Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Rachel Rozen, who is a networking coach with Connection Catalyst. Welcome.

Rachel Rozen: Haley. Thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. I think you are the first networking coach I’ve ever met. So can you tell us a little bit about that?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, absolutely. I don’t think there’s many of us out there. And I’m happy to be creating that category for people and know that I exist to help them with networking, because there’s definitely something that I need for myself and then realize I could help others do it. So I work with individuals from college students through C-suite execs, Those that are in business for themselves. Really, anyone that is struggling to network or doesn’t like to do it? Because most people are told to just go network, but nobody really tells you how to approach it and how to do it in a way that feels comfortable for you. So I like to say, take the icky out of networking and help you turn it into sticky relationships.

Lee Kantor: Now, I remember there was a saying a while ago that I heard that there’s a fine line between networking and networking that a lot of people are online doing what they think is networking. But maybe it’s not that bearing fruit like they imagine it will.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, I think there’s a big difference to people convoluted networking and business development, and they’re two separate things. I always say that networking is a prelude to business development, because you really need to start having conversations and building relationships with people, and if they know what you do, they’re more likely to then become a client or to be a referral partner to help you find clients. And when we think about networking. It’s really about just starting those conversations. How are we planning those seeds for our garden? I use this analogy often, but if we think about it, our garden is our network of people. And if we just plant those seeds and never go back to them, we don’t water them. There’s no sunlight. The chances of it growing are slim to none. But also keeping in mind what’s in our garden isn’t always going to stay for the entire year. It’s. We may have seasonal things, annual perennials, we may have weeds that we need to pull out, and that’s okay too. It’s the same thing with our our network. People are going to come in and out of our lives, but we need to keep pruning that. And that’s what’s going to really help you to have a flourishing network consistently.

Lee Kantor: So what kind of led you down this path? Were you always kind of a connector and throughout your whole career, and then you decided to get into this, uh, specific niche or, like, what was kind of the backstory?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. So I actually wasn’t I was a workaholic, in all honesty, and I didn’t spend a lot of time networking. But I come from a background in hospitality and customer success, customer experience work. And my last full time role, I was a chief customer officer at a food tech company, and when I left that role, I got all the way to top of the C-suite and got to where I wanted to be and realized I didn’t actually want to be there anymore. But my network wasn’t very wide or very deep, and the people that I knew were only my clients and my colleagues through the years. It wasn’t diverse, and I didn’t want to be doing what I was, what I had been doing. So I had to start from scratch to network. And I ended up meeting 300 people and one on one conversations virtually because it was still pandemic ish times. And from that I realized that there was a skill set around networking, and I was involved in a few different career transition groups as I was looking for my next opportunity, and everyone in that group kept saying, Rachel, how are you doing this? How are you networking? And someone said, can you do a webinar on this? And I did. And that was really the catalyst for me to get started, because I realized that it was resonating with people and no one really knew how to approach it in a tactical way that worked for them. So I’ve been evolving it over the last couple of years, but I’ve really helped so many people to get more comfortable with networking because I also didn’t like it. And now I’m much more comfortable, and I’m an ultimate connector and just getting people to find each other.

Lee Kantor: Do you run into maybe prospective clients or just people in your network in general, that maybe they worked for a big firm and they had a prestigious position, and then they get laid off, and then all of a sudden they realize that no one’s calling them back when they used to get calls back right away because they were at, you know, some prestigious company, but now they’re untethered that it’s hard for them. And that’s a difficult transition.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. Sometimes. I mean, your title can give you gravitas or the company can give you gravitas, but it doesn’t mean that you’re not who you are, right? Like, there’s so much more to you. And as long as that’s still on your LinkedIn, it’s never going away. It’s still part of your resume. But it really is just to continue to have conversations and letting people know what you’re looking for. And often people in those situations don’t want to tell anybody that they’re looking for a job. And so they’re less likely to find that next opportunity because they’re not putting themselves out there in a way that people can help them because they’re afraid to hear or let people know what’s going on in their their worlds. Maybe they are timid. Maybe they are ashamed of being laid off. There’s many reasons why why that happens, but it is also okay to keep if you are laid off to keep the job on your LinkedIn profile. Nobody needs to know if you don’t want to. In the moment that you are that you are laid off, that’s completely up to you.

