One Year in Athena. Here’s What It Actually Did For Me.

Where I started, the honest version

I’m going to be honest with you. When I joined Athena, I wasn’t doing it from a place of confidence and momentum. I was doing it because I was lonely.

Like a lot of people, the pandemic had quietly shrunk my world. I’d got used to not going out much, and by the time the world opened back up, the habit of staying home had settled in a way that felt harder to shake than I’d expected. I was running my business, doing good work, but the isolation was real. I knew I needed to reconnect, not just with potential clients, but with actual humans who understood what it felt like to be building something on your own.

What I didn’t fully clock when I signed up was how much the online element would matter to me. PASS+ meant I could start to build relationships and get into the room with women from other groups without having to leave the house. For someone still finding her feet with going out again, that was quietly transformative. I could grow my confidence gradually. Show up consistently. Let people get to know me without it costing me everything energetically.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was signing up for beyond the networking pitch. What I got was something I hadn’t known to ask for.

The moments that made it real

There’s always a point in any new thing where it shifts from “I’m trying this” to “I’m doing this.” For me, there were a few.

Getting in the room even when it was hard. I could tell you about car park dramas and the kind of morning where everything conspires against you leaving the house. The days when it would have been very easy to just not go. But I went. And every single time, I was glad I did. There’s something about showing up for yourself, even imperfectly, that starts to build something.

The Hot Seat. I was asked to attend on behalf of someone else, to sit in their place while they couldn’t be there. It sounds like a small thing. It wasn’t. Being trusted to represent someone in that room, to be the person they thought of when they needed a stand-in, felt significant. I sat in that seat and I thought: people see me here. They know who I am. That’s not nothing.

And then there were the unexpected moments. The conversations that caught me off guard and reminded me what I’m actually good at. The women I met who reflected something back to me that I’d quietly stopped believing about myself. You don’t always see those moments coming, but they stay with you.

The number that surprised me

A year ago, if you’d asked me to rate my confidence, I’d have said three or four out of ten. Maybe on a good day.

Now? Eight or nine.

I didn’t set out to fix my confidence. I just kept showing up. But looking back, I think Athena was the catalyst because it gave me something specific: a structured reason to be seen, consistently, by the same group of women over time.

It wasn’t the one-off networking events where you show up, do your sixty seconds and hope for the best. It was the cumulative effect of being in the room week after week. The structure created accountability without pressure. The women created a space where it felt safe to show up as I actually was. And the connections I made, the real ones where I genuinely know and trust the people I’m recommending to my clients, reminded me that what I do matters, and that I’m good at it.

I’d be doing you a disservice if I pretended it was one thing. It was the structure. It was the women. It was the slow, steady experience of being known.

What the Athena Way taught me about showing up

I’m a process geek. I have genuinely spent years helping businesses build systems that work. But I hadn’t been applying that same thinking to my own networking.

The Athena structure changed that. It gave me a framework to use intentionally, not just attend on autopilot. The sixty-second introduction isn’t just a slot to fill; it’s a discipline. The referrals aren’t transactional; they’re built on real relationship.

I started to think about what I was bringing into the room each month rather than just turning up. And the more intentionally I used the structure, the more I got back from it. Simple, but worth saying.

What I’m doing differently in year two

Year one was about finding my footing. Year two is about going deeper.

PASS+ gives you access to over 150 meetings each month across the country, and I’ve used it. But I’ve been deliberate about where I show up rather than trying to be everywhere. Because the whole point, for me, is building the kind of relationships where people know what you do and trust you enough to refer you. That only happens with consistency, not volume.

I’m less interested in meeting more people and more interested building deeper connections with the women I already know. I’m giving a Network Strategy Training on guest blogging, because I genuinely believe it’s one of the most underused tools small business owners have, and I want to share that rather than just talk about what I do. A Business Development Talk feels like the next step in being properly visible, not just present.

And then there’s the support you don’t always expect. When I sat down with Lara, my Regional Director, to set my objectives for the year ahead, I got a bit squirmy when pricing came up. Before I’d even finished the sentence, she knew exactly who I needed to speak to. That’s not just networking. That’s having someone in your corner who is genuinely invested in your growth and knows the right people to move you forward.

The meeting is the foundation, not the ceiling.

What I’d say to anyone sitting on the fence

If you’re reading this and wondering whether it’s worth it, here’s what I’d tell you.

It’s not a quick win. It’s not a room full of people waiting to buy from you. It’s something slower and more valuable than that. It’s a group of women who will get to know you, refer you, challenge you and champion you, if you give it time and turn up properly.

And if you’re coming from a place of isolation or low confidence, the online element through PASS+ means you don’t have to be ready for everything at once. You can find your feet at your own pace, in a space that’s genuinely warm.

A year ago, I rated my confidence at three or four out of ten. Today it’s eight or nine. I’m standing up to speak in my group. I’m recommending brilliant women to my clients with complete confidence because I actually know and trust them. And I’m doing it all without burning myself out.

That’s what one year in Athena did for me.

Want to read more? You might enjoy my Athena Day post or Stop Collecting Contacts over on my website.

About Sharon

Sharon Hadley is the founder of Virtually Brilliant, an online business management company, with a team of associate virtual assistants,  supporting time-poor small business owners and senior leaders. She’s an ICF-certified coach, a process geek and an Athena member who is very much looking forward to year two.