Networking That Works: Building Real Relationships with Frank Agin

Networking isn’t about business cards or small talk; it’s about human connection. In this episode, Frank Agin, founder of AmSpirit Business Connections and host of the NetworkingRx podcast, shares why he left a successful law career to help others build trust-based relationships that fuel success. Drawing on powerful stories, including one from anthropologist Margaret Mead, Frank explains why supporting others, even during their “broken femur” moments, leads to stronger, more resilient communities. He offers practical, heart-centered strategies for making networking feel natural, especially for introverts, and reframes platforms like LinkedIn as places to build relationships, not pitch products. Tune in to learn how leading with generosity can transform your network and your results. 

Highlights from this episode:

• Transitioning from corporate law to creating a networking organization based on meaningful connections
• The "healed femur" story and how it demonstrates why people seek trustworthy relationships in business
• Why introverts often have an advantage in networking because they're better listeners
• Volunteering for causes you care about as the best way to network authentically
• LinkedIn as a relationship-building tool rather than an advertising platform
• The "five-minute favor" concept and keeping a "giving journal" to track acts of service
• Asking "How can I help you?" at the end of conversations to cement relationships
• Finding ways to proactively help others without waiting to be asked

Frank Agin's Bio

Frank Agin is president of AmSpirit Business Connections, which empowers entrepreneurs, sales representatives, and professionals to become successful and gain more referrals through networking.

He also shares information and insights on professional relationships, business networking, and best practices for generating referrals on his Networking Rx podcast and through various professional programs.

Finally, Frank is the author of several books, including Foundational Networking: Creating Know, Like & Trust For A Lifetime of Extraordinary Success and The Three Reasons You Don’t Get Referrals. See all his books and programs at frankagin.com.

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Episode Transcript

Todd Bertsch (00:05):
Welcome to the Bolt Podcast.
I'm Todd Bertsch, keynotespeaker, entrepreneur and mental
fitness coach.
I'm here to help you unlockyour leadership potential and
ignite your personal growth.
On the Bolt, my guests and Iwill dive into inspiring stories
of transformation, showing howsmall shifts in mindset can lead
to life-changing benefits.

(00:26):
We'll explore strategies forovercoming challenges, building
high-performance habits andleading with confidence.
If you're ready to embrace agrowth mindset and unlock your
full potential, then let'signite your spark today.
Today's guest is a masterconnector, a champion of
relationship-driven success andsomeone who's built an entire

(00:50):
career around the power ofnetworking.
Frank Agin is the president ofAM Spirit Business Connections,
where he empowers entrepreneurs,sales professionals and
business leaders to grow throughmeaningful connections and
powerful referrals.
He's also the voice behind theNetworkingRx podcast, where he
shares strategies, stories andinsights to help professionals

(01:12):
build authentic relationshipsthat drive success.
Frank is also the author ofseveral impactful books and we
are so excited to have him onthe show today.
Listeners, get ready to makesome meaningful connections,
frank.
Welcome to the Bolt Podcast, mytoday Listeners, get ready to
make some meaningful connections, frank.
Welcome to the Bold Podcast, myfriend.

Frank Agin (01:27):
Thanks for having me .
This is great, this is big time.

Todd Bertsch (01:31):
Oh, this is big time.
Yeah, people know me, they knowI only go 110.
Yeah, that's good so you've gotto go in or go home right.
That's so good to have you, andit's so good to have fellow
podcasters on the show.
Right yeah, you get it.

Frank Agin (01:46):
Yeah, no, I totally do.
I tell people I wish I wouldhave started 10 years ago.
Some people know of him LewisHowes.
I don't know if you've heard.

Todd Bertsch (01:55):
Yeah, I just got his e-news today.

Frank Agin (01:57):
Okay, yeah, my email's been lighting up because
he was on the Mel Robbinspodcast talking about his new
book and he mentioned me.
And everyone's like is this you, oh, my God, oh, that's right,
you guys are friends.
Yeah, oh yeah, but he reachedout to me 2012.
He said you need to jump onthis podcasting thing.

Todd Bertsch (02:17):
And I'm like, oh, come on.

Frank Agin (02:17):
It's just another fad, you know, and I'm busy with
lots of things and it was justa choice at that point in time I
didn't make, and it wasn'tuntil 2018 that I'm like, yeah,
I really need to get on to this.

Todd Bertsch (02:26):
Well, that's still though.

Frank Agin (02:28):
You've been on it.

Todd Bertsch (02:29):
And how many episodes I just recorded 831.

Frank Agin (02:32):
831.
But you know, the best thingabout it is just meeting people.

Todd Bertsch (02:37):
Networking.

Frank Agin (02:38):
Yeah, we wouldn't be talking but for it.
Yeah, right, it's, but for it,you know it's a value I can
share with you and you can sharewith me and I learn things.
I'm here in your studio.
It's like, okay, I don't knowif I'm going to go do this, but
I can maybe do that andincorporate that.

Todd Bertsch (02:53):
And it's interesting the way that we got
connected was through networkingYep, jason, yeah.
So I met Jason through anotherconnection that we just got
talking.
He said I think I know a guythat might be a good connection
for you.
Then we had breakfast and thenhe brought up your name.
I said, oh, I'd like to getconnected to Frank.

Frank Agin (03:09):
So the power of networking.
Here we are.
I met Jason through a woman inCyprus.

Todd Bertsch (03:19):
We're all in the state of Ohio, noemi, right?
Yeah, she's great, she's helpedme as well.

Frank Agin (03:23):
Yeah, hey, you need to meet this Jason guy.
I'm like, all right, ho hum,she has great connections.
Oh yeah, I'm looking.
He's like this guy's in Ohio.
I mean, he's like down the road, I mean two hours.

Todd Bertsch (03:32):
Yeah, but he's in Ohio.
Yeah Well, I'm excited to talkabout networking, one of my
favorite things.

Frank Agin (03:43):
Sure.

Todd Bertsch (03:43):
But I want to start off with just a little
background.
So you went to law school.
I did.

Frank Agin (03:48):
You were an attorney for a while yeah, that's how I
ended up in Columbus.
I moved there to go to lawschool.
I had no idea where Ohio Statewas.
I had just gotten accepted.
I was waitlisted everywhere andgot accepted.
It was June of 1984.
My dad and I drove down, got anapartment and a month later I

(04:09):
was in law school.
Never thought I would stay inColumbus.
Yeah, and how many years wereyou a lawyer?
Well, I got into a specialprogram at Ohio State, so I got
my MBA and law degree at thesame time.

Todd Bertsch (04:32):
So that takes four years.

Frank Agin (04:32):
So you cut a year off doing them separately and 88
, I actually became a taxconsultant with a big six
accounting firm which is nowPricewaterhouseCoopers, and I
worked with them for six yearsand then decided to leave and go
into private practice, and so Iwas in private practice for
maybe about another 10.
So I stumbled into all of this.

