Bathrooms rather than Boardrooms... Female Networking

One of my dearest friends - Chelsea - and I have built our relationship in the bathroom.

I know that sounds odd but it is true.

I cannot tell you the countless conversations we have had in our 3 years as house-mates; the funny thing is that most of them have occurred in the bathroom.

Not our rooms.
Or the kitchen.
Not even our fabulous porch.

But the bathroom. There is something about the bathroom that for women creates an immediate bond and a safe haven to let the floodgates of communication burst open.

And I'm not talking just a gossip fest or make-up advice.

I'm talking stresses and successes of the day.
Crush updates.
Family dramas.
Hopes and dreams.

Chelsea and I have covered all of that and more all while applying mascara, preparing for a shower or straightening our hair and those sorts of things.

I cannot tell you how many quick trips to the bathroom to brush my teeth or paint my toes ended up being an hour-long conversation over things as minor as our exercise plan and as major as how we plan to impact the world one day.

Something tells me that boys just don't do this.

I might be wrong but take a look at any public restroom line and its pretty easy to see which gender lingers in the bathroom ;)

But it wasn't until last week at the Women in Business Conference sponsored and organized by the Center for Women that I realized female bonding in the bathroom is an effective tool for networking.

The conference - Pathways to Power - was absolutely wonderful and I met a ton of great, powerful, successful women. There were even organized sessions of speed networking much like I have mentioned before, buuuuuuutttttt the place I made the most connections and swapped the most business cards was.....

You guessed it: in the bathroom. 

Starting with a simple "cute shoes" or "I love that lip gloss" opened that floodgate of female communication and connection - aka networking.

Seriously, for women, business deals can at least be started - if not made - in bathrooms rather than boardrooms. It's a Southern Belle kinda way to do business ;)

We, as women, need to keep this in mind and take advantage of it... also, any guys reading this might want to consider the strategy (in your own bathroom, that is!).

The Ladies bathroom - a safe and solely female space - is full of opportunity for female networking.

It goes back to point of view - the next time you're stuck in a long line waiting to pee...  assuming, you aren't doing this....

you could, in all seriousness, not complain though it might be hard to do - especially if the line looks like this:

But such a situation is the perfect opportunity to make lemonade out of the lemons (or long lines) that life hands you!

Next time you're in a long bathroom line, make the most of it as an opportunity to do a little networking!