Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E30 An Interview with Dr Reggie Wright and Michael A Forman

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Networking Unleashed: S1E30 An Interview with Dr Reggie Wright and Michael A Forman · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

0:13
Hello, and welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building
0:17
Profitable Connections. Welcome back to the show,
0:20
folks. I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and you're
0:23
listening to the podcast where networking is
0:26
more than just awkward handshakes and bad coffee.
0:29
It's an art and a talent. But here's the twist.
0:33
It's an art and talent you can actually learn.
0:36
Yes, even if you're the person hiding in the
0:39
corner at every event, pretending to check emails.
0:43
Networking isn't just a nice skill to have, it's
0:46
a game changer. And when you get good at it,
0:49
you'll wonder why you didn't start sooner. More
0:52
connections, more opportunities, more profits.
0:56
It's like unlocking a cheat code for life. So
1:00
whether you're the life of the party or the just
1:02
let me stay at home and text type, we've got
1:05
something for you. So stick around and let's
1:08
turn those awkward small talk moments into big
1:11
wins. Now, I've got a special guest. As everybody
1:16
knows, I am a graduate of the Speaker Lab, and
1:20
I have Dr. Reggie Wright. He likes to be called
1:24
Reggie with his vast background, but he was integral
1:28
in getting me started in my speaking career.
1:32
So I would like to first, let me just give you
1:35
a little bit about his background. Dr. Reggie
1:39
Wright Jr. is a former professional basketball
1:41
player and highly sought after motivational speaker,
1:46
educator, and coach. He's been featured on CNN
1:49
for his work on empowering educators and students
1:54
to overcome adversity and excel in both academic
1:58
and personal development. So I'd like to bring
2:01
on Reggie. And if you just tell us a bit more
2:04
about your background, that'd be great. But hey,
2:06
Reggie, what's going on? Hey, Mike. Listen, thank
2:09
you for having me, first and foremost, man. Happy
2:11
to be on your show. I feel honored. I feel like
2:13
I've made it, like I arrived. So thank you. I
2:15
appreciate it. Yep. I'll give a little bit of
2:19
background as you asked me to go into. You pretty
2:22
much summarized it. I'm from Trenton, New Jersey.
2:25
So that's where I'm originally born and raised
2:26
in the city of Trenton, New Jersey. It's a small
2:28
area. It's about seven square miles by 85 ,000
2:32
people. And I was raised by my grandmother. So
2:35
my grandmother migrated up north from Mississippi
2:37
back in 1960. And my mother got pregnant with
2:40
me at the age of 19 and gave birth to me at 20.
2:43
And then my grandmother stepped in and she raised
2:45
me all the way throughout high school and college.
2:48
That's where I was born and raised. That's my
2:50
background in terms of my adolescent years and
2:53
childhood years. And then I went to college and
2:55
I got an undergrad in computer science. Went
2:58
overseas and played professional basketball for
3:00
a number of years, like you mentioned. Then I
3:02
graduated and I came back home and pursued a
3:06
master's degree. So I have a master's in arts
3:08
and religion. And then I actually went back to
3:11
school and got my doctorate in educational leadership.
3:13
And here I am now today as a paid professional
3:16
speaker and coach. Also have my own coaching
3:19
program as well right now. That's great. Listen,
3:24
you are. It's true that you. came from almost
3:28
nothing. And I understand you, you grew up, you
3:32
actually became a police officer before you became
3:35
a professional speaker. So you really have quite
3:38
the background, but so I won't go into everything.
3:41
I won't go into everything, but okay. So how
3:45
did your academic background influence your approach
3:49
to networking in the education sector? Yeah,
3:53
I learned this. I'll summarize it this way. Dr.
3:56
King has an article called The Purpose of Education.
3:58
And when he summarized that article, The Purpose
4:01
of Education, he said it comes down to two components.
