Your Network Is Worth More Than You Think

Welcome to Wednesday. Safe moves are officially off the table.

I want you to think about your network for a minute.

Not how many people are in it.

Not how many LinkedIn connections you have.

Not how many business cards you've collected or events you've attended.

I want you to ask a different question:

Who do you know that you should know better?

There's probably a woman somewhere in your orbit whose work you respect.

You've met.

You follow each other.

Maybe you've exchanged a few messages or had one great conversation.

And then the relationship stopped there.

You networked. But you left the relationship capital on the table.

Networking creates connections.

But a connection is only the beginning.

The real value develops when we turn those connections into relationships where trust, information, introductions, opportunities, and ideas can actually move.

That's relationship capital.

And here's the part I don't want us to miss:

Relationship capital isn't just about who will open a door for you.

It's about whose door you can open, too.

That distinction matters.

Because one relationship can lead to an introduction.

That introduction can lead to an opportunity.

That opportunity can create another relationship.

And suddenly something that began as one conversation is creating possibilities neither woman could see when they first met.

This is one of the ideas underneath Huddle Your Teammates, the third pillar of The Brazen Code.

A huddle isn't simply another network.

It's an intentional circle of women who move information, opportunities, access, and money toward one another.

That's when networking becomes power.

This week, don't focus on meeting more people.

Deepen one relationship you already have.

Ask yourself:

Who do I already know that I should know better?

Choose one woman.

Then reach out.

Not with:

"We should grab coffee sometime!"

Make it specific.

Try:

"I've been following what you're building around [X], and I think there's real overlap in how we're thinking about [Y]. I'd love to get to know you beyond the occasional LinkedIn exchange. Want to grab coffee or take a walk in the next couple of weeks?"

That's it.

You don't need an agenda.

You don't need to know exactly what the relationship could become.

And you definitely don't need to manufacture a reason to ask her for something.

Get curious.

What is she building?

What does she care about?

Where is she headed?

What does she know that you don't?

What do you know that could help her?

Start there.

Think about how some of the best opportunities actually move.

Someone says:

"You should meet her."

Or:

"I know exactly who you should talk to."

Or:

"I'm going to send your name over."

Or:

"There's an opportunity coming up. You should know about it."

Those moments don't happen because two names happen to exist in each other's contact lists.

They happen because a relationship exists.

And relationships can compound.

Your network becomes more valuable as trust deepens, people understand what you're building, and you understand what they're building.

That's when introductions become more precise.

Recommendations become more credible.

Opportunities move faster.

And the question changes from:

How many people do I know?

to:

What can move through the relationships we've built?

Women have been told for years that we need to network.

I agree.

Network.

Go to the event.

Introduce yourself.

Send the LinkedIn request.

Ask for the coffee.

Join the room.

Meet the woman you don't know yet.

But don't stop at collecting contacts.

Build relationship capital.

Because the goal isn't to leave every room with the largest contact list.

The goal is to build relationships strong enough that something can eventually move through them.

Information.

An introduction.

A recommendation.

An opportunity.

Capital.

And this is where Huddle Your Teammates becomes more than a nice idea.

It's economic strategy.

In The Brazen Code, I argue that individual power can be isolated, undermined, or revoked. Coordinated women operate differently. That's why the Huddle is designed around intentionally moving information, opportunities, access, and money toward one another.

We aren't just building bigger networks.

We're building stronger pathways for opportunity to move between women.

Brazen Law reinforced: Don't just make connections. Build relationships that move opportunity.

Who is already in your orbit that you haven't built a real relationship with yet?

That's today's move.

Find her. Reach out. Turn the connection into a relationship.

I'm creating a place for us to do exactly that.

On October 17, I'm hosting the Brazen Capital Walk in Marina del Rey.

The idea is simple:

Bring women together around capital, innovation, entrepreneurship, and opportunity—and give them space to actually talk.

Walk. Talk. Build relationships.

The Brazen Capital Walk is part of the work I'm developing through the Brazen Capital Movement to explore how we strengthen the connections among women founders, women with capital or access to it, innovation, and economic opportunity.

→ Join the Brazen Capital Walk on October 17

See the details + RSVP here

Know a woman who should be in that conversation?

Send her the details to RSVP.

That's Huddle Your Teammates in practice.

—Martise
Founder, BrazenEra
Building Project Brazen 2026

P.S. - We're now four weeks away from The Brazen Code.

And as launch gets closer, I want you to understand something about the book.

The three pillars aren't three ideas I want women to agree with.

Put Yourself First.

Be Brazen.

Huddle Your Teammates.

They're designed to operate together.

Put Yourself First changes how you value and position yourself.

Be Brazen turns that internal decision into action.

Huddle Your Teammates takes individual agency and begins turning it into collective power. That's the sequence at the heart of the system.

Because The Brazen Code isn't just something I want women to read.

It's something I'm proposing we practice.

Become a Founding Reader of The Brazen Code.

One more thing:

Think of one woman you know who could be building more relationship capital.

Don't just forward this Power Letter to her.

Make an introduction for her.

Think:

Who should she know?

Then send the email.

Two women.

One introduction.

No complicated agenda.

Women like us don't just build networks. We make them more valuable for one another.