper conversation can lead to anything.

Shannon Dunn  35:11

Yeah, yeah, so much so. So one word that we see often used in businesses, is the word connection, right? Its used a lot over and over and over again. And I am certain that most people listening understand what the word connection means. But you talk about it as going beyond the surface level to really nurture relationships, support one another, encourage, and I love this last bit, be courageous together. So tell us more about this. And I know that this is a lot of the kind of the ethos and the values behind She Will Shine, but tell us like that in terms of connection, rather than maybe the kind of ideas people might have about what they think connection is.

Danielle Price  35:48

You’ve sort of put it in a nutshell there. I think that when these conversations happen, when these deep connections are formed, the conversations that you have,  it doesn’t just become “my business doing this”, it becomes about “I feel”. You’re talking about how you’re feeling, and how you’re seeing yourself. And of course, we’re seeing ourselves and going, you know, we always look at, you know, we’re not gonna put rose colored glasses on when it comes to ourselves. But when we see other people doing amazing things, people that we know, people that we like, people that we have a deep connection with. Hang on a minute, I’m not too different from her, and look what she’s achieving. It’s like, I just need to be a little bit courageous. Then I can take one step in that direction. 

Danielle Price  36:33

And it’s not a huge step. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not gonna go jump and do bungee jumping. That’s not who I am. But it’s just okay, I’m a podcast guests, or, you know, Danielle was a podcast guest. And, you know, she talked about her history, and I’ve got a history, I’ve got a story to share. And it’s not that different from Danielle’s, like, why can’t I share that? And it’s like, having those relationships where you really get to know each other and it’s like, well, I can be a little bit courageous, because if I fall, I’ve got someone around me, that’s gonna say, no, okay, you too good. Maybe this didn’t work out this time, but have you tried another option. You’ve got people around you, these deep deep connections, that are like-minded and share your vision and share your passion and share your goals. Who can really sort of help you progress, its just little steps, little steps to move forward, because you know, there’s lots of fear, I have lots of fear in business. I didn’t plan to build a business. I’ve never had this amazing business degree sitting on my wall. And that’s something that’s helped me back over the years, in that “Oh, I’m just a graphic designer, why would anyone want to listen to me?”

Danielle Price  37:39

Like, these are the conversations, but then like, you know, the feedback that I get from you like, oh, actually, maybe I’m doing a good job. Maybe I can keep going. Do you know what I mean? So it’s kind of like, how we see ourselves and how others see us is very different. And when it’s coming from someone who you have that connection with, who you value their opinion, who you know that they’re not judging you, because they’re not judging what you do. They just want you to succeed for you.

Shannon Dunn  38:06

Right? And also you can tell when someone’s genuine in terms of supporting you as to when someone’s performative with their support, I think that’s the word, the right word that comes to mind for me, where it’s, it’s kind of I’m gonna look like I’m supporting you but really I’m in it for me. Very different energy to someone who genuinely is like, Oh, my goodness, this is so amazing. And like, you’re doing such a good job, like, you can feel the difference, right? 

Danielle Price  38:30

And that’s the thing, you know, we’re all building these businesses, on our own terms. And it’s someone else, who can see why it’s so important for you to build this business on your terms. supporting you. Yeah. And wanting you to do well likes it, not for them. They want you to do well for you. Yeah, there’s no ulterior motive.

Shannon Dunn  38:49

No, I had such a beautiful interaction with our gorgeous Sydney ambassador, Steph. This was last year, and we were chatting about something, I can’t remember whether it was Facebook or Instagram, but somewhere maybe even from LinkedIn, because I know she puts a lot of energy into LinkedIn as well. And it was just something that came up about it. But we were talking more about kind of shop local and support small business when you were purchasing. Because this was pre-Christmas. And she was so impassioned about this. I’m like, Yeah, I got some stuff to say about this, too. So I messaged her and like, do you want to jump on into an Insta Live together? And talk about this and how useful it could be to rethink and she’s like, yes, and then she messaged me a little bit like she said, I said yes, but I’ve never done one of those before, and I don’t know where to start and whatever. But I trust you again, because we communicated and we built that connection. And she said and I just feel like yes, we could have a good conversation. So we did and I just I loved that whole experience so much because she’s like, Oh, this Instagram live thing is not that hard at all. I can do this and that was really cool. 