4:04
It's intelligence plus character. So one of the
4:07
things I believe is that if I'm going to be successful
4:09
as a paid professional speaker, but also successful
4:12
as a speaker coach, then I need to network with
4:15
the right group of people who exemplify intelligence
4:18
and a high level of character. Right. Because
4:21
I think Grant actually said it. said who you
4:23
are is more important than what you do, right?
4:26
So you want to be around some people that their
4:28
morals and ethics and values align with your
4:31
morals, ethics, and values. Because as we say
4:34
in a public figure space, all money is not good
4:36
money. So we want to profit, right? We want to
4:39
generate revenue, but we want to make sure that
4:41
we're aligned with people that have a high value
4:45
of character and integrity is one of their greatest
4:48
assets. Great. And I firmly believe that as well.
4:52
Can you share a story about a pivotal connection
4:56
that significantly impacted your career in education?
5:01
Yeah, absolutely. There's a few. As a speaker
5:04
or just in terms of my impact I've had with students
5:06
or educators themselves? Give me your student
5:11
impact. Yeah, 100%. So one of the stories I talk
5:15
about when I come in and do my keynote presentations
5:17
at schools, a lot of convocations they have me
5:19
come in and do, or professional development workshops,
5:22
I always talk about there was a particular student
5:24
that seemed to be disengaged, right? Didn't seem
5:27
to have any heart, passion, desire for school,
5:30
right? We call that student apathy, right? So
5:32
I was made aware that this student wasn't really
5:35
going to be disruptive, wasn't really going to
5:37
interrupt my class. But he just wasn't going
5:40
to do anything. He wasn't going to raise his
5:41
hand. He wasn't going to do his homework. He
5:43
wasn't going to participate. And I understood
5:45
that. So one of the things I try to do, Mike,
5:47
is I try to affirm the students when I go into
5:49
the class on a day -to -day basis. I always try
5:51
to find something to say to let them know that
5:54
they have worth and value, that they're intelligent,
5:57
they're gifted, and that they can and they will
6:00
be successful in life. And that an education
6:03
is one of the greatest tools that can help them
6:05
maximize their potential. And that's what I did
6:08
with this student. I came in day after day, week
6:10
after week, and I would just affirm him. And
6:12
he never really responded. But then it was one
6:15
particular day when I went in after Halloween.
6:18
And when I went in this one particular day after
6:21
Halloween, I pretty much just asked the students,
6:23
hey, who would like to volunteer and share with
6:24
me, you know, what you were for Halloween? What
6:27
was your Halloween costume? And as you can imagine,
6:30
kids like, oh, call me. And as I pan and scan
6:34
the room to see who I was going to choose on
6:37
initially, believe it or not, this student that
6:40
had never raised his hand, never did his homework,
6:42
was always disengaged, head was always pointed
6:45
down towards the floor. His head was down, but
6:48
his hand actually went up. And when his hand
6:51
went up, I couldn't believe it. I was shocked.
6:54
He had never said a word. So I had to call him.
6:57
So I looked over and I said, go ahead. What were
6:59
you for Halloween? And he took a pause. His head
7:02
never came up. His head remained down the entire
7:05
time. But while his head was down, he said this.
7:08
He said, Mr. Wright, I was you. And that it like
7:12
it broke me like I was standing there and tears
7:15
were coming down my face because I'm like, I'm
7:17
thinking I'm confused, but it was so powerful.
