1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,040 Welcome everyone to Buying Local. 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:04,760 I'm one of your hosts, Mike Nelson from 5 Towers Media. 3 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:09,360 I'm also joined, of course, by the newer addition to the hosts 4 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:11,600 and being Mr. Matthew Nod. Welcome, Matthew. 5 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:13,520 Yes, Hello everybody. Thank. 6 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,320 You, I already told Matt ahead of time for anybody that's ever 7 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,360 watched my other podcast, blue collar start up, where I also 8 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,920 have a Co host on that show. I'm tough. 9 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:26,360 It's hard to get a word in edgewise. 10 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,480 I never shut up or stop talking. So I Matt and I ahead of time. 11 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,000 I was like, you know, I'm going to just go and you got to fight 12 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,200 to get in there, Matthew. So good luck today, young man. 13 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:38,280 We are. I'm excited about today's 14 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,080 conversation, though. I love a good round table 15 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,040 discussion. You know, we're going to be 16 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,640 talking about networking and specifically one of the the 17 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:48,560 local organizations that offers networking to the the small 18 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,640 business community, that being the Gold Star referral group. 19 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,440 We've got Sean Moody that's going to be here telling us a 20 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:57,800 little bit about Gold Star. Sean, how are you? 21 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:01,280 Doing great, Michael. Thanks for having me. 22 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:03,960 Good seeing everybody. Yeah, Yeah, you too. 23 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:06,960 And then we're going to we're going to circle back around you. 24 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:08,760 Sean, have you talked a little bit more about Gold Star? 25 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,240 But before we do want to, of course introduce our other two 26 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,440 guests that are on the show today, we've got Bob Fitch from 27 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:16,880 Bob Fitch State Farm. Bob, how we doing man? 28 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:18,200 Good. Mike, how are you? 29 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,760 Thank you. Absolutely, absolutely, Baba. 30 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,120 You want to just give us a quick rundown about who you are and 31 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:25,200 what you guys are doing over there? 32 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,080 Sure. Bob Fitch with the Bob Fitch 33 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,200 State Farm Agency. We are located in Saratoga 34 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:36,240 Springs on Maple Ave. Been 15 years with an agency and 35 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,480 about five years ago got involved with Gold Star and it's 36 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,760 been a great outlet for growing our agency, our relationships 37 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,920 and our community outreach. So yeah, man, happy to be here. 38 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,800 Yeah, excited, excited. And then our other guest that 39 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,640 we've gotten on with us today is Chris Luzinger from Nourishing 40 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:56,360 Minds Tutoring. Chris, how we doing, man? 41 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:57,680 Good. Mike, how are you? 42 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,520 Thanks for having me. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. 43 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,920 Chris, you guys obviously you know have AI mean I think it's a 44 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:07,000 great organization. Obviously we use you a little 45 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,039 bit right now and plan on using you more in the future. 46 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:11,480 Can you just kind of give us a rundown who you are and what you 47 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:12,640 guys do? Sure. 48 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,760 Nursing Minds tutoring. We've been in business about 12 49 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,920 years now focusing mostly here in the Capital District. 50 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,400 We are a full service tutoring agency. 51 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,560 We can cover anything you think of education wise, 52 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:28,800 homeschooling, test prep, kiddos that just need a bit of help 53 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:30,200 with homework, whatever the case is. 54 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,600 But we also have one of our specialties is special Ed, and 55 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,640 we contract with about 16 school districts throughout the region 56 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,280 to help them out with some pretty, pretty intense 57 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:41,840 situations that they've got going on. 58 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,040 But we're always looking for more opportunities and we'd love 59 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,520 to help. Love it, love it, love it. 60 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,000 Sean. Obviously we're talking about 61 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,240 Gold Star today, which you kind of lead the charge here locally 62 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:55,960 for, but that's not all you do, Sean. 63 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:58,760 So do you want to tell the audience a little bit more about 64 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:00,760 who you are and what you do outside of Gold Star? 65 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,480 Yeah, I'd like to say I'm a serial entrepreneur. 66 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:05,480 I don't know. I don't know that's the right, 67 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,120 it's the right to Roger. But I'm really a, a credit 68 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:15,040 Sultan credit consultant by day. And also I got involved with 69 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,920 Gold Star, started the first club here in the, in the Capital 70 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:22,880 Region here in, in Albany back in 2000. 71 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,760 I want to say 18, So going on 8 years. 72 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:29,840 And, you know, I, I try to stay busy. 73 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:31,920 I do some real estate investing. I've got a small vending 74 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,120 business. So I, I try to stay busy. 75 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:40,080 But Gold Star has been integral as far as you know, staying 76 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,320 connected in the business community and continuing to 77 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,760 foster in growth both professionally and and 78 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,280 personally for myself and and and obviously helping others. 79 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,360 Yeah. So give us a, give us the 80 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:53,560 rundown, Sean about Goldstar about, you know, kind of the 81 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:55,720 format and and a little bit more about that. 82 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,440 Yeah. So Goldstar is an industry 83 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:01,440 exclusive networking organization. 84 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,920 It was started in 2007 by a gentleman, an entrepreneur by 85 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:09,040 the name of Todd Davis out in Tulsa, OK And he started with 86 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,600 his wife and, you know, it's since grown to, they've got 87 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,120 clubs across pretty much primarily in the Midwest and out 88 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,079 West. Not, not, not many, not not much 89 00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:20,600 presence in, in the, on the East Coast. 90 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,040 We're going to change that slowly but surely. 91 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:27,600 But in any event, you know, it's, it's, it's really, it's so 92 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,040 it's a networking organization and, and we, we focus around the 93 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:34,600 givers, givers gain mentality. So, so there's a primary focus 94 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,680 around giving, right, as as cheesy as that sounds. 95 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:44,520 But in doing so, whether it's giving your time and sharing 96 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,560 your, your expertise, obviously sharing referrals, that's, you 97 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,200 know, we're here to grow each other's business, but also to 98 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,600 grow professionally as well. In doing that, you can grow your 99 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,840 business. And so it's a, it's a very what 100 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:58,800 I, what I like about it. It's a very straightforward, 101 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:03,280 simple process. So it's a one hour agenda. 102 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:07,720 So we meet on a weekly basis for one hour and, and again, you 103 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,560 know, there's, it's, it's very structured. 104 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,560 So we, we, we share a business tip of the week. 105 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,360 We also give all the members as well as guests an opportunity 106 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:20,120 to, to, to share what they do in a 62nd commercial. 107 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,840 So it gives you an opportunity to kind of give a quick deep 108 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:26,040 dive in what you do and also to ask for referrals, which is the 109 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:27,720 whole point of the, of the, of the meeting. 110 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:30,720 And then, you know, we share referrals at the end of the 111 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:32,600 meeting. And then every week we highlight 112 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,800 one member and they, they're able to do a 10 minute 113 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:36,320 presentation. So they can do a little, a 114 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,400 little bit more of a deep dive into what they do. 115 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:45,680 So members having a, a better understanding as far as you 116 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,680 know, what's the best way to help them grow their business in 117 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,280 the way of referrals. So that's that's basically, you 118 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:55,840 know, the long and short of it. So, you know, I want to put this 119 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:58,760 out to the, the group here and, and we'll, we'll start with you 120 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,600 Sean, though, you know, as far as networking organization and 121 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,320 groups, obviously there's, there's a few of them out there, 122 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:07,080 right? I know in our local market 123 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,640 there's quite a few different opportunities for networking and 124 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,640 some of them have, we'll say a similar format. 125 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,320 I, I'd love to hear from everybody, 'cause I know 126 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:21,440 everybody here does quite a bit of networking and goes to 127 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:23,360 different groups and checks different things out. 128 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:25,080 So, but we'll start with you, Sean. 129 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,400 What's kind of the the different of the format or feel or 130 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,160 structure compared to say other groups that are out there? 131 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,960 Yeah, great question. So you know, when I started my 132 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:43,520 business in in 2013, you know, I was, I was actually born into a 133 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:45,280 franchise and they told me, listen, you have to be very 134 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:48,720 intentional around networking. And so that was my first, I 135 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:50,040 guess, experience with networking. 