Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E36 An Interview with Amanda B Greenburg and Michael A Forman

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Networking Unleashed: S1E36 An Interview with Amanda B Greenburg and Michael A Forman · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:16
  Yes, and welcome to Networking Unleashed, building
• 0:20
  profitable connections. Welcome back to the show,
• 0:23
  folks. I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and you're
• 0:27
  listening to the podcast where networking is
• 0:29
  more than just awkward handshakes and bad coffee.
• 0:33
  It's an art and a talent. But here's the twist.
• 0:36
  It's an art and talent you can actually learn.
• 0:40
  Yes, even if you're the person hiding in the
• 0:43
  corner at every event. pretending to check emails.
• 0:47
  Networking isn't just a nice skill to have. It's
• 0:50
  a game changer. And when you get good at it,
• 0:53
  you'll wonder why you didn't start sooner. More
• 0:57
  connections, more opportunities, more profits.
• 1:00
  It's like unlocking a cheat code for life. So
• 1:04
  whether you're the life of the party or the just
• 1:06
  let me stay at home and text type, we've got
• 1:09
  something for you. So stick around and let's
• 1:12
  turn those awkward small talk moments. into big
• 1:15
  wins. Now, I have a guest today. Her name is
• 1:19
  Amanda Greenberg, Amanda Brooke Greenberg, and
• 1:23
  she's got quite an extensive background. I'm
• 1:27
  going to read you a little part of it. Amanda
• 1:30
  is the founder of the A -Initiative and social
• 1:34
  media influencer with, ready, with the at symbol,
• 1:38
  From Apple to Orange, a Miami resident by way
• 1:42
  of New York City. With over 15 years of experience
• 1:45
  in marketing, communications, marketing and communications,
• 1:51
  Amanda has a broad experience. Amanda has a broad
• 1:55
  expertise in working with clients in the fashion,
• 1:59
  lifestyle, beauty, and hospitality industries.
• 2:03
  So before I butcher this any more than I already
• 2:07
  have, Amanda, welcome to the podcast. And please
• 2:11
  introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about
• 2:14
  your background. Thank you. Thank you for having
• 2:17
  me here today. I'm honored. And yeah, so my background
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  started in New York City. I interned for a magazine
• 2:26
  in college and then immediately moved the city
• 2:29
  right after I graduated, took a job doing PR
• 2:33
  for a fine jewelry brand. I was the assistant
• 2:36
  level at that time. Learned everything I could
• 2:39
  from my first boss. She was incredible. Still
• 2:42
  in contact with her today and soaked up all the
• 2:45
  information I could and then made my way up in
• 2:48
  that company. Then I switched over to an agency
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  where I had a range of clients in the fashion
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  space, big retailers and e -tailers like Bergdorf
• 2:59
  Goodman and Net -A -Porter Group and Home Shopping
• 3:02
  Networks. And then also some... contemporary
• 3:05
  and luxury fashion brands so we worked with everybody
• 3:08
  from Marquesa to Aritzia and Uniqlo and then
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  some smaller less known brands that we helped
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  build and create and then after being in New
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  York for a decade I moved down to Miami and went
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  into hospitality PR because there isn't such
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  an amazing fashion industry down here and I wanted
• 3:31
  to make sure that I was you know working in the
• 3:34
  industry that made sense for the market. And
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  I took a job as PR director and communications
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  director for Nikki Beach, which is a global hospitality
• 3:44
  brand. They have restaurants, beach clubs and
• 3:47
  hotels and resorts all around the world across
• 3:50
  their social media division. I did all the internal
• 3:53
  and external communications and then. I also
• 3:56
  did a lot of networking there and learning and
• 4:00
  growing as an in -house professional. And then
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  I also simultaneously had just started my social
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  media platform, which is from Apple to Orange,
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  as you said. So from the Big Apple, New York,
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  to the Florida Orange and started parallel pathing
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  with that, growing a following on my Instagram
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  platform. And then right after COVID, I took
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  a step back. looked at my life as many of us
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  did at the time and said, where am I going? What
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  are my goals? How am I going to reach them? And
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  I realized that while I loved my job, it was
• 4:36
  time to step out on my own. And I started the
• 4:39
  A Initiative, which is my marketing and PR agency.
