Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Andrew Quebbermann and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker

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Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Andrew Quebbermann and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:14
  Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable
• 0:18
  Connections, the show where better conversations
• 0:21
  lead to better opportunities. I'm your host,
• 0:24
  Michael Foreman, and today we're talking about
• 0:26
  a topic many professionals quietly avoid, money.
• 0:31
  People will talk about marketing, strategy, branding,
• 0:34
  and growth all day long, but the moment a real
• 0:38
  financial conversation enters the room, the energy
• 0:41
  changes. And yet business relationships, referrals,
• 0:46
  partnerships, and opportunities are all connected
• 0:49
  on how comfortable we are discussing value. My
• 0:54
  guest today believes there is no shame in earning
• 0:57
  a dollar. Money is simply a tool and relationships
• 1:00
  you build affect your entire world, career, family,
• 1:04
  decisions, and future direction. We're diving
• 1:08
  into how your money mindset shapes your networking.
• 1:12
  Avoiding financial conversations limits opportunity
• 1:16
  and how honest discussions about how value can
• 1:21
  actually strengthen trust. If you want clearer
• 1:25
  conversations, stronger relationships, and opportunities
• 1:28
  that make sense for your life, not just your
• 1:32
  calendar, you're in the right place. So let's
• 1:35
  dive into it. I'd like to welcome to the podcast,
• 1:38
  Andrew. Andrew, you have a wealth. You have a
• 1:42
  background in all of this. I'm not going to even
• 1:45
  try to say what your background is. But could
• 1:49
  you just say hello to my audience and give us
• 1:52
  a little background of what you are and how you
• 1:54
  got here? Thanks for inviting me on, Michael.
• 1:57
  It's great to be here. Huge fan of your show.
• 1:59
  Your audience is definitely in the right spot
• 2:01
  to learn just. All the things that you try to
• 2:04
  bring to the table are just amazing. And yeah,
• 2:07
  welcome everyone. Great to be here. So yeah,
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  I have an interesting start, but I accidentally
• 2:15
  became a financial advisor. Okay. I think that's
• 2:20
  probably the case with most entrepreneurs where
• 2:22
  you're going along and there was this constant
• 2:26
  thread in my life where I was involved in biotech
• 2:30
  and pharmaceutical before this. And this core
• 2:34
  part of me was always, I wanted to be a member
• 2:39
  of my community in the most helpful way possible.
• 2:41
  I wanted to network. I wanted to grow. I wanted
• 2:46
  to leave all these interactions of hopefully
• 2:50
  everyone being better off than when we started.
• 2:53
  In corporate America, it just came to pass where
• 2:56
  I would get going with a company and it just
• 3:01
  felt off or I just felt like something wasn't
• 3:03
  quite right and I was always constant looking
• 3:05
  for ways to learn to grow but I always felt that
• 3:09
  disconnect and this couple years ago I had the
• 3:17
  opportunity I sat down with myself I said okay
• 3:19
  what do I want to learn for this year and one
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  of the things I wrote down was I wanted to learn
• 3:24
  more about personal finance And I had a financial
• 3:28
  advisor at the time, but it's still a struggle
• 3:32
  for me. I didn't really still feel very comfortable
• 3:34
  with it. I didn't know what I was doing. And
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  later that year, someone reached out to me and
• 3:40
  said, Hey, have you ever thought about this as
• 3:41
  a career? We think that you'd be a really good
• 3:43
  fit. And I was like, you saw my background, right?
• 3:46
  I was biology major. It's all science. I didn't
• 3:50
  do money. And the more we talked, the more they.
• 3:56
  made it very attractive for me to come on just
• 3:58
  because I was going to have a more of a direct
• 4:01
  impact with the community. I am now a business
• 4:04
  owner and that was all part of me growing this
• 4:09
  circle, this community around me that I wanted
• 4:12
  everyone to be better. And man, I'm... Didn't
• 4:17
  know anything about it. I didn't really know
• 4:18
  what I got myself into, but I dove in headfirst
• 4:20
  into the deep end. And I'm so grateful that I
• 4:23
  did that and that I have the support system around
• 4:25
  me that supported me in doing that. And it's
• 4:28
  just been amazing. I found where I want to be
• 4:30
  for the next 30 years. Good, good. It sounds
• 4:33
  like you found a home. Yeah, absolutely. Good.
• 4:37
  Okay, let me just dive right into the questions
• 4:39
  I prepared for you. Sure. Many professionals
• 4:43
  feel uncomfortable talking about money and conversations.