136 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,760 And so yes, to your point, I've, I've, I've tried other 137 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,880 networking organizations, whether it's the BN is, you 138 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:00,720 know, you, you've got your, your chamber networking groups and 139 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,160 such. And what I found is it's, it's 140 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,880 usually, typically, it's usually one of two extremes. 141 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,360 Either there's a ton of structure, almost too much 142 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:12,960 structure where you know, it's, you might be in a meeting for 90 143 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,680 minutes and it's, you get a referral or else. 144 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,440 And, and it could be they can be some, some consequences if you 145 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:20,680 don't. And I've seen that first hand. 146 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,120 And then on the other end of the spectrum, you know, with some of 147 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,680 the other groups, it's more of a, you know, kind of like a 148 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:29,520 hangout vibe where there's really very little structure. 149 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:34,400 You might, you might meet for an hour or 1/2 hour, people may 150 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:36,680 come and go. You know, there's no, there's no 151 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:40,400 real consistent attendance. And so I've been, I've, I've, 152 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:42,720 I've seen that as well. What I like about Gold store, I 153 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:43,880 think it's the best of both worlds. 154 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:48,560 Again, like I said, it's a one hour, very tight agenda and I 155 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,280 think there, there is room for basic structure, but at the same 156 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,120 time, you know, there's not going to be this overarching 157 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,280 pressure to say you better have a referral or else, right? 158 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,800 You know, we, I think all the relationships, at least from my 159 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:02,800 experience, obviously, I'll let everyone else speak for 160 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,240 themselves, but from my experience, you know, all the, 161 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,280 all the relationships I've been able to build both personally 162 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,720 and professionally have all been, you know, it's, it's been 163 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,400 natural, right? And it's, it's not, you don't 164 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,320 have to force it. And we've done a ton of business 165 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:20,600 and, and, and I like it that way. 166 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,000 So, you know, I don't think everything is not for everybody, 167 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,160 but for me personally, like I said, I, I like, I like the, the 168 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,560 good balance of yes, you have your basic structure, but we're 169 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:31,640 also here to do business and we can have fun at the same time. 170 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,200 Absolutely, Bob. What are your thoughts on that? 171 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,200 What do you have to add? You know, very similar 172 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,559 experience, you know, with Sean. I've been in the industry now in 173 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:44,880 the insurance industry for 15 years, started the agency of 174 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,120 morale and when we started, same thing. 175 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:49,640 You're, you're, you're looking to network, you're looking to 176 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:53,480 grow relationships, you're looking to grow centers of 177 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,680 influence. And there's a lot of different 178 00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:58,720 opportunity out there. And you've, you've seen the 179 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,000 referral groups, we've been a part of them together. 180 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,400 You've got leads groups where it's like you just show up and 181 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,920 it's like, oh, hey, I saw that there was a Dollar General open 182 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:09,360 up down the store. You should give them a call 183 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,160 about insurance. I took a different approach as I 184 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:17,240 matured in the industry and was looking more for an opportunity 185 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,080 that was going to be the right fit for me, more of a, a 186 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:23,320 relationship similar to the dating world. 187 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,720 You know, not every, not everyone out there is the right 188 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,560 fit. And when I was asked to be a 189 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:34,000 part of this group about five years ago, I had a really good 190 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,560 feeling within the meeting, local mortgage broker at the 191 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:41,400 time, it created our group and there was some synergy between 192 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:43,080 some of the people. And I said, you know, this is 193 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,040 this is a good fit. Let me give this an opportunity. 194 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:51,400 And as time progressed, the groups become more of not just a 195 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,840 referral group, not just what, you know, Sean was talking about 196 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,120 as far as, you know, giving each other business. 197 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,440 The structure for me, it's become something I've looked 198 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:04,280 forward to every week. It's become more of a family, 199 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:08,760 more of a, a place where you feel comfortable through trial 200 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:11,160 and error with things you're doing in your business. 201 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,560 We're all kind of going through the same stuff together. 202 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:17,880 So it's it's a learning opportunity too, so you can 203 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,760 learn from other people's mistakes, learn from their 204 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,160 ideas. I feel like it's brought a lot 205 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:27,240 more value to me as a small business owner in a community 206 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:29,840 and professionally and personally. 207 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:34,560 Like Sean was saying about the, the personal side too, you know, 208 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:37,360 I've created some really good relationships in the group also. 209 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:42,040 And we've also seen growth with new individuals like Matt 210 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:46,120 starting off their career who come in the group and they've 211 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,680 got tenured individuals that have been in his seat before. 212 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:55,040 And we're able to help guide him and, you know, help him grow as 213 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,280 he grows in his industry as well. 214 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,520 So I, I saw just a lot of value. It's a weekly motivation for me. 215 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,640 It's professional growth. But at the end of the day, it's 216 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:07,920 it's about the relationship and the people we surround ourselves 217 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,200 with. So that's my my $0.10 there. 218 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,280 Yeah, I love it. Let's let's jump over to Chris. 219 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:17,800 Yeah, not not to beat the dead horse. 220 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:22,320 It sucks going last, right? Well, Matt's going to go last. 221 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:24,160 That's all right. Now he's got the young 222 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,600 perspective, right. But I would say that my 223 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:32,080 situation is not dissimilar to to Bob's or Sean's where, you 224 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,440 know, I wanted to start putting myself out there and actually 225 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,120 Bob's the one that extended the opportunity to me to join his 226 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,040 Gold Star group in Saratoga and joined. 227 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,320 And right away from the first meeting, you could tell that 228 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:44,400 what was going on in that room was something a bit different, 229 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,040 right? You can tell that these people, 230 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,560 it wasn't what Sean was saying, right? 231 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:51,560 You you've got to give me 10 referrals this week or else 232 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:52,640 you're out. You know, we're going to have a 233 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:55,760 conversation and it's not at all like that. 234 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,240 You know, I think the, and it goes back to that relationship 235 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:00,800 building. I think that's the most 236 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,280 important piece, right? And I've always taken that to 237 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:05,560 me, the networking and relationship and everything else 238 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,640 is a long game, right? It's I don't, I don't ever go to 239 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,440 these meetings expecting people to give me referrals. 240 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:14,560 And I don't get upset if people don't give me referrals. 241 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:16,400 I feel like, what can I contribute? 242 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:18,080 You know, can I help someone else? 243 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:19,440 Can I give them a piece of advice? 244 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,640 Can I give them a referral? You know, one day it might come 245 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:23,960 back to me. I hope it does. 246 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:26,320 But if it doesn't, that's OK too, you know, because I'm here 247 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,480 to kind of build those relationships both personally 248 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,160 and professionally. I've had opportunities in both 249 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:35,200 professionally and personally to expand myself, expand my 250 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:36,560 horizons, get on my comfort zone. 251 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:37,880 And opportunities have come from that. 252 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:40,280 You know, you never know where the next opportunity is going to 253 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:43,200 come from. Similar to Bob, I look forward 254 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,000 to going every week. There's there's times where you 255 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,240 can go and you know, you're driving there, you're a bit 256 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:48,920 cranky. The kids have done something, 257 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:50,440 boss is late, you know, whatever it is. 258 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,680 Bob's smiling there. I can see him, you know. 259 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:55,880 But then you get there and you have your meeting and you, you 260 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:57,880 speak to other people that are in the same shoes as you are and 261 00:12:57,880 --> 00:12:59,160 you realize, oh, that's a bit silly. 262 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:03,400 And it turns your day around, you know, So when when I talked 263 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,920 to Sean about having an opportunity to expand Gold Star 264 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,960 up into Queensbury and Glens Falls, I was kind of hoping to 265 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,560 replicate some of what was happening in Saratoga up there 266 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:14,600 with creating that family feel, right? 