August 11, 2025 • 46 mins
Tonight on The Brian Crombie Hour, Brian interviews Sarah Makhomet and Jennifer Beale. Sarah and Jennifer share insights on the art of effective networking, building genuine connections, and getting referrals. Sarah, a Ukrainian-born serial entrepreneur and financial expert, built her success on courage, adaptability, and vision. Jennifer, an award-winning networker, helps leaders form strategic partnerships. Together, they host networking events in Toronto, including an August 13 summer gathering and intimate monthly dinners with business leaders. They warn of declining social skills, especially post-COVID, stressing that in-person interaction builds trust and depth that online exchanges can’t match.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The views expressed in the following program are those of
the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of
Saga nine sixty am or its management.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good Evening, Never want to welcome to the Brian Cromby
Radio War.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
We've got two dynamos, two dynamite ladies to introduce you
to tonight and their networkers. And they've really got this
belief that now as we get ready for the fall,
as we think about all the challenges in this world,
is the time for people to network. Jennifer Bial and
Sarah Oh my gosh, I always protect your name wrong,
Mark Comette, Machamit macham It macam It, Sarah bil Jennifer
(00:44):
bal and Sarah Mackamtt two dynamos in the Toronto entrepreneurial
community that run a big summer networking event coming up
in a week's time and a bunch of groups and
really think that we've all got to start thinking about
getting together and can networking. Jennifer, why are you doing this?
Why now?
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (01:04):
Well, networking is always important.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
You know, your network really is the most important thing
to your success.
Speaker 5 (01:11):
I think right.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Now particularly we stand at an incredible moment in history,
like we have seen so much upset in this world
this year alone, with you know, the geopolitics for sure,
and the shakeup from that, and also AI emerging in
a really large way. And so Sarah and I see
it as we're standing at a crossroads right now, like
(01:33):
which way are we going to go? Because as far
as we can tell, nobody really knows.
Speaker 5 (01:37):
The way forward.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
And I don't think that this is a time just
for politicians and capitalists and the people who are creating
AI and all the decision makers we typically go to.
I think this is a moment for entrepreneurs to stand
and take a stand forward and decide, hey, what do
we want to do? What kind of future do we
want to create, and take an active role in that.
(02:00):
And so there are some people who are standing back,
putting their head in the sand and saying, look, I'm
just going to wait and see you know, I'm just
going to forget that this is going on and carry
on and do my own life. And we see that
there's other people that are like, let me just wait
and see what happens, and then I'll start taking a stand.
And Sarah and I we don't believe that we need
to wait, and we certainly don't want to stick our
(02:20):
head in the sands and pretend this isn't going on.
We see an important role for entrepreneurs to stand, to
take a stand forward, to start creating the future that
we want as entrepreneurs can because we are creative, we think,
and so the importance of a network is none of
us can do this alone and there's nobody coming to
rescue us. There is nobody who knows the way in
(02:41):
all of this, And so we're gathering people together intentionally
entrepreneurs who are creative thinkers, who are like, Yeah, let's
go create the future together.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Sarah, how are you going to do this?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
How are you doing this?
Speaker 6 (02:57):
Yeah, So Jennifer mentioned, so we do beautiful dinners that
we do on a monthly basis, and we invite entrepreneurs
to the table and showcase a little bit of what
we are all about. And then afterwards we have our
networking events that are also monthly and groups. And the
experience kind of came. It's a combination of me being
(03:17):
part of YPO and prisonization for over ten years and
then part of Hard Business School executive program and learning
and growing and seeing what works and what does not work,
and what is missing in the space, and so this
is new innovative. It's what people can connect from the heart,
and people can make the right decisions, they can grow
(03:37):
and then they can certainly make the money they desire
and build the businesses and do the deals through connections,
through networking and through relationships. Were now I'm doing the pitching.
I don't think that really works. It's a very different
way of doing business. And so that's what we are about.
And we're grateful for the people who are coming and
joining us and being a part of it.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Okay, So in the world of Internet and AI and
social media and zoom and all these virtual things, getting
together for dinners actually matters.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Seriously, I would see.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
It matters more than ever, Brian.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
And what we're fighting is people are really thirsting for
this to be able to come together. See people look
at each other in the eye, smile and have conversations,
long conversations that don't end because you know.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
The Zoom hour is up for whatever we do. We
do long dinners, they're three hours.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
And also there we have conversations around not the problems
that we face and the challenges that we have and
how are we going to fix them. I mean, we
show up from a place of we have a lot
to offer, and everybody else has a lot to offer,
and so we're stepping into the possibility of what we
can create together. Everybody has capital, they just not they
(04:55):
may not recognize what they have because typically when we
think of capital, we think of financial capital.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
But people have gifts, you know, from the heart, passion.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
People have skills, they have knowledge, you know, insights into
things that are going on. We have people at the
table that have worked for publicly traded AI companies, like
they know more about AI than I could ever figure
out on AI.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
And so we're coming together and we're sharing our wealth
that we have, all of the capital that we.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Have, including our connections, bringing it all to the table
and saying, look, what do you want to do together.
There's a lot of collaborations starting, just like Sarah and
I are collaborating, a lot of collaborations are birthing at
these tables.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
So how do I get invited to one of these dinners?
Speaker 5 (05:44):
You're invited?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
How do people that are listening tonight get invited to
one of these dinners?
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Right? Like?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
What are your suggesting? Now? Should call you up and
invite themselves to dinner or or they should have their
own dinners, or what's your recommendation all the people listening.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Tonight, Well, one of the things that's really important is
that that people are invited. So there's we don't use
marketing language, we just use invitation. And it also matters
who's at the table, and so we're very we curate this,
we're very considerate of who we are inviting and who
we want to meet at the table because there's only
(06:17):
ten of us, and so it's by invitation. And if
anybody is listening tonight I wants to be invited, then
all they need to do is reach out to Sarah
or me. We're on LinkedIn. They can connect through us.
That way, you.
Speaker 5 (06:30):
Could Google search us and find us.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
They could connect through it to us through you, Brian,
and we'll invite them to one of the dinners.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
Now you're invited, Brian, we want you what do.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
You mean what do you mean curate the dinner because
I've I've found that there are some dinners, some networking
events that really work and some that don't. And it's
something about curating the people that are at the at
the event. And then there's also something about sort of
steering the conversation or sharing the table that I think
(07:03):
is key. What do you guys do anything in that
regard you mentioned Curate, Tell me about Curate and do
you do anything to sort of control steer chair the table.
Speaker 6 (07:14):
Yeah, yeah, we definitely do that. So we very you know,
we look at who's at the table. So when people
send to us the invite and they say, okay, I'd
love to join, you know, dinner, we'll take a look
and see who are they, where are they coming from,
their background, and make sure they are a fit. So
it definitely is curated and you know, they may not
be for this month, maybe they'll join next month based
(07:36):
on the group. So we want to make sure that
people mash, that they do get along, that they do
get value from attending this dinner as well. That's very important,
as Jennifer mentioned to us, And yeah, so they all curative.
Well now every person they have their own name tag,
you know, they have cards to share, referrals to give,
gifts to share, and so it really is very well
(07:57):
put together, thought through and curated to ensure that it
is of the most value to people attending.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Yeah, what's one of the biggest challenges you see when
you go to an event for the reason that it
wouldn't work.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Brian, Well, you know right now, I'm sitting at the
dining room table of a favorite uncle of mine, and
he was renowned for putting on incredibly good dinner parties.
And they weren't networking parties, but they were incredibly valuable
dinner parties. And he would he would put name cards
so people would know, and he would get people that
didn't know each other together and he would think ahead
(08:33):
of time of the connections between the people that might
make sense, and that might not be why people would
end up having a fascinating conversation, but is the reason
why they started the conversation.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
And he would I.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Remember one dinner party where he invited a minister of
a local church and he knew that I had some
interest in some of the topics and it was specifically
Paul the Disciple Paul, and he started the conversation. Now,
the conversation then went on in depth thereafter, but he
started the conversation and he did it with numerous different people.
(09:05):
I had someone that was sort of someone like you, Sarah,
a niece of his that was into banking and he
connected her up with a sizable you know, entrepreneur that
was expanding across New England. And so I think that
there's something about organizing the table and starting the conversations
and chairing the dinner and then it flows from that.
(09:27):
But but to make it all spontaneous sometimes doesn't work.
It's it's good to have spontaneity and you know, allow
the collisions to happen, but sometimes they need a little push,
a little ludge.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Well, one thing that you just mentioned that I think
is really important and why we do it is there
needs to be food, there needs to be drink.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
And most decisions are not made in a boardroom. They're
made around a table.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
And so creating the atmosphere of relaxed, enjoy hospitality. You know,
come feed yourself. You're here to feed, eat and share
with other people. You know, pass the food around. We'll
also pass the gifts that you have around to the
capital that you have around. So it creates that atmosphere.
(10:15):
And I love what your uncle did. I think that's beautiful.
And so we always do it around a meal. Very
important to do it around a meal because of the hospitality.
And the second, as Sarah said, is you know, making
sure the right people are at the table too, that
are going to be able to have these juicy conversations
that could lead to something like the event that you
were at with your uncle, where there was somebody who
(10:36):
had capital and there was somebody in need of capital
and it worked really well. So we're looking for all
of that and then yes, definitely what happens at the
table matters.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
And so Sarah and I we are part of the conversation.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
We are not like, we aren't the leaders and we
don't have all the answers. We then invoke, through powerful
question questions, a conversation that would be meaningful for the
people at the table, so they get to know each other.
And so what we do is, rather than have people
coming and pitching what they do and telling people all
(11:14):
about what they do and the needs that they have
and the problems that they have, instead we ask powerful
questions that allow people.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
To one share their gifts. Come, what did you come?
What did you bring that you can share?
Speaker 6 (11:28):
You know?