• 4:46
  Why does that hesitation actually hurt their
• 4:50
  networking more than they realize? I think in
• 4:54
  any situation, when you're not comfortable with
• 4:56
  a given topic, you know, body language communicates
• 5:00
  so much, tone communicates so much. And the other
• 5:05
  thing here that's underlying the surface is self
• 5:08
  -worth. And money is not, if it was anything
• 5:12
  like my childhood, we certainly had it, but I
• 5:15
  didn't know anything about it. And it was not
• 5:17
  polite to ask how much someone paid for a car.
• 5:21
  It wasn't polite to ask for how much someone
• 5:22
  paid for their dinner. You just didn't do it.
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  And when you're going through all this and you're
• 5:32
  networking, you're having these conversations
• 5:34
  with people, I would argue. whether you're talking
• 5:39
  about finance or not, like you have a value to
• 5:41
  the conversation. You deserve to be there. There's
• 5:44
  equal stature between the two of you. And your
• 5:48
  time is as valuable as the next person's because
• 5:51
  we all have our different insights that we get
• 5:53
  to bring to a conversation. And so having that
• 5:59
  self -belief, having that self -confidence that,
• 6:02
  hey, you belong, it could open you up to all
• 6:05
  kinds of ideas. When you start talking, the conversation
• 6:08
  flows and all of a sudden maybe there's a business
• 6:11
  idea that pops up or someone that might be a
• 6:14
  good fit for them. So maybe you're not the right
• 6:16
  fit for a given role that's coming up, but someone
• 6:18
  else that you know is. Those kinds of things
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  compound and the more comfortable you are with
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  yourself and the more at ease, I think those
• 6:26
  conversations just develop much more naturally.
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  As you said, once you are confident in a person
• 6:34
  as yourself, then Really, there's no telling
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  what you can do. The confidence is your first
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  level. And when you talked about introducing
• 6:44
  somebody to somebody else, that's called being
• 6:47
  a connector. You as a connector in the community
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  say, look, this person has this problem and this
• 6:53
  person has the answer. You put the two of them
• 6:56
  together and you backed away. That's being a
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  connector. That's being a true part of the community.
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  Yeah. You say there's no shame in the dollar.
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  How does a healthy view of money change the way
• 7:11
  people build and maintain relationships? I would
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  say, I say there's no shame in the dollar because
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  a lot of times when I talk to people for the
• 7:20
  first time in my role specifically, I hear a
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  lot of, I should have done this, or I could have
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  done that, or my mom or my dad said I should
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  get this done. Understand that what you've done
• 7:37
  in the past is what it is, but where you want
• 7:41
  to go, we can still impact. Someone in my kind
• 7:44
  of position, like I'm not a plumber, so if the
• 7:46
  pipes burst and the water's leaking out, not
• 7:48
  a lot we can do about it. That's a bummer, and
• 7:50
  I'll definitely sympathize with you. We can try
• 7:53
  to do what we can, but there's not a lot that
• 7:55
  we can do. So this just goes back to... you intrinsically
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  are a 10. You're listening to this, you are a
• 8:04
  10 out of 10. And when we have this view of money
• 8:11
  as a tool, as a lever to do other things, then
• 8:16
  we begin to understand that you are likely your
• 8:22
  biggest asset in your life. People think their
• 8:24
  house is their most expensive thing, or they
• 8:27
  have a piece of jewelry, or their car is like
• 8:29
  their biggest asset. I would argue always it's
• 8:33
  your ability to work, your ability to connect
• 8:35
  people, your ability to add value to other people.
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  That's your number one asset. Because if you're
• 8:43
  not able to do that, a lot of this other stuff
• 8:46
  doesn't happen. We don't get to go on vacation.
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  We don't get to fix the roof. We don't get to
• 8:52
  go down retirement. So our ability to work and
• 8:56
  our ability to connect with other people and
• 8:58
  other humans. So that's where I'd like to start
• 9:02
  with people. And that's where I say there's no
• 9:03
  shame in a dollar and that money is a tool because
• 9:07
  you are the weapon that we're trying to hone
• 9:11
  and to craft. Absolutely. I could have said it
• 9:14
  better myself. If you look at money as a tool,
• 9:17
  as one of the tools in your belt. then you really
• 9:22
  can't go wrong. So you're a confident person.
• 9:25
  You have the money as a tool and you use that
• 9:28
  tool. There's no telling what you can do. It's
• 9:31
  amazing. At what point should financial conversations
• 9:36
  naturally enter a relationship without making
• 9:40
  it feel transactional? That's a great question.
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  If you're listening to this and you're in your
• 9:47
  20s, as much as it might suck to hear this, And
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  yeah, I know you want to go to Europe and to
• 9:52
  Australia and all these wonderful, amazing places.