267 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:16,600 Just helping each other out. We're all here going through the 268 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,280 same thing, obviously in different industries. 269 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,120 But I think it doesn't really matter what the industry is. 270 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:23,680 We've all got something to offer each other. 271 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,720 The people in this meeting right now, personally, I've used every 272 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,200 single one of your services, you know, and I didn't know, I knew 273 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:34,560 Bob before joining Gold Star, but I didn't know you, Mike. 274 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:36,440 I didn't know Sean, Matt, you know. 275 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:38,680 So I think that's just right now, there's four or five 276 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:41,840 individuals right now that are doing better because of each 277 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,880 other, you know, so the trusting other professionals to to help 278 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,960 you. Yeah, Matthew N what do you got 279 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:50,080 to? What do you got to say for 280 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:51,320 yourself over there? What would you have? 281 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,240 Yeah, I mean, it's it's pretty cool coming from, you know, the 282 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:58,600 younger perspective. But First off, just well said. 283 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:03,400 Just going to piggyback mostly on what's already been covered. 284 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:07,920 But again, yeah, it's like this was my first time doing anything 285 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:12,000 like this referral groups. So I was, you know, kind of met 286 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:17,040 with welcome welcomes and, you know, open arms right from my 287 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,240 first meeting. But it really, really gave me 288 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:24,320 that confidence piece because, you know, like you said, we get 289 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:26,680 that chance to do the 32nd speech. 290 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,640 So each time, you know, the first time's obviously going to 291 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:37,120 be different from current giving your 62nd speech. 292 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:42,560 But that aspect of confidence, you know, just working at that. 293 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:47,240 But also the relationship piece, you know, I have a lot more 294 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,040 individuals in the groups who have a lot more experience over 295 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,960 me. So I get to hear their success 296 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:57,080 stories, how they've kind of navigated through the throughout 297 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,360 their careers. And it's again, it's, it's cool 298 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:02,920 because they like to hear from my perspective too, kind of how 299 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:05,840 things are working in my generation. 300 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:11,200 So I've seen we, we, we help each other a lot both ways, you 301 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,280 know, from the younger perspective and you know, all my 302 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:18,320 other colleagues who have the experience and are willing to 303 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,520 help me and, you know, push me to be better and connect and, 304 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,000 you know, just want to grow my grow my career. 305 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:28,000 So it's been awesome. That's the most politically 306 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:29,720 correct way to call the rest of us old I've. 307 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,040 Ever. I was going to say something. 308 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,080 I was like, what is that supposed to mean in the younger 309 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:43,520 perspective? It's funny when you know 310 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:45,880 everybody. It even happened this morning. 311 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,040 There was some reference to some movie and everybody looked at me 312 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,320 and was like, Matt, have you even heard about this? 313 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:57,680 Or you know. So I want to talk a little bit 314 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,560 about the the cross clubbing that's available with Gold Star. 315 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:04,640 So you know, obviously Bob and myself and Chris were in the 316 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:09,320 Saratoga chapter, Matt is in the Glens Falls, Queensbury chapter. 317 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,800 Sean, are you out of the, is it the Latham or Albany OR where, 318 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:15,280 which? Yeah, Albany. 319 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,720 We're meeting in Albany now. Yeah, meeting Albany, Latham. 320 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:18,720 It's all to say. Albany. 321 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:19,160 Latham. Albany. 322 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:19,640 Yep. Yep. 323 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,840 So, but I know that members have the ability to kind of jump 324 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:26,360 around to different meetings without having to pay additional 325 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:31,480 money and to be able to kind of explore a larger market, so to 326 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:36,560 speak. I personally have not taken 327 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:40,800 advantage of that. But Chris with Chris and then 328 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:42,640 maybe we'll go to Sean and then Bob and then Matt. 329 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:45,280 But Chris, can you tell me a little bit about the the cross 330 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,640 clubbing experience and and kind of what that's been been like 331 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,280 for you? I think that's one of the things 332 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:52,720 that's unique about Gold Star, right? 333 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,120 You can go, you know, to another club as part of your membership 334 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:58,680 and you can drop in. I was going quite regularly for 335 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,120 a while. You're almost, you know, you 336 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,680 think it's Sean's group, 1516 people in each of the groups 337 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,079 down there. You know, that's 1516 more 338 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:10,440 people in in a quick power to know about you, right. 339 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:14,359 But it's a great way to network it and it feels familiar, feels 340 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,400 comfortable because it's kind of similar formats or the same 341 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,760 formats that we're all going through and it works. 342 00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:23,920 You know, I've had closed business because of the cross 343 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:25,920 clubbing opportunities I've had through Gold Star that I 344 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:27,200 probably wouldn't have had without it. 345 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,120 You know, it's a great opportunity. 346 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:32,160 I think that that is probably unique to Gold Star in that way. 347 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,960 Yeah. Everything Chris said and I, I 348 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,960 will tell you when, when I first, we opened our first club 349 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,400 a couple years ago with cross clubbing. 350 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:50,560 Before you only could cross club if your category was not 351 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,400 already, you know, covered in another club. 352 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,520 So example, if you're a realtor, so you know, the typical, no, I 353 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,440 shouldn't say typical, but the, the common categories like 354 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,920 insurance, realtor, mortgage loan officer, typically that, 355 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,440 that would be covered in another club. 356 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,320 So they couldn't cross club. So only like the unique 357 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:10,160 categories could, could cross club. 358 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,240 But we opened that up recently and it made sense and I was 359 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:16,400 really happy with with that because the reality is like, for 360 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:21,360 instance, we've got a banker and A, and a, a mortgage loan 361 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:24,880 officer and, and, and the club that I go to every, every 362 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:26,960 Tuesday, right? So the, but the, they work 363 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:27,680 together. You know why? 364 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:30,520 Because the mortgage loan officer doesn't do home equities 365 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:34,240 where the bank, the banker does. So now you know, so, so Bob, 366 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:36,560 there's, there's, there's deals that Bob can do as an insurance 367 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,360 professional, even though there's, there's an insurance 368 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:44,000 person in all the other clubs, there's certain, you know, 369 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,360 clients or customers that Bob can potentially service that the 370 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:48,800 other insurance person can't service. 371 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:52,360 So there's an opportunity if you have that mindset of abundance, 372 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:54,760 by the way, right? It, it does require a mindset of 373 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,320 abundance, like not just because someone's in, in your industry, 374 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:00,600 like I'm not the only credit consultant consultant. 375 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,280 And if I, if I'm going to get, you know, threatened because 376 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:06,600 there's another credit consultant in another club, I 377 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:07,520 really shouldn't be in Gold Star. 378 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,360 And that's what I love about it. You know, it does require a 379 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:12,040 certain mentality. And so, yeah, I really love the 380 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,000 opportunity. Gold Star I I've seen a ton of 381 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,760 business done across the region. Again, people in the same as 382 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,200 that category partnering together and finding ways to 383 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:21,920 help each other. I I think it's a beautiful 384 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:25,840 thing. Absolutely, Baba. 385 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:26,880 Have you done any? No. 386 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,320 I, I have not, I have not done any cross clubbing, but I can 387 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,480 tell you just from experience and what we hear on the 388 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,640 leadership end, you know, there's a lot of value if you 389 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:40,840 compare Gold Star to other like B and I or referral groups out 390 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,040 there. I really think that's the silver 391 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,800 bullet for individuals that are willing to put in the work, you 392 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:50,160 know, visit different groups, you can meet a lot of different 393 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,760 people and have a bigger impact personally. 