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  I work with a range of clients now pulling in
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  from all of my background experience. So fashion,
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  lifestyle, beauty, hospitality, F &B, and nonprofit.
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  So that's a quick overview. Not so quick. That's
• 4:59
  OK, but you can see why I handed it over. So
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  I didn't want to butcher it any more than I already
• 5:05
  have. So I thank you for that. OK, so first off,
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  how has your approach to networking evolved over
• 5:13
  your 15 year career in marketing and communications?
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  Yeah, so. That is a great question, and it's
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  definitely evolved as I've gotten more mature
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  and confident. I think confidence is a big part
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  of it. And in order to have confidence, you really
• 5:30
  have to understand what you're doing. When I
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  started my first PR job at the fine jewelry brand
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  in New York City, my boss at the time kept saying
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  to me, you need to make editor relationships.
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  These magazine editors are going to be the bread
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  and butter of your success as you grow in your
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  career for traditional PR. And she would challenge
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  me to take out a certain amount of editors to
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  lunch or dinner or manicures, whatever it was,
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  or a walk at least once a week. And that was
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  like part of my measurement of success in that
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  role. So she really pushed me into it. I remember
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  feeling so uncomfortable at times, especially
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  if I was taking out editors that were my senior.
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  And not really always knowing what to say to
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  them. And then as I did it more, I got more and
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  more comfortable. Now, over 15 years later, I
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  feel like I can walk into a room, commands the
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  attention of a conversation as I need to learn
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  from people that I'm speaking with. And I'm a
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  completely different type and style of networker
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  at this point. Yeah, everybody has that certain
• 6:39
  somebody that kind of pushed them. That was either
• 6:43
  their mentor or something else. But everybody
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  has that person. And it sounds like she was very
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  good to you and pushed you in the right direction.
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  Yeah, she was great to me. And when I went out
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  and started my own agency, she actually is the
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  first person that really threw me business and
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  let me also work on some of her clients so that
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  I could get my footing. So I am forever appreciative
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  and indebted to her. Wow, that's great. Yeah.
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  Okay, so let's change it to your industry itself.
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  How does networking differ in the fashion, lifestyle,
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  beauty, and hospitality industries compared to
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  other sectors? It's much more casual. I think
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  that even going on a job interview in this industry
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  is much more casual than I would imagine a finance
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  interview or a legal interview or a medical professional.
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  For fashion, for example, the way you show up,
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  what you're wearing matters. If you want to look
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  and feel the part for whatever job you're trying
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  to get, and it's similar with networking, right?
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  In this industry, you want to understand who
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  you're stepping into a room with and make sure
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  that you're appropriate for that group of people.
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  So if I'm going somewhere and I know it's going
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  to be like... a bunch of restaurant industry
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  professionals, bartenders, servers, general managers,
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  like they're probably going to be more chill.
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  So I'm probably going to wear jeans and come
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  with a more vibrant approach and have a cocktail
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  with them and chill and relax versus maybe a
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  fashion industry event. I'm for sure putting
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  on heels. I'm definitely going to make sure I
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  look really polished. And I'm going to have probably
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  just read Women's Wear Daily the past couple
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  issues so I know what's going on. So I have things
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  to speak to them about. I love networking in
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  my type of industry because I think that people
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  are so passionate about what they do. So the
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  communication on the topic of what we do is so
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  important versus maybe. At an illegal event,
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  you don't want to talk about your caseload as
• 9:00
  heavily, but we are talking about our industry
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  nonstop because we're creative and it's so much
• 9:08
  in our DNA. It's great. You mentioned your Instagram
• 9:12
  handle and how much you increase your followers.