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  Do that, but start a habit. There are, you're
• 10:01
  probably seeing everyone out there is things
• 10:03
  are more expensive than other houses are more
• 10:04
  expensive than ever. Having that conversation
• 10:07
  earlier, time is your biggest asset when it comes
• 10:11
  to investing, saving, whatever you want to call
• 10:14
  it, right? Time wins always, right? You've, it's
• 10:19
  just. the nature of how the markets work. And
• 10:23
  so when you're having that conversation, certainly
• 10:26
  with an employer, future employer, and you say,
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  hey, I'm thinking about coming to work here.
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  This is where I want to be against, this is what
• 10:35
  I'm seeing as value. That's the conversation
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  I would have right away. If it's a conversation
• 10:41
  with friends, certainly it does seem to be the
• 10:45
  better and the more of a best friend that they
• 10:47
  are, the less you talk about money. I don't know
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  why that seems to be a trend. I would say try
• 10:53
  to reverse that. But I think it's one of those
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  situations I would encourage people, if you have
• 10:58
  questions about it, and you trust the other person
• 11:01
  that you're talking to, you think that they've
• 11:02
  done well, or you think they've done something
• 11:04
  that's interesting, ask them. Say, hey, I noticed
• 11:08
  you've done this. If this is uncomfortable for
• 11:12
  you, no worries. But I want to ask you, how did
• 11:14
  you do that? And I think maybe just that's the
• 11:18
  trick there is give them the chance to say no.
• 11:22
  Usually if you give people the chance to say
• 11:23
  no, they'll never say no. But if you give them
• 11:27
  the chance to say no, it'll lower the barrier
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  a little bit and then you can back into that
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  conversation. Questions is always the root of
• 11:35
  all knowledge, right? You have to ask the questions
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  in order to get the answer. If you approach somebody,
• 11:43
  even on LinkedIn or something, and you say, you
• 11:47
  know what, I just connected with you. That's
• 11:49
  great. I've been following you. I have just a
• 11:53
  couple of questions. Would you mind answering
• 11:55
  my questions or having a virtual cup of coffee
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  or a cup of coffee? 99 .9 % times out of 100,
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  they'll say yes, because people are always willing
• 12:09
  to share with you. Right. They're always saying,
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  look, they're coming to me. So I must know something.
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  But the other person is trying to learn. I always
• 12:19
  suggest going, making a connection, asking questions.
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  If you're going to a networking event or a networking
• 12:27
  meeting, ask questions. It's so much more. Plus,
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  the other person wants to give wants wants to
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  give you their knowledge. You're not even trying
• 12:36
  to pull it. So that's. Yeah, I would say on that
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  note. be wary of some advice that you find online.
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  I think at least with terms of finances, apply
• 12:47
  some healthy skepticism to it and understand
• 12:50
  or try to understand where that person might
• 12:53
  be coming from. Unfortunately, some of the reputation
• 12:56
  the financial industry has earned from a negative
• 13:00
  perspective. And I would say the more knowledgeable
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  and the more licensed the person is, the less
• 13:11
  specific information they will provide online
• 13:14
  as a general rule of thumb. Because for someone
• 13:18
  like myself, if I told you all to go buy some
• 13:21
  sort of stock tomorrow and you did that and you
• 13:24
  lost money, you could actually sue me. So I'm
• 13:29
  not going to do that. And so when you're seeing
• 13:31
  things online where someone's giving tips or
• 13:33
  unless you're very sure about their credentials.
• 13:36
  Just be careful and apply some healthy skepticism
• 13:39
  to that kind of situation. There's always a,
• 13:41
  there's a line that I've always used. I trust
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  the person I trust, but verify. I'll never take
• 13:50
  this type of conversation online because I don't
• 13:54
  know who I'm talking to. Yeah. And with networking,
• 13:57
  there's a mantra. Know you like you trust you.
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  They'll do business with you. And without that
• 14:04
  last little bit. piece of trust, they'll never
• 14:07
  do business with you. So how am I going to trust
• 14:10
  you if I've only met you online? Yeah, it goes
• 14:14
  a long way. So you really have to always trust,
• 14:16
  but I verify. That's my whole thing. Okay. How
• 14:21
  can someone be genuine in networking while still
• 14:25
  being clear about the business value they bring?
• 14:30
  So that's a wonderful question. And for anyone
• 14:33
  that's been to a Chamber of Commerce meeting,
• 14:35
  you'll see both sides of that equation quickly,
• 14:38
  probably within the first 10 minutes. My favorite
• 14:42
  approach for when people approach me, start a
• 14:48
  conversation just with, hi, my name is, what
• 14:53
  brings you here? And from there, there's... A
• 14:59
  lot of schools of thought out there between how
• 15:01
  to build like what I guess we'll generally call
• 15:04
  a 30 second commercial. I love trying to get
• 15:10
  that, whatever that is in your head. And I definitely
• 15:13
  practice that for a second, trying to get that
• 15:16
  to 18 words or less. If you can communicate what
• 15:22
  you do, who you do it for and how you do it.
