Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E22 An Interview with Randi Roberts and Michael A Forman

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Networking Unleashed: S1E22 An Interview with Randi Roberts and Michael A Forman · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable Connections.
• 0:23
  Welcome to the show, folks.
• 0:24
  I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and you're listening to the podcast where networking
• 0:30
  is more than just an awkward handshake and bad coffee.
• 0:34
  It's an art and a talent.
• 0:36
  But here's the twist.
• 0:38
  It's an art and talent you can actually learn.
• 0:41
  Yes, even if you're the person hiding in the corner at every event pretending to check
• 0:47
  emails.
• 0:49
  Working isn't just a nice skill to have, it's a game changer.
• 0:55
  When you get good at it, you'll wonder why you didn't start sooner.
• 0:59
  More connections, more opportunities, more profits.
• 1:03
  It's like unlocking the cheat code for life.
• 1:07
  So whether you're the life of the party or the let me just stay at home and text type,
• 1:12
  we've got something for you.
• 1:14
  So stick around, let's turn those awkward small talk moments into big wins.
• 1:20
  Now I've got a guest today.
• 1:23
  She's a career coach, but I am going to introduce her very shortly, but I'm going to have her
• 1:29
  tell you a little bit about what she does and who she is in her background.
• 1:34
  So I'd like to introduce Randy Roberts.
• 1:37
  She's an executive and career life coach, and it sounds very ambiguous.
• 1:42
  But once you listen to her, you'll see and you'll listen to her background.
• 1:47
  Randy, how are you today?
• 1:50
  I'm well, Michael.
• 1:51
  Thanks so much for having me.
• 1:52
  I'm really happy to be here.
• 1:53
  You're most welcome.
• 1:55
  Could you tell us a little bit about your background?
• 1:57
  Yeah, be happy to.
• 1:59
  So let me touch quickly on my first career, which was in pharmaceutical industry.
• 2:05
  So I spent 30 years as a pharma executive, started as a sales rep and worked my way up
• 2:11
  to running big businesses in the US market for some of the biggest companies and absolutely
• 2:17
  loved it until for a variety of reasons.
• 2:20
  It just didn't fit for me anymore.
• 2:23
  And that gave me an opportunity to, well, there were some twists and turns along the
• 2:27
  way, but about seven years ago I landed right where I am now, which is running my own executive
• 2:32
  coaching business.
• 2:34
  And I focus on a couple of different things.
• 2:37
  I do one-on-one coaching of folks either trying to get to that next level or when they've
• 2:42
  taken on new levels of responsibility, love to work with folks who kind of live the world
• 2:48
  that I used to live.
• 2:49
  And then I also do speaking as well as working with corporate leadership teams.
• 2:56
  And one of the reasons that your podcast was so interesting to me and I was eager to talk
• 3:00
  to you today is because how important networking is.
• 3:05
  It was to my first career, it's so much is now to the way I work and build my business.
• 3:10
  And I spend so much time talking to clients about it.
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  I was really excited for our conversation today.
• 3:16
  Good.
• 3:17
  I'm glad.
• 3:18
  I'm glad.
• 3:19
  So, since you are coming to me with that angle of networking, which I'm very enthused
• 3:26
  for because I am so passionate about it, we have an increasingly digital world.
• 3:32
  How would you build genuine connections with this digital world?
• 3:41
  There's obviously differences of opinions on this.
• 3:43
  I think the digital world is phenomenal in terms of finding the people and making the
• 3:49
  initial connections and doing it in an asynchronous way so that I can send it.
• 3:55
  When I send it, you can receive it when you receive it and we make it work.
• 4:00
  It's amazing that way.
• 4:02
  And it has its limitations because I think when we're talking true networking, very often
• 4:07
  the digital world can be, do you know this person?
• 4:10
  Can you connect me with this company?
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  Can I pick your brain about these things?
• 4:14
  But to go deeper, I really think it has to get off digital and get into real life.
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  That might mean voice to voice.
• 4:23
  That might mean meeting on Zoom or other platform, that kind of thing.
• 4:28
  It may some days even be live.
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  But I think there's so much to be gained by going off digital because you get the nuance.
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  We all know the limitations of texting or email.
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  You can't get the context.
• 4:41
  You can't sort of read between the lines.
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  We can make wrong assumptions.
• 4:46
  So I absolutely love the digital as the way in.
• 4:50
  And I think when you want to go deeper, I love the opportunity to get off digital.