Todd Bertsch (04:46):
Yeah, so what made the switch?
I'm always curious about thislife.
I mean that's a big transition.
Oh it is.
You go to school and you investthis time.
Yeah, people thought it wascrazy and my dad was like what
the hell are you doing?
Yeah, oh my God.

Frank Agin (04:59):
Where do we need to check you in?
Right, need to check you inRight, right, yeah, you know I
started this career in publicaccounting, which really was a
great life by all accounts.
It was a you know, great job,great pay.
You know glass window, corneroffice kind of you know all that
stuff.
Right, that's it.
That's what you want, yeah,that's what you aspire to.
But I just didn't want to dotaxes for the rest of my life

(05:20):
and it's a corporate sort of athing and it's just of my life
and it's a corporate sort of athing and it's just a lot of
late nights checking out at thesecurity desk and then getting
back early the next morningseeing the same security guard.
He'd been there all night.
It's like, oh my gosh.
So I decided to leave and gointo private practice and I'll

(05:40):
tell you I tell people that afunny thing happened to me when
I went into private practice andthe funny thing was that
nothing happened.
I had no idea how to getclients.
My dad was a professor.
I just assumed that you didwell in school, got credentials
and people just hired you.
And it doesn't work that way.

Todd Bertsch (05:56):
You just hang a shingle and people are going to
come right, Fuck.

Frank Agin (05:59):
Yeah, and it's complicated as an attorney
because you can't call people.
I mean, you can call people butyou can't say hey, I want you
know be my client kind of thing.

Todd Bertsch (06:06):
You got to be careful.

Frank Agin (06:07):
Yeah, it's the quickest way to lose your
license.
And so I struggled, had aconversation one day with a
friend who said well, I askedher.
She took a different path.
Out of law school, she juststarted her own firm.
And I just said you know how doI get what you've got?
And she said why don't you getinto a tips club or a leads
group?
Many people are familiar withthe BNI out there.

(06:29):
I didn't know what she wastalking about, but at that point
I was newly married,quasi-desperate to just become
successful, and that's just whatdrives us all Sure.
And so I went to thisorganization.
It was based out of Pittsburgh.
It was very similar to BNI.
The woman who started it wasvery familiar with Ivan Meisner

(06:51):
who started BNI, and it madetotal sense to me that you could
lift your whole world up byhelping other people.
We're talking Jason Zagato.
We could go on and on.
What a great guy, what a greatguy.
But we can't sit here as humansMost humans can't and just
self-promote.
Some people can, most peoplecan.

(07:11):
So the notion of these groupsis that you just start bragging
about all the people in the roomand trust that they're going to
do the same for you and it'snot perfect.
It doesn't work perfectly, butit works reasonably well.
So I really doubled down onthat experience and became that
chapter's president and we weredoing well, our group was doing

(07:34):
well, and the woman inPittsburgh was reaching out to
me hey, can you help this group?
Can you help this group?
I was like, yeah, this is kindof fun.
At one point I had anopportunity to be her first
franchisee and Columbus was kindof a sort of a I wouldn't say a
nothing market for her, but itwas probably one of her smaller
markets.
So I became her firstfranchisee and within a year we
were number one.

(07:54):
Within three years we werebigger than half her operations
and she was getting up in years.
She actually passed away about12 years ago now actually passed
away about 12 years ago now.
So we executed a buyout andpart of the deal was I had to
rebrand it.
So I branded it as AmSpiritBusiness Connections.
You as a marketing person willappreciate it was called Network

(08:14):
Professionals before, which wassomething that could not be
trademarked because it was toogeneric, and so that meant I
could have people competingagainst me using my name, and
when I was in law school I hadcome up with the name AmSpirit,
which is nothing but a shortenedversion of American Spirit, and
I have a law degree, so Ifigured out how to trademark it.
So I had this trademark.

(08:35):
You know it's mine.
I'm going to start building abrand around this, but, yeah,
that's what got me started, andwhen I ultimately bought her out
, I just made a decision thatbecause I was still practicing
law a little bit at that point.
That's when I just okay, I'mstopping to practice the law and
people are like you're what?
Yeah, law schools are crappingout attorneys by the thousands

(09:01):
every year, me deciding not tobe an attorney, no great loss.
What I do is very, very unique.
I have competitors, I havepeople who do what I do, but
it's unique and I can kind ofput my thumbprints all over this
.
Yeah.

Todd Bertsch (09:18):
Well, that's awesome.
Well, good for you.
Thank you For taking a riskright.
I think that's what we do asbusiness owners.
I'm an entrepreneur myself andyou have an idea.
You see a problem, you go outand you try to solve it, but you
are taking a risk, right, ifyou have a family or starting a
family it makes it a little bitmore riskier.

Frank Agin (09:39):
Well, I'm sure you probably look at friends who've
taken different paths and said,oh geez, if I would have taken
that.
I have some friends from my taxconsulting days who've done
very well for themselves, but Iwouldn't be happy yeah.

Todd Bertsch (09:52):
You know Well, yeah, and I think it goes back
to how do you measure success?

Frank Agin (09:57):
How do?

Todd Bertsch (09:57):
you define success .

Frank Agin (09:58):
Yes.

Todd Bertsch (09:59):
So you were at a point where you were kind of
burning the midnight oil right,you were working, I don't know
12, probably 12, 14 hour daysyou know, and it was just like
Groundhog Day and you weren'treally enjoying life.
So at what point?
Is that success?

Frank Agin (10:15):
right?
No, yeah, you're right, You'reabsolutely right.
You know, same day, same chair,same questions, you know it was
just, yeah, it was justGroundhog's's day right, you're
not really being challengedcreatively no um, you're not out
meeting new people, so this isa whole new thing, yeah oh, I
mean, yeah, the people I've met,you know it's uh and, and you

(10:38):
know, when I sat down with mywife to go through I meant when
the opportunity presented itself, becoming a franchisee and then
kind of growing into it I toldher.
I said you know, if I continuedown the path of being an
attorney, I know where I'll be30 years from now and it's not a
bad life.
But I know where I'll be If Itake this other path.

(10:59):
I have no idea and that justexcites me.

Todd Bertsch (11:02):
Oh, isn't that?
It's just amazing, isn't thatgood stuff?

Frank Agin (11:06):
And I've had offers early on, because they're always
looking for good tax people.

Todd Bertsch (11:10):
Oh yeah.

Frank Agin (11:12):
People coming out of the woodwork and offering wow,
that's a lot of money.
Right, it's a lot more moneyI'm making right now.
No, I'm not doing it.

Todd Bertsch (11:20):
Yeah, you know what's funny?
It reminds me, frank, of a bookthat you wrote Getting Out of
your Comfort Zone.

Frank Agin (11:26):
Yeah, Right yeah.

Todd Bertsch (11:27):
You can stay cozy.

Frank Agin (11:29):
Yeah.

Todd Bertsch (11:29):
Complacent.
Yeah, very prescribed you know,what that's going to look like
the house, the picket fence, thedog spots, couple of kids, nice
car.
Yeah, Are you happy?
Yeah, and some people, that'sfine.

Frank Agin (11:43):
Nothing wrong with that right, yeah, no, yeah.