• 15:27
  in 18 words or less, that is going to have a
• 15:33
  better chance of sticking than a two -minute
• 15:37
  monologue because I'm sure you're listening,
• 15:40
  you do all sorts of things and you can help people
• 15:43
  in all myriad different kinds of ways. Try to
• 15:48
  make it succinct so that you're memorable, that
• 15:50
  they can come back to you and you can develop
• 15:53
  that relationship over time. Don't try to get
• 15:55
  it all out at once. I coach many professionals.
• 16:01
  And the first thing I do is I say, okay, give
• 16:04
  me a 30 -second speech. Okay. And we hone it
• 16:08
  down to 30 seconds. That's really what they want
• 16:10
  to say. All right, I've got it. Then I say, you
• 16:13
  know what? Break that down to 10 seconds. Yeah.
• 16:17
  They said, you can't do that. I just spent 30
• 16:19
  seconds. 10 seconds. So I bring it down to 10
• 16:22
  seconds. They said, how's that? I said, good.
• 16:24
  Now throw it out. Because now you focused in
• 16:28
  on exactly what you want to say. Right. And it
• 16:32
  falls right in line with what you just said,
• 16:35
  the 18 words and be memorable and all these different
• 16:39
  things. But when you're standing in front of
• 16:42
  a Chamber of Commerce group, I go to a Chamber
• 16:45
  of Commerce meeting every week and you have 30
• 16:47
  seconds to say something. If I have five things
• 16:51
  I want to sell, do I say about... All five? No,
• 16:56
  I pick one. And the next week, I'll pick something
• 16:59
  else. The next week, I'll pick something else.
• 17:01
  So I'm not trying to overload. I'm trying to
• 17:05
  make myself memorable. So you hit it right on
• 17:09
  the nail. You describe money as a tool. What
• 17:14
  does it actually help people to do inside relationships
• 17:18
  that they often overlook? So the way I look at
• 17:23
  it is when I sit down with families or individuals
• 17:29
  and we talk about this, I want to create options
• 17:32
  and flexibility. And I want to say that again.
• 17:37
  So these options and the flexibility to do what
• 17:40
  you want on your time frame, not your environments.
• 17:47
  That to me is. one of the best pieces of freedom
• 17:51
  that we can provide. You can argue that freedom
• 17:55
  is the freedom to say yes or the freedom to say
• 17:57
  no, however you want to look at that. I want
• 18:00
  to be able to work with you to put you in a position
• 18:03
  to say, I can say yes or I can say no. It's my
• 18:08
  call. So when we do that, we're allowing you
• 18:15
  in your relationships to be more present. I work
• 18:18
  with all kinds of different people and from clients
• 18:23
  at the beginning of the stages of investing all
• 18:25
  the way to the most sophisticated. No one ever
• 18:27
  says, wow, I was really thrilled. I got to swipe
• 18:29
  my credit card three times yesterday. That's
• 18:33
  not usually the story. The story was I was in
• 18:37
  Italy with my family and we were watching the
• 18:39
  Olympics and we had a lot of fun and we did this
• 18:42
  and that. And the other thing that we got to
• 18:43
  see all this and I got to be there and I watched.
• 18:47
  my son or my daughter experience another culture
• 18:52
  for the first time and it was a lot of fun and
• 18:55
  I hone in on that because if you can get yourself
• 19:02
  to a point where we are allowing you to be more
• 19:05
  present to show up in the relationships that
• 19:10
  you do have in your life personal professional
• 19:12
  whatever People, I don't think, realize how much
• 19:17
  they think about money. They see price tags.
• 19:19
  They see gas, you know, the signs for gas, how
• 19:23
  much a gallon of gas is on the side of the road
• 19:24
  all the time. But we're constantly bombarded
• 19:26
  by cost. We can set that aside. And you hit the
• 19:31
  pillow every night knowing that you got to enjoy
• 19:33
  the day. You got to experience the fullest of
• 19:37
  those moments that day. That's the win. That's
• 19:40
  what the options, that's what the flexibility
• 19:42
  creates. And using money as a tool, And again,
• 19:46
  not having any shame. And yes, I've set some
• 19:48
  stuff aside, but now I'm able to do all this.
• 19:51
  Absolutely. I couldn't agree more than 100%.