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Less, we get some people over from dinner. They brought
me a whole bag full of stuff as well. I mean, well,
I'm like I want to feed them. And they came
and they brought a gift, right, Well, when we go somewhere,
when we go to these dinners, what are you bringing?
Speaker 5 (11:41):
What do you have that you can share?
Speaker 4 (11:43):
And that puts people in an entirely different place mindset
for having a conversation with people. And then what comes
out of that is the possibilities of look, this is
where we stand right now, what kind of future do
you want? And when people are one feeling gener and
connecting with other people over food, the idea is to
(12:05):
start to pomp through that interaction.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Well, I've always been a long believer that there's more
deals done in coffee shops than in the boardrooms on
the top floor. And I think there's something about when
you're in the boardroom on the top floor of a building,
you come with an agenda, you come with a bunch
of demands. But when you're on the main floor in
the coffee shop, you're just chatting. You're just talking, and
you get to know who the real person is. You
(12:28):
get to know if they have kids, you get to
know if they're married, You get to know if they
like to travel. You get to know what their wants
and desires and dreams are. You know, maybe not over
a coffee. Maybe you need a whole meal for that,
as you say, but you get to know the real person.
And I think to get deals done, to get real
partnerships made, to get real collaboration, you've got to get
to know who the.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Real person is.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
We're going to take a break for some messages and
come back in just two minutes with Sarah and Jennifer
talking about there's summer event that's coming up, about these dinners,
and I think, take a step back and really understand
what networking is all about and how critically important it is.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Stay with us.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I want back in two days.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Stream us live at SAGA nine sixty am dot C.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
A welcome back everyone to the Brian Cromby Radio Hour.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
I've got Sarah macamet and Jennifer Biale, two incredible networkers,
two incredible dynamite to entrepreneurs ladies that I've had the
pleasure of getting to know over the years because they're
just really great connectors, and they want to talk tonight
about some events that they're holding, but also sort of
the skill of networking and making connections. Jennifer, You've got
a history of these incredible summer events and a lot
(13:49):
of people in the summer don't think about sort of
networking and making connections. And you've been very successful in
having these events. I've been proved just to speak at
some of them. Tell me what you're doing this summer.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
Yeah, Well, what we're doing is different.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Sarah and I have teamed up and we're actually we're
going to do an experience for people to come in
like we do.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
At the dinners.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Well, we're going to have the experience in the afternoon
with people. I'm really leaning in hard with Peter Block's
work in community and he states in the book that
you know, all change happens in small groups. So although
there will be sixty people, they will be meeting in
small groups which will.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
Be which will be guided through great questions.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
And so it's from three o'clock until seven, and people
will meet at three. We will put people into groups
to have great conversations in the afternoon with other entrepreneurs
and they can discuss what they have to share, and
they can discuss what it is that they're working on,
(14:57):
what kind of project, and then start to see the
connections amongst what people have and what they're working on,
and what they have and what other people are working
on and make some deep connections with other people that
can lead somewhere after the event and then we'll have
we'll break, we'll have some dinner and drink and stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
And when is this and where is it and how
does one get invited?
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Yeah, this is Wednesday, August the thirteenth, and we are
in tobacnear the Queensway and Kipling at a private venue.
And so people can get details at Summer Networking Event
dot com. So it's online at Summer Networking Event dot com.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
And that's where all the details are. People can register to.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
Attend afternoon at three pm, study at three pm, like
three till seven. It's a great time, Sarah.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
You know, when you get into the small group, how
do you make sure that how do you catalyze a
good conversation?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
How do you make sure it happens?
Speaker 6 (15:58):
It's a great question, Brian. We do have leaders who
are coming from our own networking groups now who are
going to be facilitating and helping us do that. So
they're trained, they know what to do, and so they'll
be facilitating and chaperoning and guiding to ensure that the
right conversations takes place and that people are you know,
communicating and their exercises and everything else. So even though
(16:21):
it is a small group and it's just Jennifer and I,
we do have incredible support team that's going to be
present to ensure that people get at most quality from
this attending.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
And is there fee, Yes, there is.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Tickets are one nineteen advents early bird that's on right
now for this week, and then tickets are at the
door are one forty nine if available.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
I think we'll be sold out focus We almost are capacity.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Well, there's been Your events have been fantastic in the past, Jennifer,
and so I'm sure this one will be a big
success as well.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
And so good luck and congratulations.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Let me take step back if I could with the
two of you, because you know, I think that people
have sort of lost the skill of social connection, of networking.
You know, you think about dating, people are using apps
to to connect up with people rather than necessarily going
and meeting people. When I think about, you know, kids
(17:21):
that have gone through high school or university during COVID,
they missed out on a lot of those you know,
school clubs and school band and school teams and or
the university experience because they were locked down for three
or four years. And you know, I've talked to many
young people today where they haven't had that experience, and frankly,
they're now doing hybrid work where they don't end up
(17:44):
going to the work place often enough.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
You know, I don't work downtown anymore.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
When I go downtown, I walk through the concourse or
walk along the street, I always bump into someone I
know and have an interesting conversation. We exchange business cards
or connections, and we end up, you know, connecting up
and doing something together, whether it's business or social or
introducing or something like that. And so that those those
spontaneous connections that happen when you're at a at an event,
(18:15):
at a party, at a dinner, or just walking around
and you bump into people are incredibly helpful and important.
But I worry that so many people ever never learned
that because they didn't have the experience in high school
or university, or they don't get it off enough because
they're working hybrid and and don't you know, go to
the job and meet people. We've lost something in that.
(18:37):
How do you get it back?
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Well, first, what did we lose is we've lost connection
with each other. I think that's great that you can
walk and meet bump into people. How good does that feel?
Wherever you go, you're meeting people that you know and
you trust. And so when people don't have that, when
people are in this place of disconnection, it.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
Is a real problem for them.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
In fact, the neuroscientists are saying, all of our ills,
all of our alls, are come from disconnection, you know,
right from our health down to how safe our community is,
to how well we do in our careers, to how
well a business actually does. I can't remember the staff,
but it's like hundreds of billions of dollars are being
(19:23):
lost every year in business because people are disconnected and
the implications of being disconnected and what that does to people.
This is a The UN has declared it to be
a global crisis, this disconnection just right up there with
climate change like everything else, that it's a global crisis.
(19:44):
They're saying, disconnection is loneliness and what it's leading to.
And so I'm with you, and so is Sarah. We
are totally with you on this concern for people being disconnected,
because it doesn't lead to health, doesn't lead to people
leading well, success full, enriching lives. Hence why we are
doing what we're doing is to gather people. And the
(20:05):
answer is to gather people. And so networking is really important,
and we have like tech, we have so much tech.
We are hyper connected in this world. I mean, how
many people are on LinkedIn just alone? And yet people
can feel disconnected from that, and in that disconnection, people
can start treating people differently than they would if they
(20:26):
were in person with them. So I'm not saying that
we have to just be in person. I think the
social media has an important place. We need to get
back connecting with people. That's where you find mentorship, that
is where you're going to find insights into how to
do different things.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
That's where the opportunities lie with people.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
And so this whole idea just reach out and pitch
people who hardly know you or don't know you, is
not working very well. And I think if you look
at the dating sites, for example, what you see is
people meeting online and they're having great conversations, but as
soon as somebody wants to meet the other person, all
of a sudden, the other person disappears.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
This is quite common. Well interesting, Brian.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
This is actually starting to show up in business with
people meeting people through whatever online platform that they can,
even getting to a point where they're delivering proposals, and
then all of a sudden they disappear. Quite common. Where
does this not happen. It doesn't happen when you're meeting
(21:34):
in the coffee shop. It doesn't meet when you're meeting
people live in person. People show up and then you
give them a proposal and they say yes, and they
say no, And so we're losing ourselves with each other,
and we need to find ourselves together again to Sarah,
and I believe to step into this future and be successful.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Sarah, how do you do this? You know, even before
you join up with Jennifer, you've been an incredibly good
connector with people. How do you do that? How do
you how do you actually go and connect with people?
Like It's it's a skill, is it not?
Speaker 6 (22:10):
I think Brian, you're absolutely correct. It is a skill.
And I find for me, I have a natural curiosity
for people like I. I'm an immigrant myself, and so
I'm interested in other people's stories. Like you said, deals
happen when you connect with a human being, when you
see somebody's heart. Where do you come from? Who are
you you know, are you married, you have kids? You
(22:31):
know what drives you? What's your why? Like it's it's
it's to me. It just I have that incredible natural
curiosity for human beings, and I'm always like, how can
I contribute? How can I help you? How can I
who else can I connect you with? And so I
think that if you don't have that as a as
a like a natural maybe gift curiosity, you can learn
(22:51):
you can put an effort. I would tell you an
example is my nine year old son. We were just
on the trip for a few days in the East
Coast and we were talking about the importance of connecting
with people. And he plays triple A hockey and I said,
you know, one day you're going to be in the
leadership position. Maybe you know you're going to win a
Stanley Cup for maple leafs, who knows. But I said,
(23:11):
you got to be curious about people. You've got to
motivate your team. You've got to notice, you know, when
people are down or up. And he was like, oh mom.
So then we get into so this is an amazing story.
So then we get from the airport, get in the
cab and coming back home and we're just sitting retired
and my son goes to a driver says, oh, where
(23:31):
are you from? And he starts a conversation and this
gentleman says, well, I'm from Pakistan. And he says to him, oh,
that's very nice, and he's like have you been there
for a long time? He's like twenty years and he's like, oh,
you've been doing this for twenty years. And the gentleman's like, yes,
I've been doing this for twenty years. And he was like, wow,
did you study anything in Pakistani? Like yes, all this
question and this gentleman says, as a matter of fact,
I'm actually an engineer back home. And I was like, well,
(23:53):
of course, not a surprise. But my son's like, Brendan's like,
you engineer driving a taxi cab like in his heart
doesn't keep pute yet. And he's like yeah, you know,
I'm very grateful like into this beautiful country, but it's
hard to transition and get a job in your profession.