Todd Bertsch (11:45):
But for some of us Wasn't me we need to get to the
edge.
We need to embrace discomfort.

Frank Agin (11:51):
Yeah.

Todd Bertsch (11:52):
Get in that zone.
Yeah, you know, that's where Ithink real growth happens, in my
opinion, so good for you.
And how long has that businessbeen running?

Frank Agin (12:06):
Well, the original organization started in 93.

Todd Bertsch (12:07):
So I have members who date back to 93 are still
involved in the organization.
It's crazy.

Frank Agin (12:11):
Yeah, One guy met his wife through it, you know
three kids.
He says, oh, everything to thisorganization.
But I became the firstfranchisee in 97 and then
ultimately bought it out righttowards the end of 2003.
Okay, yeah, awesome.

Todd Bertsch (12:25):
Well, tell us a little bit about it.
How is it different than well?
First, I don't know thateverybody knows what BNI is.
Sure, that was new to me when Ifirst came out.

Frank Agin (12:33):
It's funny.

Todd Bertsch (12:33):
That was the first like networking opportunity
that somebody said hey you're anew business owner, like you
should join this and.
I went to a meeting, tried it,I was like, eh, not for me.
Sure, yeah, but then you haveAm Spirits.
And so tell us a little bitabout that, the difference and
what it's all about.

Frank Agin (12:51):
Yeah, what we do is we help create we call them
chapters groups of entrepreneurs, sales reps, professionals your
realtor, mortgage lender,attorney, accountant and it's
one in each category.
And the reason we have one ineach category and BNI is much
the same.
The reason we have one in eachcategory is I want people to

(13:13):
feel comfortable talking abouttheir strategies, and we all
have strategy.
We might not think of them asstrategies hey, I've got an in
here, whatever.
I want people to feelcomfortable about that and I
want people to feel comfortablegiving referrals.
So if you and I are in a groupand there's three other
marketing people there, I'mgoing to feel funny about giving
a referral in front of them.

(13:33):
I don't want to feel that.
I want to be hey, I got a greatreferral for you, todd, he's a
great client.
I was talking to them and Ithink you guys will hit it off.
So it's one per category andthey meet every week to learn
about each other, developrelationships.

Todd Bertsch (13:51):
Weekly.
Oh, okay, that's a commitment.

Frank Agin (13:54):
It is.
It is, but it's part of theirmarketing.
I mean, you probably adviseyour clients hey, we need
marketing's, not something we doonce a month, you know, it's
something you need tocontinually.
Everything's got to bemarketing, right down to the
person at the front desk, and soa lot of people, when they
really get ingrained in this,that is their marketing.
So it may seem like a lot butyou know, once a week they've

(14:17):
developed relationships orcontinued to build relationships
with people in all thesedifferent groups or different
business categories.
They're not doing a whole lotof other marketing, they're just
servicing the referrals thatthey're getting.
So, yeah, it meets every weekand the people they become great
friends with one another.
Sometimes when I go to groups, Ihave to remind myself that

(14:39):
these people didn't go to highschool together, but they kind
of carry on like, hey, this is,you know, we're all buddies, but
the real, I guess, thedifference I can't really say
what the difference between usand BNI is because I've never
been in BNI, but the real focus,what I really try to get people
focused on, is referrals.

(15:00):
Okay, becoming close to oneanother is great, but I need to
be able to recognize how to.
I need to be able to work withyou to understand how I can
recognize a referral for youwhen somebody says, X, okay,
that's you right.
Okay, Now, what do I say towork you in?
Right.
And so we work.

(15:21):
We do a lot of work with themembers in the chapters, just
helping them kind of explorethat.
When I was an attorney, I kneweverything that I did.
But for me to say, hey, I'm anattorney, send me people who
need attorneys, I'm not going toget referrals.
So we try to educate people onone of the things I'll say to

(15:45):
groups, members and groups don'ttell me what you do.
Yeah, I know you're a realtor,I get it.
You can say that 16 differentways and it still says the exact
same thing.
You broker property betweenbuyers and sellers.
That doesn't help me recognizea win.
So when you tell me, hey, ifyou know somebody who's getting
up in years and is sick ofchallenging the stairs, they're

(16:09):
ripe for selling a house andgetting something different.
So getting the members to thinkdifferently about how they talk
and how they share informationwith one another, and that's
really I don't want to saythat's a differentiator, but
that's what we're reallypassionate about.
And if other people, othercompetitors, want to jump onto
that.
More power to the world right.

Todd Bertsch (16:28):
Sure Right.
Okay, how many people are in achapter?

Frank Agin (16:33):
Our average chapter size is only about 15 or so.

Todd Bertsch (16:36):
Okay.

Frank Agin (16:36):
They tend to be a little smaller.
We and I was telling a chapterof this yesterday.
It's like if Elon Musk movesonto your street, the average
income of everybody on thestreet goes up, but it doesn't
affect your income, right?
And so I don't want themortgage lender and the realtor

(16:57):
just to do a lot of businessback and forth and have everyone
else not get referrals.
I want everybody to getreferrals, and so they tend to
stay smaller, so we can reallyfocus and make sure everybody's
get referrals, and so we tend to.
They tend to stay smaller, sowe can really focus and make
sure everybody's gettingreferrals.
Todd, I've had groups that havehit 50 and they're not as
productive.
You make you know bigger is notbetter.

Todd Bertsch (17:17):
Right, I know, I wholeheartedly agree.
Right, you lose that intimacy,yeah Right.

Frank Agin (17:22):
The group that hit 50,.
A month after it hit 50, 10people came to me and said we
want to start our own group.
It's like, really, you workedso hard to get to this point?
Yeah, but it's not.
We just don't know people.
People don't know one another,right, and so they went and
started their own group, andwhen I get chapters that get
into the 20s, I really stoppushing on them to grow.

(17:45):
Always look for good people,but I don't need you to be 30.
I don't need you to be 40.
I just need you to have thepeople in it be successful.
Oh, and refer me other peopleand so we'll start other groups.

Todd Bertsch (17:57):
Right, how many chapters do you have now?

Frank Agin (18:00):
You know I'm always the last to know.
I think we're somewhere between140 and 150.

Todd Bertsch (18:08):
Oh gosh.

Frank Agin (18:08):
Okay, and then all over the country or in a certain
geographic area, a lot in Ohio,but I've got chapters down in
Mississippi, pensacola.
Things are starting to heat upin Alabama, of all places.
Talked to a guy who's moving upto Green Bay, who's in the
organization, he says can youhelp me start chapters up in
Green Bay?
Okay, bentonville, arkansas, Imean Colorado.
I talk to people.
We have a lot going on inPhoenix, a lot going on in

(18:31):
Chicago, so it's little pocketshere and there.
When I first started I'm likeokay, columbus, akron, canton,
cleveland.
My first franchisee was Akron.
It worked great.
My second one was Phoenix,arizona.
So at that point, I'm like whoknows?