• 19:54
  I can agree more than 100%. It wouldn't be worth
• 19:56
  anything. But you're absolutely right, because
• 19:59
  I look at money as being comfortable, but it
• 20:05
  doesn't control my life. I look at everything
• 20:08
  else. I look at my wife, my kids, my everything.
• 20:11
  And I say, look, that's my wealth. The money
• 20:15
  is just a tool to get some things. I use the
• 20:18
  tool as a quiver. And that's really it. And you
• 20:22
  do not have to be a multimillionaire for that
• 20:24
  to happen. Absolutely. I agree. It does not take.
• 20:28
  I'm willing to guess for most of you listening,
• 20:32
  for what you make now, for what you've earned,
• 20:36
  you're able to do more than you think you can
• 20:39
  with just some realignment and some focus. I
• 20:44
  think that's one of the fallacies of talking
• 20:46
  about finance too, is like everyone thinks that
• 20:49
  they need some amount of X dollars. Okay, but
• 20:55
  where does that come from? And then why is that
• 20:58
  the number? And let's break it down. Let's put
• 21:01
  some math behind it. You might be right, but
• 21:04
  you might be wrong. And that's where that conversation
• 21:08
  comes back in, where have that, put some math
• 21:10
  to it. and figured out, are we living in the
• 21:13
  land of possibility or are you putting yourself
• 21:14
  under constant stress that was unnecessary this
• 21:17
  whole time? Absolutely. Couldn't agree with you
• 21:21
  more. Some people avoid discussing opportunities
• 21:24
  because they don't want to appear self -interested.
• 21:29
  How do you balance service and business honestly?
• 21:35
  I think that comes back to what's your why? What
• 21:39
  are your intentions? To start with, like, don't
• 21:43
  tell anyone, but I would do my job for free if
• 21:46
  I could. I think it's that important. And if
• 21:51
  I approach my job from an aspect of self -interest,
• 21:57
  it would come across like you would know. And
• 21:59
  I would end up having very transactional relationships
• 22:01
  with the people that I work with. And I think
• 22:06
  when you're looking at that. When if you're looking
• 22:10
  to hire a financial planner or you're looking
• 22:11
  to hire a plumber or you're looking at working
• 22:14
  for X company or you're maybe going to go in
• 22:17
  and deal with someone to start a business. I
• 22:20
  think one of the most powerful questions that
• 22:22
  you can ask someone when you're trying to establish
• 22:24
  this level of trust and camaraderie is asking
• 22:29
  them, what are they most proud of? And if it's
• 22:34
  in the realm of contractor or financial advisor,
• 22:36
  what are you most proud of? What's the thing
• 22:38
  that you help the family out the most with? Or
• 22:41
  if it's a job, why do you guys all show up every
• 22:44
  day? What are you proud of that you've accomplished
• 22:46
  as a group, as a company, as an individual? I
• 22:50
  think that's just a very hard question to fake.
• 22:53
  There's a lot of different ways to answer it.
• 22:56
  There's not a wrong answer necessarily, but you'll
• 23:00
  get a great picture into. what that person thinks
• 23:04
  is important and how they think they show up
• 23:08
  to other people and you can bounce that off your
• 23:12
  internal bullshit meter as it were and figure
• 23:15
  out like hey is this person for me are we vibing
• 23:18
  or that's a great answer but this isn't me absolutely
• 23:22
  and it changes by the person right because there
• 23:25
  are a thousand financial advisors but there is
• 23:30
  one type that is perfect for you and the rest
• 23:34
  of them don't but if you find that one person
• 23:36
  such as yourself and if you find somebody likely
• 23:40
  to give you the right answers they may not always
• 23:44
  be the answers you want to hear but they're the
• 23:46
  right answers and you can work with that then
• 23:49
  you want it's a whole right when someone thinks
• 23:54
  about their world as a whole career family finances
• 23:58
  community How does that change who they choose
• 24:01
  to connect with? I think that's a great question
• 24:05
  that builds on what we were just talking about.
• 24:08
  I think if you are able to look at your picture
• 24:13
  as a whole, I guess maybe it's like the question
• 24:16
  sometimes we get to when I'm talking with families
• 24:18
  is like, what's really going to matter when you're
• 24:24
  old and gray? body doesn't quite work so well
• 24:29
  as it used to and you take a look back on your
• 24:32
  life and i guess something easy we can all relate
• 24:36
  to not everyone has been mad at someone else
• 24:39
  driving on the road some take more than others
• 24:44
  but everyone that's ever driven i'm sure you
• 24:48
  listen you've had at least one moment where like
• 24:51
  something happened on the road that was upsetting
• 24:53
  how upset you get or how long you hang on to
• 24:56
  that I like to try to put that in context against
• 24:59
  what is that going to matter when you're saying
• 25:03
  your last goodbyes? Because if it doesn't, if
• 25:06
  that's not what's going to come up, if you're
• 25:08
  going to say thank you to everyone else, I love
• 25:10
  you. It was wonderful to spend a vacation with
• 25:13
  you in this whatever place. That's the holistic
• 25:18
  part of life that I encourage you to take a look
• 25:23
  at because It's easy to get lost in the moment.