Lee Kantor: So now you mentioned earlier kind of differentiating between business development and networking. Can you explain kind of where you draw the lines in each each kind of activity?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. So in business development you’re often looking for a lead to get a sale and networking. You’re looking to have a conversation with someone and see where that potentially leads. That conversation could lead into a business development conversation where you’re talking about sales, but more often than not, it’s a conversation to get to know somebody and to understand what they might be looking for. What’s something that’s important in their life right now? Or maybe what’s something that they need in their life? And I often I use a framework that I call the three eyes. So when you’re in a networking conversation, it’s more about the give and get. What can I give somebody? What can I get some something back? You know always have to exchange that. But this is often helpful to separate it from a business development conversation. So in a networking conversation, who can you introduce them to or who can they introduce you to? That’s the first AI introduction. The second AI is information. What information can I share with them? What information can I glean from them? Maybe that’s a resource. It could be a book, an article, a podcast. Sometimes it could be something tangible. So the second I information and then the third eye is an invitation. Where can they invite you to or where can you invite them to? Maybe it’s a community. Maybe it’s a webinar. Where are there places that they could show up, or you could show up that you don’t even know exist, that you can meet more people. That’s all networking, whereas business development is how can I get them to potentially buy my product or service?

Lee Kantor: So can you do business development without networking or is that kind of the precursor?

Rachel Rozen: I mean, you definitely can. But I, I do believe that networking is a precursor to business development. Sometimes it’s happening in the moment because someone says, oh, I’m looking for this product or service, and that’s what you have, right? So you’re going to lean right into the business development piece. And sometimes it’s just starting a conversation and seeing who you can introduce them to. And maybe it’ll be a potential lead down the road, but you’re not putting a pitch on them right away. That’s more business development. It’s just talking about who you are, what you do, etc. from a networking standpoint, you’re just building that relationship with them versus trying to sell them anything.

Lee Kantor: So if you were coaching me about how to network, let’s take a two different scenarios. One, like. Kind of in real life, I’m going to a Chamber of Commerce meeting. What are some do’s and don’ts I should be doing there so I don’t feel icky like you described earlier?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. So I think the first starts with your elevator pitch and I hate using that that word. But there’s really nothing better that I’ve come up with yet. But how are you talking about yourself? So tell me, what do you what would you tell somebody that you do if they said, hey, Lee, tell me. Tell me what you do?

Lee Kantor: Um, I start a Business RadioX and we tell the stories of business in the communities we serve.

Rachel Rozen: Awesome. And what are those type of clients that you look for?

Lee Kantor: Are. Uh, our ideal client is professional service. Uh, people who have a difficult time building relationships with the people most important to them.

Rachel Rozen: Awesome. So that tends to be more on the networking side. You’re just telling someone what they do. The next question ideally is tell me more. So I asked you more of a specific question of who are the clients that you serve. Because it was based off of your first statement. And that could then lead into business development. Or I might ask you another question that could lead into getting to know you a little bit more. So it really just depends upon how the conversation goes. I like to say conversations are like driving down the highway. You can switch lanes, you can take exits and come back on. You just don’t want to go into a traffic jam. So the key, if you’re going to the Chamber of Commerce, is to just keep the conversation going and go in whatever direction it ends up going in. So if it stays in a networking conversation, I’m just trying to get to know you. We keep on that lane if it starts severe towards their potential client, then you can veer in that direction. That’s okay.

Lee Kantor: So any tips on how to get me out of the conversation if I’m like, I’m done.