Todd Bertsch (18:43):
My second one was Phoenix, Arizona.
So at that point I'm like whoknows?
Right, so not a real strategyto say, hey, we're going to go
hit this area, but if it happens, yeah, I'm going to go where
the interest is.

Frank Agin (18:50):
Yep, I'm going to go where people need help.

Todd Bertsch (18:53):
Gotcha.
It's kind of like you.

Frank Agin (19:15):
You know it's like you serve people who come to you
and you can't worry about thegroup right people who have that
kind of longevity it's you knowit's the same thing in business
You're best to hang on to yourclients as opposed to keep
trying to find new ones.

Todd Bertsch (19:30):
Oh yeah, it's always a lot, always a lot
easier, yeah For sure.
Well, talking about a couplethat you just mentioned the
knowing the people right, Justkeeping the groups small and you
often talk about the importanceof know, like and trust.
Tell us a little bit about whatthat means to you in terms of
foundational networking.

Frank Agin (19:50):
Yeah, you know people throw those words around
know, like and trust.
We do business with those whowe know, like and trust.
But I interviewed a woman on mypodcast and it really kind of
changed my view of relationshipsand she shared.
She was talking about MargaretMead.
Margaret Mead was a favorite.

Todd Bertsch (20:05):
Oh my gosh, I just included her in a quote that
I'm going to be emceeing nextweek.

Frank Agin (20:09):
Okay, yeah, famous anthropologist.

Todd Bertsch (20:12):
Yeah.

Frank Agin (20:13):
She was teaching a class and one of the students
said what was the first sign ofhuman civilization?
And as she's gathering herself,everybody's thinking okay, it's
fire, it's clay pots, it'sweeping, maybe it's language.
And she said it was a healedfemur.
She went on to explain that inthe animal world, the femur is
the bone that connects the kneeto the hip.
Most animals have a femur andwhen an animal breaks its femur

(20:36):
it's a death sentence.
It can't protect itself, itcan't forage, it can't hunt,
it's going to die, either realquick or painfully slow, but
it's going to die.
But when we came across theremains of humans that had a
healed femur, we knew there wassomething different.
We knew that somebody made adecision to stay behind because

(20:58):
it takes about six to eightweeks without modern medical
care for that bone to heal.
And so if you stop and thinkabout it and as soon as I, when
I heard that on the podcast Ihad chills going up my spine
it's like oh my gosh, there'ssomething.
I get it now.
So imagine you have two groupsof four people and one group
somebody breaks their femur andthey're like eh, sorry, todd,

(21:19):
sorry about your luck, we'removing on.
Us three are moving on.
Well, three is a lot lessformidable than four, and you
needed people back then tosurvive, to hunt, to protect
yourself.
So three is not going to be assuccessful, ultimately becomes
two, which becomes one, and onebecomes zero.
Right, there's another group offour people, todd, using you

(21:44):
break your femur, it's like youknow what.
I don't can't put my finger onit, but I am not leaving you.
I'm going to figure out, I'mgoing to stay with you, I'm
going to feed you, I'm going tocare for you, I'm going to
protect you, I'm going to keepyou warm.
Six to eight weeks later, thatgroup moves forward with four
people, which is a thirdstronger than three, right, but

(22:06):
it doesn't just move forwardstronger, it moves forward with
somebody who, in this case you,says you know what these people
cared about me, I'm going to dothe same for them.
And so we as humans are just.
You know, we didn't know whatwe were doing, but the chance of
survival, if we worked together, if we cared for one another,

(22:29):
was more likely.
And so the first group, thatgene pool, died.
The other gene pool of peoplecaring, that moved forward and
we just decided okay, we'regoing to become civilizations.
We're going to, you know,larger communities going to
become civilizations.
We're going to, you know,larger communities.
And that's really I tell people.

(22:53):
Everybody is looking forsomebody who is willing to stay
with them when they break theirmetaphorical femur.
Right, it might not be a brokenfemur, it might be.
You know, when you're choosinga spouse it's like I want
somebody who's going to, who'sgoing to be with me when I lose
my job or I have that horribleaccident or I get older in years
.
That's we, it's you know,that's really what know like and
trust is.
Those are the types of peoplethat we want to have.

(23:16):
And again and back to myorganization.
I see it in in in organization,I see it in the organization
People they just really careabout one another.

Todd Bertsch (23:30):
It's a great I mean, it's a beautiful thing.
It is, yeah, I think you'retalking about a culture, right?
Yeah, creating a culture ofcare.
Yeah, and, and when you seethat and it's funny, frank, I
think about COVID yeah, well,really, what I've seen and what
I've experienced personally isthat when a group of people can
go through a shared experienceof call it trauma, I mean we

(23:51):
could, I think safely say.
COVID was traumatic right.
Some sort of an event wherethere's going to be some trials
and tribulation, where you'regoing to be tested, right.
It's going to be tough.
You're going to get.
You're going to have to get outof your comfort zone.
You're going to beuncomfortable.
If you can work through thattogether oh man coming out of

(24:14):
that, my group here, that's inthis building out of COVID.
We all were together, fightingevery day just to get through it
right yeah.
Yes, it was tough, but boy didit make us a hell of a lot
stronger and closer?

Frank Agin (24:29):
Yeah.

Todd Bertsch (24:29):
So I don't know.
I see some similarities there.
Oh, absolutely, and innetworking, but also just in the
culture of companies.
How do you build that kind ofculture without having to go
through something?

Frank Agin (24:43):
dramatic, right, yeah, well, what I tell people
is I don't care about yourreligion, I don't care about
your politics, I don't careabout who you go to bed with, I
don't care about any of that.
You have that DNA runningthrough you.
You have that caring gene.
We all do.
We let money get in the way,and if you can stop and just
pull back from that and just fora moment realize, okay, yeah,

(25:04):
that person annoys the hell outof me, but they have a family
they're trying to feed and theymight be misguided in how
they're doing things, butthey're really just a person
like I am, and if I can dig downinto my humanity and really
lean into, okay, I want to helpthis person Just a little bit.
Things are going to be better.

(25:25):
Really lean into, okay, I wantto help this person.
You know, I want just a littlebit.
Right, things are going to bebetter and we're hardwired to
help one another.
You know, you guys stayed whileI had a broken femur.
I'm going to return thatsomehow, right, and we don't
consciously think about thosethings, but our subconscious is
really kind of dialed into thosesorts of things, those things.

(25:46):
But our subconscious is reallykind of dialed into those sorts
of things.
So the whole notion of know,like and trust is, I mean, it's
just rooted in who we are, if welet it.

Todd Bertsch (25:52):
Right, right, we have to be open to it.
Yeah, we'll be right back afterthis short message.
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(26:16):
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Now let's get back to the show.
So, continuing on that pathFrank and no like and trust.

(26:57):
How do we?
How do we, integrate that intonetworking Right?

