Hey Reader,

This is the weekly announcement for The Awkward Handshake, a podcast & community all about networking that I co-host. If you want to opt-out of these podcast & networking community updates, CLICK HERE.

May is Mental Health Month, and we could think of no one better to kick it off than our friend Micah Freeman. Micah is a licensed therapist, educator, coach, and the kind of person who will say something in casual conversation that rewires your entire brain.

This week on The Awkward Handshake, Megan and I sat down with Micah to talk about what's actually going on underneath the surface when networking feels impossible, and why the fix might not be a better strategy.

We talked about:

✨ Why meeting strangers has felt terrifying for 200,000 years—and why that's actually your nervous system working correctly
✨ The difference between a vulnerability hangover and a superiority hangover (and why we've all had both)
✨ How businesses become distraction tools—and what you're actually trying to avoid when you keep tweaking your offer
✨ The exposure ladder: why "walk in, do one lap, leave" counts as a win
✨ What "outcome agnostic" means and why it's the mindset shift that changes everything

One of the biggest things we took away: networking isn't a skill problem. It's a state problem. And no amount of better positioning, sharper sales language, or more events is going to fix what's actually a you-doing-your-own-internal-work problem.

Micah said it best: Everybody's trying to fix things externally when the real work is internal. And when you do that work? Everything else gets easier.

🎧 Listen to Episode 17: Is This a Business Problem or a Therapy Problem​
From there, you can listen in your browser or open it in your favorite podcast app.

Connect with Micah:

​Website
​​Podcast
​​LinkedIn
​​Instagram​

And don't skip the show notes. Micah has a free downloadable worksheet on working with your nervous system in social situations. It's genuinely one of the best things we've ever linked to.

If you enjoyed the episode, we’d love it if you left a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. It helps more thoughtful, interesting humans find the show.

Talk soon,
Mary + Megan