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  How do you balance the digital and the traditional
• 9:20
  networking that you've experienced? That's a
• 9:23
  great question. Digital networking should feel
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  a lot like in -person networking. In order to
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  form relationships with people, you need to reach
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  out to them and connect on a point that resonates
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  with them, right? If you want to make a digital
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  relationship, you're going to comment on somebody
• 9:44
  else's post. Find things that are a commonality
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  that you can speak to. Maybe you're going to
• 9:51
  send them a direct message and tell them that
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  you loved something or that you did something
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  similar. And you're going to start building friends
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  online by doing that. It's imperative when you're
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  networking in my industry to have some sort of
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  digital presence because that footprint is almost
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  like your business card. I put as much emphasis
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  on digital marketing as I do on in -person marketing.
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  Wow, that's good. So tell me, what's your secret
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  to turning initial connections into long -term
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  relationships? Being authentic really helps.
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  You need to, I've said this, but you need to
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  find a commonality with the person. Whether you
• 10:39
  approach a conversation and you ask them about
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  their family or you create a genuine friendship
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  because you compliment somebody's earrings or
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  ordering the same drink at the event. Find a
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  commonality and kind of use that as a kickoff
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  to the conversation. And then try not to be awkward.
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  Try to have some questions in your head before
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  you go somewhere to network that you can ask
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  everybody. For example. It was just South Beach
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  Wine and Food Festival here in Miami. So maybe
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  if I was at an event this week trying to network
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  and it was within that hospitality crowd, I would
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  say to everybody, did you go to events for Sobe
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  Wine and Food Festival? Did you enjoy them? Did
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  you meet any cool chefs? Have things in your
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  head that you can speak about. And I think the
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  other point that I always like to make is that
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  follow up is really important. So figure out.
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  In that scenario, what type of follow -up makes
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  the most sense? As we talked about, my industry
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  is a little bit more casual. So people don't
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  really have business cards on them as much. So
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  people will generally connect through social
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  media or maybe they'll give you an email address.
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  And I always like to be in control of the follow
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  -up. So I'll make sure to get everybody's contact
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  information that I have spoken to. And I will
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  do the follow up the next morning as opposed
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  to relying on somebody else to follow up with
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  me. And I will always bring in something that
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  we talked about in person when I do the follow
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  up. So, hey, so great to meet you last night.
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  Don't forget to send me the link to the earrings
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  you were wearing so I can order them too. Or,
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  oh, my God, that chef that you met sounds that
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  you met at South Beach Food and Wine Festival
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  sounds like. Such a great guy. I'm going to go
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  try out his restaurant next week. Just so you
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  can continue the conversation in an organic way.
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  Yeah. You hit on so many points that is so important
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  that I don't know if everybody got what you were
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  saying. It's important to be authentic, to be
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  present. That's first and foremost, confidence.
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  That's another very important part of this. The
• 12:57
  know you, like you, trust you really comes into
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  it because they'll do business with you. I've
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  said this on a thousand podcasts. To know you,
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  everybody knows you. You're a great girl. That's
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  just the way it is. But like you, that narrows
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  down the field just a little bit because everybody's
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  not going to like you. But trust you, that's
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  so crucial. That is the crucial factor in all
• 13:24
  of this. Once you gain that trust factor, you
• 13:28
  have the things in your head that you want to
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  ask and everything else to keep you calm, so
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  to speak. But another point that you hit the
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  nail right on the head was the follow -up. And
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  the follow -up is probably more important than
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  actually meeting the person. Yeah. Because your
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  follow -up is so, so very important. So I can
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  go on all day with your answers just from that
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  one point. Thank you. And I think one other thing
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  that I always like to mention is put your ego
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  away because when you lead with that, you're
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  never going to make a genuine relationship and
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  no one will trust you. Just be chill, be kind
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  and genuinely interested. And if you're not connecting
• 14:15
  with somebody like that, then OK, maybe that's
• 14:18
  not the best person to have a conversation with
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  at that moment and move on. Not everybody, like
• 14:24
  you said, is going to like you, and that's fair.