Frank Agin (27:01):
Yeah Well, what I tell people is the best way to
get things from your network isto do things for your network.
I mean, it's really that simpleand a lot of times people think
, oh, you have to give to yournetwork and their mind goes to
their wallet or their creditcard.
I really don't have anything togive.
One of the questions I get alot when I'm on podcasts is

(27:30):
what's the one thing somebodycould do today to change their
situation?
Just to get out there and getnetworked.
And I always tell people myconsistent answer is find
something you care about andvolunteer.
Whatever it is, don't bestrategic about it.
I don't care about homelessness, but the rich people are there
helping the homeless, so I'mgoing to go do that.

(27:50):
No, what do you care about?
If it's youth sports, if it'swhatever, get out there and
volunteer, because you're goingto be elbow to elbow with other
people who care about the samething and they're going to
figure out what you're about.
They're never going to have toask what's that Todd about?
They'll figure that out.
And but even the people whoaren't involved in that are

(28:13):
going to look on and say, wow,he's really he.
He really does a great job withthis sports organization or
this, you know, homelessness orpet charity or or whatever it
might be.
Um, he's got to be a goodperson again.
It gets back to this, thishealed femur thing.
We're always lookingsubconsciously we don't know it,
but we're looking for peoplewho care about other people.

(28:34):
And so to be successful innetworking is just finding ways
you can help other people.
You know, jason connecting us,you know that's it helped me,
right, I'm here, right,hopefully it helps you.
You know it's like, okay, whatcan I do for Jason, right, you
know?
So it's really just aboutfinding ways to help other

(28:54):
people and whenever you know, ashumans we're kind of dialed
into self-preservation.
So a lot of times, people whenthey meet somebody, it's like,
okay, what can I get from Todd?
You know, can I get him to be aclient?
Can I get him to whatever?
What can I sell him?
Right?
And what I tell people is isthat's your first thought and

(29:19):
that makes you human, right.
But dial into what your secondthought is and that's it's
really more of a consciousthought of okay, my first
thought is, which is very human,is what can I get?
The second thought is what canI do for this person and go
through your mind and say, okay,who can I connect Todd to that?
Maybe Todd can help.
Or who can help Todd, how can Iserve Todd?
And that just becomes much morepowerful in the long run,

(29:41):
because then you're starting tobuild this network of people out
there, formally and informally,that feel like, okay, I want to
help this person.

Todd Bertsch (29:53):
Right, yeah, it reminds me of.
Are you a John Maxwell?

Frank Agin (29:58):
fan.

Todd Bertsch (29:58):
Yeah, he had this powerful phrase One of his shows
.
He says every conversation thathe has networking, meeting
somebody new, he ends aconversation with this statement
how can I help you?
Yeah, how can I help you?
Yeah, I help you.
And that's simple, right, it's?

Frank Agin (30:17):
a simple thing.
Well, a lot of people feel puton the spot with respect to that
and I'm not always ready either, and that's okay.
I think it's great that peopleask those things.
What I try to do is I try tojust look and just kind of go
through my mind and like, okay,what could, what could help,
todd, like you and I weretalking before we hit record,

(30:37):
hey, I met this guy over in theUK.
Right, he's a marketing person.
He's got a top 10 podcast.
Right, todd, I need tointroduce you to him, right, you
know?

Todd Bertsch (30:45):
So you're already, you're already being proactive
thinking about that yeah.
But not a lot of people areright.
I active thinking about that,yeah, but not a lot of people
are right?
I think that's at least onereminder, right?
Just if you're not constantlythinking about that.
Just think about that questionmake sure that that at least
gets mentioned, if it doesn'thappen organically, yeah, yeah,
what can I do?
Yeah?

Frank Agin (31:05):
there's a book out there uh, it's called option b,
cheryl sandberg wrote it with dradam grant and um.
Oh, okay, it's a great littlebook.
Option B.
Option B yeah, she wrote it onthe heels of the death of her
husband.
They were on vacation.
I think he was like 45 yearsold.
He was on the treadmill andjust had an aneurysm and died.

Todd Bertsch (31:27):
Those stories.
I just don't understand them.
Yeah, I can't fathom.

Frank Agin (31:32):
So she just was kind of working through her grief in
there.
But I mean, it wasn't justabout that, it was a lot of
actionable business stuff.
But one of the things shetalked about in there that
really resonated with me is,when people are hit with these
tragedies, we'll say, hey, tellme what you need, anything you
need, I'm here for you, I'm herefor you.
And that really kind of puts theonus on them to come up with

(31:54):
something right and they don't,because it's like, well, yeah,
there are things, but I don'tknow if I'm going to ask for too
much.
And so what she says is and Iguess this is an option B is
just going to the person, justdoing something.
You know what?

(32:15):
I know you lost your spouse.
I'm coming over to mow the yard.
I'm going to mow the yard thiswhole summer.
If you want me to stop, justtell me.
But I'm going to mow the yardor I'm going to arrange for it
to be mowed.
It's one thing you don't needto worry about.
And then they don't have to ask.
So just looking at somebody andsaying, okay, what are things
that could help this person, andjust kind of conditioning your
mind to ask that question howcan I?

(32:37):
They might not have an answeras to how you can help them, but
you can probably come up withan answer for them.
And a lot of times the bestthing we can share in our
network is just our networkitself.
Right?
I know this guy in the UK.
I know Todd, you know I couldbe a broker.
Right, try and make some moneybetween these two.
I could just introduce them andsay you guys have at it, right,

(32:58):
you know, make, go make amillion bucks, I don't care,
yeah, so I absolutely love thatfrank, especially in that
situation right because you havesomebody who is obviously
grieving, but they're probablyinundated with a ton of
decisions and choices they needto make.
This is one more.

Todd Bertsch (33:16):
So you're in fact burdening them you're adding
more stress and anxiety to them.
Just do something.
Send them a gift, a gift basketyou know, or some fruit, or
make them dinner or just popover.
What's the worst thing that'sgoing to happen?

Frank Agin (33:33):
Yeah, right.

Todd Bertsch (33:34):
Every little thing's going to help, right.
I love that.
I think it goes back to acouple things we're saying here
being proactive just beingproactive In order to do some of
these things.
I think it's key and tell me ifyou agree.
You have to take the time toget to know somebody, right?
You generally?

Frank Agin (33:52):
need to take the time to get to know somebody,
right you?

Todd Bertsch (33:53):
generally need to take the time to get to know
somebody right, reallyunderstand who they are, what
they do, what they care about,before you can have that thought
of being proactive.

Frank Agin (34:05):
Oh yeah it's.
It's definitely an investmentyou need to make in other people
Investment.

Todd Bertsch (34:08):
Yeah.

Frank Agin (34:09):
Investment.
It's in well and it's notnecessarily a lot of time.
It's just it's listening tolittle things.
Like you are on my podcast.
I love your story and I'veshared your story.
I was talking to a womanyesterday in Chicago and she's
kind of into just mindfulnessand stuff like that and it's you

(34:31):
kind of hang on to those things.
Our brains are really amazingbecause we can hang on to low.
You really remember everything.

Todd Bertsch (34:40):
It's recalls the problem right, yes, recall is
the problem.
It recalls the problem.