Shannon Dunn  39:57

And we got to have a conversation, we got to share that, we got to share it with the She Will Shine members. And that to me, is that value of connection. Kind of well, there’s something Steph and I are both interested in so why not have a conversation about it and I’m kind of that sort of person. And a lot of the time I reach out to people like that and say, Let’s come and chat about it. And a lot of the time it’s like, I’ve never done this before. I don’t know if I can do this. Again, I’m coach and cheerleader. “Yes, you can. Let’s do it.” I’ll make it easy for you. One of my big things is about let’s make business easier. But that was that was because of the connection we had that it was easy for her to say yes. And then to benefit from the co-creation of the beautiful conversation we had together.

Danielle Price  40:41

Well, that’s the thing. We feel safe with each other. We don’t feel judged by each other, we just feel safe and nurtured and supported. And it’s like, well, in that environment, amazing things can happen.  Out in the big bad world, its kind of like, you know, too often we’re torn down by rubbish we see on socials or relationships that we’ve got to kind of do away with and move forward. But it’s like, there’s a space where it’s, it’s warm and cuddly. Do you know what I mean? Like it’s really one of those places where we’re supportive and nurturing, because we want to see you succeed in whatever it is that you choose to succeed in.

Shannon Dunn  41:15

Yeah, yeah. I think it’s like, you can tell the difference when there is a genuine community where there is true connection, because it is it does have a tone and an energy of we are in this together for everyone’s wellbeing for everyone’s good. Not somebody’s trying to be the shining star.

Danielle Price  41:31

Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. 100%

Shannon Dunn  41:34

I’m going to ask you some questions in a moment that we’ve been asking all of the guests just to kind of bring in the whole energy of the leadership and thriving aspect of She Leads She Thrives. But before I do that, I didn’t tell you I was gonna ask you this question.

Danielle Price  41:46

Oh, I’m scared now. 

Shannon Dunn  41:52

I’m curious to know what your kind of bigger vision is for She Will Shine? 

Danielle Price  41:57

See that scares me Shannon! When someone asks you that….

Danielle Price  42:05

Because like even this year, so we’re now..so obviously started in Melbourne,  now Brisbane, Sydney, Wollongong  and WA, in Perth where you are. And I’m kind of like, each month when we do our events and you guys send me these photos. We’re starting Gippsland regional Victoria as well. Every time I see these photos coming, just like, oh my gosh, I’m not there. And look what’s happening.

Shannon Dunn  42:28

Look at what you’ve created exactly. And there was a beautiful guest that came to the recent coffee conversations we had here in Perth, who was coming up to Perth anyway to visit people. But she lives about six hours from Perth,  incredible and she and I know each other online, we’d never met in person, which was a beautiful gift to me to actually meet her in person. We haven’t kind of stopped chatting since and that was a few days ago. When I shared when our next event would be she’s like, Oh, that’s so perfect. Because I was coming up anyway .The energy of excitement about being able to come up and get an extra benefit on top of why she was coming up here, which is to connect with family. And she’s did say to me, so we’re gonna have to kind of look at this, just like, I wonder if we could have something like this. And maybe I could start one of these where I am. And she’s in a regional remote part of Western Australia. I’m not sure how big the actual local community of businesswomen is. But she just like, This is what I want. This is what I’ve been looking for. But traveling once a month, six hours for it, is a bit much.

Danielle Price  43:34

Not really feasible. As much as we’d love her to.

Shannon Dunn  43:37

And when you’re looking at that, that I can see the vision, this is my Visionary Creator Archetype of you having these beautiful little communities literally all over Australia, and who knows where else that may go? Maybe we’ll branch into New Zealand next. I don’t know. But you know, I think the world’s your oyster in terms of what you’ve created and the brand presence. And the promise that’s out. It’s delivering on its promise.