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  That's fair because, listen, you're not everything
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  to everybody. You have to pick your lane. And
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  if they don't like you, they don't like you,
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  you move on. It's very simple. How important
• 14:39
  is personal branding in networking, especially
• 14:44
  in image -conscious industry like fashion and
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  beauty? A million percent important. My PR agency
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  job in New York was very intense. We were working
• 14:57
  with such major brands. We were with celebrities
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  all the time. There were celebrities in and out
• 15:04
  of the office. It was like top tier. And the
• 15:08
  owner of the agency would walk around and make
• 15:12
  sure that we were all dressed appropriately.
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  And if not, I would have to send people home
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  for my team. to change and come back to the office,
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  which candidly probably wouldn't be appropriate
• 15:24
  today. But at the time it flew. And that was
• 15:28
  because they would always say to us, if you can't
• 15:31
  go to Anna Wintour's desk right now, who was
• 15:34
  the editor in chief of Vogue or is, then you
• 15:38
  can't wear that. So that was a fashion PR job,
• 15:41
  right? But that taught me that. The image that
• 15:46
  you present is always important. And I pay attention
• 15:50
  to those details on other people. I think if
• 15:53
  you're a content creator, what is your vibe?
• 15:57
  Aside from what you're saying, right? But what
• 16:00
  are you trying to convey? I think sometimes people
• 16:03
  discount how much of your exterior image can
• 16:08
  impact your ability to do business in certain
• 16:12
  industries. And it's not. It shouldn't be looked
• 16:14
  at as fluffy or a negative. I actually look at
• 16:18
  it in the opposite way. Take control of it. You
• 16:22
  know what's going to work, so do it. And if you
• 16:24
  don't know what's going to work in a specific
• 16:26
  industry, research it. See what successful people
• 16:29
  in that career field have done and figure out
• 16:34
  how to interpret what they're doing in a way
• 16:37
  that feels organic to you. Don't ever do anything
• 16:40
  that doesn't feel organic to you. Try to pull
• 16:44
  in inspiration from other people to influence
• 16:47
  what you're doing. That's so true. Listen, I
• 16:53
  was in the Air Force for nine years, so I always
• 16:56
  had to make sure that I looked tight, as they
• 16:59
  called it. But when I got out of the Air Force
• 17:02
  and into corporate, I realized that I would look
• 17:06
  at somebody, but I would look down at their shoes.
• 17:11
  and see whether or not they had polished shoes.
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  Not today's day that they wear sneakers with
• 17:17
  suits, and I don't know. I don't get all that.
• 17:19
  But you look down at their shoes. If their shoes
• 17:22
  are polished and clean, then they're okay that
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  they dressed appropriately. If they're dressed
• 17:27
  nicely but unpolished shoes, then that leaves
• 17:31
  the door open a little bit. But, yep, that's
• 17:33
  my way. Nails are also a big one for me. chem,
• 17:41
  you know, is there dirt under your nails? Because
• 17:45
  I don't want somebody cooking for me that has
• 17:49
  dirt under their nails. I wouldn't want my doctor
• 17:51
  having dirt under their nails. So that's like
• 17:54
  a huge one for me. Absolutely. And a big one
• 17:57
  for me. I'm glad you said it, but it's the same
• 18:00
  thing for me. This next question, everybody has
• 18:04
  to take a moment and think about it. Okay. What's
• 18:09
  the biggest networking mistake you've made, you've
• 18:13
  seen in your career, and how can my listeners
• 18:17
  avoid it? See, everybody does that double take.