Frank Agin (34:44):
It's my problem, yeah, but if you listen for
little things, you know, okay,here's the, here's the trigger
point.
I just connected two peoplelast week.
It's like, okay, they're bothvery spiritual and they're both
really focused in on not curesbut people who are going through
struggles with cancer Totallydifferent things, but it's like

(35:08):
you know you two need to meet.
I don't know where it's goingto go.
It's not for me to judge andlook into the future and say,
okay, this is what's going tohappen.
I just know you guys are goingto have a wonderful conversation
because you're both reallyrooted in Christianity and you
really care about people who arestruggling with cancer.
You guys figure out.

(35:28):
You figure out where thesynergy is what happens from
this out, where the synergy is.
What happens from those?

Todd Bertsch (35:33):
Right.
Yeah, it's interesting.
I think a lot of this too comesback to time.
A lot of people say, well, Ihate networking.
I hate to network.
It's too much time, I don't getanything out of it or they're
an introvert right and they'rejust not a people person, so to

(35:54):
speak.
So, what do you say to somebodywho's an introvert and or is
ho-hum about the time that'sgoing to be spent networking?
Any tips, tricks?

Frank Agin (36:04):
Yeah, I mean, I'm an introvert, I would never have
guessed yeah.
No, I mean it's.
Yeah.
I think introverts have anadvantage because introverts are
listeners.

Todd Bertsch (36:16):
I knew you were going to say that.

Frank Agin (36:17):
Yeah, and I think that's you know.
I deal with extroverts and it'slike every question is a setup
for a monologue for them.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, it can be, yeah, right,and so I think introverts really
have an advantage.
I get what you're saying aboutpeople saying, well, networking
can be a waste of time.
My pushback is everyonenetworks, we all network.

(36:40):
You know how'd you meet yourwife, right?
How do you guys findbabysitters?
We're always networking.
Networking is just a word thatwe use to describe building
relationships.
So we're always buildingrelationships.
We need to build relationships.
So we're always buildingrelationships.
We need to build relationships.
You don't need to go to anetworking event to do that.
You can have a one-on-one.
You know you and I arenetworking right now.
Right, sending emails thatwe're networking.

(37:09):
I'm not entirely comfortablegoing to networking events
either.
In fact, I've interviewed a fewintroverts on my podcast who've
made a business out of helpingother introverts, and this one
woman she just shared.
You know what.
I'll go to an event.
I'll stay for 30 minutes.
It's two hours.
I'll go 30 minutes.
I'll meet a couple of people.
I'm out of there, okay.
So you know, I think we all doit.

(37:30):
We're all networking.
It might be with our neighbor.
We all do it, we're allnetworking.
It might be with our neighbor,it might be with whomever.
So don't feel like you need to,don't feel like you need to be
going to networking events.
Well, I've already said youknow, just volunteer, I mean
that's huge.
Right there.
I know people who that's prettymuch what they do.
They've just met a ton ofpeople just being out there.
They don't feel like they'renetworking because they're.
They're working shoulder toshoulder with other people who

(37:52):
care about pets or whatever.

Todd Bertsch (37:55):
Right, yeah.
Yeah, you still need to takethe time, though, right, you
have to at least put yourselfout there, yeah, and you have to
get to know people, but I lovethe piece about being an active
listener.
Being an active listener and Ithink that goes back to being
able to just pause, right,instead of coming in hot or

(38:16):
reacting just being able to sitback, take it in, reflect,
listen and, again, don't make itall about yourself, right.
And then think about what youcan do to help them and I know
you're a big fan, I've heard youmention it.
I'm a big fan as well of theGo-Giver, yeah, so we got to
give a shout out to Bob Berg andthat amazing book and that you

(38:37):
know servant leadership.
So how do you think that playsinto networking?

Frank Agin (38:42):
Well, I mean it's, I mean it's again.
If we got to help people,you've got to.
You've got to.
You got to find ways to helppeople and Bob, bob will tell
you.
But you know, shout out to bob.
Have you ever had bob on yourshow?

Todd Bertsch (38:56):
I'm.
I hope to at some point.

Frank Agin (38:58):
I haven't reached out yet, but I'm telling you
right now, he will say yes yeah,well I?
I'm pretty sure he'll say yes,that would be drop my name to
say hey, I was talking to frankagan and, uh, because I was
coming up on my 100th episode,I'm like what am I going to do
for my hundredth episode?
And he just happened to.
Oh, linkedin suggested Iconnect with him.

(39:20):
I'm like yeah, you know, I metBob in the nineties when he was
first getting started throughthe other organization.
We met in Youngstown.
He gave a speech there and Ijust sent him a note and said,
hey, would you connect with me?
We met in Youngstown.
You know, blah, blah, blah gavehim the context and right away
it's like oh yeah, great Love toconnect with you.
And so I'm sitting therethinking my 100th episode.
You know, my daughter helped meget started.

(39:40):
Maybe I'll have my daughter on.
She's like why do you want totalk to me?
And I'm like you know, Right.
And he could have been moregracious.
Absolutely, let's do it and setit up and you know, I'm like,

(40:01):
hey, do you know?

Todd Bertsch (40:03):
anybody else who would want to be on here?

Frank Agin (40:05):
Yeah, yeah, I absolutely do.
You know, by the end of theweek I had six other people who
were you know good people.
It really week, I had six otherpeople you know good people it
really changed the trajectory ofwhat I was doing.
Oh, really yeah, rather thanjust interviewing.
You know my members, which are.
They're good people, but youknow it's.
You know I'm dealing withpeople who are bob berg level,
lewis house level right typepeople.
That's a different, yeah, it's adifferent level yeah, rather

(40:27):
than just talking to peopleabout networking, it's like okay
, really getting into it, right?
Yeah, that kind of took us offtrack with the whole Bob Berg.

Todd Bertsch (40:35):
That's okay, but it's worth it?
Yeah, no, I just yeah but he'sall about.

Frank Agin (40:40):
My point with respect to Bob is he walks the
talk.

Todd Bertsch (40:42):
Yeah.

Frank Agin (40:43):
I know a lot of people out there have written a
lot of books on networking andI'll get them on the phone and
interview them, and it's youknow, hey, thanks for helping me
, frank.
Here are six other ways you canhelp me, right?
It's like, oh, okay, yeah, I'mhappy to, I don't have a problem
with that, but it's you know, Ican see that it's really all
about you, whereas with respectto Bob, he's just always been

(41:04):
very gracious with you know,responding, and you know,
genuinely, you know, he'll tellpeople.
Frank's the expert onnetworking.
What are you talking about?
You're the expert, you know.
Right, I appreciate it, butit's you know, he's just a
wonderful person.

Todd Bertsch (41:21):
Yeah, serving leadership.
Yep the Go-Giver if you don'thave it.
Yeah, it should be a staplebook on yourself right.

Frank Agin (41:27):
Yeah, well, there's a whole Go-Giver for Salespeople
, goal-giver for Marriage.
Yeah, yeah, it's amazing.

Todd Bertsch (41:33):
I haven't read any of the other ones.