• 25:28
  It's a lot harder to think about the big picture.
• 25:31
  But I think through looking at the big picture,
• 25:34
  looking at your life holistically, there's a
• 25:37
  certain freedom to that. Because through that
• 25:40
  lens, now that driving incident doesn't matter.
• 25:44
  That other person may have been wrong, but...
• 25:47
  Absolutely. The older I get, the more I look
• 25:50
  at life that way. Yeah, because I can tell you
• 25:53
  how I would react in my 20s and my 30s and my
• 25:57
  40s in my 50s. I'm now in my 60s. And it's very
• 26:02
  different than the way it would act when I was
• 26:04
  in my 30s. OK, I understand that completely.
• 26:08
  And unfortunately, people have to wait until
• 26:13
  their 60s or 50s to look at life that way. Yeah,
• 26:18
  the world would be a better place. I try to encourage
• 26:21
  people to do that earlier. This isn't my quote,
• 26:23
  so I can't take credit for this personally, but
• 26:26
  I use this in conversations with early stage
• 26:30
  clients when we're first getting to know each
• 26:32
  other. I say, people only think other people
• 26:35
  die. And I let that sink in for a second. And
• 26:38
  I invite you to say that again. You had people
• 26:41
  only think other people die. And you could extrapolate
• 26:44
  that to a whole number of different issues, but...
• 26:50
  Statistics, they're averages. That means there's
• 26:55
  someone on the front of it and someone on the
• 26:57
  back of it. And there's only one person on the
• 26:59
  middle of it. That's why I encourage people to
• 27:04
  try to use that lens and cycle through some of
• 27:07
  this because it actually is quite a liberating
• 27:10
  concept. Yeah, you can also take that same thing.
• 27:15
  And whether it's about illness or something else
• 27:18
  that always happens to somebody else. But when
• 27:20
  it finally happens to you or someone you love,
• 27:23
  that all of a sudden your world comes crashing
• 27:25
  down and say, what do I do? I need help or something
• 27:29
  else like that. And you never realize that it
• 27:32
  can happen to you. Yeah. So you can take that
• 27:35
  in a number of ways. Yeah. There's a right now
• 27:38
  recently here, a famous actor. He just passed.
• 27:41
  Right. He left behind his wife and four kids.
• 27:44
  And his wife, a Hollywood actor, you'd think,
• 27:46
  oh, he's rich. He's got everything all figured
• 27:48
  out. And he had to start a GoFundMe page, or
• 27:52
  the family did. They raised a million dollars,
• 27:54
  probably a little bit on the back of him being
• 27:56
  famous. But that's, I'm looking at that and I'm
• 27:59
  like, from my perspective as a financial professional,
• 28:03
  that GoFundMe page, I would love to put GoFundMe
• 28:07
  out of business if I could. Not because they're
• 28:10
  doing a bad thing. I think they're doing a wonderful
• 28:12
  mission. I fully support what they're doing because
• 28:14
  it's a great community tool. I would love to
• 28:17
  save people the heartache of having to go through
• 28:20
  that process on top of having just lost a loved
• 28:23
  one where they're already heartbroken to begin
• 28:25
  with. Absolutely. Absolutely. How do strong relationships
• 28:30
  improve financial decision -making, not just
• 28:35
  income? That's a great one for those of you out
• 28:40
  there that are coupled up husband wife. It's
• 28:43
  okay. I think this is where open communication
• 28:45
  goes. And obviously I don't know your relationship,
• 28:49
  but it is okay to have a different answer. And
• 28:54
  I think allowing that the person to have a different
• 28:56
  answer for you from you, a different priority,
• 28:59
  they're probably pretty close, but I'll just
• 29:03
  say from like my perspective, I do what I do
• 29:06
  for a living. my wife is still a huge part of
• 29:10
  the major financial decisions that we make. Not
• 29:13
  because I'm right and she's wrong, but because
• 29:16
  we have sometimes different viewpoints on something.