• 18:23
  So I see people do this all the time, and it's
• 18:28
  not just in networking. It's in communication,
• 18:31
  conversations with people, not listening. to
• 18:36
  what the other person is saying and only thinking
• 18:39
  about what you want to say and the point you
• 18:42
  want to make so that when you reply, you're not
• 18:45
  replying accurately and you make the person that
• 18:49
  you're speaking to feel completely discounted
• 18:54
  because you're not addressing the point that
• 18:57
  they just said because you so badly need to make
• 18:59
  your point. In networking, that can be detrimental
• 19:02
  because people are going to be like, wow. person
• 19:05
  only wants to talk about themselves or needs
• 19:09
  to drive something home so hard that they don't
• 19:11
  care what I have to say. And they're going to
• 19:14
  remember you, but they're not going to remember
• 19:16
  you for the right reason. Absolutely. Listen,
• 19:20
  I'm paid to go on stages, to breakout sessions,
• 19:23
  keynotes. I do workshops for companies. And that's
• 19:28
  a very important point that I bring out. I call
• 19:31
  it active listening. You listen to the person.
• 19:34
  Completely. And then you pause at the end of
• 19:38
  it. What does that pause do? It tells the other
• 19:41
  person you are listening to them and you don't
• 19:43
  respond by the next thing that you want to say.
• 19:46
  You respond to something that they said. And
• 19:49
  it goes such a long way, but that listening and
• 19:52
  that pause is so very important. Okay. How do
• 19:56
  you measure the success or ROI of your networking
• 20:00
  efforts in the marketing world? I guess with
• 20:06
  the ability to do things quickly. So what I mean
• 20:12
  by that is that if I have the right relationships
• 20:16
  on behalf of a client, I should be at this point
• 20:22
  in my career able to move things forward for
• 20:27
  a project or a partnership or an event or a press
• 20:31
  placement. In a rather speedy way, because I
• 20:36
  have the right connections to lean on to get
• 20:39
  the job done. That's good. OK, so give me a strategy
• 20:46
  for maximizing networking opportunities at industry
• 20:51
  events or trade shows. So, again, it's dependent
• 20:57
  on the industry, but generally speaking, I would
• 21:00
  say walk into the room. survey the room, look
• 21:05
  around, take it in, maybe walk to the bar, get
• 21:09
  a drink, even if it's a cup of water, just so
• 21:13
  you have something in your hand and figure out
• 21:15
  who you want to speak to and then observe for
• 21:20
  a second and then walk over to them, try to start
• 21:23
  a conversation if they're already speaking to
• 21:26
  a group of people. Maybe you pause and you listen
• 21:29
  to what they're saying and you figure out how
• 21:30
  you can actually get involved in that conversation.
• 21:34
  If it's a one -on -one conversation, do what
• 21:37
  I said before, which is have something in your
• 21:39
  head in advance that you can say to them or compliment
• 21:43
  them on something and then wrap that up, get
• 21:49
  their contact information and move on to the
• 21:51
  next person. If you're in a networking situation
• 21:54
  like that, I imagine your objective is to speak
• 21:57
  to as many people in the room as possible, or
• 22:00
  that's what my objective would be. Politely wrap
• 22:03
  up conversations. Don't make people think that
• 22:06
  you're doing that in a rude way. And I'm sure
• 22:09
  we've all also been part of conversations where
• 22:11
  you feel the person that you're speaking to looking
• 22:14
  beyond you, knowing that they want to talk to
• 22:17
  somebody maybe that's behind you. Do not do that.
• 22:20
  That's so uncomfortable. So stay focused when
• 22:24
  you're with. the person that you're speaking
• 22:25
  to be present in that conversation and then say,
• 22:28
  okay, great. I know we're here both to meet other
• 22:31
  people. I'll follow up with you tomorrow. It
• 22:33
  was lovely to meet you and then move on. Yeah.