Frank Agin (41:34):
No, I haven't either , but yeah.

Todd Bertsch (41:37):
I give that book out more than probably any other
book yeah.
So we got to talk aboutLinkedIn a little bit.
Yep, obviously, I think a lotof people will associate
networking to some degree withLinkedIn.
Yeah, what's your take onLinkedIn as a tool for
networking?

Frank Agin (41:54):
Well it is.
It's just a tool.
People will say to me yeah,networking, you don't LinkedIn,
we don't need to do it anymore.
It's like, yeah, you know what?
We networked before we hadTelegraph, we had network.
We networked before we didtelephone, had telephone, mobile
phones.
We've networked since thebeginning of time.

(42:15):
I have a friend.
He says networking is as old asdirt, and he's right.
It's been around.
You know, healed femur, that'snetworking, right.
That just goes back to when wewere nomadic, right.
All LinkedIn has done is itallowed us to connect with
people 24 hours a day across thecontinent.
I'm going to be on a program intwo weeks out of Australia, a

(42:38):
guy I've met through LinkedIn.
Now the time is kind of wonky,right, and we have to work that
out that we got to.
You know, most of the time he'sasleep, I'm awake, and vice
versa.
There are pockets there, we canmake it work and we do a lot of
things together, but LinkedInhas really allowed us to connect
with people.

(42:59):
So what I say about LinkedIn isthis is that it's really a giant
business after hours Millionsof people going 24 hours a day,
seven days a week and it allowsyou to walk into a scenario and
know what people are about.
So, for example, I'm introducedto you, I can get on LinkedIn
and I know, okay, he's got apodcast, this, this and this.

(43:20):
I know those things, whereaswhen I walk into a traditional
networking event, I might seeyou and see you with your Ignite
, your Spark t-shirt, and makeall sorts of judgments about oh,
what the hell is that?
Is that a women's basketballteam?
I don't know right, but now Iknow.
So I know, okay, like withJason Zagato, oh, he went to

(43:42):
Kent State, okay, and there werejust lots of little things
there that I knew ahead oftalking to Jason that could be
talking points.
So that's the beauty ofLinkedIn, but relationships are
still relationships.
I always tell people babiesstill come from the same place,
right?
So none of that has changed.

(44:02):
It just allows us the abilityto connect with people further
and faster.

Todd Bertsch (44:09):
Yeah, have you seen that?
It's been a good tool for youin making meaningful
relationships.

Frank Agin (44:17):
Oh, absolutely.

Todd Bertsch (44:18):
Yeah absolutely.
Because I would imagine, youprobably get a ton of requests
like I do.
I get a ton of in-mails andrequests from all over the world
, and it's time right, it's timeto go through each one of those
and figure out.
Do I even try?
To engage in a conversationwith this person or not, because
again it goes back to just time.

Frank Agin (44:38):
Yeah, no, I mean, you have to be very judicious
with your time with respect tothat, and anymore, I'll quickly
vet somebody.
Hey, I'm a podcast promotionexpert.
Well, I know where this isgoing, right.
Right, I'm going to connectwith you and then I'm going to

(45:02):
get pitched and I don't needthat.
But with a lot of people, youstart to sort it out, to be able
to sort it out, okay, I'mlooking for somebody that I can
help, that is going to help meand you can start to sort those
things out.
But, yeah, I've gotten thingsthrough there.
Nobody buys anything on LinkedInNobody.

(45:23):
Hey, we're going to hire Evolve.
We saw a post, right, and Ishouldn't say nobody, because I
had a conversation.
I had a woman on my interviewwhere she said that she has
gotten clients just off ofLinkedIn.
But as we talked about it, itwas like, okay, it wasn't off of
LinkedIn.
You guys are shooting messagesback and forth.

(45:44):
You did some programs shootingmessages back and forth and she
decided to hire you, but therewas a relationship that was
established.
But there was a relationshipthat was established.
Nobody, linkedin.
People look at LinkedIn as thiskind of this advertising
vehicle, and it's not.
It's a vehicle for creatingrelationships.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely so whatis one strategy that people

(46:14):
often overlook when they'retrying to generate more
referrals?
Well, I mentioned volunteering.
I got ahead of myself there,but, yeah, I certainly mentioned
volunteering.
Finding ways to help otherpeople is really what it boils
down to.
I did this exercise years ago.
Actually, one of my books outthere is called the Giving
Journal very short book and itwas an offshoot of just

(46:35):
something I had tried.
Somebody remarked to me oh, I'mreally, really generous, I'm
always generous, and I'mthinking to myself that SOB is
anything, but You're the mosttight.
I'm not saying this, but I'mthinking you're not generous,
you don't give to people.
But in this person's mind, theywere fixated on money they had

(46:56):
given to church and they werejust hanging their hat on this
one thing, and we're alldelusional that we're better
than we are.
And so it got me thinking.
I wonder if I'm like that.
I don't wanna be that, want totruly be a giver.
And so what I set out to do wasjust keep track of what I was

(47:17):
giving, and so I just got asimple little notebook and I
would write down right, hey,spend an hour mentoring Jason on
his business, right?

Todd Bertsch (47:26):
So it wasn't just fiscally, it was time talent.

Frank Agin (47:30):
Yeah, None of it was fiscal.

Todd Bertsch (47:31):
Well, some of it might have been right.

Frank Agin (47:32):
But most of what we do is, hey, I'm volunteering, I
went to a board meeting, I'mgiving, send somebody a book,
send somebody an article,introduce these two people.
And what I found was I wouldjust write the date.
I wasn't keeping score.
Oh, todd, you've done a lot forTodd and he gets them.
It wasn't bad at all, right,right, nobody knew I was even

(47:54):
doing it, and so I just writethe date.
And what I did, what I found,was that journal called to me oh
, you haven't done something ina couple of days.
I need to do something.
And that really got me thinkingabout okay, it got me in tune
to and whenever I talk tosomebody, okay, what can I do
for that person.

(48:14):
And it just kind of got me inthat little habit of, okay, how
can I help somebody?
And, yeah, it does take time.
I'll have a conversation withsomebody and I might have 15
minutes afterwards.
Okay, I'm sending them thisarticle.
They didn't work.
You know they'd never heardabout the healed femur story.
Let me send them a link to that.
You know, doing things, heardabout the healed femur story.

(48:36):
Let me send them a link to thatdoing things.
But it really builds up, but Iguess the big thing I'll say is
this there's a book out therecalled Give and Take by Adam
Grant.
I don't know if you've readthat book.

Todd Bertsch (48:42):
No.

Frank Agin (48:42):
Okay, he's a Wharton School professor and he talks
about different giving stylesand it's a wonderful book.
I will send you an outline toit.
I've read it so many times.
I outlined it.
It's like 15 pages, so youdon't get the stories, but
you'll get the gist.

Todd Bertsch (48:56):
Yeah, maybe that'll the cliff notes.

Frank Agin (48:58):
Yeah, cliff notes, but he talks in there about the
five-minute favor.
Okay, always be willing to do afive-minute favor for somebody.
Yeah, it's five minutes, but itmight be hours into theirs, you
don't know.