• 4:55
  That's funny that you say that because that one on one, when you meet with somebody in
• 5:00
  person or you go to a networking event, you pick up a vibe of the person, a vibe of the
• 5:07
  room and you really can't do that over Zoom.
• 5:10
  I mean, he can be in a suit top and gym shorts bottom.
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  So you really can't tell what he's doing.
• 5:17
  For all you know I am right now.
• 5:19
  That's right.
• 5:20
  But I care not to look at that.
• 5:23
  So how would you share with me a specific example of how strategic networking, how a
• 5:32
  strategic networking relationship, how it impacted your business?
• 5:37
  Yeah.
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  I mean, impacting my business was huge.
• 5:41
  And it was interesting because I really had to work with it.
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  I worked with, networking worked for me in one way in my first career.
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  And it was, I was in a position where people were trying to connect with me.
• 5:54
  But also it was a matter of staying connected with others, both for personal connections,
• 6:00
  for situations that I might be looking for talent, for example.
• 6:05
  But also just generating ideas, seeing what's out there in the world, looking beyond your
• 6:09
  own four walls.
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  So that was really important then.
• 6:13
  When I shifted to running my own business, networking took on a different role.
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  More important because I was looking to build a new business and the business was around
• 6:24
  me.
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  It was my reputation.
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  It was my skills.
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  It was what I had to offer people.
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  And so in many ways it was harder for me because I didn't have the structure, the instant credibility
• 6:39
  of the big name company that I was bringing with me.
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  This was all about me.
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  And what I found was I really, it was difficult for me in the beginning to reach out to people.
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  And ask for something.
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  In the beginning you've got to build your network.
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  You have to start getting your first clients.
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  Now I'm very fortunate that a lot of it is word of mouth.
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  I very rarely have to go out and get a client.
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  I go to my waiting list or it just happens.
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  But in the beginning it was really hard for me to ask because I was going from this world
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  of I didn't have to sell my importance.
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  I had convinced myself already to wait a minute, I feel like I'm the product and I have to
• 7:19
  get comfortable asking.
• 7:23
  That's good.
• 7:25
  Okay.
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  How can you give me a fear of networking that you had, but how you overcame that fear?
• 7:38
  Yeah, this is an easy question to answer because what I realized was when I first went out,
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  I started my own business, I developed this beautiful business plan of how I was going
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  to market myself and how I was going to get the word out and how I was going to communicate
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  to people.
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  And I come out of the business world, I'm used to that kind of planning.
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  And then I got totally stuck because even things as simple as LinkedIn is the perfect
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  vehicle for me.
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  And now I put a lot of content out on LinkedIn.
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  When I first started, I second guessed myself like you would not believe.
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  My biggest problem was me getting in my own way.
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  It had to be perfect.
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  Wait a minute, what if someone misinterprets this provocative statement that I'm putting
• 8:27
  out there and it turns them off and no, it has to be perfect.
• 8:32
  Until I got over myself in that regard and I did that through deliberate work with my
• 8:37
  own coach.
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  Until I got over myself in that regard, I was overthinking everything, taking way too much
• 8:43
  time and it wasn't adding value, it was just holding me up.
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  So you asked too, how did I get over that?
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  It was working with my own coach, going to people who had experienced that before because
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  we tend to be very good, those of us that have the confidence to start our own business,
• 9:03
  we tend to be very good at always acting like we know the answer, we know the path, we know
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  what we're doing.
• 9:09
  But this is all stuff we've never done before.
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  So of course you don't know exactly how it's going to go, exactly how to do it.
• 9:16
  So you've got to get over yourself, that expectation of being perfect and just get it going.
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  And my coach helped me a lot with that of it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has
• 9:26
  to be in motion.
• 9:28
  And in many ways, reframing my self-definition from someone in the corporate world who usually
• 9:35
  knew what to do, knew what resources I had to work with, knew what my team could do,
• 9:42
  went from that confidence to, all right, I got to redefine myself as someone who is
• 9:48
  very good at fixing things that don't go quite right.
• 9:53
  And that gave me the permission to get out the door, it doesn't have to be perfect.
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  And now if someone disagrees with a post or an article or a podcast that I put out, I
• 10:04
  engage with them over it, this is great, this is an opportunity for me to learn.
• 10:08
  Tell me what's going on, tell me what you're thinking.
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  And I use that as fuel to either consider their perspective or do better next time.