Rachel Rozen: You want to move on from that person?

Lee Kantor: Yes. How do I get that? I need a pro tip in that area.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, absolutely. You can say, hey, Lee, it’s been such a pleasure speaking with you. I see Bob over there, and I’ve been really meaning to connect. I’ll def I’m gonna run, you know, jump to go to to go speak to them and we’ll definitely be in touch. One example you can always use getting a drink, the bathroom, anything like that to get out of the out of the conversation. Another great tip is if you see somebody else nearby, you can say, hey, Rachel, this is Carrie. I want to introduce you, and then you slip away. Um, is another great way to get out of the conversation.

Lee Kantor: All right, so you covered in real life, how about online? Is there some kind of regular activity I should be doing? Like, say, for example, on LinkedIn?

Rachel Rozen: So LinkedIn. The best way to meet people is is twofold. One is commenting on people’s posts. So what is the topic that really interests you? Maybe it’s companies that interest you. Searching for those and commenting. Because that’s a great way to build rapport with someone, specifically the person that’s the author and or people that are also commenting within that post. You can start building relationships that way through the comments because they’re seeing your thought leadership. The second way on LinkedIn is LinkedIn has the ability to see events that are happening online within LinkedIn. Sometimes they’re outside of LinkedIn, but all virtual events related to the topic, any topic honestly. And you can see once you, uh, RSVP, who are the attendees on that list and you can start conversations with them. You can ask them, what are they looking forward to in this webinar or after the event. You can connect back with them and continue a conversation after that event as well. So those are two great ways to connect with people on LinkedIn versus just cold connecting.

Lee Kantor: And when you’re working with your clients, um, how do you kind of hold them accountable for some of these activities that sound easy when you kind of rattle them off? But if I’m doing this every day, it can get a little challenging.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. So with my clients, the goal is, uh, really to get more comfortable with it first of all. So I’m not forcing them to have X amount of conversations or reach out to X amount of people in any specific day. It’s more about how do we get comfortable with the activity that we’re doing. How do we get comfortable with what are we talking about? How are we talking about ourselves? And then finding the right places and spaces to actually show up too. Because I often work with people that over network and they show up to too many places and they’re not actually following up. So we work on creating a schedule that works best for them, because what works for you isn’t necessarily what’s going to work for me. So your ground zero is wherever your starting point is right now, and then we alter that from that point forward so that you can start getting more comfortable with those activities, and then it becomes more of a habit versus something that has to be scheduled, or that you need to be held accountable for because you are automatically doing it. Because these conversations can happen with everyone all the time. Like, I had one client, uh, recently, who just started talking to people in the grocery store, which she would have never done before and led to potential opportunities. You just never know. The more comfortable you are with the way that you talk about yourself and what you do can lead to things that you probably wouldn’t even realize now.

Lee Kantor: Are there some mistakes you see people make when it comes to networking? Like, uh, over and over? That’s like, why are people still doing this?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, I think one thing is not being strategic about your networking. So, for example, you know, AI is a hot topic right now and you’re just showing up to every AI event that exists. Is that necessary? Are there places that you should be showing up to? What is the follow up with these conversations? Are you wasting your time by going? Are you actually learning something or are you just going to go? So if you’re just going somewhere repetitively, just because that can be problematic and not actually help your growth. Also, people tend to stay in the same circles all the time for the same communities, and they may not be growing in that community anymore. So reevaluating that generally, once a quarter at least to say, are the places that I’m showing up right for me. What did I get from this space in this last quarter? And maybe I need to put that aside and move on and find something else that would much more benefit me today. And the third thing is often what people wear to events. This is one thing that I love talking about, because I’m a New York City and a New York City, people often like to wear black, but people generally wear black at a lot of networking events.

