Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E35 An Interview with Celia Talbot and Michael A Forman

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Networking Unleashed: S1E35 An Interview with Celia Talbot and Michael A Forman · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:19
  Hello, and welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building
• 0:23
  Profitable Connections. Welcome back to the show,
• 0:26
  folks. I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and you're
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  listening to the podcast where networking is
• 0:32
  more than just awkward handshakes and bad coffee.
• 0:36
  It's an art and a talent. But here's the twist.
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  It's an art and talent you can actually learn.
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  Yes, even if you're the person hiding in the
• 0:45
  corner at every event pretending to check emails.
• 0:50
  Networking isn't just a nice skill to have, it's
• 0:53
  a game changer. And when you get good at it,
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  you'll wonder why you didn't start sooner. More
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  connections, more opportunities, more profits.
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  It's like unlocking a cheat code for life. So
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  whether you're just the life of the party or
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  just let me stay at home and text type, we've
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  got something for you. So stick around. Let's
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  turn those awkward small talk moments into big
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  wins. Now, I've got an interesting guest today.
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  Her name is Celia Tablet, and she works for Revved
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  Up Kids, a nonprofit organization, which I firmly
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  believe in wholeheartedly. So I'm going to tell
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  you that she's right now, she's the program's
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  director. But since Rubbed Up Kids is a nonprofit,
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  she's still an assistant trainer, a networker,
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  and a fundraiser. Oh, by the way, she's also
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  the program's coordinator. So let me introduce
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  Celia and let her give you a little bit more
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  of her background. Celia, how are you? Michael,
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  I'm doing great. How are you? I'm doing just
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  fine. Tell us a little bit about your background.
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  I came to Rubbed Up Kids, I was a housewife for...
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  20 years raising my kids and I came to Rev'd
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  Up Kids because Allie and David Neal are the
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  co -founders of Rev'd Up Kids and they've been
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  friends of mine for years and years. When they
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  created Rev'd Up Kids, they came to me with the
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  idea and pitched it to me and wanted my feedback.
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  I gave them a little bit of feedback and then
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  a few years later they called me and said, hey,
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  we need some help on getting some surveys. Can
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  you come and do this? went and started working
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  for them part -time. And then the next thing
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  I knew, they needed administrative help. And
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  then they just kept passing things to me. And
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  about two years ago, they said, we found out
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  that you can talk. We'd like for you to go out
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  and start networking. Okay, great. That's great.
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  And really, that's how we've come to know and
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  love Celia. Okay, first, how did you get involved
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  in? networking within the nonprofit sector? This
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  has been difficult for me because basically I
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  was just thrown into it. I had been in the business
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  world for a few years prior to having kids. I
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  was a sales systems engineer. And so I'd really
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  not done networking, but I'd always been able
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  to talk to people on a regular basis and give
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  presentations and things like that. So when I
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  was thrown into the networking, I can remember
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  my very first networking meeting. I walked in.
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  I was by myself. I knew not a soul. And I was
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  shy and bashful and stood in the corner and pretended
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  to check my emails on my phone. Good. Okay. Okay.
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  Since you brought us into that, as an assistant
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  trainer and programs coordinator, how has networking
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  shaped your career path? I don't know about shaped
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  my career path. It has really defined who I am.
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  The networking, being able to go out there and
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  talk to people, to be able to relate to revved
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  up kids and to sell revved up kids because I
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  passionately believe in revved up kids. So it's
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  made me an integral. part of the organization.
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  It's just as I've had more of the administrative
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  things taken away from me as Allie has pushed
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  me more toward the networking because she's realized
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  that I really enjoy it. Good. And listen, the
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  fact that you enjoy the networking just helps
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  you in all the arenas, because if you are passionate
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  about revved up kids, which you are, and you
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  enjoy the networking, then it's really just,
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  it's fun. After a while, you're just playing.
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  You're not really working, but you're working
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  when you have to get the money. Okay. What unique
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  challenges and opportunities Does networking
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  present in the nonprofit world? It is very difficult
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  in the networking world. A nonprofit relies on
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  corporate sponsors. We rely on donations. We
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  rely on others to be able to recognize and to
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  believe in us as much as we believe in what we're
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  doing. So when you get out there and you're networking,
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  telling the story of what you do and as a nonprofit.
