Partnership 1:1
Me and Laura / Laura and I
Hi All,
This week’s episode of The Untangling Circularity Podcast, which I co-host and produce with my colleague Laura Novich, brought me immediate joy. The episode is a conversation between Laura and me, and we dive into how our partnership works and why.
Partnerships are key to all aspects of a circular economy: reuse, resale, rental, repair, remanufacturing, recycling, design for circularity- all of these phases are enabled through a back and forth, whether it’s between an individual and a brand, a brand and a repair servicer, an individual and their local thrift shop, a software company and a warehouse… it all requires partnership. Some of these back and forths might be more transactional, but I believe that a deep and vast network of partnerships is required to bring more reuse, repair and recycling into our economy. We (all of us who care about creating a circular economy) are going to have to continue to improve and excel at partnering in different capacities, and the partnership between Laura and myself is that between two individuals working together to create something new.
Links to listen to our episode are below, and if you want the TL;DR here are my highlights on what is most important in our partnership:
For a partnership to flourish, trust is crucial, and trust is built through communication and occasionally challenging conversations.
Agree to meet with curious strangers! (If you are comfortable doing so, of course.) You never know what will come out of a meeting with an interesting stranger; sometimes nothing comes of it. In our case, a meeting of two curious strangers launched a formidable and growing partnership and friendship.
I keep learning how complimentary our skills and personalities are. The more I learn, the more I trust that if I can’t do something or don’t have the vocabulary, Laura usually can or does. This helps build trust and our ability to divide what needs to be done and lean into strengths.
If you want to embark on a project with someone, start with something bite size before going big. Laura and I started our partnership by meeting once a week and talking about ideas, then we decided to do a few podcast episodes, and we have grown from there.
Pay attention to who you WANT to work with. Work and life require us all to partner with people we have mixed feelings about, but when it comes to forging a real partnership, I think you’ll go further with someone you actually enjoy talking to and want to spend time with. Especially if you are building something that starts without a guaranteed paycheck (like we have), you need to enjoy the sweat equity you put in!
It’s easier (at least for me) to take a risk in partnership with someone else. As you go along , you can buoy each other, and if you fail, you have someone to fail with and lean on.
I am so proud of what Laura and I have built with our podcast and our circular economy coalitions, and I love knowing that the future keeps revealing itself as we work towards our shared goals and stay open to what is possible.
Listen to the episode on Apple or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
‘til soon,
Cynthia