And then he's like do you have kids? And this
man goes on and says, well, yes, I do have
two sons, and one of them at your university just
for insan engineering and the reason why he did so
(24:13):
all engineering because I'm an engineer, and I actually sheperone
him and help him for four years and he's now
a computer scientist and engineer and all that stuff, and
so it was amazing just to watch. And I just
said quietly. And then we got off, you know, and
I paid, and he says, oh, my god, like, what
a beautiful boy you're raising, Like he was so curious.
He's like the best in twenty years nine year old
who just asked me all these questions as an adult.
But I really go out of my way to instill
(24:36):
that in him, the importance of and then you know,
we get you know, and there's somebody else and he says, oh,
how is your day And it's a long weekend and
are you enjoying your long weekend? And I was like admiring.
I'm like my and you know, I'm doing a great
job with him. I'm being intentional about it, and it's
like wearying off on him. And he's being intentional about
asking people and having the natural curiosity not just for hockey,
(24:56):
athletic science and math, because that's what he loves. He's
natural it, but like having interest in human beings, you.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Know, that's a great story.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
I got to tell you. I worked for Jim Pattison
for a couple of years out in Vancouver, and Jim Pattison,
as you may know, was like, at least when I
worked for him, it was a nine billion billionaire, so
he was a pretty successful entrepreneur and completely self made.
And we would go on what we called is regional
quarterly divisional trips, and we travel across North America as
(25:25):
a as a management team to meet with our different
subsidiaries and go through business results.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
And we would get in a van and or when
we were.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Walking around a shopping plaza or walking around a plant floor,
Jimmy would do the same thing your son did. He
would ask tons of questions. And you know, so many
business people will get into a taxi or a car
or a limo or a van and just get on
their phone and sit back and never converse with, you know,
the regular people in life. And Jimmy would always sit
(25:57):
up front. I didn't start asking the guy questions. And
he'd asked them about him, and he'd asked them about
their life, and he asked them about the family. But
he'd also asked them about the city, and he asked
them about the retail stores, and he'd ask them, you know,
questions connected with how they in their real life interact
with some of his businesses, and he would get an
incredible amount of knowledge. He would we own grocery stores,
(26:19):
and he'd go into a grocery store and he'd talked
to a cash register lady or man and he'd ask
them about you know, cleanliness and how management treats them,
and about the customers, and about the traffic, and about
this thing and that thing. Jim Pattison was curious about
people and he got an incredible wealth of information by
(26:42):
just asking questions. And so, you know what, you can
tell your son that he's just like Jim Pattison, a
nine billion billionaire.
Speaker 6 (26:49):
Well that's fantastic. I will definitely let him know that.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
Brian, thank you did to take a break for some
messages and come back with Jennifer Beale and Sarah mackamett
in just two minutes.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Stay with he said one back in too.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
No Radio, No Problem stream is live on SAGA ninety
sixty am dot c A.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Welcome back everyone to the Brian Crime Radio. Aar I've
got Jennifer Beal and Sarah Mcamat with me tonight. Jennifer
has organized these networking events and she sends out regular
emails about things that are coming up, and she's a
real connector in the Mississauga a Greater Toronto area community.
And if anyone has been an entrepreneur going to networking events,
you've heard of, if not met, Jennifer Bale over the years.
(27:43):
She's just a dynamo. And Sarah Mamcamat does the same thing.
And you know, it's a real pleasure to connect up
with the two of you again. Jennifer, I want to
ask you, you know, we've heard this story from Sarah
bug Curiosity and my story about curiosity with Jim Pattison.
When you're going into a room or before you're going
into a room and you want to connect up with people,
(28:05):
are there things that you do sech that you're more
successful because a lot of people, you know, they just
they go into a room and they either just talk
to the person they know or they clam up like
are there are there? Are there is there how to
do networking best recipe? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (28:24):
I think there is.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Well, I have to really think about what I do
because I've been doing it's just natural right now for me.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
But yeah, before I would walk in as I'm going
to an.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
Event, or even when I'm registering for the event, I
get all excited and I think in my mind, oh
my gosh, I wonder who I'm going to meet, and
so I want I'm walking in in this state of
excitement when I'm walking into the room, and then the
first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to
look for somebody I know.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
Hey, I'm going to go to warm up with somebody.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
I'm an introvert, by the way, and I have a
very very high aversion to rejection, and so what I'm
sharing with people this will work for anybody, especially those
of you who are uncomfortable with networking. But I look
for somebody I know, and then I'll just walk up
and I'll start connecting with somebody to get warmed up
with somebody that I already know. And then, as you know,
(29:14):
people joy people come in and they join. I'm selective
about the events that I'm going to go to. I
don't want to sit at a large table of people
where I'm only going to get to talk to the
two people beside me. So recently, Sarah and I we
went out to a golf networking, you know, and there
was a dinner and then it was nice and we
got to meet some people.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
We got to meet the host.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
And the second thing is if I don't see anybody
that I know in the room, then I'm going to
look for people who are smiling, because that's going to
be warm. I'm not going to get rejected there. Or
the second thing I'll look for is somebody who's standing alone,
and I'll go up and I'll help them out because
I don't want to be alone, and they probably don't
want to be alone. And I'm going to make instant
friends with somebody when I take away that I'm all
(29:56):
alone in this room and it feels uncomfortable. And if
I don't see anybody smiling, the probably in the wrong place.
But if I don't see anybody I know or anybody smiling,
I would go up to the post and I would
ask the host, listen, this is who I am, this
is who I would like to meet. Could you please
introduce me to some people? And so I get people
(30:16):
to help me get grounded in the room.
Speaker 5 (30:19):
That's what I do.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
And then it's have some great questions to ask people,
you know, and what people typically ask is like what
do you do right? And I think we need to
have a pretty good.
Speaker 5 (30:30):
Response for all of that. I do a whole thing
on brilliant introductions.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
There's this tip tec tooe intro thing that people can have,
and it makes it so it's a more interesting intro.
I think people need to be prepared, and I think
that to become prepared with your into, you need to
speak it out loud when people aren't around. You need
to say it like a hundred times, because we write it,
but we never speak it. So that can make people
feel more comfortable that they know what they're going to say.
(30:54):
But I don't worry about what I'm going to say.
I keep it short and to the point, in one sentence.
What I do what I do Instead, as I start
asking people questions about them, like what are you most
excited about right now? Or what's a project that you're
working on right now that like you're just over the
top with tell me about it? Or it could even
(31:14):
just be why are you here? What do you want
to get out of this event? And those types of
questions are a whole lot better than what you do.
It's going to open up other people, and people love
to talk about themselves. So anybody who's feeling they're being
nosy or prying into people's lives, no, no, no questions.
People love to share about themselves. They don't have to
get an opportunity to do that. And so I say
(31:37):
very little about myself and I ask questions to other people.
You feel a connection, you know, when you feel a
connection with people you know, and at that point you
can have what I call a turning point question that
might lead into something else, like some kind of opportunity
that we could do together.
Speaker 5 (31:56):
And so I just get to know them.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
Once I feel a connection that I'll ask sort of
a turning point question to sort of test is there
something more that we could do here? I keep it short.
Brevity is great. I don't need to talk about everything
at the event. I want to have a meeting with
people after, like you said, in a coffee shop or
maybe on a zoom where we are relaxed and there's
not the buzz of other people around and it's more private.
(32:20):
We can have a deeper conversation.
Speaker 5 (32:21):
So that's what I do.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Sarah, what about you? Are there things that you do
that are your secret?
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Sauce? And successful networking.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
To be honest with you, I am kind of like Jennifer.
When I go to a networking event, I don't try
to connect with everybody. I connect with a few people,
and I try to connect well. And quite often you
connect probably too closer to the people you're sited with.
That just happens to be unless you're walking around and
doing something. But if you do, you then go into
more meaningful, deeper conversations. I know Jennifer and I attending
(32:52):
also an event a while back, and it was a dinner.
We were seated, and so we kind of got to
know a lady who was next to ask you, but
she was also an acest and it was interesting, but
we didn't really get to know the other people in
the room. And it was like, Okay, I find that
if I meet somebody, like if I go to an event,
let's say with Jennifer, right like we used to go
together her and I I would spend time connecting with
(33:13):
her more than anybody else, and I would go to event,
I mean not have met anybody really or connected with anybody,
but I did spend time with Jennifer more and I
got to know her better. And this is how the
events actually came together, but like understanding how she thinks,
understanding she's the right partnerstanding her way of thinking and
where her heart is at the right place, and then
saying like I really think that this could be a great,
(33:35):
you know, opportunity of putting things together and building something great.
So I don't try to meet as many people as possible,
but I tried to meet a few people, get to
know them well, and then build something of quality. And
that's sort of my been my recipe for success. But
I was yesterday at a tennis event at a national bank,
and I tell you, I was with the lady who's
I mean, she's a dynam on atprocrat. She got to
(33:57):
know every person in the room, She had all of
their linkedins, she connected with all of them. And I
was actually watching tennis a bit, you know, connected with
the people who invited me more, had a few people
who were there visiting all of that stuff. But she
was incredible at just getting to know everybody, and that's
her goal. She goes into an event and she just
says hello and says what do you do, and you know,
(34:18):
wants to hear from them. And you know, I was
like wow. I mean, it's also an incredible skill to
be able to do that. And if there's twenty people
in the room, she knew every person and what every
person did and who they were, and she connected with
them on LinkedIn right there and then she asked for
their name, she logged in, she connected it and you know,
so it was incredible to watch that as well, because
(34:39):
I don't have that. That's not the skill that I
personally have and that I use.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Let me offer you to a couple of suggestions.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
See what you think of it, because I've I've studied
this and really tried to get good at it the
first time. I think is preparation. What I do before
I go to an event. I don't do it all
the time, but I try hard to do it. Is
is I look at who's coming and think about people
I would like to meet so that I go into
an event. Particularly you know, I go to a lot
(35:07):
of conferences, business conferences and things like that, and I
think about those people that I would like to connect with,
and I either send them a message ahead of time,
look forward to seeing you at the event, look forward
to hopefully you can grab a coffee or drink or
something like that, so that I got a couple of
people that I know that they're going to be there,
what they're all about, or a little bit about what
they're about, and set you know, some preparation.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
That that will connect.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
The second thing I try to do is sort of
what you said Jennifer about you know, I said an
attention and it's not a you know, an elevator pitch,
but it's what I want to achieve out of it.