394 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:56,200 You know, we were talking to, you know, Sean was just talking 395 00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,840 about the, the abundance. I know a lot of the insurance 396 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:04,760 industry individuals in Gold Star and just out of respect to 397 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:08,240 them, my peers in the industry, I I haven't done much, I haven't 398 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,320 done much of the cross clubbing on the end. 399 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:14,480 OK, that's fair. And Matt, you, I don't think 400 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:15,480 you've done it yet, have you, Matt? 401 00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:19,120 Only between just Saratoga and Glens Falls. 402 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:21,120 Saratoga and Glens Falls. Sorry, we'll talk about that. 403 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:26,640 So you know, obviously one question everyone's going to 404 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:28,920 have, right? And this is a common thing with 405 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,560 networking groups is, you know, what am I going to get out of it 406 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:34,560 and the return on investment, right? 407 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,320 It's a big piece. You're going to spend time, 408 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:38,920 you're going to spend money. Although I will say that you 409 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,000 know, the, the amount of money that Gold Star cost is, is not a 410 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,800 lot of money. And I know I can speak 411 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:48,720 personally, mainly because I just handed in numbers last week 412 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:50,960 to fill, because we track revenue. 413 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:53,120 If you're not a memory and you're not familiar with this, 414 00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:55,240 we track how much revenue is getting handed back and forth 415 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:59,400 for referrals. And it's staggering the amount 416 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,600 of money and referrals I've gotten from Gold Star compared 417 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:06,000 to what it cost me to spend that hour each week. 418 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:10,360 And you know, the few dollars a month that it spent, it cost me. 419 00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:14,480 So like I, I can speak very well to having a nice return on 420 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:18,480 investment, not to mention the fact of, you know, being able to 421 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:20,160 bring someone like Matt into the company. 422 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:21,920 He's never done this stuff before. 423 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:25,240 And being able to bring him into an organization that kind of 424 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:30,280 helps me train him right, as far as how to act and networking and 425 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,120 giving commercials and all that fun stuff. 426 00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:34,600 So huge, huge return for me personally. 427 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,240 But I, you know, I'll open it up to the group and maybe we'll, 428 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,520 we'll start with Chris, you know, Chris, have you, have you 429 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,000 seen a good return on investment from, from being in the group? 430 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:45,520 Yeah, and and like I said, I would judge mine. 431 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,160 I think we we all smile and laugh because we all know how 432 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:52,680 much we pay Mike. So we know Bob and I know what 433 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,600 your numbers are. And that's just the two of us. 434 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:57,600 That's funny shows. Forum, forum. 435 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:03,360 Staggering, I'd love to say that, but I think I judge mine 436 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:05,600 differently, right? I judge mine based on the 437 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,400 relationships I get to forge and some of the opportunities that 438 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:09,760 have come. Yeah, definitely. 439 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,160 You know, I it more the return on investment more than pays for 440 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,200 itself. You know, financially speaking, 441 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,520 I bring in more money because of my direct involvement with Gold 442 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:20,880 Star than if I didn't have that. And that's, you know, through 443 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:22,080 referrals, all that kind of stuff. 444 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,840 But I, I try to take things like, you know, the long game 445 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,160 approach, right, and the relationships and opportunities. 446 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:31,960 One of the things that I think is unique on that return on 447 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,280 investment. My wife is not a part of the 448 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:35,480 group. She's been to like one or two 449 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:37,640 meetings, I think, when I couldn't go, she just filled in 450 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,840 for me. But she's had opportunities both 451 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,200 personally and professionally and met people that have helped 452 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,320 her as well. You know, she joined the board 453 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:49,960 of AIM services because of her relationship, you know, forged 454 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:53,440 in one of the groups, you know, so it's it's, you know, you kind 455 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,480 of get your tentacles out there and you never everything might 456 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:57,360 come. And that's kind of where I'm, 457 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,040 I'm taking it similar to what you said with Matt. 458 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:04,400 I recently brought on one of my staff as well to kind of go to 459 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,600 the Glenn Falls group with me and she's doing wonderful. 460 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,080 You know, she's out there, she's not worrying and she's kind of 461 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:14,320 forging forward and creating a whole new side of my business by 462 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,320 being involved with this. It's definitely paying dividends 463 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:20,560 for me as well. Absolutely. 464 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:22,200 Bob, what do you say about the the ROI? 465 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:24,600 Yeah, I'm, I'm with Chris on this. 466 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,600 It's, it's a, it's unique, you know, we're not talking, you 467 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:32,840 know, financial ROI. Yes, it is, it is great. 468 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,560 You know, we have brought in business through Gold Star, but 469 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,240 the value we're getting, you know, of building personal 470 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,480 relationships, building professional relationships, 471 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:48,280 myself as well. My, my team in the office has 472 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:50,600 they've been guests in the different groups. 473 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,040 John, our, our team lead here at our agency, he's a member of the 474 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,240 Glens Falls group. So it's getting him out in the 475 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,480 community as well, you know, forging new relationships, 476 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,400 growing professionally also. So financially you can't put a 477 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,400 monetary value on the group. I mean, you think about Mike, 478 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:12,160 you've talked about it too, the, the SEO value with Gold Star, 479 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:16,080 you know, we're getting access to Gold Star's platform online. 480 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:19,400 We're able to put all our professional information in 481 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:21,840 there. People can find us outside the 482 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,280 group. So there's a lot of different 483 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:26,600 value to it. I mean, you, you look at it, I 484 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,440 go back to the professional growth, weekly motivation and 485 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,480 forging new and stronger relationships with people in the 486 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,920 community. I mean, there's ROI right there. 487 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:38,600 Absolutely, Sean, what would you? 488 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:43,120 Obviously, you know, you see a lot of the behind the scenes and 489 00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:46,120 again, we don't need to talk about people's financials, but I 490 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:49,440 do think the ROI is an important thing, especially for people 491 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,240 that are not currently members and are considering doing some 492 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:55,960 sort of networking organization, but not sure which one to do. 493 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:58,680 That's obviously going to be a factor in helping them decide. 494 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,120 Sean, what would you tell people about as far as the return on 495 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:03,800 investment for being in Gold Star? 496 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:06,720 Absolutely. Well, one thing I'd say is, I 497 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,680 mean, just listen to what you know, the feedback from from 498 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:11,480 Chris and Bob. I mean, you heard some common 499 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:13,440 themes there that they're looking at it's they're playing 500 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,120 the long game, right. They're investing. 501 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,760 They're not just simply saying my ROI translates to dollars, 502 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:21,560 you know, look at the, the terminology. 503 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:25,480 So, so to me, that's the special sauce, which is why I say this 504 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:27,520 is not necessarily for everybody, right? 505 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:29,360 If you're coming in and you want to, you know, you want to make a 506 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:31,760 quick dollar immediately as soon as you pay, you know, your, 507 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,760 your, your, your monthly, your monthly due. 508 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,720 This is not for you. And I and I and I, I try to 509 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:39,400 preach that to the, to all the directors. 510 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,440 Look, you know, we're not, we're not looking for bodies. 511 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,840 We want, we want thriving members that, that get it. 512 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:46,680 They want to, they want to put in the time. 513 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,680 It takes time to build, you know, trust or someone like, you 514 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:52,080 know, someone to know, like and trust you. 515 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,480 That takes, that takes time, that takes an investment of time 516 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:57,960 and you know, your, your, your expertise and, and all of that. 517 00:25:58,440 --> 00:25:59,880 But going back to your question, I apologize. 518 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:03,960 Look, we've, we've got 6 clubs now with, with Chris's club 519 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,600 opening, actually you were 5:00. We, we have another one opening 520 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:11,720 in Troy as well, $2.3 million primarily from 5 clubs. 521 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:13,800 And we have a club that only has nine members that did over 522 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:18,040 $850,000 and, and close business. 