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  And what I say, sometimes I feel really bad about
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  it, but I say that I'm begging for money, but
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  it's the only way that we survive. It's a big
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  challenge. Yeah. I was friendly with the executive
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  director of Meals on Wheels. And he told me almost
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  exactly the same thing verbatim. He said, look,
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  nobody likes to ask for money, but that's the
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  only way that we survive. So if it's the only
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  way, then that's what you have to do. How has
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  networking skills contributed to your success
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  in fundraising? I don't know if it's contributed
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  to my success in fundraising. It's just making
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  friends. Believe it or not, networking is all
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  about First, you have a passion for I have a
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  passion for my job. I have a passion for getting
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  out there and talking about revved up kids. Networking
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  is just a part of it. And then you've got to
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  make friends. You've got to get to know the people
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  that you're talking to. And it's been really
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  tough for me because I thought I should be nothing
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  but revved up kids and not Celia Talbot. So I
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  realized after a while that I had to be Celia
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  Talbot, that I had to be that person that makes
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  me and let everybody know about my passion for
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  revved up kids. You're talking about relationships.
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  You're not in a client -based organization because
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  everything is about emotions. And you're building
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  these relationships because it's not just a one
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  -off, oh, here, I'm going to give you $25. You
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  want to go back to that person over and over
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  again, but you want to make them want to give
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  you the money. So you need to create that relationship.
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  And from what I can see, you're doing it very
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  well. Okay. Okay. So give me your top strategy
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  for creating a meaningful networking connection.
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  Walking, when you meet somebody for the very
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  first time, it is a, hi, how are you? Welcome.
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  If it's their first meeting, it's a welcome.
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  And opening up the conversation by, hey, What
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  do you do? And then when they ask you, then you're
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  clear, concise. And I hope that you enjoy this
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  networking group. There are a lot of good people
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  here. It's just, it's all about relationships.
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  It is. And that's a networking event. You're
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  not looking to receive. I know you're looking
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  for money, but you're looking to give. So you're
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  saying, how can I be a good referral source for
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  you? How can I make you more successful? And
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  by doing that enough, it'll come back. What goes
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  around does come around. And if you build up
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  that type of relationship, then you're going
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  to make it. It's no two ways about it. But it's
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  definitely a relationship business. And you have
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  to look. It's very important to look to give
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  and not receive. Almost like 99 % of the time.
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  Yeah. How do you balance in -person networking
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  and digital? I don't do much digital networking.
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  It's very difficult. I'm an in -person type person.
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  I enjoy, I tell people all the time, I get paid
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  to go out and make friends. It's fantastic. Absolutely.
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  I think digitally it's a little bit more difficult,
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  but I guess as far as networking is concerned,
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  you've got LinkedIn, you've got your social media
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  and things like that. So I do try to have a presence
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  out there, but with Zooms and things like that,
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  it's a lot more difficult as far as if that's
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  what you're asking. How do you keep it all straight?
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  Let's say you have a good relationship with somebody.
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  Let's say at the chamber meeting, you meet three
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  or four people that you really want to stay in
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  contact with. How do you do it? Emails. I get
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  home and I immediately email them and say, hey,
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  I'd like to meet with you one -on -one. And then
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  I have one -on -one times where we have coffee.
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  lunch and we just sit down and talk and we get
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  to know each other a little bit better. Do you
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  use a CRM at all or just strictly you keep track
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  of yourself? It's pretty much me keeping track
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  of myself. We do have... a database that I'm
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  able to use, but I think that's mostly for clients
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  and things like that. So our customers, but I
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  just, I'll keep, I keep it all with me because
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  I'm a personal type person. I tend to remember
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  people fairly well. Okay. Okay. Okay. Give me
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  a common networking mistake that you see people
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  make and how they can avoid it. not talking more
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  not they don't there's not a firm handshake or
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  a smile even or being scared to say anything
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  I guess I haven't seen too many mistakes but
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  it would be Not being able to communicate. That's
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  the biggest thing, because you do have to be
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  able to talk freely. You have to be able to express
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  what you do. And if you're unable to do, that's
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  the very beginning, the very start, you turn
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  people away. I always believe that if you're
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  present, if you're authentic, then it makes everything
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  that much easier. If you are present and authentic.
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  And you are able to talk about what you do. Now,
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  this is easy for an extrovert. If you're an introvert,
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  it takes a little more for you to get used to
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  it. But I just had a podcast earlier with somebody
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  who said, if you're an introvert, it's actually
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  easier than an extrovert. And I said, what do
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  you mean? Because introverts have what's called
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  active listening. They can listen a whole lot
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  better than an extrovert. And when I say be authentic,
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  be real, be present, then that gives them a much
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  more of an opportunity to do that. So it's right
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  that they're right. Okay, so this is pretty much
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  an easy question, but how do you measure success
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  with the networking? Gosh, for us, it's being
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  able to get donations. It's being able to get
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  funding from people. It's having participation
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  with our fundraisers. Okay. Very easy. Yeah,
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  I said that was easy, right? Okay. What approach
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  to nurturing and maintaining the relationships
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  over time? What sort of system do you have in
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  place? Mine is going to all of my meetings regularly.