Todd Bertsch (49:12):
Five-minute favor.
Yeah, just a five-minute favor.
I've never heard of it.

Frank Agin (49:16):
Yeah, always be willing to just give somebody
five minutes.
So I was doing some researchfor a speech I was giving and I
saw a study that he'd referencedin the book and I just emailed
him or maybe it was LinkedIn,whatever I just sent him a
message.
He might respond, he might not,but I'm going to ask him, right

(49:36):
, yeah, hey, you know, can youtell me where I could get this,
the abstract for this study, orwhere I could, you know, get
more information on this?
Oh, I'll do you one better.
He gave me the whole damn study, you know.
Again, five minutes.
It was really easy for him.
He just did it and you know, wejust need to be open to just,
yeah, let's just do.
I'm just going to do somethingfor somebody.

(49:57):
You know, I'm going to make apoint of holding the door open
for people.
I'm going to make a point ofdoing this.
I'm going to just little things, and those little things lead
to bigger things.
You know, we just kind ofbecome habitual and it's like,
you know, holding the door.
I'm going to have aconversation with this person
too.

Todd Bertsch (50:15):
Yeah, I love it.
Five-minute favor the givingjournal.

Frank Agin (50:20):
Love great idea.

Todd Bertsch (50:21):
I have a little bullet journal I created and I
have a little section.
I call it the mission Right.
It's more related to giving.

Frank Agin (50:29):
Yeah.

Todd Bertsch (50:30):
You know more nonprofits time talents, but
that's interesting to have onespecifically for giving and just
document it.
Yeah, keep track of it.

Frank Agin (50:41):
Yeah Well, the Giving Journal is just kind of
my journey into coming up withthe notion of it.
It's not really a journal towrite in.
I thought about doing that, butit's like, yeah, I don't want
to be just selling paper topeople.

Todd Bertsch (50:51):
Yeah, go get your own notebook.
Yeah, true, doing that.
But it's like, yeah, I don'twant to be just selling paper to
people.

Frank Agin (50:54):
Yeah, go get your own notebook.
Yeah, true, that's true.
Yeah, um, and it's free.
I have it on my blog and peoplecan download it.
So, okay, people can buy it tooif they want a physical copy,
but if you just, it's on my blogokay, so we'll.

Todd Bertsch (51:04):
We'll add that in the show notes.
Okay, yeah, for sure.
Well, this has been great,frank, I've.
Thank you, appreciate your time.
A couple of lightning roundquestions here, real quick ones.
If you can go back and giveyour younger self any advice,
what would that be?

Frank Agin (51:21):
Yeah, I mean, it's networking.
I went off to college to playfootball, hung out small D3
school hung out with thefootball players for four years.
God, I wish I would have justconnected with other people, you
know.

Todd Bertsch (51:35):
Right Go back in time.
Yeah, who is a leader that youadmire?

Frank Agin (51:43):
I admired Lewis Howes.
Lewis is somebody that he callsme his mentor.
I've learned a lot from him.
You know we had lunch years andyears ago and I tell people
that the ROI on that lunch forboth of us is just off the
charts yeah.

Todd Bertsch (52:00):
That's awesome.
And one word that defines yourleadership style.

Frank Agin (52:08):
Empathetic, empathetic.
I thought you might go there.
I was thinking it Okay.

Todd Bertsch (52:12):
About you Cool.
Empathetic, I thought you mightgo there.
I was thinking it Okay Aboutyou Cool.
I love that.
And what's the most importantlesson you've learned in life?

Frank Agin (52:22):
I don't know everything.
I don't know everything and Iwant to know more.
You know I just I don't want tobe that old codger you know,
Right.
So I just want to keep learningand yeah.

Todd Bertsch (52:32):
There's a quote up there on the bolt wall from one
of my past guests and goodfriend, mark Majors says if
you're not learning, you're notliving.
Yeah, I love it, yeah, andthat's just it.
You got it.
You got to keep growing.
Yeah, you got to keep growing.

Frank Agin (52:47):
Yeah, it's like a tree.
It's like a tree grows until itdies, that's right, my last
name's Birch.
Yeah, there you go.
Not spelled like it.

Todd Bertsch (52:55):
No, this has been great Frey.
Thank you so much for being onthe show.
I wish you the best of luck.
Thank you.
We'll include links to the shownotes.
Your business, your book, Eightbooks Frank has written.
I didn't realize it was thatmany when I started doing a
little more research.
I'm going to be cranking outsome books.

Frank Agin (53:09):
Yeah, I've got lots more coming out.

Todd Bertsch (53:10):
So, yeah, keep going so yeah, you're constantly
just putting stuff out there,creating, and it sounds like
you're happy.

Frank Agin (53:19):
I am yeah, I've got friends who are retiring, I've
got no interest.
Same here.
Yep, no interest, no.

Todd Bertsch (53:26):
And when you love what you do, why?

Frank Agin (53:29):
Yeah, yeah.
So yeah, it's not about themoney, it's just.
I'm most happy when I'mcreating something or helping
people.

Todd Bertsch (53:37):
Right, that's it.
There is something in the mindthat gives you that instant
boost of dopamine right when youhelp somebody.

Frank Agin (53:47):
I think it'll help both of us long term,
cognitively, physically.
So yeah, I'm waiting for my100th birthday.
I'm going to keep going,awesome, yeah.

Todd Bertsch (54:00):
Looking forward to continuing the conversation.
Frank, yeah, absolutely.

Frank Agin (54:04):
Thanks for being on the show.
Thank you.

Todd Bertsch (54:05):
Thank you for joining us on this episode of
the Bold Podcast.
I appreciate you spending sometime with us today and it's been
a pleasure being part of yourjourney toward growth,
transformation and leadership.
If you enjoyed today's episode,please like, share and leave a
review.
It truly helps us reach morepeople like you, interested in

(54:26):
taking your leadership to thenext level.
Visit toddbirchcom to learnmore about my keynote speaking,
corporate training programs andmy positive intelligence
coaching.
Look, I'm here to help youbuild the mental resilience and
leadership skills that drivelasting change.
And remember, progress comesfrom small, consistent steps.

(54:47):
Keep moving forward, my friends.
Moving forward, my friends.
And before we wrap, a quickreminder the information shared
on the Bolt Podcast, along withanything from ToddBertsch.
com or my social media channels,is for informational and
educational purposes only.
We all need support and ifyou're seeking meaningful
guidance, one of the best thingsyou can do is talk to a

(55:08):
licensed professional, whetherthat's a physician, therapist or
coach.
They can provide the supportand care you deserve.
The content on this podcast isnot a substitute for
professional advice, diagnosisor treatment.
If you're facing a medicalemergency or need immediate
assistance, please reach out tothe appropriate healthcare

(55:29):
provider or emergency services.
Hey guys, take care of yourself, stay kind to your mind and
remember help is alwaysavailable when you need it.
Thank you for being here.
I appreciate you and we'll seeyou next time.