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  So it's a total mind shift and it has just absolutely reduced my stress level and fueled
• 10:22
  my success as a business owner.
• 10:25
  That's great.
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  Listen, every time you start something, whether a speaking career or a podcasting or something
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  else, the whole idea is just to start.
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  Just begin.
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  Now, when you're 20 or 30 episodes in, you look back on the first few and you go, oh,
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  how did I do that?
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  It's horrible.
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  But you started and you started.
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  So the only thing you're trying to invoke with clients or customers or anything else
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  like that, it's just a response, positive or negative, it's a response.
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  Make people think, give them something to help them.
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  That's it.
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  And if you do that, positive or negative, it does make a difference.
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  If you do that, then you've reached your goal and you can interact with that person.
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  So it's very, very important.
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  And that, you know, you asked about how I overcame it.
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  I think, I don't even know where my business would be had I not overcome that.
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  When I did get out of my own way and move forward, which has fueled itself, it's like,
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  okay, if stuff doesn't work, I know how to fix it.
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  If this is going to get me here, I'm very clear about lining up my initiatives to my
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  goals.
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  But once I got out of my own way, I was able to build, I mean, at the moment, I have a
• 11:43
  full client roster.
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  I do corporate workshops as many as I want during the year, in fact, right now the problem,
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  it's a good problem.
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  Problem I have is I don't want to say no to things because I like the work.
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  So I have to watch myself.
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  That's what getting over that issue, solving that problem for myself allowed to happen.
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  I don't think any of it could have happened if I had still been holding myself back.
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  Nope, that's great.
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  That's great.
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  So once you've gotten the clients or if you are familiar with other professionals doing
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  what you do, how do you maintain the relationship?
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  How do you follow up with them?
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  But how do you maintain those relationships?
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  I mean, it seems an impersonal way to continue a personal relationship, but I use some like
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  old fashioned trackers.
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  I have goals for myself.
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  I take a very strategic approach to my networking in terms of the inner circle are the few folks
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  that I really trust and that I can brainstorm with and not have all the answers.
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  And then there's sort of a next concentric circle of folks that may be referral sources
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  that I may have things to offer to.
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  And then there's sort of a broader circle of folks.
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  You're connected to a ton of people on LinkedIn that you don't personally know, but you still
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  can impact and access that level of people.
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  So I take a very strong approach to that.
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  And I think that I use trackers of who are the people I want to be impacting?
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  When's the last time I contacted them?
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  What are my notes for myself for follow up so that I don't forget?
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  Because it frees up my mental space to think about creative things because I know I've
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  got this information.
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  And one of the things that really helps is I have a practice on whenever I'm in contact
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  with people, I try and make it a two way street.
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  I may just want to be making a contact.
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  There's somebody that I cared about at one point in my life I want to keep up with.
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  There may be no agenda, I'll call it, which isn't necessarily negative.
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  Or I may have something specific I'm asking them for.
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  Can you connect me to this person who I think may help me find speaking engagements, that
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  kind of thing.
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  And then what I try and do is make it a two way street and always ask them, what can I
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  do to help you?
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  Is there someone I can connect you with?
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  Is there something you want to spend some time talking about a certain idea or challenge
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  you're having?
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  What can I do to help you?
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  And that really, that gives me permission to ask that also you never know what they
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  may need.
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  And it softens that situation.
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  Another thing I do is I try not to overthink what I'm asking for.
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  If I'm asking for someone to connect me to someone else, it's really not that big a lift.
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  They may choose to say no or yes and I respect that.
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  I'm making a request it's their agency whether to say yes or no.
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  But it's not that big a lift.
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  I'm usually asking them to send an email to the two of them and I take it from there.
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  I have to get overthinking that I'm asking for something Herculean.
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  I'm not.
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  And then I sort of reflect on how do I feel when people ask me?
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  I'm happy to help.
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  It's a nice opportunity to help someone else and put that energy out there.
• 15:10
  So you know, in those ways, I sort of track it and keep myself moving forward.
• 15:15
  Do you use a CRM or something like that?
• 15:20
  No, I actually am not going out that big right now because I'm not looking to scale my business.
• 15:25
  You know, I use old fashioned spreadsheets.
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  It's what works for me.
• 15:29
  There may I have my assistant involved and she helps me with all that, which a lot of
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  what she helps me do is accountability.
• 15:38
  Having a partner to talk through those things and go through the list.