And and so I do practice. You know what I'm
going to say to people, not pitch like, but you know,
my my my opening gambit, what what what it is
that I want to achieve by going to this event?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Otherwise I'm just going to go to an event. I
want to go to the event for some reason.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
The third thing that I like to do is is
I think best described by that Chinese concept of guanchi.
And you know when people exchange cards in China, and
we make sometimes fun of this, but what they do
is they present a card in front of them to you.
And the reason why is when you receive it, you're
supposed to receive it like a photograph, and you look
(36:17):
at the at the card and you study, you know,
the name, the title, the company, the location, and the
reason why you're doing that is really for a couple
of reasons. The first is is so that you can
make a connection with the person. Oh, you're from South
to Toboco. I know some people in South Totoboco where
you know, you're in banking and you know, do you know,
so that you make some sort of a connection between
(36:39):
the person. And then the second thing is that memory block,
that memory game of once you connect someone about something,
Oh it's Sarah from South to Toboco, You'll always remember
Sarah's name because she's from South to Tobaka. You've made
that memory connection in your in your brain. And then
the third thing is so that you can think about
what you can do for that person, which is I
(36:59):
think the fourth thing is the idea of reciprocity is
that if you can do something for someone else first,
the chance that something will come back to you is
far greater. So if I think, oh, I know someone
that is in need of some banking assistance, and I
know Sarah does that kind of mortgage broken loan, broken business,
I'm going to introduce Sarah teb blah blah blah over
(37:20):
on the other side of the room, you know, and
I take you over and introduce you to that person.
The chances are that you or them or someone is
going to introduce me because the luck that we actually
needed to meet and needed to do business it's low.
But if I connected with you and helped you and
connected with them and helped them, that I'm multiplied by,
you know, an exponential factor. The chances are that one
(37:42):
of the two of you will know someone else in
the room that is the right person for me to meet.
And then, you know, I think you know that old
line about God gave us two ears in one mouth
so we would listen more often than we talk. And
I was corrected at one speech that I made. I
think it was at one of you events, Jennifer, where
someone came up to me after I said that and
(38:02):
said yeah. But in addition, Brian, he gave us a
mouth that can shut up and close and ears that
can never close. And so therefore, not only are we
supposed to listen twice as much as we're talking, but
we're supposed to close our mouth sometime and really listen.
And so therefore, you know, listen hard, I think is
the key.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
And I guess.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
The last thing I would suggest is follow up. And
so I think it's great that the person that you
knew Sarah had connected them up on LinkedIn right away,
but I think it's you know, twenty four forty eight
hours later, it's follow up and you know, pleasure meeting,
you love your business, you know, this is what we
can do together, or I'm looking forward to a ten
(38:42):
year event, or you know it's great to hear about
your son's success in hockey. Following up with people within
twenty four or forty eight hours I think is key
because it's cements the relationship and the connection.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Anyway, those are a couple of suggestions for you.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
Yeah, and one thing I would add to it is
that I think social media has made this a whole
a lot about quantity of connections as opposed to quality.
Speaker 5 (39:08):
And so we can meet lots of people and.
Speaker 4 (39:12):
Usually nothing's really going to come of it, and we
may tuck it away it's in the back of our mind,
but going in and having around us a network of
people consistently, it could change, you know, per quarter or
per project, but like ten to twenty people that have
our back, we have their back and really building deep
relationships with those people. Recently, in one of my masterclasses,
(39:37):
somebody followed exactly what I said, and when they did
an assessment of their revenue from the past four years,
they realized that ninety five percent of their revenue came
from referrals.
Speaker 5 (39:49):
And their complaint had been I'm giving referrals but not
getting referrals back. And when they did this assessment, they
identified who was giving them referrals. And I just said,
go in there and star are building those relationships with
those people.
Speaker 4 (40:02):
Really build in hardware relationships that are based on referral
and watch.
Speaker 5 (40:07):
Your business grow.
Speaker 4 (40:08):
So yes, we could know a lot of people, and
also we want to really know people on a qualitative
level and who really knows us and what we're all
about and what we're working on and cares enough to
want to see it happen.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
We take a break, final break, can come back with
some concluding comments with Sarah Makamett and Jennifer Bale in
just two minutes, Stay with that one. This is an
interesting conversation because I really think it is a skill
that you know, Number one, young people regrettably haven't had
the chance to really learn because of COVID lockdowns and
remote work and hybrid work and stuff like that. And
(40:45):
it's also I think a skill that a lot of us,
you know, either have lost or we commoditized. We made transactional.
It was all about how many business cards you can
connect rather than how many connections you can make and
I or.
Speaker 4 (40:58):
How many deals can you get from somebody and then
you just get out all off on to the next person.
Speaker 5 (41:03):
It's become very transactional.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
That is an old way of networking and the new
is what you're saying is what can I give to
this person?
Speaker 5 (41:12):
Can I take them across the room? What can I share?
Speaker 4 (41:14):
Which is what we're doing at our dinners, Tom, What
do you have to share? We start from that place,
not from the neediness I view this.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
One person who comparable to you. Jennifer had an attitude
when she went to these events that I love. She said,
I always go into an event saying, who's my new
friend of the day, Who's the new.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Friend I'm going to make today?
Speaker 3 (41:32):
And if you have that attitude, you go in with
a pretty positive attitude. Stay with us, everyone back in two.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
Minutes stream us live at SAGA nine six am dot CA.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Welcome back everyone to the bron Crome Radio.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
It's a real pleasure of mind to have Sarah Makam
and Jennifer Beal with us tonight talking about networking, about
the importance of making social connections, the importance of helping
other people first before you expect them to help you,
about how this is really a sort of a lost art,
and that Jennifer and Sarah experts at it and can
really assist us. And you know, I think it's really important.
(42:20):
You know, I think that we're going to be changing
a lot of business as we go through this trade war,
and Jennifer started off a conversation talking about the geopolitical situation.
You know, things are going to change, and we're gonna
have to become a lot more innovative and a lot
more flexible and a lot more adaptive. And and some
of us, when we go through turmoil, as Jennifer said,
(42:41):
you know, put our heads in the sand and wait
till it passes, and and other people get really nervous
and don't do anything. I do think that now's the
time to actually branch out and and think about those
those those new opportunities, those new connections, those new friends
that can help us in the Future. Jennifer, You've got
this big event coming up next week.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
What's the date? Where is it? How do people go?
Speaker 4 (43:06):
Yeah, So Sarah and I are hosting a afternoon from
three to seven pm on Wednesday, August thirteenth. This is
in a tobacco near the Queensway and Kipling in West
Toronto area. And what's going to happen is we're going
to give people an experience of networking like what we've
been talking about here today, where you come in and
(43:28):
there's generosity at the table, hospitality at the table, and
where people have an opportunity to be able to share
the projects that they're working on and see the assets
other people have that could connect in and support theirs
and make genuine connections that are going to go somewhere.
We're going to support everybody and making sure that there
(43:50):
is follow up in this event so that things actually
have traction and start to go. And is it okay
if I show people give people the.
Speaker 5 (43:59):
Details on a slide?
Speaker 2 (44:00):
For sure?
Speaker 5 (44:01):
Right now? I can do that.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
Okay, here's a QR code that people can scan. If
you're watching this online, it's once August thirteenth, and if
you're listening right now. The address the UURL to find
the details is Summer Networking Event dot com. So at
(44:23):
Summer Networking Event dot com, we would love you to
come and join us and come into our circle of.
Speaker 5 (44:29):
People who are leaders. We're going to activate our leadership.
We're going to step into the future.
Speaker 4 (44:36):
We're going to create the future that we want for
ourselves and for our kids, and also for our neighbors
and for future generations. We are part of the future
and we're going to do it together in our circles
and our networking.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Sarah, are you excited about this event?
Speaker 6 (44:55):
We're very excited write about this event and really looking
forward to it and planning it and organizing it and
preparing for it. And I think it's going to be
a fantastic event. So really looking forward to, you know,
bringing the right energy in the right people at the event.
Speaker 3 (45:10):
Ladies, thank you so much for joining me tonight and
tell us about this event.
Speaker 2 (45:12):
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (45:13):
I think that you know, whether you go to the
event or not, and I think you know, Jennifer's events
are fantastic, and so how do you recommend going? But
whether you go to the event or not, I think
that Sarah and Jennifer have talked tonight about a bunch
of skills of traits, whether it's curiosity as Sarah talked
about her son and that incredibly great story of that,
(45:34):
and or you know, just the attitude that Jennifer's got
about making connections and how those connections are so critically
important to getting through life, to getting successful businesses. I
think that these ladies have I think correctly identified as
skill that I think is it's it's it's vitally important
for us to have if we want to be successful
in life, in entrepreneurship and business and in our job.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
So thank you, ladies.
Speaker 3 (45:58):
I appreciate you joining us.
Speaker 5 (46:00):
Thank you for helping us.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
That's our show for tonight, everybody, thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
I remind you I'm on every Monday through Friday at
six o'clock on nine sixty am. You can streaming online
at TRIPLEW Saga nine sixty am dot CA. All my
podcasts and videos go up on my website Briancrombie dot
com as soon as the radio show goes to air,
and I post on YouTube on my YouTube channel, on
social media, on LinkedIn, on Facebook, on Instagram, on speakeasy,
on SoundCloud, on Audible, anywhere, Apple, you know, anywhere you
(46:27):
can get podcasts, because I want to connect with you.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
Thanks, good night, everybody, No Radio, no problem. Stream is
live on Sagay nine six am dot CA.