7:20
I'm like, so now I asked him, why would you be
7:22
me for Halloween? And he said. Literally, Mike,
7:26
he said, because you had the biggest impact in
7:29
my life. And I said, how have I had the biggest
7:31
impact in your life? I've only been in here in
7:33
the last seven or eight weeks. He said, literally,
7:36
a fifth grader said, he said, you shifted my
7:39
perspective. Really? Yeah. So think about as
7:43
professionals, as adults even, it's hard to shift
7:46
someone's perspective. If you can shift someone's
7:48
perspective, you can change their attitude. And
7:50
if you change the attitude, you can change the
7:52
outcome. Absolutely. That's fantastic. That's
7:57
a great story. What unique networking strategies
8:00
have you found most effective in the academic
8:05
and speaking worlds? Yeah. So in a speaking world,
8:10
so you said academic and speaking, I started
8:11
in speaking space. So speaking, I would say one
8:14
of the things that I've done is make sure that
8:16
I've been intentional about getting into certain
8:19
circles with other speakers that align with my
8:21
value system. Right. So we share a similar mindset,
8:25
passion for what we do, who we are, our families,
8:29
you know, how we carry and conduct ourselves.
8:31
Excuse me. And I'm very intentional about spending
8:34
time with them in person. So not just virtually,
8:36
but actually getting together in person as I'm
8:39
down in the Atlanta based area myself. And one
8:42
of the reasons why I make that commute and go
8:44
back and forth is because I really value the
8:47
relationships with other speakers that I'm in
8:49
community with. And I believe that's helped me
8:51
tremendously because they say you are who you
8:54
spend time with, right? They say your friends
8:56
are a reflection of who you are and who you want
8:57
to become. If my friends are a reflection of
9:00
who I am and who I want to become, I need to
9:02
make sure that I'm spending time with the right
9:04
group of people as a professional speaker. Academically,
9:07
I just try to make sure I go to the conferences
9:10
that are going to have educators. in the building
9:14
that I know could benefit off of my message,
9:18
my heart, my passion for the work that I do?
9:21
And more importantly, it's service -based. I
9:23
want to know how I can serve them, right? Because
9:25
that's what's the most important thing to me.
9:26
How can I help them help these students? Because
9:29
that's where my heart really lies. Okay. And
9:33
on that same level, on that same line, how does
9:36
networking play a role in fostering the character
9:40
development among students? Yeah, I think it's
9:45
everything, right? Networking in terms of fostering
9:48
an environment for character development, because
9:49
I feel like for students and educators themselves,
9:52
right? Peer influence, right? As my pastor, Dr.
9:55
Darius Daniels said, whoever has your ear has
9:57
your heart. So I want to make sure that the students
10:00
are spending time with other students that can
10:02
influence them in the right direction. The same
10:05
thing to educators, like teacher burnout is real.
10:07
And I speak to that all the time. I want to make
10:09
sure that teachers are spending time with other
10:12
educators that, you know, can motivate them,
10:15
can influence them in a positive way to help
10:17
them reignite their passion for why they do what
10:20
they do, because it's necessary, right? We all
10:22
face opposition adversity. Now it's a matter
10:25
of are you around the right people that can help
10:26
you get to the other side of it? Because we're
10:29
all going to experience it, but we need a community
10:31
of people around us that can help us overcome
10:32
it. Absolutely. My daughter -in -law is a teacher
10:36
and she is very close to burning out almost every
10:40
day. So I know. OK, so in what ways can networking
10:45
contribute to building resilience in aspiring
10:49
speakers, inspiring educators? Yeah, great question.
10:53
I think, again, when you're in community with
10:55
people that are resilient, I think it helps you
10:58
understand and see what it looks like. Because,
11:01
listen, we all are either going through a storm,
11:04
we're in a storm, right? Or we just got out of
11:07
a storm, right? So if you're in community with
11:09
people, they're in the same situation. If you're
11:12
walking with another educator in academia and
11:15
you see this, listen, they just went through
11:16
this. They didn't give up. They were resilient.
11:19
Then you too can be resilient. Like I shared
11:22
a story. It's hard for me to talk about it. But
11:25
when I was young, my grandmother. was in a relationship
11:28
with my biological grandfather, and he was physically
11:31
abusive to her, right? And I remember one day,
11:34
I was eating breakfast at the table when I was
11:36
young. I was in elementary school. And I remember
11:39
that my grandfather got upset with my grandmother,
11:41
and he struck her in the face, right? He struck
11:44
her in the face. And when he struck her in the
11:46
face, Mike, her tooth came out. Her tooth came
11:50
out, and it slid under the radiator in the kitchen.