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  What am I negligent on?
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  What are the next things I need to be doing can really help.
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  It holds us account.
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  It holds me accountable in a way that I don't do for myself.
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  Scheduling time on my calendar and sitting down and looking at it is great.
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  But when I have to report it back to my assistant, my team partner in this, it changes things.
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  So I encourage people to do that.
• 16:02
  You hit something very important in what I speak about almost always.
• 16:07
  But whenever you meet with somebody or go to a networking event, always look to give
• 16:14
  not to receive.
• 16:16
  If you go to that networking event and you expect anything, then you're really wide to
• 16:21
  go in the first place.
• 16:22
  Because if you do this often enough, then what goes around does come around.
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  So in the networking arena, there's a saying, if they know you, if they like you, if they
• 16:36
  trust you, they'll do business with you.
• 16:40
  And know you, everybody knows you, you're a lovely person.
• 16:45
  Like you, well, that kind of narrows the field down because you're not everybody's cup of
• 16:50
  tea.
• 16:51
  That's right.
• 16:52
  And they know you and like you.
• 16:53
  That's the easy part.
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  And the trust factor is so crucial that you have 30 seconds, you have two minutes, five
• 17:00
  minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes.
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  You don't know how much time you have.
• 17:05
  And I have certain things that I do when I meet with people, but we'll get to that.
• 17:10
  Trust is crucial in networking.
• 17:12
  How would you establish and maintain relationships with fellow professionals?
• 17:21
  What is often about idea sharing?
• 17:27
  It's about, because one of the things that's interesting, and you may have found this,
• 17:31
  Michael, our businesses are not dissimilar.
• 17:33
  I can, I took a very purposeful approach when I started my business.
• 17:38
  I could either play small and essentially be someone who set up a desk in a spare room
• 17:43
  in her home and is pretending to run a business, or I could play bigger and make connections
• 17:49
  and build that network and that community.
• 17:52
  And I purposefully chose the latter.
• 17:55
  And so, you know, what that looked like for me was going to coaching program, going to
• 18:00
  different, it's not, I do networking events, but it's ongoing.
• 18:05
  So like when I'm looking to build colleagues of other executive coaches and small business
• 18:11
  owners, that tends to be more a community of people that then you build that trust with
• 18:16
  over time.
• 18:18
  And there's, you know, a long list of people that I could pick.
• 18:21
  I just, I got a text from somebody this morning who got a tough email from a client and wanted
• 18:26
  to process it with me before she responded.
• 18:29
  Like I have a lot of people that help me do better, put more value out there and help
• 18:36
  keep me from feeling alone.
• 18:38
  And boy did it set me up for COVID because I didn't, I wasn't going through that culture
• 18:43
  shock in a way that others had.
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  I was already there renting a virtual business.
• 18:49
  And I think in that way I was able to help my clients a lot because these people that
• 18:53
  are still in corporations went through an earthquake.
• 18:56
  Yeah.
• 18:57
  Yeah, it's true.
• 18:59
  Ever since the pandemic, I found as I discussed with you earlier, ever since the pandemic,
• 19:05
  people lost their minds.
• 19:06
  They forgot how to network and communicate with one another.
• 19:10
  And it's like it set us back 10 years.
• 19:13
  Like 10 years ago, everybody was out there networking.
• 19:17
  So it's a rough situation.
• 19:19
  Well, and I'm going to age myself by saying this, but I feel as I have a daughter who's,
• 19:24
  you know, several years into building her own career.
• 19:27
  And I see in her, you know, my son-in-law, she and her friends.
• 19:31
  And then younger folks that I do work with, I worry that they haven't had the opportunity
• 19:37
  to be in person, to build those relationships in that way.
• 19:40
  Because I see what happens.
• 19:41
  Like if you're on Zoom calls or Teams calls or whatever, all day long, you're shifting
• 19:46
  from one to the other.
• 19:47
  Because we're always late.
• 19:49
  Things always go over.
• 19:50
  Immediately shifting from one to the other.
• 19:52
  There is no walk together to the next meeting or run into somebody over the coffee machine
• 19:59
  or at the elevator.
• 20:01
  The ways that you get to know people a little bit, they get to know you, then you're top
• 20:06
  of mind for them when they have opportunities, projects, that kind of thing.
• 20:11
  I do worry that folks who are solely remote or mostly remote miss that connection, especially
• 20:17
  with folks at different levels in the organization.