Danielle Price  44:02

And I’m like as it as I said, I get those pictures of what you guys are doing out there. And I’m just like, oh my gosh.  Not that it surprises me because I’ve got good people. And when you have good people surrounding you, these amazing things can happen. But it excites me and excites me for what can be done. And so you know, ideally, what I’d like to see is these little pockets happening. And like I said, we’ve started in regional Victoria just this year as well. And we’ve got a lovely lady called Erica McInerney, running that down there for us. So it’s like I feel really privileged in a way that we’re able to reach women that would otherwise be there’s no other options here. So to have these little communities where we can help.

Shannon Dunn  44:48

In regional Australia and this may be similar for other countries where people are listening in, but it tends to find that most other countries, they’re more densely populated than we are in Australia. So they have more local opportunities. Where here in Australia, we have a Chamber of Commerce and industry or things that are created by the local Shire or the council. But they’re not usually women friendly, necessarily. And that’s what the women that I know personally that I’ve worked with clients in regional Australia and even in New Zealand, that where they’re quite remote to the capital cities, they talk about craving female connection and female conversation with others doing what they’re doing, and why they know they can get that online, and you can create incredible relationships and networks online, they’re craving in-person connection. 

Shannon Dunn  45:43

When you’re sitting on say, like the the couple of the women I know that I’ve had as clients in the last couple of years and regional Western Australia that are sitting here, one of them was sitting on a farm, she’s out in the middle of nowhere, big property. It’s like a good drive into town, which has got a few buildings, a general store kind of thing. And that’s it. Which is hard to believe for people might be listening to us in a big city in the US or in Europe somewhere. But this is the reality of these incredible women starting these businesses online because we have this gift of technology. But that’s isolating on a whole other level compared to you and I are living in capital cities.

Danielle Price  46:23

Yes. 100%. And I think like you said, online is amazing, and it does serve a purpose. But when you can nurture that with in-person, like that’s it’s just beautiful. It’s just beautiful. I always love our events where I can sit back and just see everyone talking. I’m not one  – like we talked about leadership – Shannon, like I sort of get scared with the term leader.  Actually I’m the leader of She Will Shine. No, no, no, it’s not about me. It’s about everyone else. I like stepping back and seeing the magic happen. Yeah, because the magic I might facilitate it. But the magic happens when you see these incredible women together.

Shannon Dunn  46:59

You very much are the epitome of one of the Thrive Factor Archetypes that we call the Networker Connector. Like I feel like there’s a lot of women think they’re Networker Connectors, but it’s actually not that common an Archetype. It’s quite interesting. I’ve seen it in over 1000 women that I profiled, there’s only a handful of Networker Connectors that are actually truly Networker Connectors. There are other women with different archetypes in their Thrive Factor profile, that have networking kind of gifts if you like but not like a Networker Connector. But I think if you’re going to end up starting a networking community, you’ve kind of got to have that Archetype because you know, it takes a lot more. But just exactly what you’re saying, then it’s like sit back and see the magic happen. That’s one of the key attributes of a Networker Connector, is her gift of being able to trust that the right people will be in the space, online or in person, and that the joy of a magic of who’s going to connect with who and what might happen is one of the greatest pieces of reward for you. 

Shannon Dunn  47:58

One of the interesting things about Networker Connectors is that they have generally a bigger community of people around them. They love people, doesn’t mean that they’re extroverted, but they love people. And they have been identified by their community as a hub of someone. You’re the person that people come to you go, do you know, or do you know someone who does? Yeah, that’s a classic Networker Connector thing. But Networker Connectors are often very bad at monetizing that incredible network that they have, and feel very awkward about actually reaching out to that network for help for themselves. 

Danielle Price  48:30

Ding ding ding. 

Shannon Dunn  48:32

In a nutshell, right,and every Networker Connector, you’ll know if you’re a Networker Connector not just from what I’ve said, it is like a very easy to understand that Archetype. So along with it, whatever other Archetypes you may have that would go along with supporting that highly likely in the Inspirer Believer, which is that, you know, inspiration seeking inspiration, creating cheerleader potential, this Archetype was one of mine. I love it. A lot of women at work in the online business space have that Archetype. So they will get your profiled one day, don’t you worry.

Shannon Dunn  49:06

For now that let’s ask you these questions. So role does leadership play in your life and business? 