The views expressed in the following program are those of
the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of
Saga nine sixty am or its management.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good Evening, Never want to welcome to the Brian Cromby
Radio War.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
We've got two dynamos, two dynamite ladies to introduce you
to tonight and their networkers. And they've really got this
belief that now as we get ready for the fall,
as we think about all the challenges in this world,
is the time for people to network. Jennifer Bial and
Sarah Oh my gosh, I always protect your name wrong,
Mark Comette, Machamit macham It macam It, Sarah bil Jennifer
(00:44):
bal and Sarah Mackamtt two dynamos in the Toronto entrepreneurial
community that run a big summer networking event coming up
in a week's time and a bunch of groups and
really think that we've all got to start thinking about
getting together and can networking. Jennifer, why are you doing this?
Why now?
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (01:04):
Well, networking is always important.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
You know, your network really is the most important thing
to your success.
Speaker 5 (01:11):
I think right.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Now particularly we stand at an incredible moment in history,
like we have seen so much upset in this world
this year alone, with you know, the geopolitics for sure,
and the shakeup from that, and also AI emerging in
a really large way. And so Sarah and I see
it as we're standing at a crossroads right now, like
(01:33):
which way are we going to go? Because as far
as we can tell, nobody really knows.
Speaker 5 (01:37):
The way forward.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
And I don't think that this is a time just
for politicians and capitalists and the people who are creating
AI and all the decision makers we typically go to.
I think this is a moment for entrepreneurs to stand
and take a stand forward and decide, hey, what do
we want to do? What kind of future do we
want to create, and take an active role in that.
(02:00):
And so there are some people who are standing back,
putting their head in the sand and saying, look, I'm
just going to wait and see you know, I'm just
going to forget that this is going on and carry
on and do my own life. And we see that
there's other people that are like, let me just wait
and see what happens, and then I'll start taking a stand.
And Sarah and I we don't believe that we need
to wait, and we certainly don't want to stick our
(02:20):
head in the sands and pretend this isn't going on.
We see an important role for entrepreneurs to stand, to
take a stand forward, to start creating the future that
we want as entrepreneurs can because we are creative, we think,
and so the importance of a network is none of
us can do this alone and there's nobody coming to
rescue us. There is nobody who knows the way in
(02:41):
all of this, And so we're gathering people together intentionally
entrepreneurs who are creative thinkers, who are like, Yeah, let's
go create the future together.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Sarah, how are you going to do this?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
How are you doing this?
Speaker 6 (02:57):
Yeah, So Jennifer mentioned, so we do beautiful dinners that
we do on a monthly basis, and we invite entrepreneurs
to the table and showcase a little bit of what
we are all about. And then afterwards we have our
networking events that are also monthly and groups. And the
experience kind of came. It's a combination of me being
(03:17):
part of YPO and prisonization for over ten years and
then part of Hard Business School executive program and learning
and growing and seeing what works and what does not work,
and what is missing in the space, and so this
is new innovative. It's what people can connect from the heart,
and people can make the right decisions, they can grow
(03:37):
and then they can certainly make the money they desire
and build the businesses and do the deals through connections,
through networking and through relationships. Were now I'm doing the pitching.
I don't think that really works. It's a very different
way of doing business. And so that's what we are about.
And we're grateful for the people who are coming and
joining us and being a part of it.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Okay, So in the world of Internet and AI and
social media and zoom and all these virtual things, getting
together for dinners actually matters.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Seriously, I would see.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
It matters more than ever, Brian.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
And what we're fighting is people are really thirsting for
this to be able to come together. See people look
at each other in the eye, smile and have conversations,
long conversations that don't end because you know.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
The Zoom hour is up for whatever we do. We
do long dinners, they're three hours.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
And also there we have conversations around not the problems
that we face and the challenges that we have and
how are we going to fix them. I mean, we
show up from a place of we have a lot
to offer, and everybody else has a lot to offer,
and so we're stepping into the possibility of what we
can create together. Everybody has capital, they just not they
(04:55):
may not recognize what they have because typically when we
think of capital, we think of financial capital.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
But people have gifts, you know, from the heart, passion.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
People have skills, they have knowledge, you know, insights into
things that are going on. We have people at the
table that have worked for publicly traded AI companies, like
they know more about AI than I could ever figure
out on AI.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
And so we're coming together and we're sharing our wealth
that we have, all of the capital that we.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Have, including our connections, bringing it all to the table
and saying, look, what do you want to do together.
There's a lot of collaborations starting, just like Sarah and
I are collaborating, a lot of collaborations are birthing at
these tables.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
So how do I get invited to one of these dinners?
Speaker 5 (05:44):
You're invited?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
How do people that are listening tonight get invited to
one of these dinners?
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Right? Like?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
What are your suggesting? Now? Should call you up and
invite themselves to dinner or or they should have their
own dinners, or what's your recommendation all the people listening.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Tonight, Well, one of the things that's really important is
that that people are invited. So there's we don't use
marketing language, we just use invitation. And it also matters
who's at the table, and so we're very we curate this,
we're very considerate of who we are inviting and who
we want to meet at the table because there's only
(06:17):
ten of us, and so it's by invitation. And if
anybody is listening tonight I wants to be invited, then
all they need to do is reach out to Sarah
or me. We're on LinkedIn. They can connect through us.
That way, you.
Speaker 5 (06:30):
Could Google search us and find us.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
They could connect through it to us through you, Brian,
and we'll invite them to one of the dinners.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
Now you're invited, Brian, we want you what do.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
You mean what do you mean curate the dinner because
I've I've found that there are some dinners, some networking
events that really work and some that don't. And it's
something about curating the people that are at the at
the event. And then there's also something about sort of
steering the conversation or sharing the table that I think
(07:03):
is key. What do you guys do anything in that
regard you mentioned Curate, Tell me about Curate and do
you do anything to sort of control steer chair the table.
Speaker 6 (07:14):
Yeah, yeah, we definitely do that. So we very you know,
we look at who's at the table. So when people
send to us the invite and they say, okay, I'd
love to join, you know, dinner, we'll take a look
and see who are they, where are they coming from,
their background, and make sure they are a fit. So
it definitely is curated and you know, they may not
be for this month, maybe they'll join next month based
(07:36):
on the group. So we want to make sure that
people mash, that they do get along, that they do
get value from attending this dinner as well. That's very important,
as Jennifer mentioned to us, And yeah, so they all curative.
Well now every person they have their own name tag,
you know, they have cards to share, referrals to give,
gifts to share, and so it really is very well
(07:57):
put together, thought through and curated to ensure that it
is of the most value to people attending.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Yeah, what's one of the biggest challenges you see when
you go to an event for the reason that it
wouldn't work.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Brian, Well, you know right now, I'm sitting at the
dining room table of a favorite uncle of mine, and
he was renowned for putting on incredibly good dinner parties.
And they weren't networking parties, but they were incredibly valuable
dinner parties. And he would he would put name cards
so people would know, and he would get people that
didn't know each other together and he would think ahead
(08:33):
of time of the connections between the people that might
make sense, and that might not be why people would
end up having a fascinating conversation, but is the reason
why they started the conversation.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
And he would I.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Remember one dinner party where he invited a minister of
a local church and he knew that I had some
interest in some of the topics and it was specifically
Paul the Disciple Paul, and he started the conversation. Now,
the conversation then went on in depth thereafter, but he
started the conversation and he did it with numerous different people.
(09:05):
I had someone that was sort of someone like you, Sarah,
a niece of his that was into banking and he
connected her up with a sizable you know, entrepreneur that
was expanding across New England. And so I think that
there's something about organizing the table and starting the conversations
and chairing the dinner and then it flows from that.
(09:27):
But but to make it all spontaneous sometimes doesn't work.
It's it's good to have spontaneity and you know, allow
the collisions to happen, but sometimes they need a little push,
a little ludge.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Well, one thing that you just mentioned that I think
is really important and why we do it is there
needs to be food, there needs to be drink.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
And most decisions are not made in a boardroom. They're
made around a table.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
And so creating the atmosphere of relaxed, enjoy hospitality. You know,
come feed yourself. You're here to feed, eat and share
with other people. You know, pass the food around. We'll
also pass the gifts that you have around to the
capital that you have around. So it creates that atmosphere.
(10:15):
And I love what your uncle did. I think that's beautiful.
And so we always do it around a meal. Very
important to do it around a meal because of the hospitality.
And the second, as Sarah said, is you know, making
sure the right people are at the table too, that
are going to be able to have these juicy conversations
that could lead to something like the event that you
were at with your uncle, where there was somebody who
(10:36):
had capital and there was somebody in need of capital
and it worked really well. So we're looking for all
of that and then yes, definitely what happens at the
table matters.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
And so Sarah and I we are part of the conversation.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
We are not like, we aren't the leaders and we
don't have all the answers. We then invoke, through powerful
question questions, a conversation that would be meaningful for the
people at the table, so they get to know each other.
And so what we do is, rather than have people
coming and pitching what they do and telling people all
(11:14):
about what they do and the needs that they have
and the problems that they have, instead we ask powerful
questions that allow people.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
To one share their gifts. Come, what did you come?
What did you bring that you can share?
Speaker 6 (11:28):
You know?
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Less, we get some people over from dinner. They brought
me a whole bag full of stuff as well. I mean, well,
I'm like I want to feed them. And they came
and they brought a gift, right, Well, when we go somewhere,
when we go to these dinners, what are you bringing?
Speaker 5 (11:41):
What do you have that you can share?