11:52
I'll never forget this. And she was crying. I'm
11:54
sure you can imagine the emotions that she felt.
11:56
She definitely didn't deserve to be struck, to
11:59
be hit, no matter how upset he was. But I remember
12:02
this, Mike. I remember my grandmother going upstairs.
12:06
And surely I thought to myself, she's going to
12:08
go upstairs and she's not going to come back
12:10
down. She went upstairs. She gathered herself
12:13
and composed herself. And she got dressed and
12:16
she came back downstairs. And she went to that
12:18
school to actually teach those children. And
12:22
it was because of her level of commitment and
12:23
resiliency. That was amazing to me. That's amazing.
12:28
It really is. And no, first of all, no child
12:32
should have to go through that watching their
12:35
parents, grandparents or whatever, because there's
12:38
no reason in the world why one should strike
12:42
the other. But it must have had such an effect
12:45
on you being that you were so young and that
12:48
you had so much respect for your grandmother.
12:52
Yeah. OK, how have you leveraged your network
12:57
to promote academic success in your programs?
13:02
Yeah, how have I leveraged my network? Yes. One
13:04
of the things I do is so obviously I have a coaching
13:06
program now. So obviously that gives me an opportunity
13:08
to network with speakers that come through my
13:10
program that are aspiring speakers. And one of
13:12
the things that we try to do is we try to often
13:14
go into different schools or after school programs,
13:19
different nonprofits. And we really try to share
13:22
our message collectively at times, right, as
13:25
a network of individuals. Everybody has their
13:27
own unique story, right? Mike, your story is
13:29
your story. My story is my story. You're one
13:31
of one. I don't have the same story that you
13:34
have. But if we can collaborate and if we can
13:36
go into schools together and share our stories,
13:39
then think about the power of that. These students,
13:41
you can have 400 or 500 students. They don't
13:43
just get to see me. They get to see me. They
13:45
get to see you plus our colleagues. So networking
13:48
is powerful. Because it really gives students
13:50
an opportunity to be exposed to not just one
13:53
person, but a multitude of people. Listen, you
13:58
know me and what I speak about and how important
14:01
I feel that networking is. Because if you walk
14:05
into a room or if you're meeting somebody one
14:07
-on -one, you're picking up a vibe from the person
14:11
or a vibe from the room. And it's so very important.
14:14
I've walked into rooms and I've had such a bad
14:17
vibe, I walked out. because I don't want to get
14:20
involved with something distasteful, to be honest
14:25
about it. But it's so very important. How do
14:28
you measure the impact that you've had with the
14:33
students, with the educational students? Yeah,
14:36
I think the way that I measure the impact with
14:38
students is simply this. Students are real, Mike.
14:41
Like, they are real. You're going to know if
14:43
you have an impact in their lives or not immediately
14:46
right thereafter, for the most part. They're
14:48
going to come up to you afterwards and thank
14:50
you, ask questions. They'll want to interact
14:53
with you, engage with you. And if they don't,
14:56
then they'll probably, they'll just leave. Right.
14:58
So I think the two things that I get is feedback
15:00
right away after I'm done speaking. And then
15:03
believe it or not, there's a lot of students
15:04
that will, they may not, they may be a little
15:08
shy. That's the best way to put it. A little
15:09
shy, a little timid. And they don't want to say
15:11
anything to me afterwards. But then on social
15:14
media. They'll reach out to me and DM me and
15:17
say, thank you so much. That was powerful. That
15:19
impacted me. I admire you for what you do. You're
15:23
a role model. You name it. Those types of things.