Danielle Price  49:12

Well, if you had asked me that 10 years ago Shannon, I would go none, like in all honesty, because I don’t see myself as a leader. So that was just like, No, that’s not me. That’s not who I am. I’ve come to accept it now. And I’ve come to accept that we are doing great things. And I started this and this is something that, yes, it has a life of its own, but I do need to give myself credit where credit’s due. And I think having leadership is important because you want to be able to guide people that can resonate, they resonate with you, because there’s no point being a leader and being high up there and no one resonates with you. Just Danielle going on about her thing. But they actually have to resonate with you so they have to see themselves in you. Have to see some aspect that they can kind of go, Yes, that’s important to me. But I think it’s really important that you could just the way you lead is who you are. And I think just following your gut instinct. 

Shannon Dunn  50:12

Completely agree, and I love that there has been, or I’ve certainly felt it and seen it, a shift away from thinking of leadership as only an external thing. We understand it, we’ve all grown up, where we’ve pretty much seen or been told, often by media, that leaders are people that stand out the front of a big group of people. Leadership for me starts from within. And I feel like the quality of leadership on that external expression to a couple of people to 1000s and 1000s of people, the quality of it is enhanced, the more you understand self leadership, and really, you know, make a commitment to lead yourself. And that’s where that value is alignment and all those beautiful things.

Danielle Price  50:56

That’s right. And I think you have to, you know, you have to accept that, yes. Like I said, 10 years ago would have said, No, but you have to accept that that is a role that you are playing within your community.  But that’s okay, you can just do it your way.

Shannon Dunn  51:10

Yes. That’s it. So how do you know when you’re thriving?

Danielle Price  51:15

Oh, how do I guess when things are in flow for me. When I get this amazing feedback from my beautiful members, that these amazing things are happening, and I can sort of see the results. You’ve created something and you see results coming back to you and, and you see that those results have a life of their own, in their own way as well. That’s when I feel like okay, yep, this is good. I’m in a good place. Things are happening. I’ve done the done the hard yards. Yeah, things are flowing. And it’s just, I won’t say effortless because I don’t think anything to do in business is completely effortless. But it does have a flow.

Shannon Dunn  51:58

Yeah, I agree with you totally.  I love the word effortless. You’ve probably picked that up. I use it a lot in my life and I I’m quick to remind people that effortless isn’t effort free. 

Danielle Price  52:10

That’s a good way to put it.

Shannon Dunn  52:12

I love also the word easeful. So you know, kind of a full energy of things being more ease driven or easier.  Which is great, too. Okay, so couple more questions. Really important one now, how can people connect with you? And the She Will Shine network. And obviously we’ll put all the links in the show notes. But you know, share now, so if anyone wants to just take action and go searching.

Danielle Price  52:43

So I guess the quickest and easiest is shewillshine.com.au.  Contact us. Have a look at what we’re offering and see if it resonates with who you are and what your philosophies on business and life are. Otherwise Instagram is probably our biggest. 

Shannon Dunn  53:03

Active on Instagram, we’ve got our Facebook community for She Will Shine. And I know you’re also quite active on LinkedIn as well. So easy for people to find you. And we have a big listening audience outside of Australia. So ladies that right now I think it’s not that you can’t come and join and be a part of that because isn’t there an international member.

Shannon Dunn  53:23

It’s just like you have to plan more trips to Australia to come to the

Danielle Price  53:23

We have one international member in Dublin. The lovely Antonella is in Dublin. So it is possible. Just get in touch, we’ll make things happen.

Danielle Price  53:36

Or maybe we need to travel over. I’m not saying no to that Shannon.

Shannon Dunn  53:40

I love it. But yeah, so don’t don’t think it’s not for me because I’m not out there. Come and connect with the the content that Danielle shares frequently in those social media spaces for a start. If you’re really serious about wanting to come and be a part of this and see more about what they’re about and guess the business model, and values and ethos behind it all is and reach out like I did to Danielle and say, Can we chat?

Danielle Price  54:08

The business in Australia, the women in business community isn’t huge. So often people know someone who’s already a member and by all means ask them. I think our best advocates are our members because they’re in there. They’re there in the nitty gritty, they know what it’s like. So, by all means, reach out, ask them what they what their experiences are, because I think that’s really important.  I love what I do. And so I’m always going to share how positive it is. But it is really important to get those member experiences and I urge people if they know someone within the community and they’re thinking about joining, please reach out and ask those members who they know their experiences.