Speaker 4 (11:43):
And that puts people in an entirely different place mindset
for having a conversation with people. And then what comes
out of that is the possibilities of look, this is
where we stand right now, what kind of future do
you want? And when people are one feeling gener and
connecting with other people over food, the idea is to
(12:05):
start to pomp through that interaction.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Well, I've always been a long believer that there's more
deals done in coffee shops than in the boardrooms on
the top floor. And I think there's something about when
you're in the boardroom on the top floor of a building,
you come with an agenda, you come with a bunch
of demands. But when you're on the main floor in
the coffee shop, you're just chatting. You're just talking, and
you get to know who the real person is. You
(12:28):
get to know if they have kids, you get to
know if they're married, You get to know if they
like to travel. You get to know what their wants
and desires and dreams are. You know, maybe not over
a coffee. Maybe you need a whole meal for that,
as you say, but you get to know the real person.
And I think to get deals done, to get real
partnerships made, to get real collaboration, you've got to get
to know who the.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Real person is.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
We're going to take a break for some messages and
come back in just two minutes with Sarah and Jennifer
talking about there's summer event that's coming up, about these dinners,
and I think, take a step back and really understand
what networking is all about and how critically important it is.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Stay with us.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I want back in two days.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Stream us live at SAGA nine sixty am dot C.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
A welcome back everyone to the Brian Cromby Radio Hour.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
I've got Sarah macamet and Jennifer Biale, two incredible networkers,
two incredible dynamite to entrepreneurs ladies that I've had the
pleasure of getting to know over the years because they're
just really great connectors, and they want to talk tonight
about some events that they're holding, but also sort of
the skill of networking and making connections. Jennifer, You've got
a history of these incredible summer events and a lot
(13:49):
of people in the summer don't think about sort of
networking and making connections. And you've been very successful in
having these events. I've been proved just to speak at
some of them. Tell me what you're doing this summer.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
Yeah, Well, what we're doing is different.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Sarah and I have teamed up and we're actually we're
going to do an experience for people to come in
like we do.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
At the dinners.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Well, we're going to have the experience in the afternoon
with people. I'm really leaning in hard with Peter Block's
work in community and he states in the book that
you know, all change happens in small groups. So although
there will be sixty people, they will be meeting in
small groups which will.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
Be which will be guided through great questions.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
And so it's from three o'clock until seven, and people
will meet at three. We will put people into groups
to have great conversations in the afternoon with other entrepreneurs
and they can discuss what they have to share, and
they can discuss what it is that they're working on,
(14:57):
what kind of project, and then start to see the
connections amongst what people have and what they're working on,
and what they have and what other people are working
on and make some deep connections with other people that
can lead somewhere after the event and then we'll have
we'll break, we'll have some dinner and drink and stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
And when is this and where is it and how
does one get invited?
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Yeah, this is Wednesday, August the thirteenth, and we are
in tobacnear the Queensway and Kipling at a private venue.
And so people can get details at Summer Networking Event
dot com. So it's online at Summer Networking Event dot com.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
And that's where all the details are. People can register to.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
Attend afternoon at three pm, study at three pm, like
three till seven. It's a great time, Sarah.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
You know, when you get into the small group, how
do you make sure that how do you catalyze a
good conversation?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
How do you make sure it happens?
Speaker 6 (15:58):
It's a great question, Brian. We do have leaders who
are coming from our own networking groups now who are
going to be facilitating and helping us do that. So
they're trained, they know what to do, and so they'll
be facilitating and chaperoning and guiding to ensure that the
right conversations takes place and that people are you know,
communicating and their exercises and everything else. So even though
(16:21):
it is a small group and it's just Jennifer and I,
we do have incredible support team that's going to be
present to ensure that people get at most quality from
this attending.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
And is there fee, Yes, there is.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Tickets are one nineteen advents early bird that's on right
now for this week, and then tickets are at the
door are one forty nine if available.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
I think we'll be sold out focus We almost are capacity.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Well, there's been Your events have been fantastic in the past, Jennifer,
and so I'm sure this one will be a big
success as well.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
And so good luck and congratulations.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Let me take step back if I could with the
two of you, because you know, I think that people
have sort of lost the skill of social connection, of networking.
You know, you think about dating, people are using apps
to to connect up with people rather than necessarily going
and meeting people. When I think about, you know, kids
(17:21):
that have gone through high school or university during COVID,
they missed out on a lot of those you know,
school clubs and school band and school teams and or
the university experience because they were locked down for three
or four years. And you know, I've talked to many
young people today where they haven't had that experience, and frankly,
they're now doing hybrid work where they don't end up
(17:44):
going to the work place often enough.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
You know, I don't work downtown anymore.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
When I go downtown, I walk through the concourse or
walk along the street, I always bump into someone I
know and have an interesting conversation. We exchange business cards
or connections, and we end up, you know, connecting up
and doing something together, whether it's business or social or
introducing or something like that. And so that those those
spontaneous connections that happen when you're at a at an event,
(18:15):
at a party, at a dinner, or just walking around
and you bump into people are incredibly helpful and important.
But I worry that so many people ever never learned
that because they didn't have the experience in high school
or university, or they don't get it off enough because
they're working hybrid and and don't you know, go to
the job and meet people. We've lost something in that.
(18:37):
How do you get it back?
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Well, first, what did we lose is we've lost connection
with each other. I think that's great that you can
walk and meet bump into people. How good does that feel?
Wherever you go, you're meeting people that you know and
you trust. And so when people don't have that, when
people are in this place of disconnection, it.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
Is a real problem for them.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
In fact, the neuroscientists are saying, all of our ills,
all of our alls, are come from disconnection, you know,
right from our health down to how safe our community is,
to how well we do in our careers, to how
well a business actually does. I can't remember the staff,
but it's like hundreds of billions of dollars are being
(19:23):
lost every year in business because people are disconnected and
the implications of being disconnected and what that does to people.
This is a The UN has declared it to be
a global crisis, this disconnection just right up there with
climate change like everything else, that it's a global crisis.
(19:44):
They're saying, disconnection is loneliness and what it's leading to.
And so I'm with you, and so is Sarah. We
are totally with you on this concern for people being disconnected,
because it doesn't lead to health, doesn't lead to people
leading well, success full, enriching lives. Hence why we are
doing what we're doing is to gather people. And the
(20:05):
answer is to gather people. And so networking is really important,
and we have like tech, we have so much tech.
We are hyper connected in this world. I mean, how
many people are on LinkedIn just alone? And yet people
can feel disconnected from that, and in that disconnection, people
can start treating people differently than they would if they
(20:26):
were in person with them. So I'm not saying that
we have to just be in person. I think the
social media has an important place. We need to get
back connecting with people. That's where you find mentorship, that
is where you're going to find insights into how to
do different things.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
That's where the opportunities lie with people.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
And so this whole idea just reach out and pitch
people who hardly know you or don't know you, is
not working very well. And I think if you look
at the dating sites, for example, what you see is
people meeting online and they're having great conversations, but as
soon as somebody wants to meet the other person, all
of a sudden, the other person disappears.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
This is quite common. Well interesting, Brian.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
This is actually starting to show up in business with
people meeting people through whatever online platform that they can,
even getting to a point where they're delivering proposals, and
then all of a sudden they disappear. Quite common. Where
does this not happen. It doesn't happen when you're meeting
(21:34):
in the coffee shop. It doesn't meet when you're meeting
people live in person. People show up and then you
give them a proposal and they say yes, and they
say no, And so we're losing ourselves with each other,
and we need to find ourselves together again to Sarah,
and I believe to step into this future and be successful.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Sarah, how do you do this? You know, even before
you join up with Jennifer, you've been an incredibly good
connector with people. How do you do that? How do
you how do you actually go and connect with people?
Like It's it's a skill, is it not?
Speaker 6 (22:10):
I think Brian, you're absolutely correct. It is a skill.
And I find for me, I have a natural curiosity
for people like I. I'm an immigrant myself, and so
I'm interested in other people's stories. Like you said, deals
happen when you connect with a human being, when you
see somebody's heart. Where do you come from? Who are
you you know, are you married, you have kids? You
(22:31):
know what drives you? What's your why? Like it's it's
it's to me. It just I have that incredible natural
curiosity for human beings, and I'm always like, how can
I contribute? How can I help you? How can I
who else can I connect you with? And so I
think that if you don't have that as a as
a like a natural maybe gift curiosity, you can learn
(22:51):
you can put an effort. I would tell you an
example is my nine year old son. We were just
on the trip for a few days in the East
Coast and we were talking about the importance of connecting
with people. And he plays triple A hockey and I said,
you know, one day you're going to be in the
leadership position. Maybe you know you're going to win a
Stanley Cup for maple leafs, who knows. But I said,
(23:11):
you got to be curious about people. You've got to
motivate your team. You've got to notice, you know, when
people are down or up. And he was like, oh mom.
So then we get into so this is an amazing story.
So then we get from the airport, get in the
cab and coming back home and we're just sitting retired
and my son goes to a driver says, oh, where
(23:31):
are you from? And he starts a conversation and this
gentleman says, well, I'm from Pakistan. And he says to him, oh,
that's very nice, and he's like have you been there
for a long time? He's like twenty years and he's like, oh,
you've been doing this for twenty years. And the gentleman's like, yes,
I've been doing this for twenty years. And he was like, wow,
did you study anything in Pakistani? Like yes, all this
question and this gentleman says, as a matter of fact,
I'm actually an engineer back home. And I was like, well,
(23:53):
of course, not a surprise. But my son's like, Brendan's like,
you engineer driving a taxi cab like in his heart
doesn't keep pute yet. And he's like yeah, you know,
I'm very grateful like into this beautiful country, but it's
hard to transition and get a job in your profession.