15:26
Have you heard from that student when he had
15:30
his head down and just raised his hand and wanted
15:32
to be about you? Yeah, I went back and checked
15:35
on him a few years after. And yeah, he's doing
15:37
extremely well. He's doing extremely well. Yeah,
15:40
he's in high school now. Good. Good. It just
15:44
shows what kind of an impact you can have. This
15:47
is nowhere close to the success that you've had
15:50
with him. But when I coached baseball for about
15:54
16 years and the interaction that I had with
15:58
the children, because I had them from ages 5
16:03
through 16, and I saw an impact that I had in
16:09
school, out of school. just about the way that
16:12
they go on with their daily lives. And I've had
16:14
a few of them come back up to me afterwards and
16:18
thank me and so on and so forth. So it's that
16:21
it has a really good feeling when you change
16:23
their life. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So how about technology?
16:28
How has technology changed networking in education
16:33
and how did you adapt to it? How has technology
16:37
changed networking and education? One of the
16:40
things is the Zoom call, right? Zoom platform,
16:43
Microsoft Teams, Google Meets. It just gives
16:46
you an opportunity to connect with people. It
16:48
truly does. It gives you the opportunity to connect
16:50
with people that don't live close to you geographically,
16:52
where you still can build relationships with
16:55
them. You can understand how you can best serve
16:57
them and their community, even their students,
16:59
and do it from afar. I'll give you a quick example.
17:02
There's an educator in Connecticut. I went and
17:05
did a convocation there last year in 2024. And
17:09
it was positive feedback. They seemed to really
17:12
appreciate me coming in and sharing my story
17:14
and pouring into them. But they want me to, like,
17:17
at different times, just to, like, record something
17:20
virtually and send it to the students. Just to,
17:23
like, really to build rapport with them and let
17:25
them know, to affirm that, hey, you can become
17:28
successful in life and education is a tool. that
17:31
you're really going to need to rely on to be
17:32
successful so that's what i do periodically i'll
17:35
send them a zoom recording just encouraging them
17:39
right like literally a two to three minute video
17:41
i wouldn't be able to do that without technology
17:43
right i'm not in connecticut i'm not able to
17:47
be there but By technology, by me being able
17:49
to use technology, I'm able to not just connect
17:53
and build with those students, but that educator
17:55
has also put me in contact with other schools
17:57
in Connecticut where I virtually can impact those
18:00
scholars and be impactful with those educators
18:03
as well. So technology has served me well. It
18:06
really has. Good. Technology is what brought
18:09
us together. I'm all for it. What are the biggest
18:13
challenges? in networking within the education
18:17
sector, and how did you overcome it? What's your
18:22
biggest challenge? Yeah, what are the biggest
18:24
challenges in networking and education? I would
18:27
say really just as a professional speaker in
18:29
the educational space, the biggest challenge
18:31
is there are schools that have challenges, obstacles,
18:37
pain points that need to be addressed. I have
18:40
solutions to those problems, but they don't know
18:43
who I am. So that's where marketing comes in
18:45
place. So it's ability for me to figure out how
18:47
do I market myself using technology, right? To
18:51
market myself to them and then get myself in
18:55
certain rooms and spaces where I can network
18:57
with them, right? Because people are only going
19:00
to give you an opportunity to typically share
19:02
your message if they know you, like you, and
19:04
trust you. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yep. I profess
19:09
that all the time. I say that they have to know
19:12
you, like you, and trust you, then they'll do
19:14
business with you. But here's how I break it
19:17
down. If they know you, look, everybody knows
19:20
you. You're a nice guy. You're a good looking
19:22
guy. Hey, everybody knows you. Like you, that
19:25
really narrows down just a little bit because
19:29
everybody's not going to like you. But trust
19:32
you, that's a major factor. That's a major, that's
19:35
crucial. And so they know you and like you, but
19:38
they trust you. And once you gain their trust,
19:41
the world opens up to you. 100%. Yeah. Yeah,
19:46
100%. Give me your top piece of advice for listeners
19:50
to build profitable connections in education.