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  I have a lot of different groups that I have
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  joined that I participate in, and it's maintaining
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  relationships through those meetings. I can say
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  with each one that I walk into, I always have
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  a big smile on my face. I'm greeting people.
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  personally, and so excited to see them. I always
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  feel like I'm walking into the friendliest place.
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  These are all my friends. I know that they're
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  business associates, but they're also my friends.
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  And it's just, and then getting together, like
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  I said, with one -on -ones, going for lunch,
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  going for dinner. Hey, let's go out and grab
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  some coffee. It's all about just maintaining
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  relationships. Considering for me, everybody's
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  a friend. Okay. What advice would you give somebody
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  just starting to build their professional network
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  in the nonprofit sector? To not be afraid. That's
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  the hardest. Like I said, the very first time
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  I walked in, I was absolutely terrified. But
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  not to be afraid to talk about your nonprofit
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  and not to be afraid to say the only way we survive
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  is by donations. So if you really believe in
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  us, even if it's a tiny little bit, or even if
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  you're able to volunteer for a fundraiser or
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  volunteer with our organization, you have to
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  ask. And that's the hardest thing with being
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  with a nonprofit is that you have to ask. Okay.
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  So this kind of works into the same thing. What
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  advice would you give to somebody just starting
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  to build their network in the nonprofit sector?
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  Get out there and ask. Just get out there and
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  start doing it, right? Yes. Yeah. You have to
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  introduce what you're doing and you have to believe
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  in what you're doing. I think if I weren't so
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  passionate about revved up kids. That I would
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  not be able to get out there and talk about it,
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  talk to people about it the way I do. If you
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  don't believe in it, you're not going to get
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  anywhere. True. That's very true. So what does
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  Revved Up Kids, what big is happening in the
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  near future for Revved Up Kids? We have our largest
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  fundraiser of the year coming up. It is called
• 15:44
  Shamrock and Roll. It is a casino night. It's
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  at the Roswell Museum and it's on March 15th.
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  It is a lot of fun. We've got raffle baskets
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  that we'll be giving away. We've got auction
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  items up for auction. We have a super raffle
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  that opens up this coming Friday. I've heard
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  through the rumor mill that we've got an $800
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  bottle of scotch that's going to be raffled away
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  in the super raffles. Bidding will open up on
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  that one this coming Friday. Like I said, March
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  15th, grab a friend, a significant other, and
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  come to the computer museum and have a casino
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  night and be able to gamble and have fun. Celia,
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  that's great. And I'm so happy that you are the
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  front man. Because I don't believe Dave is the
• 16:37
  front man. You are the front man for Revved Up
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  Kids. And you do such an excellent job. And I
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  just can't begin to tell you how thankful I am
• 16:47
  for Revved Up Kids to be at least in my area.
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  And the more you do, the better. It's just absolutely
• 16:54
  wonderful. If anybody wants to get hold of you,
• 16:58
  either to talk to you, to donate, to find out
• 17:02
  what your events are, how would they do? They
• 17:06
  would go to revvedupkids .org and it's revved,
• 17:09
  R -E -V -V -E -D, upkids .org. So we have two
• 17:15
  V's in it, which makes it a little different.
• 17:18
  Okay, good, good. All right, Celia, I can't begin
• 17:22
  to thank you enough. You were a great guest.
• 17:25
  You did a wonderful job and I'll talk to you
• 17:28
  soon. Sounds good. Thank you, Michael. All right,
• 17:31
  bye -bye. Okay. Well, hold on, folks. Don't go
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  -E -V -V -E -D -U -P -K -I -D -S dot org. Well,
• 18:52
  that's a wrap, folks. A huge thank you to our
• 18:55
  special guests for sharing such incredible insights
• 18:58
  today. And of course, a big shout out to you,
• 19:01
  our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending
• 19:05
  your time with us. Remember, networking isn't
• 19:09
  about being perfect. It's about being present.
• 19:12
  So take what you've learned today, get out there
• 19:14
  and make some meaningful connections. If you
• 19:18
  enjoyed this episode. don't forget to subscribe,
• 19:20
  leave us a review, and share it with someone
• 19:23
  who could use a little networking inspiration.
• 19:26
  Let's keep the conversation going. You can find
• 19:30
  me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or my website,
• 19:34
  michaelaforman .com. Remember, until next time,
• 19:38
  keep practicing, keep connecting, and keep building
• 19:41
  those relationships. This is Michael A. Foreman
• 19:44
  signing off. Take care and happy networking.