And then he's like do you have kids? And this
man goes on and says, well, yes, I do have
two sons, and one of them at your university just
for insan engineering and the reason why he did so
(24:13):
all engineering because I'm an engineer, and I actually sheperone
him and help him for four years and he's now
a computer scientist and engineer and all that stuff, and
so it was amazing just to watch. And I just
said quietly. And then we got off, you know, and
I paid, and he says, oh, my god, like, what
a beautiful boy you're raising, Like he was so curious.
He's like the best in twenty years nine year old
who just asked me all these questions as an adult.
But I really go out of my way to instill
(24:36):
that in him, the importance of and then you know,
we get you know, and there's somebody else and he says, oh,
how is your day And it's a long weekend and
are you enjoying your long weekend? And I was like admiring.
I'm like my and you know, I'm doing a great
job with him. I'm being intentional about it, and it's
like wearying off on him. And he's being intentional about
asking people and having the natural curiosity not just for hockey,
(24:56):
athletic science and math, because that's what he loves. He's
natural it, but like having interest in human beings, you.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Know, that's a great story.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
I got to tell you. I worked for Jim Pattison
for a couple of years out in Vancouver, and Jim Pattison,
as you may know, was like, at least when I
worked for him, it was a nine billion billionaire, so
he was a pretty successful entrepreneur and completely self made.
And we would go on what we called is regional
quarterly divisional trips, and we travel across North America as
(25:25):
a as a management team to meet with our different
subsidiaries and go through business results.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
And we would get in a van and or when
we were.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Walking around a shopping plaza or walking around a plant floor,
Jimmy would do the same thing your son did. He
would ask tons of questions. And you know, so many
business people will get into a taxi or a car
or a limo or a van and just get on
their phone and sit back and never converse with, you know,
the regular people in life. And Jimmy would always sit
(25:57):
up front. I didn't start asking the guy questions. And
he'd asked them about him, and he'd asked them about
their life, and he asked them about the family. But
he'd also asked them about the city, and he asked
them about the retail stores, and he'd ask them, you know,
questions connected with how they in their real life interact
with some of his businesses, and he would get an
incredible amount of knowledge. He would we own grocery stores,
(26:19):
and he'd go into a grocery store and he'd talked
to a cash register lady or man and he'd ask
them about you know, cleanliness and how management treats them,
and about the customers, and about the traffic, and about
this thing and that thing. Jim Pattison was curious about
people and he got an incredible wealth of information by
(26:42):
just asking questions. And so, you know what, you can
tell your son that he's just like Jim Pattison, a
nine billion billionaire.
Speaker 6 (26:49):
Well that's fantastic. I will definitely let him know that.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
Brian, thank you did to take a break for some
messages and come back with Jennifer Beale and Sarah mackamett
in just two minutes.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Stay with he said one back in too.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
No Radio, No Problem stream is live on SAGA ninety
sixty am dot c A.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Welcome back everyone to the Brian Crime Radio. Aar I've
got Jennifer Beal and Sarah Mcamat with me tonight. Jennifer
has organized these networking events and she sends out regular
emails about things that are coming up, and she's a
real connector in the Mississauga a Greater Toronto area community.
And if anyone has been an entrepreneur going to networking events,
you've heard of, if not met, Jennifer Bale over the years.
(27:43):
She's just a dynamo. And Sarah Mamcamat does the same thing.
And you know, it's a real pleasure to connect up
with the two of you again. Jennifer, I want to
ask you, you know, we've heard this story from Sarah
bug Curiosity and my story about curiosity with Jim Pattison.
When you're going into a room or before you're going
into a room and you want to connect up with people,
(28:05):
are there things that you do sech that you're more
successful because a lot of people, you know, they just
they go into a room and they either just talk
to the person they know or they clam up like
are there are there? Are there is there how to
do networking best recipe? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (28:24):
I think there is.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Well, I have to really think about what I do
because I've been doing it's just natural right now for me.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
But yeah, before I would walk in as I'm going
to an.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
Event, or even when I'm registering for the event, I
get all excited and I think in my mind, oh
my gosh, I wonder who I'm going to meet, and
so I want I'm walking in in this state of
excitement when I'm walking into the room, and then the
first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to
look for somebody I know.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
Hey, I'm going to go to warm up with somebody.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
I'm an introvert, by the way, and I have a
very very high aversion to rejection, and so what I'm
sharing with people this will work for anybody, especially those
of you who are uncomfortable with networking. But I look
for somebody I know, and then I'll just walk up
and I'll start connecting with somebody to get warmed up
with somebody that I already know. And then, as you know,
(29:14):
people joy people come in and they join. I'm selective
about the events that I'm going to go to. I
don't want to sit at a large table of people
where I'm only going to get to talk to the
two people beside me. So recently, Sarah and I we
went out to a golf networking, you know, and there
was a dinner and then it was nice and we
got to meet some people.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
We got to meet the host.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
And the second thing is if I don't see anybody
that I know in the room, then I'm going to
look for people who are smiling, because that's going to
be warm. I'm not going to get rejected there. Or
the second thing I'll look for is somebody who's standing alone,
and I'll go up and I'll help them out because
I don't want to be alone, and they probably don't
want to be alone. And I'm going to make instant
friends with somebody when I take away that I'm all
(29:56):
alone in this room and it feels uncomfortable. And if
I don't see anybody smiling, the probably in the wrong place.
But if I don't see anybody I know or anybody smiling,
I would go up to the post and I would
ask the host, listen, this is who I am, this
is who I would like to meet. Could you please
introduce me to some people? And so I get people
(30:16):
to help me get grounded in the room.
Speaker 5 (30:19):
That's what I do.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
And then it's have some great questions to ask people,
you know, and what people typically ask is like what
do you do right? And I think we need to
have a pretty good.
Speaker 5 (30:30):
Response for all of that. I do a whole thing
on brilliant introductions.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
There's this tip tec tooe intro thing that people can have,
and it makes it so it's a more interesting intro.
I think people need to be prepared, and I think
that to become prepared with your into, you need to
speak it out loud when people aren't around. You need
to say it like a hundred times, because we write it,
but we never speak it. So that can make people
feel more comfortable that they know what they're going to say.
(30:54):
But I don't worry about what I'm going to say.
I keep it short and to the point, in one sentence.
What I do what I do Instead, as I start
asking people questions about them, like what are you most
excited about right now? Or what's a project that you're
working on right now that like you're just over the
top with tell me about it? Or it could even
(31:14):
just be why are you here? What do you want
to get out of this event? And those types of
questions are a whole lot better than what you do.
It's going to open up other people, and people love
to talk about themselves. So anybody who's feeling they're being
nosy or prying into people's lives, no, no, no questions.
People love to share about themselves. They don't have to
get an opportunity to do that. And so I say
(31:37):
very little about myself and I ask questions to other people.
You feel a connection, you know, when you feel a
connection with people you know, and at that point you
can have what I call a turning point question that
might lead into something else, like some kind of opportunity
that we could do together.
Speaker 5 (31:56):
And so I just get to know them.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
Once I feel a connection that I'll ask sort of
a turning point question to sort of test is there
something more that we could do here? I keep it short.
Brevity is great. I don't need to talk about everything
at the event. I want to have a meeting with
people after, like you said, in a coffee shop or
maybe on a zoom where we are relaxed and there's
not the buzz of other people around and it's more private.
(32:20):
We can have a deeper conversation.
Speaker 5 (32:21):
So that's what I do.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Sarah, what about you? Are there things that you do
that are your secret?
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Sauce? And successful networking.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
To be honest with you, I am kind of like Jennifer.
When I go to a networking event, I don't try
to connect with everybody. I connect with a few people,
and I try to connect well. And quite often you
connect probably too closer to the people you're sited with.
That just happens to be unless you're walking around and
doing something. But if you do, you then go into
more meaningful, deeper conversations. I know Jennifer and I attending
(32:52):
also an event a while back, and it was a dinner.
We were seated, and so we kind of got to
know a lady who was next to ask you, but
she was also an acest and it was interesting, but
we didn't really get to know the other people in
the room. And it was like, Okay, I find that
if I meet somebody, like if I go to an event,
let's say with Jennifer, right like we used to go
together her and I I would spend time connecting with
(33:13):
her more than anybody else, and I would go to event,
I mean not have met anybody really or connected with anybody,
but I did spend time with Jennifer more and I
got to know her better. And this is how the
events actually came together, but like understanding how she thinks,
understanding she's the right partnerstanding her way of thinking and
where her heart is at the right place, and then
saying like I really think that this could be a great,
(33:35):
you know, opportunity of putting things together and building something great.
So I don't try to meet as many people as possible,
but I tried to meet a few people, get to
know them well, and then build something of quality. And
that's sort of my been my recipe for success. But
I was yesterday at a tennis event at a national bank,
and I tell you, I was with the lady who's
I mean, she's a dynam on atprocrat. She got to
(33:57):
know every person in the room, She had all of
their linkedins, she connected with all of them. And I
was actually watching tennis a bit, you know, connected with
the people who invited me more, had a few people
who were there visiting all of that stuff. But she
was incredible at just getting to know everybody, and that's
her goal. She goes into an event and she just
says hello and says what do you do, and you know,
(34:18):
wants to hear from them. And you know, I was
like wow. I mean, it's also an incredible skill to
be able to do that. And if there's twenty people
in the room, she knew every person and what every
person did and who they were, and she connected with
them on LinkedIn right there and then she asked for
their name, she logged in, she connected it and you know,
so it was incredible to watch that as well, because
(34:39):
I don't have that. That's not the skill that I
personally have and that I use.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Let me offer you to a couple of suggestions.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
See what you think of it, because I've I've studied
this and really tried to get good at it the
first time. I think is preparation. What I do before
I go to an event. I don't do it all
the time, but I try hard to do it. Is
is I look at who's coming and think about people
I would like to meet so that I go into
an event. Particularly you know, I go to a lot
(35:07):
of conferences, business conferences and things like that, and I
think about those people that I would like to connect with,
and I either send them a message ahead of time,
look forward to seeing you at the event, look forward
to hopefully you can grab a coffee or drink or
something like that, so that I got a couple of
people that I know that they're going to be there,
what they're all about, or a little bit about what
they're about, and set you know, some preparation.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
That that will connect.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
The second thing I try to do is sort of
what you said Jennifer about you know, I said an
attention and it's not a you know, an elevator pitch,
but it's what I want to achieve out of it.