• 22:37
  And you hit so many points of correct networking
• 22:41
  that I can't even begin to say what, because
• 22:46
  I'm telling you, because every time that you
• 22:48
  said when, especially when you're listening,
• 22:51
  when you're pausing. When you have to build that
• 22:54
  rapport with the other person, I use something
• 22:57
  called form, F -O -R -M, family, occupation,
• 23:02
  recreation, and a message. And I pick anyone
• 23:06
  to talk to them about, talk to the person about.
• 23:09
  So I just have that word in my head. So a family
• 23:13
  with a wife, a husband, a sister, a son, a daughter,
• 23:17
  whatever, little league, football, junior football,
• 23:20
  I can talk about anything. But occupation, whatever
• 23:24
  their occupation might be. So I pick something.
• 23:28
  And most of all, I have them talk about themselves.
• 23:32
  Because what? People love to talk about themselves.
• 23:37
  The more that they talk, the higher the trust
• 23:41
  level goes up and the barrier comes down slowly.
• 23:45
  So it opens up relations a little bit. But that's
• 23:48
  for another conversation. Okay. Given your extensive
• 23:52
  experience, what emerging networking trends do
• 23:56
  you foresee for the next five years, in the next
• 23:59
  five years? A heavier play on digital and social
• 24:04
  media networking. A lot of people who have been
• 24:09
  in their industries for longer don't totally
• 24:13
  understand or value. those digital relationships
• 24:18
  through Instagram or Facebook or TikTok or LinkedIn.
• 24:21
  But as they shift out of the career industry
• 24:26
  and the younger generations continue to step
• 24:29
  in, I think that the emphasis on digital and
• 24:32
  your digital footprint will become more and more
• 24:36
  important. That's great. Amanda, I can't begin
• 24:40
  to tell you how great you did on this podcast.
• 24:45
  You hit the networking right on the head. I just
• 24:49
  expanded what you had to say because networking,
• 24:54
  I feel, is the base of all businesses. You have
• 24:59
  to network in order to go out and get more business,
• 25:02
  but you have to network correctly so you don't
• 25:07
  look bad, you don't look this way or that way.
• 25:09
  So if you do it correctly, you'll do it very
• 25:12
  well, such as yourself. Amanda. If anybody wants
• 25:16
  to get hold of you for whatever the reason, for
• 25:18
  any of your multiple categories, how would they
• 25:21
  do it? Thank you for asking that. So you can
• 25:25
  find me on Instagram at from Apple to Orange
• 25:28
  and slide into my DMs. I will definitely reply
• 25:32
  to you there. And then my business handle is
• 25:36
  at the A initiative. So the T -H -E -A and then
• 25:40
  initiative. Nobody can ever spell some for some
• 25:44
  reason, but I -N -I -T -I -A -T -I -V -E. And
• 25:48
  you can also message me there. I would love to
• 25:52
  hear from everyone. That's great. Amanda, thank
• 25:55
  you very much. And hopefully we'll talk soon.
• 25:59
  Sounds good. Thank you for having me. Wait, we
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  Davis, available now on Amazon. Well, that's
• 26:57
  a wrap, folks. A huge thank you to our special
• 27:00
  guests for sharing such incredible insights today.
• 27:03
  And of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing
• 27:07
  listeners, for tuning in and spending your time
• 27:10
  with us. Remember, networking isn't about being
• 27:14
  perfect. It's about being present. So take what
• 27:17
  you've learned today, get out there and make
• 27:20
  some meaningful connections. If you enjoyed this
• 27:23
  episode. don't forget to subscribe, leave us
• 27:26
  a review, and share it with someone who could
• 27:28
  use a little networking inspiration. Let's keep
• 27:31
  the conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
• 27:35
  Spotify, YouTube, or my website, michaelaforman
• 27:40
  .com. Remember, until next time, keep practicing,
• 27:44
  keep connecting, and keep building those relationships.
• 27:47
  This is Michael A. Foreman signing off. Take
• 27:50
  care and happy networking.