523 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:21,440 And, and I, I will tell you we are under reporting as a, as a, 524 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:23,880 as a region. So I'm sure it's, it's probably 525 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:28,200 closer to 3 1/2 to $4 million. So, so make no mistake, even 526 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,720 though I'm saying yes, we, we, we're playing the long game. 527 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:35,320 There's there's money, there's there's money being made and, 528 00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:38,360 and, and members are making. And this is not just, you know, 529 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:42,240 unique to our region across the across the country, you've got 530 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:46,760 clubs that are that do you know, doing multi $1,000,000 So it it 531 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,360 can be done. And like I said, as long as you 532 00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:52,600 have that, as long as you have the like I said that that that 533 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:58,120 go givers mentality. It's it's, you know, Sky's the 534 00:26:58,120 --> 00:26:59,400 limit. Yeah. 535 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,920 So, you know, I think we would probably be remiss if we didn't 536 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,880 talk about just the value of networking overall, right as a 537 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,680 part of this and and not just shining the light on Gold Star 538 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,840 as a tool for networking, but just the value in networking. 539 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:18,040 You know, it's there's ton, I mean, you look at who you see at 540 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,280 the chamber events, you look at who you see at a Gold Star 541 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,800 event. It is such a small portion of 542 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:24,760 the business community that is out there. 543 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,400 And I know plenty of businesses that I do not see at networking 544 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,160 events. And when I talk to these people, 545 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,080 it, you know, it's kind of a mixed bag for reasons of why 546 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,560 they're not doing networking, which is, I don't know, I think 547 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,840 it's insane to me. However, as a marketing company, 548 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:42,920 it's probably better if they're not doing networking because 549 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,160 they'll need marketing even more than they already do. 550 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,200 But let's just take a couple minutes. 551 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,240 We'll go around the horn and just kind of talk about the 552 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,320 value of networking in general, right? 553 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:55,480 And Bob, we'll start with you. You know, you're a serial 554 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:59,680 networker for that's how you and I met originally 1520 years ago. 555 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,800 But maybe tell our listeners, Bob, about why you do networking 556 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:06,320 in general. I know we've kind of touched on 557 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:08,600 that a little bit, so it might sound a little redundant, but 558 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,400 important conversation to have. Yeah, a little little redundant 559 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:16,400 if you, if you think about it in simple terms, right? 560 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:22,600 If, if I need a new person once a day, that person I'm going to 561 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:26,200 build a relationship with and then that person's going to know 562 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:31,280 other people that are going to introduce me to, and then I'm 563 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,560 going to get to know that next person they're going to and so 564 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,840 forth and so forth. So if we're sitting in our 565 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,600 business and we're not growing and going out there and meeting 566 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,840 people, you know, we're not going to grow our centers of 567 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:47,000 influence or our sphere of people and individuals and 568 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,760 relationships that we know. So for me, it's, it's the 569 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,560 growth, it's the growth model. You know, if you're looking to 570 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:57,920 grow your business, you need to meet new prospects, meet new 571 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:02,040 opportunities, meet new individuals out there. 572 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:04,680 They're going to help you grow professionally and personally. 573 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,680 Because I've always looked at networking is not just the 574 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:09,800 dollar sign. And I think you can see that and 575 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:11,320 hear that from what I'm saying today. 576 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,640 For me, it's the the value of the relationship because you 577 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,800 never know down the road when you're going to need something 578 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,720 or that person might be able to help you or your paths might 579 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:23,840 cross again. Like Mike, you and I met 15 580 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:30,880 years ago at a training and lo and behold, you know, 5-6 years 581 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:34,120 ago, our paths are just winding up together again. 582 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:38,440 And it's bringing value to both our lives personally. 583 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:44,640 So, you know, network to me is a prime example of survival and 584 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,800 business, but also in life too. I mean, we can't accomplish 585 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,280 everything you want in life, but you can learn from other people 586 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,240 too. So there's a lot of, I mean, I 587 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:57,000 can go on and on about positive, positive things about 588 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,360 networking, but it's, it's all good value. 589 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:03,840 Chris, we'll go to you next. What do you got to say about it? 590 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,160 Yeah, I, I would jump right in on that and say, listen, every 591 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,760 single person here, there's been a time where I've called you and 592 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,680 said, hey, Mike, I need some, I, I need a guy that does this. 593 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,360 Do you know anyone? And every time I've called you, 594 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,560 you've been like, yeah, boom, there's 2 numbers, call them 595 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:19,560 right now. Right, Sean? 596 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,600 Same, same thing, you know, and that's the power of networking. 597 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,240 I didn't know those people. They didn't know me, you know, I 598 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,680 called them and, and one of the guys that Mike you put me in 599 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:29,800 touch with, I just wrote them a check for $70,000. 600 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:32,320 Nice. To help me with something you 601 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:33,960 know. My Corvette first. 602 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:39,680 No, it wasn't my Corvette. But, and that's the power of you 603 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:41,880 never know, right? And if you get out there and 604 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,080 meet people, it happened with me last night, One of my guys at 605 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,360 the Firehouse is going through some stuff and he needs some 606 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:49,120 help. And I said, I got just the guy 607 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,160 for you, you know, and introduced them and, and away 608 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:53,760 they go. You know, hopefully they can 609 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,000 help each other out. And I think that's the power of 610 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:57,840 networking, right? It's the ability to put yourself 611 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:02,680 out there and two ways not being afraid to ask for help when you 612 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,160 need it. And and it's not necessarily, 613 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,080 you know, not help in the traditional sense, but like, I'd 614 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:11,600 rather call one of you guys who I trust and say, hey, I'm doing 615 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:13,720 this. What do you suggest rather than 616 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,400 going to the old Google search, right and not knowing anybody, 617 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:17,480 then how the hell you supposed to know? 618 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,840 Half the reviews you see are bots doing it anyway So you 619 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,000 never know. Or. 620 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,720 You know, conversely, just hey, you call me if you need 621 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,880 something, I might know some of that can help you, you know, and 622 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,320 again, but it goes back to that probably that common theme. 623 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:32,920 It's all about building relationships, right? 624 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:36,400 And if I can help someone else out, hopefully when I reach out 625 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:37,920 and need something, it comes back to me. 626 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:39,920 And I think in my experiences it has. 627 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:44,160 Absolutely, Matt, let's go you next and then we'll have Sean 628 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:47,600 back clean up on this question. Yeah, I mean, definitely through 629 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:52,560 my experience with value of networking, it's it's more of 630 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:57,240 using it as like Chris was saying, you know a guy or you 631 00:31:57,240 --> 00:31:58,800 know, someone that could do this. 632 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:03,480 That aspect builds that trust, that credibility if maybe at 633 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:05,720 face value don't have something to offer. 634 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,200 But of course I have. I know someone who can do that. 635 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,920 And then exactly like Chris was saying, and later down the line 636 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:17,680 they'll hopefully repay you. But even through the aspect of 637 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:22,200 like with Steve and Ascent Wealth Partners and Neil, I 638 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,600 would have never started investing if, you know, they 639 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:26,680 didn't give me their two cents about it. 640 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,760 My friends, when I'm talking to them, they're not sitting in 641 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:33,560 these, you know, same round tables and really learning 642 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,800 business and learning how it actually goes. 643 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:40,440 So, so yeah, I've, I've really seen why they, there's a reason 644 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:44,000 behind why they say it's not who you know or it's not what you 645 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,120 know, it's who you know and gold stars. 646 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:51,320 It really shows me that so. There's a benefit to hanging out 647 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,200 with us old guys. Yeah, I learn a thing or two. 648 00:32:54,600 --> 00:33:00,640 Sometimes, John, what do you got for us as far as that seeing the 649 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,920 value in networking or the overall value in networking? 650 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:05,560 I'll tell you one thing, I'm I'm going to dye my beard after this 651 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,280 Zoom call. I I got some wisdom. 652 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,040 Hot John. We call those wisdom highlights. 653 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,680 Yeah. No, but all joking aside, I I 654 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:16,880 agree with what everyone said. You know, the only thing I'll, 655 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:23,360 I'll add is that Goldstone for me, it's been, it's been a, a 656 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:28,720 necessary routine and the, the routine builds great habits for 657 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,280 me like, and, and then the habits, usually great things 658 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:33,320 happen if you have good, good habits in general, right? 