Every year in Poland a foundation called the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity collects money to buy hospital equipment for newborns, children, and the elderly. Expat communities also participate in this fundraiser, and every year in January all cities in Poland and other cities around the world organize a day of food, drinks, concerts, lottery draws, auctions and whatever they can to raise money.
In 2015 my mother and I used to run a catering business selling dumplings in Amsterdam. This annual fundraiser was a great opportunity for us to contribute and to let Polish expats in the city know we exist. We set out station behind the counter in the Polish Library on Keizersgracht on that cold Sunday morning and started rolling out the dough.
It turned out that one of the customers queuing for her dumplings was a founder of PPW. When she finally got the meal and ate it with her family, she came back to the counter and shouted through the crowd:
‘Girls, can we talk? I’d like to invite you to join our organization!’
I turned around, my forehead covered in flour, pieces of dough stuck in my hair, and asked while still rolling the dough:
‘What’s the organisation called?’
‘Polish Professional Women in the Netherlands!’ she shouted back.
Although at that moment we definitely didn’t feel very professional, we took her business card and looked up the organisation later. My mother and I joined the PPW very soon after this encounter, and it was one of the best networking moves we made for our business. Many of the members started ordering our dumplings to their homes, for lunch at their companies, and coming by to our markets.
Fast forward five years later, our dumplings business is no more, my mother is back in Poland, and I’m still a PPW member. In fact, you’re reading this blog post because I volunteer as a PPW blogger. Why do I do that, you may wonder?
Networking Made Easy
As an introvert, I’m allergic to any form of forced encounters, so you can imagine that networking events are usually not my cup of tea. The members of PPW, however, already have three very important elements in common: country of origin, gender, and professional ambitions.
This makes our networking events flow naturally. It’s easier to connect when the basic commonality is already established. I also sense willingness to help one another, since we all feel like – as Polish women living in the Netherlands – we’re on the same boat despite different family and career situations.
And as a bonus, we get to learn new skills during workshops on professional and personal development, and reflect on our lives during Business Breakfast meetings.
Trying Out Your Skills
It’s the PPW volunteers who, as the most active group of the organisation, steer the ship. We make the events happen, manage the website, members, finances, and legal aspects.
Contributing our skills to the development of the group is a great way to practise our skills in an area of interest. Some women would like to change the course of their careers, but are not confident in their skills just yet. Then why not gain experience in a “safe space”, surrounded by supportive and empathetic colleagues?
We also learn from one another. It’s common for volunteers to organise workshops to share each other’s knowledge so that event planners can learn about finances, lawyers get to know the basics of marketing, and financial advisors gain an understanding of branding. Such broad range of skills is essential especially when thinking of starting one’s own business.
Emotional Support
At work I don’t always get to work on the projects I really want to work on. But at PPW you have the liberty to have an idea, work on it, and see it coming to life.
A great example is the Social Responsibility group who work with local charity organisations focused on supporting women coming from various backgrounds and ethnical groups. Building a better world together brings a great sense of purpose and fulfillment. And doing it in the great company brings us closer to one another.
But most of all, the bonds between members of PPW go way beyond the official events. Some women formed friendships that seep into their private lives in forms of dinners, weekend trips, and offering emotional support to one another in times of need. I highly recommend joining us or any other organization that gives you this extra fulfillment. You can read (in Polish) the different ways to volunteer here and here.
Written by Sonia Kolasinska: PPW Blogger, half- wordsmith and half- marketing badass. Writing copy and content for conscious brands who bring value to the world is her life mission.