Shannon Dunn  54:44

Yeah, for sure. It’s such a great thing. So to wrap up for today, beautiful soul, what’s the kind of final piece of wisdom that you’d like to share with the ambitious, wise, impact creating individuals that are listening into us today?

Danielle Price  54:59

The one I thought about was just be yourself, be yourself. I think it’s really hard when you’re starting out to do that, but I feel as as you develop more confidence and you’re flexing that courage muscle as well, you need to embrace who you are because I think as a leader, especially people will like you for you, that’s who they’re going to resonate with.

Shannon Dunn  55:25

They so will and I find it interesting where I still see conversations and content around how hard it is to be who you are. I’m so glad I kind of broke up with that idea that I had to put on a particular face or front years and years ago and like, you know, what,  why would I? Why would I try to be something different in my business?

Danielle Price  55:47

That’s exhausting.

Shannon Dunn  55:48

Like, you know, I love that people randomly will message me and ask me for advice when they’re buying a paddleboard because I know I’m in paddleboard nut. Right? You know, that’s got nothing to do with my business, but I’m happy to share and I like it. So I get so excited that someone’s seen me talking about things I love  or art, like, I paint. So people ask me often about what materials I’m using? Or what I’m doing. Or you haven’t shared something for a while, like, what are you creating at the moment? Like, nothing to do with my business really.

Danielle Price  56:18

But its who you are. And I feel like, especially as women, like, you were saying before the business is so much of us. You can’t separate who you are and who your business is, they’re not separate entities.

Shannon Dunn  56:31

No. And if you are a parent, or a grandparent or different things, I know that there’s been things in my life that maybe as I’m going through them, it wasn’t really appropriate, because of my own needing to work through things to share. But you know, classic is up or my marriage ended. And if you know, three and a half, four years ago, I changed my name back to my birth name, I had to kind of explain why I was doing that. Right. And I had no problem with that. But it was a year after my marriage actually ended that I actually changed my name because I gave myself space. 

Shannon Dunn  57:03

This is also a misconception. People think that they need to share all of themselves. 100% in charge, if you like, if you want to use that terminology, about how much you share, what you share, how much of an open book you want to be, you do not have to give your life over. So thank you so much for joining me.

Danielle Price  57:29

Its  been so much fun. 

Shannon Dunn  57:31

Listeners, thank you for tuning in. And hopefully you’ve enjoyed the conversation Danielle and I have had today and no matter where you are in the world, you feel inspired to go out and to find the right community that really feels like it is welcoming. And there’s going to be a place where you can both contribute and really receive an incredible experience for the connections that you are co-creating. It’s not about the host, like Danielle being the person who’s creating it all or like if you come into like a small event like I’m running on behalf of She Will Shine, it’s not up to us. The quality of the events is down to the people who come and how they interact. That’s really the value of networking. And you’ll get so much out of it. Be courageous and put that little bit in. Makes such a difference.

Danielle Price  58:17

Small steps make a big difference.

Shannon Dunn  58:19

They certainly do. So wherever you are in the world, thank you for listening in. Thank you for being a regular listener of She Leads She Thrives. And if you are not yet downloading all the episodes, and doing all of that. If you haven’t yet rated the app…, 

Danielle Price  58:32

What are you waiting for?

Shannon Dunn  58:33

Exactly what are you waiting for. Go do that. And if you found value in this conversation, or any of the conversations you’ve heard or any of the solo episodes, please share it with your friends. That is a great way of you contributing to network, share it with your friends in business. Just send them. I’m the person that is often listening to an episode on someone’s podcast and I just go, who might this be useful for and I just randomly send it my friends and network are used to it. Even sent one to my brother the other day as I think you need to listen to this like this would be really good and this is why. People just get used to that now but this is also very helpful because there’s some incredible conversations being co-created all the time and shared on you know, podcasts and summits and events. And the value of them is amplified when we can share them so yeah, that’s you being a good networker if you like.

Shannon Dunn  59:21

Good. So thank you for joining me Danielle. Thank you everyone else and I look forward to being in your ears with a new episode very soon.