It started as a blog.
The "it," of course, is the Women in Leadership Nexus, a Providence-based group started by Trilix principal of marketing Carrie Majewski.
"As with all business ventures, we typically don't know what something’s going to be," she explains of the group's transformation from page to life.
But perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves. For the uninitiated, Women in Leadership Nexus is an opportunity for its members to "be around extraordinary, successful women, discover newfound possibilities within themselves, and keep company with the women to whom they aspire to be," its website states. It offers events, networking sessions and other resources for women to grow as professionals and as leaders.
"I love to see women fight through that current with us."
Majewksi was inspired to create the group after she landed a dream job at in the Ocean State. It brought her up from New York, and the move was dubbed a "triumphant moment in my career," she adds.
As she rubbed shoulders with incredible leaders in her new role, she founded herself "a little obsessed, healthily so" with the concept of leadership. She was pouring over reading materials on the subject, having meetings and writing a blog series about what she was learning.
It was that series that, earlier this spring, blossomed into what the Nexus is now: an actual organization boasting a Rhode Island chapter and 50 paying members.
"[Leadership is this] major island we’re supposed to get to; leadership can feel very final, like a destination; but it’s not," Majewski says. "How do you start? How do you start to piece together connection ... so that we’re reaching closer to that more amplified level of leadership?"
That's where Nexus comes in. It's about empowering women to see their own strengths, embrace them, and make positive change where they're at — whatever that looks like for the indvidual woman.
In fact, "change" happens to be one of the group's five core values, which Majewski says guide all the group does. Authenticity, sharing, connection and a desire to learn round out the rest.
"We're focused on legacy, [creating a] positive impact," Majewski says, explaining these values. "We don’t have the answers, and that’s so beautiful, so we surround ourselves with different experiences and perspectives. … We want [participants] to rethink the possible in their lives, rethink their goals."
These kinds of values mean that participants "gotta do work at Nexus," Majewski said. "One of our biggest things is active, meaningful participation."
At events, for example, attendees are often encouraged to very vulnerably share bits of themselves with others in small groups, or via activities like writing letters to their younger selves.
For that reason, she adds that Nexus isn't just for mingling.
"We're probably at the intersection of a continuing education and professional development group," Majewski says. "We're not a networking group, not about health or wellness. ... We’re not going to be everything to everybody, [but if we] stay true to what they need? That’s when we know the event is a homerun."
What she's doing is working, as the group began with 16 founding members and has more than doubled its network in the near two months its existed.
And the goal for the rest of the year? To keep growing at a steady pace.
Majewksi calls the goal "pretty conservative": They're looking to hit 125 members by December.
"I'm not looking to grow this too fast," she continues. "If more show up ... of course we’re going to go there." However, it's about "the integrity of the group [and not] losing the essence of what you’re trying to make. ... We're not measuring success on the number."
Interested members would request to apply, fill out a form with a handful of prompts and pay membership dues upon acceptance.
The application isn't about rejecting interested women; it's about making sure those who are intrigued are a good fit for the group (and vice versa), and who would do the work Nexus so passionate about.
Because, at the end of the day, Nexus wants to make a difference in women's lives.
"We fight through the current," Majewski says. "I love to see women fight through that current with us."
Editor's Note: Carrie Majewski authored a guest post for Rhode Island Inno, titled, "How to Keep Choosing Abundance When Everyone Else Opts for Scarcity." Read the whole piece here.
