One of the elements built into the Alpha Female Creator-in-Residence program is networking. In other words, meeting people who make decisions and have an impact in our field. We know that one of the biggest barriers women creators face in our industry is access to open doors. In this age of social media finding a contact is not a problem anymore. But getting that contact to agree to spend valuable time on learning about you, that’s a different story. Your influence is not about who you know, but who knows you, so it stands to reason that the more people know you, the more likely it will be for someone to open the door you’re knocking on.

Open doors don’t mean handouts—once a door is open, you still have to put your best foot forward and walk through it in way that will make you memorable and will take that opening and turn it into an actual opportunity for growth. But that’s the whole point—the issue of lack of access has never been about the value of the individual creator and their power to make themselves known. It has been about the door itself being open so that the creator can walk through it and start a conversation.

Open doors are crucial to someone’s success. We’ll keep on opening them, not only for our Creators-In-Residence, but for others in our growing Alpha Female community.

Our first networking event took place at the end of January in New York City on a rainy evening at Sony Square where more than a hundred industry luminaries spent a few hours talking shop, having a great time, and enjoying the energy of having so many people who share the same interests all in one place. And most importantly, our Creators had an open door that night, through which they could step in and show themselves in their best light. They all made valuable contacts that resulted in a variety of opportunities already—media features, collaborations, potential projects, extraordinary advice, ideas for the future.

Open doors are crucial to someone’s success. We’ll keep on opening them, not only for our Creators but for others in our growing community. And we’ll keep talking about them, because the more awareness we can create about what access means to building a strong, diverse creative field, the better it will be for all us.

Next week we’ll come back with another update on our Creators’ journeys. In the meantime, take a look at these photos from our New York Alpha Female Meet & Greet and think about the doors you could open for others.

Photos courtesy of Sony Artisan of Imagery (and door opener) Tony Gale.

The Alpha Female Creators-in-Residence on the big screen at Sony Square

Mentor Sara France & Mentee Megan Allen

Mentee Colette Robinson & Mentor Caroline Jensen

Mentee Danielle Da Silva & Mentor Cristina Mittermeier

Opening doors

Meeting the Creators-In-Residence

Sharing wisdom is part of an open-door policy

The Alpha Female Creators-in-Residence