659 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:36,400 And so, and I hate to use the word, you know, I can't even, I 660 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:38,440 can't believe it was in COVID, even though in COVID we were 661 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:41,000 meeting, we were intentional around continuing to meet over 662 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:42,280 Zoom. Obviously we couldn't meet in 663 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:43,680 person. We met over zoom for, for an 664 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,040 extended amount of time, right? And so it was the main way that 665 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:52,760 I stayed connected with my friends and colleagues and just 666 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,240 the, at first, just from a human perspective, just to stay 667 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:57,240 connected. And then secondly, let's 668 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:00,840 continue to help each other. And it, it, it was tremendous. 669 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:02,560 It, it added tremendous value to me. 670 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:07,720 I, I can't even put a, you know, a value to, to that as far, as 671 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:10,320 far as, from, from a personal and professional perspective. 672 00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:14,600 And so, you know, like I said, meeting weekly, it, it, it just, 673 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:17,960 it's, it's the primary, it's one of the primary ways I make my 674 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:23,120 business because referrals is, is 100% from a, as a credit 675 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:25,000 consultant. How I make, I make business. 676 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,800 Yes, I, I put stuff on social media, you know, I've tried, 677 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,080 I've tried the Google ads, but the primary way I make business 678 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:31,760 is through referrals. And, and the only way I can do 679 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:34,040 that is by meeting more people. And the only way I can do that 680 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,920 is, you know, every, every week when I go to that meeting, the 681 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:41,239 way I look at it is I have the opportunity to, to, I don't want 682 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:44,960 to say train, but I to, to inform 18 of my colleagues 683 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:47,960 exactly how to help me get business and I can send them out 684 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:50,920 there versus how, how am I going to get a referral? 685 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:52,280 You know, so that's the way I look at it. 686 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:54,440 And it's it's, it's, it's served me well. 687 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,320 Absolutely. And I, you know, I want to add 688 00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:59,520 one thing to that too based on what you just said, Sean. 689 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:03,560 And I think this is overlooked in a lot of cases when people 690 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:08,880 are thinking about networking. And it's that as a a sales guy, 691 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:13,360 I can only know so many people in my travels, right? 692 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,400 And, and I mean, you guys, I mean, we all know a lot of 693 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:19,240 people, right? And so the one thing that I love 694 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:24,040 about having a, a strong network is being able to say, I want to, 695 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:28,000 I want so and so as a client, but I don't know them. 696 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,880 And I can now reach out to my networking partners and say, 697 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:34,440 hey, does anybody know this person? 698 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,400 And if so, can one of you put me in touch with them? 699 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:39,280 And so I can see if they'll meet with me. 700 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:44,280 It is like the strongest part of networking from a sales 701 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:47,280 standpoint. It's not the only value in 702 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:49,520 networking, but it's a really overlooked thing. 703 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:53,360 Like the one of my goals in networking and, and I think Bob 704 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:56,920 said this first is to expand my circle of influence, right? 705 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:00,000 That's the number of people I know, but knowing that I can't 706 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,800 possibly get in front of everybody that I need to know. 707 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:05,880 And that's when I start to leverage my network for who they 708 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,320 know that I don't know. And it's such a powerful, 709 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,120 powerful piece to being able to grow your business through 710 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,200 networking. And I want to make sure that we, 711 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:16,680 that we mentioned it. So I know we're, we're getting 712 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:18,160 closer on time, but we still got it. 713 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:21,680 We got a few minutes. I think, you know, what would be 714 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:26,720 a really important piece for us to discuss today guys is what is 715 00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:31,720 the, what is your method of being successful with networking 716 00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:35,200 or using a, a group like Gold Star to be successful? 717 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,480 You know, I know there's behaviors that we all do as a 718 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,040 part of those groups. And I'm just kind of love to 719 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,880 hear about what you guys do and how you leverage those behaviors 720 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:48,160 to grow your circle of influence and you know, grow your 721 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:52,040 businesses. And Chris, why don't we, we'll 722 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:53,640 do a similar. We'll do Chris, Bob, Matt, and 723 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:55,760 then we'll have Sean back clean up again on that. 724 00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:58,160 I like doing that. Sure. 725 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:00,640 One of the things we haven't really talked about is part of 726 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:04,800 the structure of Gold Star is the one-on-one meetings that we 727 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,560 do outside the confines of the group, right? 728 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:11,280 So that's an important way to help build that circle. 729 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:13,400 And then because what you're doing in that is you're really 730 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,800 getting to know the other person rather than just, hey, there's 731 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:18,240 1800 people around or you know, 10 other people around. 732 00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:21,120 Let's have a chat for a minute. Let's go grab coffee, let's go 733 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:22,920 grab lunch, let's go grab whatever you know. 734 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:24,920 And now you tell me more about you. 735 00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:26,480 What are you going through? What are you looking for? 736 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:28,320 Like you just said, hey, do you know any of this is what I'm 737 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:29,720 doing? Do you know anybody that can 738 00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:30,680 help me? Right. 739 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:34,200 But by getting to know someone at that level during those one 740 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:35,600 to one, she developed that trust. 741 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:38,000 And then it becomes one of those things when you reach out to 742 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,720 someone, they've almost done the selling for you because we all 743 00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:42,240 trust people in our network, right? 744 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:45,600 And when when someone says, hey, yeah, call Mike because he's 745 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:48,040 great, he does this, or call Bob, he's great because of this. 746 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,880 You just sold for him, right? You didn't even have to do it. 747 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:54,360 By the time they call you, they're almost ready to sign on 748 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:58,040 the dotted line, right? And and that circle of your 749 00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:00,400 circle kind of the trust comes with it. 750 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:03,680 Is that kind of what you're going with there or where you're 751 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:05,360 going? Yeah, absolutely. 752 00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:07,240 Bob, what do you got to add to that? 753 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:11,720 You know, the the big thing with the the group and everything is 754 00:38:11,720 --> 00:38:15,240 like Chris was just talking about the one to ones meeting 755 00:38:15,240 --> 00:38:19,840 outside the group. For me, being genuine in the 756 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:24,600 group, you know, really, really goes the extra mile, builds that 757 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:31,360 value, helps you grow. To me also with Gold Star and 758 00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:34,000 the referral piece and networking is trusting the 759 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:36,480 process. I think Chris might have 760 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:39,680 mentioned it too, was, you know, it takes time to build the 761 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:42,840 relationships. You might not, you know, close 762 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:46,360 any business or get referrals in the first couple weeks, first 763 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:49,280 couple months, maybe even the first year. 764 00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:54,240 But over time, if you stay the course, trust the process, build 765 00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:59,160 the relationships and be genuine, then you see success in 766 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:03,200 networking in groups like this. I know myself and John in my 767 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:05,480 office, he'd probably say the same thing too. 768 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:08,320 There is a lot of value being genuine. 769 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:10,560 You're not trying to be something you're not, right? 770 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:14,080 You know the relationships too. I can tell you Chris loves 771 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:20,080 French toast, loves his bacon extra crispy. 772 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:23,880 So just kind of don't. Know a bit too much about each 773 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:25,160 other. We're going to show you what we 774 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:27,320 know about each other too. So it's it's a great 775 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:31,120 organization to be a part of. Matt, how about you, buddy? 776 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:34,440 Yeah. I mean definitely the one on 777 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:37,680 ones I've I've seen a lot of impact in that way. 778 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:42,040 It allows you like, like Bob was just saying to gain another 779 00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:45,520 friend in that aspect. And you know, business is a 780 00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:49,800 little side treat with that. Even even when I was going to 781 00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:55,400 the Saratoga meetings, I still am in contact with a lot of 782 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:59,240 those individuals. Actually bringing on Karen 783 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:03,800 Carey, who's in the Saratoga group, just because, you know, 784 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:08,520 we keep a contact between and she had some opening and she's 785 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,000 doing some great things and thought we should cover it. 786 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,400 So again, that's just the relationship piece and really 787 00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:18,120 sitting down, but. But being consistent with it and 788 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:21,960 and meaningful and staying on top of it once, once you do form 789 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,880 those relationships, because in the end of the in the end, they 790 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,440 they can go really far and and benefit both sides. 