JC explains why transactional cold‑coffee networking falls short and advocates meeting people through classes, interest groups or shared activities to build natural, memorable connections. He shares personal stories and reflective prompts.
The speaker opens with warm greetings, personal updates, and encouraging reminders about worth and capability. This short intro sets a supportive tone before moving into the topic of networking.
The presenter describes a conversation with a younger colleague who is meeting one new person a week through cold coffees and struggling to stay memorable. This anecdote illustrates common frustrations with transactional networking and poor follow-up.
The speaker asserts that the worst way to network is to network and recommends finding connections through classes, interest groups, or shared activities. The point is to create natural common ground rather than relying on brief cold introductions.
Through personal stories—including a 30‑minute call about shared background and a Disney connection—the host shows how mutual interests and authentic conversation can produce major contracts and referrals. These examples demonstrate why passion‑based proximity often trumps formal networking.
The presenter poses reflective questions about who you don't yet know and what common interests or learning goals could bring you together, urging listeners to place themselves in those conversations. The video closes with gratitude and a brief sign‑off.
Hey y'all, how are we doing in the cadre sphere on this Tuesday? I hope you're doing good. And if you're not, here's your reminder that you're still alright. You're still incredibly worthy, incredibly capable of doing some pretty amazing things. Mel Myers. So remember that if you ever forget that, come right back here in the cadre sphere and you'll find those squeaky voices I'm always reminding you that there is still incredible capacity in those days when you're maybe a little tired, a little distracted, a little anxious, a little all those things.
I am JC. If we've never shared time and space together before, thank you for the opportunity to spend some time with you right now, right here. I am doing all right, minus this pimple up here and my right shoulder is hurting and I'm really tired. Outside of those things, everything's doing all right. You know, I just finished a meeting with a younger colleague of mine from a previous life and they are looking for new work, new opportunities. So they're doing the network thing. They're looking around the world.
They go, Huh? Who can I meet with to help to help me find the next opportunity, the next job, the next the next step in my path? And, you know, I asked her, I was like, so. So you meet new people. She's like, Yeah, I'm meeting about one new person a week. I'm like, Where are you meeting them? And it's a lot of, like, cold call network coffees. And I go, How's that going? And she's like, You know what? Out of every three is a good connection. And I go, But why are they going to be thinking about you after that?
Even if the connection is good, why are you going to come back in their mind again as they're looking at the world in which they exist and maybe opportunities that they would be aware of? And she's like, I don't know. It's like, Well, then I have to stay in touch with them. I have to keep reaching out. And I go, Yeah, what are you reaching out about? Other than like, Hey, find me a job yet? Because no one thinks that way. It reminded me of something that I often say, and that is the worst way to network is to network.
A lot of times we go to networking events or we throw out the lines to, you know, bring us into the sphere of other people. We do a lot of work and spend a lot of time for connections that may not be incredibly fruitful. So I offered her the idea, I'm like, quite often the most impactful connections we make with people we do not know yet is by meeting them in non-networking environments. You know, maybe it's signing up to take the weekend course or the certificate or you know, engaging in a new group around a certain idea, like maybe in the cadre sphere or, you know, on the other social platforms where you go, Ah, I'm really interested in X.
So I'm going to find a group where I can hang out and talk about X with people. What makes a connection sticky? Is most of the time not the thing, like the connection. But it's the thing that brings the connection together. I'll tell you, I think the three biggest contracts I've ever gotten for work have all come out of things where you go, why is that important? One of them, I had a half an hour call with someone and the three things we talked about were growing up as a Polish Catholic kid, what's it like being on TV and hey, you teach piano lessons, maybe you could teach my kids piano lessons.
At the end of that 30 minute call, those are the three things we talked about. And he's like, you'd be perfect for this job. I didn't even know what the job was. It was a very, very big job and a very, very cool opportunity. That's all you needed from me. I got a really, really big job because I'm A Disney guy. And we had a Disney connection. And all of a sudden it's like, Work is stressful and I need help with my leadership team and so and so forth. Build this program for me because you're a Disney person.
And it's like, Wait, really? It's like, Yeah. Because the thing that brought us into each other's spheres were something that we both cared about. And then through the time of us knowing each other, Like, oh, I see what you do. I see what you do. I see what you do. And two plus two equals here's work. Here's connection. Here's opportunity. Here's influence. Here's excitement. Sometimes the best way to network is to not network, but to connect with people around the things that you are passionate about and see what happens when you do.
That's what I invite you to think about today. Who are the people that you do not know yet? that your life would be better if you did. What do you have in common with those people? What are the things you want to learn that they want to learn? What are the things that you are being challenged by that are challenging them? Place yourself in those conversations and that proximity to them will bear some really nice return. I'm glad I'm here. I'm glad you're here. I know the things I know and I care about you.
Have a good one.
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