19:56
I'll give you some top ways to build some profitable
20:00
connections in education. All right. So I'll
20:04
say it this way. So the first thing I would say
20:05
is this. You yourself have to become a person
20:08
of value. Number one. So how does the person,
20:12
the question has been in Dr. Wright, how do I
20:14
become a person of value? You need to read and
20:17
be obsessed with mastering whatever the content
20:20
is that you want to produce to that particular
20:24
market. So if you're talking about imposter syndrome,
20:27
let's just say that, for example, you need to
20:30
be an expert in regards to imposter syndrome.
20:33
You need to master the content so that when you
20:37
speak about imposter syndrome, whoever you're
20:39
speaking to, they know that you're an expert
20:41
because they know you know what you're talking
20:42
about. All right. So if you want to network and
20:46
build, you need to be in these rooms and spaces,
20:48
but you need to know what you're talking about.
20:49
So you need to master in terms of your subject
20:52
matter expertise. That's number one. Number two,
20:55
you need to be willing to get out and go to different
20:58
places where you can actually network with people
21:00
so they can get to know you. So like we just
21:03
talked about, you have to be, you got to go to
21:06
conferences, local conferences. I'm not saying
21:08
you got to travel and fly places and spend a
21:10
bunch of money, but most states have some type
21:12
of educational conference that you can go to
21:14
and you can attend. It's fairly reasonable where
21:17
you can get in these rooms and mix and mingle
21:19
with people. So I would say that's number two.
21:22
And then the third thing I would say is you got
21:25
to have confidence in your own ability. You got
21:27
to have the confidence and the courage to be
21:30
resilient and know, like you just said, not everyone's
21:32
going to like you, but giving up is not an option.
21:35
Right. So you have to be resilient because I
21:37
think one of the things even with myself right
21:39
now, people reach out to me on a day to day basis.
21:41
Mike, honestly, there's someone always reaching
21:43
out to me on LinkedIn, Instagram for some type
21:46
of advice because they see what I'm doing right
21:49
now. But I'm like, you're looking at where I'm
21:51
currently at. Look at where I started. It's a
21:56
process and there's different levels to it. But
22:00
the quote is true. An expert at anything was
22:03
once a beginner. So we all have an origin. We
22:07
all had a starting point. It's just like a track
22:10
meet. Everybody started somewhere. So you just
22:13
can't give up. But you got to be willing to be
22:15
obsessed with learning. your craft so that when
22:18
you open your mouth and you speak, you have something
22:20
valuable to add to help out the audience, whether
22:24
that's students or educators themselves in my
22:25
space. Good. So just wrapping things up, do you
22:31
have any last words that you want to tell everybody?
22:34
Not about how to contact you or anything, just
22:36
last words regarding networking within the education
22:40
field or speaking field? Yeah. The last thing
22:45
I would say is this. If I had to say one thing,
22:47
I would say what I find to be extremely valuable,
22:49
and I know I say this to people often, and sometimes
22:52
people think you're just fluffing, Mike, but
22:54
I'm not. This is not lip service. This is from
22:56
the heart. If you really want to be successful,
22:58
in addition to the things that I spoke about,
23:01
you need to have a good mentor or coach. You
23:04
really do. And I know there's a lot of group
23:06
coaching, and that's good. Group coaching is
23:08
cool. There's nothing wrong with it. But to me,
23:10
there's a lot of value in being able to work
23:12
with someone one -on -one who can understand
23:14
you. understand what your struggles are, what
23:18
your pain points are and how they can help customize
23:21
or give, you know, the necessary advice that
23:24
you need to accelerate the process for you as
23:26
an individual. Right. And I think oftentimes
23:29
when people are starting out, they're not like
23:31
you, Mike, because I know you, I know you off
23:33
camera. I know how you think and how you function.