791 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:31,320 So. Absolutely, John. 792 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:35,520 Yeah, I, I think I would, I would add, you know, just 793 00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:39,440 intentionality and what I mean by that. 794 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:41,440 Like, so for instance, when I'm in, I'm in a meeting, I want to 795 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:43,240 make sure I'm engaged and I'm present. 796 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:46,880 Like so, you know, I want to make sure I, I really, I'm 797 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:48,760 paying attention to all the six second commercials. 798 00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:50,960 I'm really getting involved in listening to the 10 minute 799 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:54,160 presentation and thinking, OK, how can I, how can I help these 800 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:55,400 people? I think it's, at least for me, 801 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:57,400 it's easy to get distracted. That's just in general, forget 802 00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:01,360 about business. The another piece of 803 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,480 intentionality is, you know, we've got members that they'll 804 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:07,880 go to mix professional mixers together different, different 805 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:12,120 events and you may meet somebody that you 9 times of the 10, 806 00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:14,040 you'll meet someone that you, you may not have met before. 807 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:16,360 I, I know for me, when I go to a mixer, I'm not trying to meet a 808 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:18,560 million people. If I meet one, if I make one 809 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:20,240 good connection, I think it's a win. 810 00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:22,400 And if I don't, I'm OK with that too, right? 811 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,360 I'm not going to force it. I, I want it to be organic. 812 00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:30,400 And, and three for me, I don't take for granted top of mind 813 00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:32,240 awareness. And you think about these 814 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:36,400 corporations spending billions of dollars pretty much, you 815 00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:39,120 know, sharing the same message over and over again, like these 816 00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:41,760 big corporations. Like for instance, I, I signed 817 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:44,840 into Facebook and I'm not on Facebook much outside of 818 00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:48,200 business. And I just randomly liked a post 819 00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:50,080 from a gentleman I hadn't spoken to. 820 00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:53,080 Business owner in Saratoga. This is probably about three 821 00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:54,400 days ago. He called me yesterday. 822 00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:55,560 Hey Sean, I've been meeting to catch up with you. 823 00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:57,480 I moved to Florida. I need you to help me with my 824 00:41:57,480 --> 00:41:58,520 credit. Da da da da da. 825 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:01,040 I'm just like, I haven't spoken to this gentleman in like 2 826 00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:05,320 years and so, and again, I don't know. 827 00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:07,360 And I said to him, you know, I just, I don't know if it was. 828 00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,320 I definitely think it's probably, I probably came to 829 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:10,720 mind because I just liked his post. 830 00:42:10,720 --> 00:42:13,000 He saw Sean Moody come up. He didn't say that. 831 00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:14,920 But I'm like, there's got a big connection there. 832 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:20,440 So it just reminded me, you know, the importance of, of, of 833 00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:22,800 not taking for granted, you know, staying top of mind. 834 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,760 And it's, there's so many ways, I mean, Gold Star's just one way 835 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:27,880 we can do it. But there's so many other ways 836 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:31,560 that we, that, that as we're leading our, our, our daily 837 00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:35,640 lives and, and we're out there, you know, working our, our, our 838 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:38,560 different industries and, and we have our personal relationships. 839 00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:41,000 There's, there's, there's ways we can be intentional around 840 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:43,120 doing that. So, and Gold Star's an important 841 00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:46,280 piece of that for me, right? So that's what I would share. 842 00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:49,960 Yeah, I, I mean, listen, I, I think Gold Star is a great way 843 00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:53,000 to turn complete strangers into acquaintances. 844 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:55,600 And then to everybody's point, you then do the one to ones and 845 00:42:55,600 --> 00:42:57,520 those one to ones. Take those acquaintances and 846 00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:58,920 they turn them into people you know. 847 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:02,040 And then through frequency of contact, the Doonan every week. 848 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:04,120 Now these people, you know, actually become friends. 849 00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:05,400 You have a relationship with them. 850 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:07,320 You get to know how they like their bacon and their French 851 00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:10,560 toast, you know, And then at some point in time, right, it 852 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:14,000 becomes closed business because they know who you are and they 853 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:16,360 know what you do. And someone's like, hey, I, I, I 854 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:17,840 need an insurance guy. Do you know what I mean? 855 00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:19,400 And they're like, yeah, man, actually, I know a great 856 00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:22,480 insurance guy. It's just such a powerful, 857 00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:26,640 powerful thing if if you're using it correctly, I think. 858 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,720 You know, the other thing too that I would bring up is, and I 859 00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:33,200 know Matt and I have talked about this, but like groups like 860 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:37,040 Gold Star make those and you kind of mentioned it, Sean makes 861 00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:40,520 those, those bigger rooms a lot easier to handle, right? 862 00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:44,840 Like, I go to a chamber event and I mean, now I've been doing 863 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:47,440 this for such a long time because I'm so damn old that I 864 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:48,920 know most of the people in the room. 865 00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:51,520 But at one point in time, I was just like Matt and I didn't know 866 00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:54,920 very many people at all, right? And I go to a Gold Star group 867 00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:57,640 and I meet a couple of people and then I see him at the 868 00:43:57,640 --> 00:43:59,880 networking event and I, I have someone to talk to. 869 00:43:59,880 --> 00:44:02,240 I have someone that I that I know so I don't have to feel all 870 00:44:02,240 --> 00:44:05,760 awkward and weird. Which brings me to the next 871 00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:09,680 question is there's a lot of introverts out there and people 872 00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:13,320 here networking and they get really, really scared, right? 873 00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:15,920 And they're like, Oh, I know I can't do, I mean, I've literally 874 00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:18,040 heard people say that, right? I can't do that. 875 00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:20,440 Like I, I got to stand up in front of a room and talk to 876 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:24,080 strangers and you know that all that stuff, that head trash 877 00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:27,080 starts to pop in. Sean, let's start with you and 878 00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:29,960 then we'll kind of work around. But what would you, what advice 879 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:32,440 would you give to those introverted business people out 880 00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:34,840 there that they need the network, but they're scared to 881 00:44:34,840 --> 00:44:38,240 death of it? Yeah, so I definitely consider 882 00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:41,800 myself an introverted extrovert, if that makes any sense. 883 00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:47,600 I just say RIP the Band-Aid off because and and don't look at it 884 00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:50,960 as the way, at least for me, the way I looked at it, especially 885 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:54,960 when I started my business, I had no clue about networking, 886 00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:57,320 what that meant. I I just thought it meant 887 00:44:57,320 --> 00:44:59,480 meeting people didn't know about, you know, how do you 888 00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:01,760 nurture those relationships? But I guess the point I would 889 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:06,560 make is as I started getting out there, I started, put it this 890 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:09,360 way, before I started my business, I was in the corporate 891 00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:12,320 world. I, I, I came to the Capital 892 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:16,280 Region in 2005 by way of Bank of America and I worked there for 893 00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:18,880 eight years and I met AI, met a good portion of people in the 894 00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:22,640 corporate world. After I was a a casualty of the 895 00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:25,840 bank downsizing and I started my business in my first year of 896 00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:28,600 business, I met more people that first year than I did the 897 00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:30,480 previous eight years working at the bank. 898 00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:35,480 So that so that made so it was a self relation, self realization 899 00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:37,960 for me that I actually enjoyed networking. 900 00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:40,280 I just didn't put the tag on it. I just enjoyed meeting people, 901 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:43,040 you know, so, so for anyone that's scared out there, I just 902 00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:45,200 say RIP the Band-Aid off. I remember when I did my first 903 00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:47,920 commercial, when I went to a network, I was invited to a 904 00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:51,080 networking meeting when I was, I was petrified. 905 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:55,040 And I remember after the meeting, a woman walked over to 906 00:45:55,040 --> 00:45:56,960 me and she said, I, I really thought you did a really, really 907 00:45:56,960 --> 00:46:00,880 great job, But I'd love to sit down and, and, and, and you 908 00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:02,240 know, we can maybe have a lunch meeting. 909 00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:04,880 And her name is Lisa Drucci. She's now, she's been in our 910 00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:08,360 club for, for eight years. She's a, she's a coach and she's 911 00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:09,760 one of my great friends and mentor. 912 00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:12,200 And we, and we now go to, we go to Cheesecake Factory. 913 00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:14,680 That's our place. We go once 1/4 just to sit and, 914 00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:18,280 and, and chat. So I would just say RIP the 915 00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:20,600 Band-Aid off and just do it. You'd be, you'd be surprised. 