Horizontal networking: A new era of peer connection and collaboration
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The transition from high school to college can be difficult – you’re heading off on your own to navigate a new school with new academic rigors – but there is still a familiar routine. You attend class, participate in extracurricular activities and study. Repeat through finals every semester over four years.
Then you graduate from college and all of that is gone. A lot of recent graduates can underestimate how hard the post-grad transition is when the routine they’ve been following their whole life is stripped away. What’s more, relationships they’d been growing with classmates over the years drop off as they spread across the country to pursue their careers.
For motivated and driven students like myself who thrived on that routine but didn’t necessarily know exactly what we wanted to do following graduation, programs like Orr Fellowship are the perfect next step. Orr provides a structure that allows you to grow your real-world work experience alongside your own confidence, as expected. What I didn’t expect was the lasting relationships it would create and the impact they would have on my post-graduate ventures.
Horizontal Networking
Horizontal networking is the collaboration, networking and education between people on a similar professional level. Beyond the opportunity to get real-world experience in future-focused businesses, the horizontal networking opportunities Orr Fellows provide each other are often what help accelerate Fellows’ careers and professional growth.
Having this connected network as fresh college graduates makes the transition feel a little less drastic when you’re going through it with someone else, and it comes at a critical time as you experience new workplaces and dynamics. For example, a Fellow may have a tough manager at work or not be quite sure how to tackle a project assigned to them. It helps to talk it out, right? This year’s Fellows have a built-in network of 120 other high achievers who can help each other work through concerns and questions.
Horizontal networking can really pay off when your peers are in different industries, as well. All current Orr Fellows graduated within the past two years and are working at a high-growth Indianapolis business, but those companies run the gamut from SaaS to manufacturing, finance, real estate and more. With so many Orr Fellows in various industries, Fellows can easily learn new information in a field they’re unfamiliar with or grow their own projects they may be working on.
Part of what makes Orr Fellowship so unique is its extension beyond current Fellows to the network of 624 alumni who continue to invest in and support each other. In fact, many Orr Fellows who start their own companies are backed by other Orr Fellows and collaborate together.
There are countless examples of Orr Fellows working together:
- Crystal Bell (2021), technology program manager at OPENLANE, and Grayson Faircloth (2020), founder of Stealth and SonaMation, co-host “The Startup Executive” podcast about what it takes to become an effective startup executive.
- Mando Sanchez (2020), senior product manager at Multiply Technology, is also a DJ/emcee and collaborates with Nate Spangle (2019), co-founder of Bat Hats and host of the “Get IN.” podcast, to perform at events.
- Mariah Parsons (2021), head of marketing at Malomo, hosts the “Learn 2 Listen” podcast where she has interviewed other Orr Fellows among other professionals to discuss vulnerability and mental health.
- Tanner Halbig (2014), CEO and founder of PAETHOS, is a photographer and videographer. He has led multimedia engagements for numerous Orr Fellowship initiatives and alumni-led companies across Indianapolis. For many consecutive years, he’s also taken headshots for all new Orr Fellows.
- Yaw Aning (2007), co-founder of Malomo, reports that 75% of the company’s current executive team are former Orr alumni.
- Many Orr Fellows also run workshops for current Fellows and alumni, such as a benefits workshop led by Anne Bowen (2022) during her time with Apex Benefits and a financials 101 workshop led by Cade Cox (2023), integrations specialist at Jobvite.
Not only have other Orr Fellows supported my real estate ventures in recent years, but the personal relationships have already had a lasting impact. In fact, I met one of my best friends through an Orr event.
These peer connections and collaboration opportunities are intentional for Orr Fellowship. Indianapolis businesses thrive through strong networks of future-focused, talented individuals, and Orr provides the structure for these people to meet, work and grow together. As Finalist Day approaches and high-achieving entry level candidates are matched with partner companies, I’m looking forward to seeing the new class of Fellows who will continue to propel Indy forward.
Colton Haymon is an alumnus of Orr Fellowship, an early career development program for versatile high-achievers and future-focused businesses in Indiana. Colton spent his Fellowship at Lev as a Salesforce Marketing Cloud Solution Architect and is currently a Senior Salesforce Marketing Cloud Consultant for Monks.