• 29:19
  Oftentimes we find we actually are pretty aligned,
• 29:21
  but I think just allowing that space for her
• 29:25
  to have her answer and me to have my answer,
• 29:27
  it's not a fight if we both give each other the
• 29:30
  space to have a respective opinion. It's not
• 29:34
  like a good, healthy relationship. It does. But
• 29:38
  most, but a lot of relationships aren't cut the
• 29:42
  same way. I too have that same relationship.
• 29:46
  And because there are times in my life where
• 29:48
  I made more money than she did. She made more
• 29:51
  money than I did. And it never really mattered.
• 29:54
  Yeah. We both had that type of relationship where
• 29:58
  we bounced it off each other's back or off each
• 30:01
  other and said, what do you think? And we came
• 30:04
  up with the right solution and we went for it.
• 30:06
  Usually I was right, but that's beside the point.
• 30:10
  Okay. What signs a show, what signs show a relationship
• 30:17
  is mutually beneficial versus quietly one -sided?
• 30:24
  What we just talked about. Yeah. I would say
• 30:29
  if you can leave the conversation with a smile
• 30:32
  and the other person's also leaving with a smile.
• 30:35
  Yeah. You're in a good start. Obviously there
• 30:39
  are good actors out there and there are bad actors.
• 30:43
  I've been fooled before, right? I thought I was
• 30:45
  going to go to this networking thing in Scotland
• 30:48
  once. I was like 23 and I was really excited
• 30:52
  and I was like looking for all kinds of ways
• 30:54
  to get better. And this is one of those situations
• 30:56
  where it was like, go to Scotland, spend a week
• 31:00
  or two weeks or whatever it was. And then you'll
• 31:01
  come back and your business is going to explode
• 31:04
  and your professional life is going to go crazy.
• 31:07
  whatever, wired them $10 ,000. And cause I did
• 31:13
  that in my excitement and I was like, okay, yeah,
• 31:15
  this will be worth, I'll make this back in no
• 31:17
  time. And then I happened to listen to the person's
• 31:21
  podcast after that. And I could not believe the
• 31:27
  amount of unprofessionalism and the, it was a
• 31:31
  completely opposite image from the image that
• 31:33
  I was marketed. And I got all kinds of warning
• 31:37
  signs because I was still supposed to pay them
• 31:39
  more money to still yet go. That was just a down
• 31:41
  payment. Long story short, pulled out, hit the
• 31:46
  ripcord. I never got the money back. It was a
• 31:52
  very expensive lesson for a young 20s, whatever
• 31:56
  year old I was. It happens. That was definitely
• 32:00
  a one -sided relationship. They were quite dishonest
• 32:04
  about the whole thing. I had no real recourse
• 32:07
  for any of you that have lost that kind of money.
• 32:09
  Yes, it's a lot, but to go for a lawyer, by the
• 32:11
  time you get through it all, you're worse off
• 32:13
  anyways. So it wasn't fun. And so a little trial
• 32:20
  and error. Yep, it sounded like you learned a
• 32:23
  hard lesson. Yeah, that wasn't fun. I wasn't
• 32:26
  proud of that one. But look, it made you a better
• 32:29
  person. It made you scrutinize anything like
• 32:33
  that even more. You'll look into something. I
• 32:36
  always give myself 24 hours. If something is
• 32:39
  too great or too good to believe, it usually
• 32:43
  is. But if I get a hold of a deal or something
• 32:47
  else like that, I'll say, look, I'll give you
• 32:50
  an answer. but it'll be tomorrow. And they usually
• 32:53
  say it's only good for the next hour. Obviously,
• 32:55
  it's not good for me then. But they hate when
• 32:58
  I say that. But I do and I check them out within
• 33:01
  the 24 hours and either they're full of crap
• 33:04
  or they're all right. And usually they're full
• 33:09
  of crap. So it works that way. Yeah, I would
• 33:12
  say that rush tactics definitely should be an
• 33:14
  alarm bell generally. Yeah, absolutely. You have
• 33:17
  to do this now or... whatever, just again, put
• 33:22
  your warning signs up, try to do a little bit
• 33:24
  more homework if you can. But if someone's really
• 33:26
  pushing you and you're not comfortable in anything,
• 33:29
  any kind of monetary transaction, job transaction,
• 33:32
  someone says, oh, you have to take this now or
• 33:34
  we're going to go to the next candidate. You're
• 33:37
  not, again, I go back to you're a 10, right?
• 33:41
  You have value. You have a tremendous amount
• 33:43
  that you can offer to the world. If someone wants
• 33:47
  you that bad, they shouldn't be willing to dump
• 33:49
  you in an hour and go to the next person. Absolutely.