916 00:46:20,720 --> 00:46:22,920 That's that's mine. Love it. 917 00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:27,040 How about you, Chris? Well, we, we, we won't, we, 918 00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:29,720 we've probably got Sean beat with the once 1/4 of the amount 919 00:46:29,720 --> 00:46:32,320 of time. Trying to go diner. 920 00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:35,960 We we give them a solid chunk of business every so often. 921 00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:40,760 But I would say, yeah, I think someone said it before. 922 00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:43,600 I think Sean might have said it. Meet one person, you know, 923 00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:46,040 don't, don't go to these events and think you have to know the 924 00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:48,480 room and be the most popular guy in the room every time you go. 925 00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:51,640 Just go with the with the intention of just being 926 00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:53,360 attentional, right? Try and meet one person, make 927 00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:57,280 one good connection, go back next time and now you know that 928 00:46:57,280 --> 00:46:58,680 person, meet someone else, right? 929 00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:01,440 Mike, you alluded to it before. It might take a bit of time, but 930 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:03,440 if you do it long enough and you're consistent with it, 931 00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:05,600 you'll get to know some of the people in the room. 932 00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:08,640 And that's how you can help expand your sphere, how you can 933 00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:11,440 grow. Converse is that one of the 934 00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:13,880 things we're doing? There's a chamber mixer this 935 00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:18,920 coming Thursday and Vince Falls group is going to band together 936 00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:21,200 and go. So, you know, power in numbers 937 00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:22,680 kind of thing. You can, you know, for some of 938 00:47:22,680 --> 00:47:25,520 those introverts, maybe you feel a bit more comfortable because 939 00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:28,040 now we're all there to support each other and maybe I can make 940 00:47:28,040 --> 00:47:30,520 an intro to someone else in the group and, you know, then vice 941 00:47:30,520 --> 00:47:33,000 versa. So it all comes back to, you 942 00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:35,480 know, to me, just get comfortable being uncomfortable. 943 00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:38,360 If you want to be an entrepreneur, if you want to be, 944 00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:41,560 you know, working for yourself, I think that's an important part 945 00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:42,920 of it. And not being scared to put 946 00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:45,880 yourself up out there. OK, So if it doesn't go your way 947 00:47:45,880 --> 00:47:48,360 one day, tomorrow's a new day. Learn from it, you know, do 948 00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:51,800 something different. Love it Bob, how about you up 949 00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:55,320 in? The same boat as Chris, the, you 950 00:47:55,320 --> 00:47:57,800 know, being comfortable, being uncomfortable. 951 00:47:58,240 --> 00:48:00,200 It's kind of a phrase I've always lived by too. 952 00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:03,160 But when you're talking about, you know, introverts, you know, 953 00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:05,080 we know a lot even in the sales world. 954 00:48:05,600 --> 00:48:09,320 And what I found in the networking world is, you know, 955 00:48:09,560 --> 00:48:10,960 like Chris said, bring a friend, right? 956 00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:14,280 Just bring one person, like a trusted individual, like you can 957 00:48:14,280 --> 00:48:17,360 be yourself around and bring them into a room. 958 00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:21,040 Then at least you have somebody there and power of numbers. 959 00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:23,440 There's two of you together. You're going to meet another 960 00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:25,760 person. And just like I go to and 961 00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:30,120 approach, like I approach every meeting, just one take away. 962 00:48:30,120 --> 00:48:34,320 So like these, like Chris has said, and Sean, you walk away 963 00:48:34,320 --> 00:48:36,880 meeting one new person, you know, it's a home run. 964 00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:40,920 It's a victory in my book. So for those introverts you 965 00:48:40,920 --> 00:48:43,760 know, bring a friend, you know bring a friend. 966 00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:44,960 Someone you feel comfortable with. 967 00:48:46,280 --> 00:48:48,600 Love it Matt, how about you? Any advice for the introverts 968 00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:52,560 out there? Yeah, I mean, well said through 969 00:48:52,560 --> 00:48:55,480 everybody else. But I mean, I guess the biggest 970 00:48:55,480 --> 00:49:00,120 thing for me would just be to kind of shift your mindset. 971 00:49:00,440 --> 00:49:05,400 I think it was said, forgot who said it, but it's you realize 972 00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:08,160 it's everybody's first time doing it or it's their first 973 00:49:08,160 --> 00:49:11,840 time here and everybody kind of has those same, you know, 974 00:49:11,840 --> 00:49:15,320 worries, anxiety. So if you kind of just realize, 975 00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:18,280 you know, everybody's in the same boat as me, it kind of 976 00:49:18,280 --> 00:49:21,560 takes that pressure off. And you know, at the end of the 977 00:49:21,560 --> 00:49:26,360 day, you're just chatting with someone and you know, the buoys 978 00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:29,160 and going with someone I found really helps too. 979 00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:32,600 You know, obviously the first one that you go to may seem a 980 00:49:32,600 --> 00:49:35,320 little intimidating. And I remember I walked into a 981 00:49:35,320 --> 00:49:38,080 big room and was like, all right, what do I do now? 982 00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:42,520 But, and then after I started talking to that first person, 983 00:49:42,520 --> 00:49:45,240 that first person introduced me to their network. 984 00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:51,600 And then by the second mixer or whatnot event, I, I had that 985 00:49:51,680 --> 00:49:54,440 contact and then it just went up from there. 986 00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:58,680 So I found. Yeah, I don't want to cut you 987 00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:01,760 off, but you, you said a term in there that only, probably only 988 00:50:01,760 --> 00:50:05,600 you and I know 'cause it's, it's a, a thing that I say and talk 989 00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:08,200 to you about net, about networking and that's the 990 00:50:08,200 --> 00:50:11,000 networking buoy. Yeah, yeah. 991 00:50:11,280 --> 00:50:13,600 Can you real quick just to describe to our listeners what a 992 00:50:13,600 --> 00:50:16,840 networking buoy is? Yeah, yeah, definitely. 993 00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:20,360 I, yeah, I love the term. You were Yeah, the one who 994 00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:23,120 brought that to my attention. But yeah, you were like, just 995 00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:24,800 find that buoy. Find your first buoy. 996 00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:29,480 There's going to be individuals who are, you know, kind of off 997 00:50:29,480 --> 00:50:31,920 by themselves, maybe on their phone, maybe a little bit 998 00:50:31,920 --> 00:50:35,360 intimidated, but hey, that was exactly how I was. 999 00:50:36,200 --> 00:50:38,960 So you find that buoy, someone who's, you know, kind of 1000 00:50:38,960 --> 00:50:42,640 floating in the in the mix of everybody, talk to them, make 1001 00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:46,120 them your friend, and then you guys start floating into the 1002 00:50:46,120 --> 00:50:47,960 bigger groups and then that's your buoy. 1003 00:50:48,280 --> 00:50:51,320 And then you go to your next networking group, you see that 1004 00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:53,920 buoy and then maybe you expand into that. 1005 00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:59,480 So it's is the concept of always growing it, which which yeah, I 1006 00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:01,560 always find my boobies at these networks. 1007 00:51:02,200 --> 00:51:03,640 Yeah. And just to add a little bit to 1008 00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:08,000 that too, is that every time you know someone, they are a 1009 00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:10,560 potential buoy for you for the next time when you're all 1010 00:51:10,600 --> 00:51:12,480 networking. So if you're walking around a 1011 00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:15,440 room and you're starting to feel that panic and your palms are 1012 00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:18,440 getting sweaty, then you just got to look around and find one 1013 00:51:18,440 --> 00:51:21,160 of your buoys and go over them. They're that thing you can hold 1014 00:51:21,160 --> 00:51:23,520 on to for a couple of minutes, right while you while you catch 1015 00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:27,640 your breath. So, and, and I will also say 1016 00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:31,120 too, I'll, I'll issue kind of a, an offer to anyone listening. 1017 00:51:31,400 --> 00:51:33,520 If you're an introvert, you're thinking about going to your 1018 00:51:33,520 --> 00:51:38,320 first event and you get there and you're scared to death and 1019 00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:41,080 freaking out. If you see me or I'm sure any of 1020 00:51:41,080 --> 00:51:43,960 the guys that are on this video right now, if you see any one of 1021 00:51:43,960 --> 00:51:48,240 us come over to us, say, hey, I'm an introvert, I'm scared to 1022 00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:49,840 death. It's my first event. 1023 00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:52,000 I need some help, right? Like, and if you're 1024 00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:53,680 hyperventilating, probably even better. 1025 00:51:54,040 --> 00:51:56,280 And, and we'll, we'll take you around. 1026 00:51:56,280 --> 00:51:57,800 We'll we'll introduce you to people. 1027 00:51:57,800 --> 00:51:59,840 We'll help it make we'll help make it easier for you. 1028 00:51:59,840 --> 00:52:04,800 So it doesn't have to be so terrifying, but there's no go 1029 00:52:04,800 --> 00:52:07,120 ahead. What's that? 1030 00:52:07,520 --> 00:52:10,200 In a worst case scenario, I carry an AED with me everywhere. 1031 00:52:10,200 --> 00:52:15,160 I go, I've got one out in the truck, right guys? 1032 00:52:15,240 --> 00:52:18,600 I know we're we're out of time, but any closing thoughts from 1033 00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:21,720 anybody they want to add to to our listeners about Gold Star, 1034 00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:24,480 about networking in general? Come visit us. 1035 00:52:24,680 --> 00:52:26,560 Come see us. Come see what all the come see 1036 00:52:26,560 --> 00:52:30,320 what it's all about. Very nice, Sean, if people want 1037 00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:33,840 to find out more about Gold Star, how do they find us? 1038 00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:38,320 Yeah, they go to goldstarfolkclubs.com and all 1039 00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:41,080 the, all the information is there or certainly I'm sure 1040 00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:43,600 you're going to put some contact information out there as well, 1041 00:52:44,200 --> 00:52:46,120 e-mail or call me, call me directly. 1042 00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:49,960 But Michael, I want to thank you for putting together this, this 1043 00:52:50,160 --> 00:52:52,320 forum. I think it's, I think it's, it's 1044 00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:56,400 going to do, it'll be a great asset for the business 1045 00:52:56,400 --> 00:52:57,560 community. So thank you for doing this. 1046 00:52:57,840 --> 00:52:59,280 Absolutely. I mean, credit where credit's 1047 00:52:59,280 --> 00:53:00,640 due. I think Chris, it was his 1048 00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:03,240 originally, it was his idea to get this panel going. 1049 00:53:04,520 --> 00:53:07,080 And we of course, love it and always look and help the 1050 00:53:07,080 --> 00:53:08,400 business community any way we can. 1051 00:53:08,400 --> 00:53:10,560 And like I said, we love Gold Star. 1052 00:53:10,600 --> 00:53:13,000 I've I've enjoyed, I've done a ton of networking over the last 1053 00:53:13,000 --> 00:53:17,360 2025 years. And I don't care how big or 1054 00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:20,400 small my business is, I'll, I'll be in Gold Star for I'm a lifer 1055 00:53:20,400 --> 00:53:22,800 at this point. So appreciate what you do, Sean. 1056 00:53:22,960 --> 00:53:24,360 Appreciate the group. Thank you. 1057 00:53:24,360 --> 00:53:25,640 Appreciate you guys. Yeah. 1058 00:53:25,720 --> 00:53:28,160 And thanks everybody for coming on and of course thanks 1059 00:53:28,160 --> 00:53:30,200 everybody for listening. You know you can. 1060 00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:33,360 You'll find an article about this, as well as podcasts and 1061 00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:35,400 other things we've done at Buying Local dot US. 1062 00:53:35,400 --> 00:53:38,960 Of course, all podcasts are on Apple, Spotify, Rumble, and 1063 00:53:38,960 --> 00:53:41,560 YouTube. Thanks for listening and you'll 1064 00:53:41,560 --> 00:53:42,320 hear from us next week.