Answering that loaded question: “What do you do?”
Depending on where you live, asking someone you’ve just met ‘what they do’ can be taken a few different ways. Here in NYC, it’s perfectly acceptable but in Pittsburgh or Atlanta, you’d want to work your way through other topics first.
Last week I went to a sparkly reception, and since it was New York, that was the first thing everyone wanted to know. I noticed a number of people answering with “Well, I do _______, but I also do _____.” You can plug in any job or profession; what they were unwittingly saying was “I’m trying to succeed with a business I care about but in the meantime I pay my bills doing something else.”
If you should find yourself in a similar position, talk about what you love, and find out what the others love. It’s more interesting and more compelling conversation. You’ll be remembered for who you really are, and not what your business card says you are.
My mentor, Alan Sklar, always says: “People like to do business with people!”