• 20:20
  Absolutely.
• 20:21
  I couldn't have said it better myself.
• 20:24
  You hit the nail right on the head.
• 20:27
  And that is all, that's what I speak about when I go to different companies and things.
• 20:32
  I require that one-to-one interaction, that one-to-many interaction.
• 20:39
  Again, so you can pick up the vibe of the person.
• 20:43
  And the small talk, the small talk that can lead to big talk and the overhearing a conversation
• 20:49
  of somebody else.
• 20:50
  So it's really interesting, but that's a story for another time.
• 20:54
  All right, let's have one essential tip.
• 20:58
  You give somebody looking to improve their networking or sales skills.
• 21:06
  It's definitely around don't hold yourself back.
• 21:09
  You're getting in your own way by overthinking the request that you're about to make.
• 21:15
  And here's kind of a mindset, I mean, I'm all about the mindset and reframing things and
• 21:20
  thinking about it differently.
• 21:22
  And one of the ways that I started getting out of my own way in terms of networking was
• 21:27
  to think about how good I feel when someone asks me for something and I'm able to help
• 21:31
  them.
• 21:32
  You know, that's a lot of why I do this work is to help people.
• 21:37
  I love doing that.
• 21:39
  If I'm making a request of someone else, I'm giving them the opportunity to help me and
• 21:45
  have that good feeling.
• 21:46
  And if that's not their thing, that's great.
• 21:48
  They say, no, we wish each other well, we had a connection, it's all good.
• 21:52
  But I'm giving someone the opportunity to help me and feel good about it.
• 21:56
  And you know, maybe it's kind of a mind game, but it's really an important reframe that
• 22:02
  unlocks a lot of things.
• 22:04
  Okay.
• 22:05
  So, so with everything that we spoke about, what's your favorite marketing tactic?
• 22:13
  Your favorite one?
• 22:15
  Yeah, my favorite one is really is referral marketing is going out like when I was first
• 22:21
  building my business to find new clients.
• 22:24
  I had a very specific program that I went through and process of how to use my network
• 22:32
  and go out there and use some of the things that we've talked about to ask for, who do
• 22:37
  you need that might need this service?
• 22:39
  And what I was offering was a free, a complimentary session to get to know each other, no obligation.
• 22:46
  And so in that way, some of the people that I reached out to said, Hey, I want that.
• 22:51
  That's great.
• 22:52
  I want other people sent me others and it is what started my business.
• 22:56
  And to this day, it's what I do.
• 22:58
  If a client finishes coaching and I have an opening on my roster and don't have a waiting
• 23:03
  list at that point, I go out and ask people and you know, what am I asking them to do?
• 23:08
  I'm asking them to offer help to someone else in a way that doesn't create any commitment
• 23:14
  for them.
• 23:15
  And I'll take it from there.
• 23:16
  And I'm not a hard sell person.
• 23:17
  It really is an easy, easy request, but that referral marketing is probably the thing that
• 23:23
  has made me most successful.
• 23:26
  And you know, if there's anybody that wants to talk about my process, I'm happy to.
• 23:29
  Absolutely.
• 23:30
  And when I sit down with somebody and before I tell them what I do, I, what I do is I ask
• 23:38
  them, I said, how can I make you more successful?
• 23:42
  How can I be a good referral source for you?
• 23:46
  And that usually blows them away.
• 23:49
  You know, like, what do you mean?
• 23:50
  I don't even know what you do yet, you know, and you're giving, giving, giving.
• 23:54
  So that usually works very well.
• 23:57
  Let me, if I could, Michael, I want to disagree with something that you said earlier, but
• 24:02
  kindly, when you said going into networking events with no goal, you know, no, nothing
• 24:09
  you're looking to get in to in it for yourself.
• 24:12
  It's really about making the connections and whatever.
• 24:14
  I'm a person that responds to goals and, and deadlines and objectives.
• 24:19
  And when I left the corporate world, what I realized was in order to motivate myself,
• 24:24
  I had to set those for myself.
• 24:26
  Nobody was asking for them or asking whether I achieved them, but they were still important
• 24:30
  to me.
• 24:31
  So my approach to that kind of a networking event, like I have to set a goal.
• 24:35
  I want to connect with three people that I can follow up with later.
• 24:39
  Like I still need that, that metric.
• 24:42
  That's true.