And and so I do practice. You know what I'm
going to say to people, not pitch like, but you know,
my my my opening gambit, what what what it is
that I want to achieve by going to this event?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Otherwise I'm just going to go to an event. I
want to go to the event for some reason.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
The third thing that I like to do is is
I think best described by that Chinese concept of guanchi.
And you know when people exchange cards in China, and
we make sometimes fun of this, but what they do
is they present a card in front of them to you.
And the reason why is when you receive it, you're
supposed to receive it like a photograph, and you look
(36:17):
at the at the card and you study, you know,
the name, the title, the company, the location, and the
reason why you're doing that is really for a couple
of reasons. The first is is so that you can
make a connection with the person. Oh, you're from South
to Toboco. I know some people in South Totoboco where
you know, you're in banking and you know, do you know,
so that you make some sort of a connection between
(36:39):
the person. And then the second thing is that memory block,
that memory game of once you connect someone about something,
Oh it's Sarah from South to Toboco, You'll always remember
Sarah's name because she's from South to Tobaka. You've made
that memory connection in your in your brain. And then
the third thing is so that you can think about
what you can do for that person, which is I
(36:59):
think the fourth thing is the idea of reciprocity is
that if you can do something for someone else first,
the chance that something will come back to you is
far greater. So if I think, oh, I know someone
that is in need of some banking assistance, and I
know Sarah does that kind of mortgage broken loan, broken business,
I'm going to introduce Sarah teb blah blah blah over
(37:20):
on the other side of the room, you know, and
I take you over and introduce you to that person.
The chances are that you or them or someone is
going to introduce me because the luck that we actually
needed to meet and needed to do business it's low.
But if I connected with you and helped you and
connected with them and helped them, that I'm multiplied by,
you know, an exponential factor. The chances are that one
(37:42):
of the two of you will know someone else in
the room that is the right person for me to meet.
And then, you know, I think you know that old
line about God gave us two ears in one mouth
so we would listen more often than we talk. And
I was corrected at one speech that I made. I
think it was at one of you events, Jennifer, where
someone came up to me after I said that and
(38:02):
said yeah. But in addition, Brian, he gave us a
mouth that can shut up and close and ears that
can never close. And so therefore, not only are we
supposed to listen twice as much as we're talking, but
we're supposed to close our mouth sometime and really listen.
And so therefore, you know, listen hard, I think is
the key.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
And I guess.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
The last thing I would suggest is follow up. And
so I think it's great that the person that you
knew Sarah had connected them up on LinkedIn right away,
but I think it's you know, twenty four forty eight
hours later, it's follow up and you know, pleasure meeting,
you love your business, you know, this is what we
can do together, or I'm looking forward to a ten
(38:42):
year event, or you know it's great to hear about
your son's success in hockey. Following up with people within
twenty four or forty eight hours I think is key
because it's cements the relationship and the connection.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Anyway, those are a couple of suggestions for you.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
Yeah, and one thing I would add to it is
that I think social media has made this a whole
a lot about quantity of connections as opposed to quality.
Speaker 5 (39:08):
And so we can meet lots of people and.
Speaker 4 (39:12):
Usually nothing's really going to come of it, and we
may tuck it away it's in the back of our mind,
but going in and having around us a network of
people consistently, it could change, you know, per quarter or
per project, but like ten to twenty people that have
our back, we have their back and really building deep
relationships with those people. Recently, in one of my masterclasses,
(39:37):
somebody followed exactly what I said, and when they did
an assessment of their revenue from the past four years,
they realized that ninety five percent of their revenue came
from referrals.
Speaker 5 (39:49):
And their complaint had been I'm giving referrals but not
getting referrals back. And when they did this assessment, they
identified who was giving them referrals. And I just said,
go in there and star are building those relationships with
those people.
Speaker 4 (40:02):
Really build in hardware relationships that are based on referral
and watch.
Speaker 5 (40:07):
Your business grow.
Speaker 4 (40:08):
So yes, we could know a lot of people, and
also we want to really know people on a qualitative
level and who really knows us and what we're all
about and what we're working on and cares enough to
want to see it happen.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
We take a break, final break, can come back with
some concluding comments with Sarah Makamett and Jennifer Bale in
just two minutes, Stay with that one. This is an
interesting conversation because I really think it is a skill
that you know, Number one, young people regrettably haven't had
the chance to really learn because of COVID lockdowns and
remote work and hybrid work and stuff like that. And
(40:45):
it's also I think a skill that a lot of us,
you know, either have lost or we commoditized. We made transactional.
It was all about how many business cards you can
connect rather than how many connections you can make and
I or.
Speaker 4 (40:58):
How many deals can you get from somebody and then
you just get out all off on to the next person.
Speaker 5 (41:03):
It's become very transactional.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
That is an old way of networking and the new
is what you're saying is what can I give to
this person?
Speaker 5 (41:12):
Can I take them across the room? What can I share?
Speaker 4 (41:14):
Which is what we're doing at our dinners, Tom, What
do you have to share? We start from that place,
not from the neediness I view this.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
One person who comparable to you. Jennifer had an attitude
when she went to these events that I love. She said,
I always go into an event saying, who's my new
friend of the day, Who's the new.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Friend I'm going to make today?
Speaker 3 (41:32):
And if you have that attitude, you go in with
a pretty positive attitude. Stay with us, everyone back in two.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
Minutes stream us live at SAGA nine six am dot CA.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Welcome back everyone to the bron Crome Radio.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
It's a real pleasure of mind to have Sarah Makam
and Jennifer Beal with us tonight talking about networking, about
the importance of making social connections, the importance of helping
other people first before you expect them to help you,
about how this is really a sort of a lost art,
and that Jennifer and Sarah experts at it and can
really assist us. And you know, I think it's really important.
(42:20):
You know, I think that we're going to be changing
a lot of business as we go through this trade war,
and Jennifer started off a conversation talking about the geopolitical situation.
You know, things are going to change, and we're gonna
have to become a lot more innovative and a lot
more flexible and a lot more adaptive. And and some
of us, when we go through turmoil, as Jennifer said,
(42:41):
you know, put our heads in the sand and wait
till it passes, and and other people get really nervous
and don't do anything. I do think that now's the
time to actually branch out and and think about those
those those new opportunities, those new connections, those new friends
that can help us in the Future. Jennifer, You've got
this big event coming up next week.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
What's the date? Where is it? How do people go?
Speaker 4 (43:06):
Yeah, So Sarah and I are hosting a afternoon from
three to seven pm on Wednesday, August thirteenth. This is
in a tobacco near the Queensway and Kipling in West
Toronto area. And what's going to happen is we're going
to give people an experience of networking like what we've
been talking about here today, where you come in and
(43:28):
there's generosity at the table, hospitality at the table, and
where people have an opportunity to be able to share
the projects that they're working on and see the assets
other people have that could connect in and support theirs
and make genuine connections that are going to go somewhere.
We're going to support everybody and making sure that there
(43:50):
is follow up in this event so that things actually
have traction and start to go. And is it okay
if I show people give people the.
Speaker 5 (43:59):
Details on a slide?
Speaker 2 (44:00):
For sure?
Speaker 5 (44:01):
Right now? I can do that.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
Okay, here's a QR code that people can scan. If
you're watching this online, it's once August thirteenth, and if
you're listening right now. The address the UURL to find
the details is Summer Networking Event dot com. So at
(44:23):
Summer Networking Event dot com, we would love you to
come and join us and come into our circle of.
Speaker 5 (44:29):
People who are leaders. We're going to activate our leadership.
We're going to step into the future.
Speaker 4 (44:36):
We're going to create the future that we want for
ourselves and for our kids, and also for our neighbors
and for future generations. We are part of the future
and we're going to do it together in our circles
and our networking.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Sarah, are you excited about this event?
Speaker 6 (44:55):
We're very excited write about this event and really looking
forward to it and planning it and organizing it and
preparing for it. And I think it's going to be
a fantastic event. So really looking forward to, you know,
bringing the right energy in the right people at the event.
Speaker 3 (45:10):
Ladies, thank you so much for joining me tonight and
tell us about this event.
Speaker 2 (45:12):
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (45:13):
I think that you know, whether you go to the
event or not, and I think you know, Jennifer's events
are fantastic, and so how do you recommend going? But
whether you go to the event or not, I think
that Sarah and Jennifer have talked tonight about a bunch
of skills of traits, whether it's curiosity as Sarah talked
about her son and that incredibly great story of that,
(45:34):
and or you know, just the attitude that Jennifer's got
about making connections and how those connections are so critically
important to getting through life, to getting successful businesses. I
think that these ladies have I think correctly identified as
skill that I think is it's it's it's vitally important
for us to have if we want to be successful
in life, in entrepreneurship and business and in our job.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
So thank you, ladies.
Speaker 3 (45:58):
I appreciate you joining us.
Speaker 5 (46:00):
Thank you for helping us.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
That's our show for tonight, everybody, thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
I remind you I'm on every Monday through Friday at
six o'clock on nine sixty am. You can streaming online
at TRIPLEW Saga nine sixty am dot CA. All my
podcasts and videos go up on my website Briancrombie dot
com as soon as the radio show goes to air,
and I post on YouTube on my YouTube channel, on
social media, on LinkedIn, on Facebook, on Instagram, on speakeasy,
on SoundCloud, on Audible, anywhere, Apple, you know, anywhere you
(46:27):
can get podcasts, because I want to connect with you.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
Thanks, good night, everybody, No Radio, no problem. Stream is
live on Sagay nine six am dot CA.
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