What's our Story?

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The Unicorn Network was founded in September 2016 by Jillian Weston. After starting a company in 2013 at just 23 years old, she was inspired to bring together Millennials who would be able to relate to one another and understand the struggles of being a millennial in the world of business, just like Jillian was. Now, as time moved forward, this vision has matured, & now, the business world is filled with young professionals, not just millennials, who are looking for a space to connect, make friends, & grow themselves & their practices.

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Building relationships is the core of being a professional & have been the foundation of any professional's success since the dawn of business. There are established & deeply rooted relationships that have existed for decades for some people, & what Jillian sought out with The Unicorn Network was to create a space where young professionals could be faced with one less hurdle when building those relationships. There was a need for a space for new relationships to be born & grow. 

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Over the almost 8 years of operation, the network has gone through a trove of identity conflicts as the business world changed with younger Millennials becoming seasoned in their business, & with the onset of Covid-19 & the age of online & virtual meetings. Today, we affirm that The Unicorn Network wants to bring young professionals of any kind together to support each other in any way possible including guidance, advice, mentorship, and a shoulder to lean on when needed. We hope our motivated members will meet today and grow together in this new world.

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Why Membership with The Unicorn Network?

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The Unicorn Network's membership consists of young professionals of all kinds. Between those in sales, who are self-employed, are part of a closely-held business, or are just looking to make more connections & gather influence, The Unicorn Network wants to be the driving force behind your growth. 

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While many "networking groups" charge membership fees or dues, the Unicorn Network's philosophy is no dues or fees. This philosophy comes to support that fact that our members are not looking for yet another bill to add onto their already smaller budget as they grow themselves & their practices. Obviously, this comes at the tradeoff of any lunch or dinner, or drinks not being provided. However, this gives you, the member, the freedom to pay what you want!

 

We are confident enough in the environment we cultivate that we do not need a monetary commitment from our members, unlike other groups who need fees or dues to guarantee or influence attendance from their members. We are non-exclusive, meaning we have members of similar or the same practice area. While many groups restrict their memberships to limit "conflicts," what we have found is some of the strongest relationships & opportunities come about from opening up a group to anyone & everyone. Business is not all we are about.  The network is all about support, collaboration, & mutual success, not competition. We have cultivated environment & culture around this sentiment, & over almost 8 years of practice, it still offers some of the strongest growth potential for young professionals today.

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Are there Sponsorship opportunities?

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If you would like to be promoted and featured at The Unicorn Network gatherings and events, on The Unicorn Network's social media, emails, newsletters, and more, or if you just want to support the vision of The Unicorn Network, then sponsorship is available for anyone. While we do have basic sponsorship packages, we recognize that every sponsor values different ways they are engaged with the group. Because of this, our Board will discuss with you what is valuable to you & what we can do to partner. We seek out sponsorships for the network itself (usually on a recurring annual or semi-annual basis), for our big events, or our individual gatherings.

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If you would like to learn more or explore further, CLICK HERE.

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Gatherings & Events

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Gatherings are our terminology for our general meetings. These gatherings are Thursday every week at different times & locales around the Island. We alternate between an afternoon gathering & evening gathering in an A/B style sequence. We do have our usual favorite locations to go to (Such as Taste of Asia(TOA) in Farmingdale) however, we attempt to reach as many of our members as possible & move around to different towns. We also try to hold an equal number of gatherings in Nassau County & Suffolk County. While this doesn't always work out, many of our members find the trek worth it for the people alone. We do not have obligations or attendance requirements, so find the time to come out on Thursdays & connect with some of the best young professionals on the Island (unbiased, of course).

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Throughout the year, The Unicorn Network hosts a slew of events of varying sizes. For most of the special events we hold, some proceeds go to a non-profit organization for the betterment of Long Island's communities. We have hosted gift fairs, galas, food truck festivals, tailgates, & more, and even yet, there are more events to come!

 

Every Year, we host a dedicated themed Charity Benefit for an organization of our choosing. We look for organizations that are actively & intentionally focused on our communities here on Long Island. We typically do not look to work with larger corporate entities, as we want the money raised to be appreciated enough at our scale.

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Questions? Contact Us!