• 24:43
  I, let me jump back a little bit because a hundred years ago I was in the mortgage business
• 24:50
  and I would go to a networking event, come home with a shoebox filled with business cards
• 24:55
  saying, look how successful I was when I really wasn't successful at all.
• 25:00
  Now what I do in a three or four hour networking event, you come away with 15 or 20 business
• 25:07
  cards and my follow up, my secret sauce, I saw, so to speak.
• 25:12
  And my follow up, that's when I go after and I try to make contacts and everything else.
• 25:18
  So that's after I built a relationship with them.
• 25:22
  And then I go.
• 25:23
  So that's my goal to get the 15 or 20 business cards.
• 25:26
  Oh, that makes a lot of sense.
• 25:28
  And after I meet anybody, I send them a LinkedIn connection.
• 25:31
  Well, you know, that's your soft.
• 25:33
  You should follow them on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, you know, just for that soft touch.
• 25:40
  But I have a secret sauce that I have a follow up system where I undoubtedly get a response.
• 25:49
  Now positive or negative, doesn't make a difference.
• 25:52
  But I elicit a response.
• 25:55
  And if you just do that, that little connection, like one email or something that usually doesn't
• 26:01
  work, you have to follow it up.
• 26:03
  And I have certain things.
• 26:04
  I'll give you my main follow up is a handwritten thank you note.
• 26:10
  Wow.
• 26:11
  That's like, you know, see all the time anymore.
• 26:14
  No, you don't.
• 26:15
  It stands out.
• 26:16
  That's what makes me stand out above everybody else.
• 26:19
  After I speak with, after I go to a conference or I just did a workshop in a company, I sent
• 26:25
  a thank you note to the owner of the company.
• 26:29
  Great.
• 26:30
  And he immediately emailed me back.
• 26:31
  So, oh my God, nobody does that.
• 26:34
  So it's really good.
• 26:35
  All right.
• 26:36
  So, so give me one takeaway that my listeners can use today.
• 26:44
  In terms of networking, I would say whatever you want.
• 26:52
  I would say get clear on your goals and get creative with how you're going to achieve
• 26:57
  them and then set those.
• 26:59
  If you're like me, like many of my clients, set those goals for yourself so that you can
• 27:04
  measure against, you know, when is the time to celebrate?
• 27:08
  When am I done?
• 27:10
  And when do I need to reevaluate what the next goal should be?
• 27:15
  Very good.
• 27:16
  Very good.
• 27:17
  Randy, okay.
• 27:18
  If somebody wanted to get hold of you, either for your advice to become a client or to find
• 27:24
  out about you, where would they go?
• 27:27
  Or how would they do it?
• 27:28
  Yeah, the two best ways to reach me are either to connect with me on LinkedIn and that's
• 27:32
  under my name, Randy, R-A-N-D-I Roberts.
• 27:36
  Or through my website, you can send me a message or see, you know, about my business and what
• 27:40
  I do.
• 27:41
  That's Randy Roberts Coaching.
• 27:43
  So it's R-A-N-D-I-R-O-B-E-R-T-S Coaching.
• 27:47
  Very good.
• 27:48
  Randy, I can't begin to tell you how excellent this podcast was.
• 27:55
  I learned all about your business.
• 27:57
  I learned something about some coaching too.
• 27:59
  So if anybody would like some coaching from Randy, please contact her.
• 28:04
  Thanks, Michael.
• 28:05
  I really enjoyed our conversation.
• 28:06
  I want to have you on my podcast.
• 28:08
  We'll talk about that after this show.
• 28:10
  Absolutely.
• 28:11
  All right.
• 28:12
  Bye-bye now.
• 28:13
  Well, hold on, folks.
• 28:15
  Don't go anywhere.
• 28:16
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• 29:19
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• 29:29
  Well, that's a wrap, folks.
• 29:33
  A huge thank you to our special guests for sharing such incredible insights today, and
• 29:39
  of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending your
• 29:45
  time with us.
• 29:47
  Remember, networking isn't about being perfect, it's about being present.
• 29:52
  So take what you've learned today, get out there, and make some meaningful connections.
• 29:57
  If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share
• 30:02
  it with someone who could use a little networking inspiration.
• 30:07
  Let's keep the conversation going.
• 30:09
  You can find me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or my website, MichaelAForman.com.
• 30:17
  Until next time, keep practicing, keep connecting, and keep building those relationships.
• 30:23
  This is Michael A. Foreman, signing off, take care, and happy networking.