‘Start by showing up’: Bobbi Mahlab on how women founders can network with intent

Despite most of us knowing the value of networking, it often gets pushed down the to-do list in favour of keeping up with the demands of the day-to-day. We all know the feeling of walking into a networking event filled with people you’ve never met: it has the potential to be amazing but it’s also daunting.

According to data from Women’s Agenda’s latest insights report, published in partnership with CommBank, networks were a key source of positive support for women founders and small business owners in 2025.

For 83% of respondents, they feel most supported by their network which can include fellow entrepreneurs, corporate clients or partners. This is closely followed by friends (77%) and an intimate partner or spouse (71%).

And in the 2024 Women's Agenda insights report, the power of networks emerged as incredibly powerful for women founders, with over 80% of respondents citing it as their greatest asset.

Bobbi Mahlab is the Founder and Chair of globally recognised communications agency Mahlab and the Co-Founder of Mentor Walks. She says networking should be viewed as an opportunity for community-building, rather than as an exercise in selling yourself.

“It’s so important that women build their community, which is, by default, networking,” Mahlab tells Women’s Agenda. 

“That means making the effort to meet new people, to have conversations with diverse people, to take opportunities to join or sample different groups and to make sure that you are staying curious in the world in order to stay connected.”

While it may feel overwhelming at first, Mahlab says making the shift to see it as building your community can help overcome those initial hesitations. 

“Many women and men, but particularly women in my experience, find networking overwhelming and scary,” Mahlab says. 

“They think they’ve got nothing to offer in a conversation. But everybody has something to offer and it’s about staying curious and being interested in other people rather than putting pressure on yourself to be interesting.

“Someone like me, who’s more seasoned, is just as interested in talking to someone who’s early on as someone who’s at my level of experience.”

Magic happens when you show up

A key piece of advice that Mahlab offers is to never underestimate the importance of showing up to events, panels or industry groups. 

“I know it gets difficult, particularly when you've got family responsibilities and all sorts of things that you're juggling in your world, but magic happens when you show up,” Mahlab says. 

Opportunities also tend to come from unexpected places. Sometimes simply showing up is enough to change the course of your career.

Mahlab recalls being invited to a lunch for women entrepreneurs about a decade ago and thinking she didn’t have the time to get there. Eventually, she made the call to go, and it was at this event that she was handed a brochure for a global program that ended up changing her life as a founder. 

“I finally decided I would apply, and it introduced me to a global network of female founders that I am still friendly with today, and we help each other all the time,” Mahlab says.

“They think they’ve got nothing to offer in a conversation. But everybody has something to offer and it’s about staying curious and being interested in other people rather than putting pressure on yourself to be interesting.
– Bobbi Mahlab, Founder of Mahlab and Co‑Founder of Mentor Walks

There’s so much to learn from others who’ve been there

Often being a founder or a small business owner can be lonely if you don’t have a team. Mahlab says it’s something she’s felt acutely, first-hand.

She says networking can be the ultimate way to break out of your regular routine and make changes to your business with the support of other people who’ve been in the same shoes. 

“There is so much that we can learn from other people and to have people in your network that you can ask them what their experience has been, or to share resources,” Mahlab said.

Whether it’s asking someone if they’ve got a good lawyer or accountant or finding out who was behind their branding or logo, there’s always knowledge to gain. 

Mahlab says this knowledge can extend to tips on funding approaches or the venture groups that might be relevant to your business. 

“You're all in the same boat, so sharing information, and being generous with who you know, and offering introductions is good,” she says.

The difference between mentoring and networking

For Mahlab, networking and mentoring are both equally valuable, but she suggests thinking about the outcomes you want to achieve before venturing into them.

“Mentoring is about having conversations with people that ask you questions that help you refine and define your steps forward,” she explains. 

“Mentoring doesn't need to be a lifelong relationship. You need different people at different times for different questions, and so finding the right people who can guide you at that time is part of the strategy.”

Networking, on the other hand, is about building the right ecosystem of people around you that can help add value to your experience.

“It’s about finding people who you can add value to, and that can add value to you,” Mahlab says. “You never know where opportunities are going to come from, right?”

“That's why it's so important to show up and develop those relationships.”

“One of the things I did very early in my career was to join the board of Publishing Australia, my industry organisation. It gave me so much access to information, it was the most terrific thing to do.”

Women-focused events can be particularly useful for networking, Mahlab says. 

“Actively pursue those and attend as many as you can.”

This article was written in partnership with and originally published by Women's Agenda.