• 33:52
  Absolutely. Okay, let's bring this podcast full
• 33:56
  circle. If a listener wants both stronger relationships
• 34:00
  and healthier financial outcomes in the next
• 34:04
  90 days, what's one networking behavior should
• 34:08
  they start immediately? I think, you know, the
• 34:14
  easiest thing to probably do is, It costs no
• 34:18
  money. And that's have an honest conversation
• 34:21
  with yourself, pull up your finances and go through
• 34:24
  an inflow and outflow for your budget. That can
• 34:30
  be a very eye -opening experience. If you do
• 34:33
  that with your spouse, be prepared for wherever
• 34:37
  that's going to go. You're probably going to
• 34:39
  surprise yourself. But I'd say that's an easy
• 34:42
  one. If you want more information, no shame in
• 34:45
  a dollar .com. I invite anyone that I can continue
• 34:48
  this conversation in more detail and get more
• 34:50
  specific on stuff. But aside from going to no
• 34:53
  shame in a dollar .com, I would just say, yeah,
• 34:57
  do the budget, have the conversation with yourself,
• 35:00
  with your spouse. And at the end of it, again,
• 35:05
  give yourself some grace. There's no right or
• 35:07
  wrong answer, but. If at the end of it, you're
• 35:09
  not comfortable with what that picture looks
• 35:11
  like, then something's got to change. And that
• 35:15
  should be something that you start to take some
• 35:17
  action on. Absolutely. Andrew, this was great.
• 35:22
  Andrew, if somebody wanted to get hold of you,
• 35:24
  just either to pick your brain, to hire you,
• 35:29
  or just ask you some questions, what's the best
• 35:32
  way they can get hold of you? The best way is
• 35:35
  to go to no shame in a dollar .com. I set that
• 35:37
  up. It's just the name and email address is all
• 35:39
  that would take. And we can start a conversation.
• 35:42
  Of course, LinkedIn, I'm on there as well. And
• 35:44
  my last name is, and that's the beauty of having
• 35:46
  it start with a Q. That's quite unique. I'm easy
• 35:49
  enough to find there, but yeah, like I said,
• 35:52
  I'm here to help. I'm here to be a member of
• 35:54
  the community and to help everyone's network.
• 35:56
  And if that's all you want to, and you just want
• 35:59
  to network a little bit, I'm happy to do that.
• 36:02
  Fantastic. This conversation reminds us that
• 36:05
  networking isn't only about who you meet. It's
• 36:08
  about how openly and honestly you communicate
• 36:11
  value. When people are comfortable discussing
• 36:14
  goals, expectations, and opportunity, relationships
• 36:19
  become clearer and decisions become easier. If
• 36:23
  today's episode made you think of how you approach
• 36:25
  conversations about value, try one small step
• 36:29
  this week. Have one honest, respectful business
• 36:32
  conversation you may have been avoiding. You'll
• 36:36
  be surprised how often clarity strengthens trust.
• 36:41
  And if you found this helpful, make sure you
• 36:43
  like, follow, or subscribe to Networking Unleashed,
• 36:46
  Building Profitable Connections, so you keep
• 36:49
  getting practical insight on networking and communication.
• 36:53
  Also, share the episode with someone who would
• 36:56
  benefit from hearing it. If you would help improving
• 37:01
  how you communicate, build relationships, or
• 37:04
  position yourself in conversations, Visit foreman
• 37:07
  .com to learn how I work with professionals,
• 37:10
  teams, and organizations. So until next time,
• 37:13
  communicate clearly, value your work, and build
• 37:17
  connections truly that support your life. Andrew,
• 37:20
  thank you again for coming on the podcast. You
• 37:23
  were a wonderful guest. Thank you, Michael. It
• 37:25
  was a pleasure to be here. Well, hold on, folks.
• 37:33
  Don't go anywhere. Let's hear from our sponsors.
• 37:36
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• 37:59
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• 38:01
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• 38:07
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  where you're moving, Henry has the right connections
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  for you. You can contact Henry at 561 -427 -4888.
• 38:25
  A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such
• 38:29
  insights today. And of course, a big shout out
• 38:32
  to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in
• 38:35
  and spending your time with us. If you're interested
• 38:38
  in my digital courses, being coached or having
• 38:41
  me come and talk to your company, just go to
• 38:45
  Michael and fill out the request form. Remember,
• 38:48
  networking isn't about being perfect. It's about
• 38:51
  being present. So take what you've learned today,
• 38:55
  get out there and make some meaningful connections.
• 38:58
  If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't
• 39:01
  forget to subscribe. Leave us a review and share
• 39:04
  it with someone who could use a little networking
• 39:06
  inspiration. Let's keep the conversation going.
• 39:10
  You can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube,
• 39:14
  or my website, foreman .com slash podcasts.