23:36
Most people don't do that. Most people, they
23:38
want success, but they don't want to invest in
23:40
themselves. Right. So I would say the greatest
23:42
investment you can make is investing in yourself.
23:46
Right. And we invest in so many other things
23:48
in life. We invest in cars, clothes, concerts,
23:51
vacations, but we won't invest in ourselves.
23:54
I got somebody close to me, Mike. I ain't gonna
23:56
say no names. I'm not getting in trouble. I have
23:58
somebody close to me, Mike. And she was like,
24:00
I don't have 5 ,000 or whatever it was, 8 ,000
24:03
to invest in a coaching program. I'm like, really?
24:06
But I'm like, yeah, handbags. Like you got designer
24:09
handbags. that equal $15 ,000 between the three
24:13
of them. They're like $5 ,000 a piece. And the
24:16
designer handbag can do nothing for you. How
24:20
can a bag cost more than the money you have in
24:23
the bag? It's fascinating to me. But then you
24:27
want a level of success, but you're not willing
24:30
to invest in yourself because then people go,
24:32
there's no guarantees. I guarantee you one thing.
24:34
If you keep walking around with these designer
24:36
bags, you're going to be in the same situation
24:37
you was in yesterday. Absolutely. Absolutely.
24:41
I can guarantee you that much. That's great.
24:44
That's great. Okay. Okay. Reggie, listen, if
24:49
somebody wants to contact you, either to be coached
24:53
by you or to listen to you or to know about you,
24:56
learn about you, but they just want to say hi,
24:58
how do they do it? Yeah. Yeah. Great question.
25:01
So you can find me on all social media platforms
25:04
at Dr. Reggie Wright Jr. That's Dr. Reggie Wright
25:08
Jr. That's on social media. So that's Facebook,
25:12
Instagram, and LinkedIn. My website is ReggieWrightJr
25:17
.com. ReggieWrightJr .com. And then for coaching,
25:21
please feel free to reach out to me. That's DrWrightCoaching
25:25
.com. DrWrightCoaching .com. So that's DrWrightCoaching
25:30
.com. That's great. Reggie, I can't tell you
25:35
what kind of a thrill this was for me to have
25:38
you because. Listen, you and I got together when
25:42
I first started in the business. And really,
25:46
there was a number of different avenues I could
25:49
have taken. But I felt a kinship with you, with
25:53
your background, with my background. And we came
25:55
together and I wound up here. Again, I can't
25:58
thank you enough. I can't thank you, Mike. And
26:01
listen, if there's anything that your listeners
26:02
and your viewers should take from you, and they
26:04
probably don't know this, I'm going to tell them,
26:06
is your resiliency. From day one, Your ability
26:10
to stay committed to the task because everything
26:13
in life has ebbs and flows, ups and downs. But
26:15
through it all, the one thing I can say about
26:17
you personally is I know that you have never
26:20
wavered in your commitment to continue to progress,
26:23
evolve and get better. And that's going to serve
26:26
you well, because that speaks to your character,
26:28
Mike. That speaks to your character, brother.
26:30
Thank you. Thank you so much, Reggie. All right.
26:33
And listen, I'll talk to you soon. All right.
26:36
Thanks, Mike. Well, hold on, folks. Don't go
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27:57
that's a wrap, folks. A huge thank you to our
28:00
special guests for sharing such incredible insights
28:03
today. And of course, a big shout out to you,
28:06
our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending
28:10
your time with us. Remember, networking isn't
28:14
about being perfect. It's about being present.
28:17
So take what you've learned today, get out there
28:19
and make some meaningful connections. If you
28:23
enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe,
28:25
leave us a review, and share it with someone
28:28
who could use a little networking inspiration.
28:31
Let's keep the conversation going. You can find
28:35
me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or my website,
28:39
michaelaforman. Remember, until next time, keep
28:43
practicing, keep connecting, and keep building
28:46
those relationships. This is Michael A. Foreman
28:49
signing off. Take care and happy networking.