Rachel Rozen: But when you wear black, you blend in with everybody else. If you wear something that has a color or something with a path, you stand out so people are more likely to talk to you. I call this peacocking. So what’s something that you can wear that can start a conversation or maybe a compliment? For women, it tends to be a little bit easier than men at times, but for men it can work as well. So if you’re wearing a suit jacket or a pocket square, do you have cool glasses or socks or a tie? For women, it’s often statement jewelry, or your shoes or your purse. There’s lots of ways that you can make yourself stand out just a little bit, a little bit more. And those are all great conversation starters. And people are attracted to come to you to start the conversation. It starts to get easier to have those conversations over and over again.

Lee Kantor: Now what about kind of pre-work before a marketing event? Should you be kind of checking who’s attending, doing some research, targeting a few people? Is that a good strategy, or should you kind of just leave it up to serendipity?

Rachel Rozen: It really depends upon what you want to get out of that event. So if you have a clear objective of what you want to get out of it, absolutely. Do some research, research ahead of time and choose some people that you are interested in talking to. And I like to call this game Where’s Waldo. If you remember the Where’s Waldo comic. Yeah, uh, back in the day, uh, and you find those people, you can research them ahead of time and then try to find them at the event. And you can also connect with them ahead of time and saying, I’m really interested in talking to you here. Looking forward to seeing you there so that you can maybe find a time to connect when you’re there. Another way that you can play Where’s Waldo too. If you’re not sure who you want to meet and you want to kind of be spontaneous about it, you can say, oh, I only want to meet people that are wearing green shirts, and you just go and talk to people. Wearing green shirts for the day could be just another idea of spontaneous networking or connection.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you have any stories you can share about, uh, people that have worked with you that have either gotten, you know, maybe more business or gotten that dream job.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. So I don’t guarantee anybody working with me that they’re going to get, um, more business or dream job by any means. It’s really just, uh, to get more connections and feel more comfortable with the connections and generally with people that are working with me. The main thing that shifts for them is their mindset that they hated networking before, and now they’re able to be more comfortable and show up as their genuine, authentic self wherever they are. But I’ll tell you one story about a client who was working with me, and she was really struggling with small talk or even just having conversations with people. And she got on a zoom call with an executive, and she was interviewing for an executive role. And the person that she was interviewing with was in a hotel room. And he started the conversation saying, I apologize, I’m in a hotel room. And normally she would just end it there and start the interview. Well, she decided to have a little bit of small talk, and she really connected with that executive who is very busy. And this is a very large company. He extended the interview 15 minutes, which was huge. And not only that, he scheduled a second, third and fourth interview for that person as well. Just from that one opportunity where she leaned in to have a conversation prior to the start of the interview and really built that connection with that person, and that was huge.

Lee Kantor: Now, is that kind of at the cord or to networking is to kind of humanize it as quickly as possible or as authentically as possible?

Rachel Rozen: Yes, absolutely. And and I’m a big believer in how we have conversations and how we show up as ourselves, because that energy really resonates with people. If you’re in another space, if you’re not, if you’re not present, if you’re thinking about, you know, your sick child at home or work that you need to get back to or really anything else than what’s happening in the present moment. People feel that if you’re energetically in that right space, and being present and connecting with the person in front of you, people feel that too. And the more you can humanize the conversation and a human talking to another human, regardless of their title or their job or the company that they work for, you’re going to start building connections in a much more authentic and genuine way.

Lee Kantor: So how has this coaching journey been for you? Are you more fulfilled? Is this you feel like you’re kind of aligned with your skills and your passions?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, absolutely. This is definitely something that that fits me a lot more. And I was coaching a lot when I was an executive and when I was in leadership roles, I just never realized that this was my superpower and really helping people to get the best out of themselves. And that’s what I love about coaching, is that I can really work with people for them to find their best self.

Lee Kantor: And when people do work with you, do they do that through one on one coaching group coaching? Like what are the ways that they can work with you?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, they can work with me either through group or one on one. When it comes to networking specifically to start, I always like people to work in my group coaching program because it gives them the opportunity to actually practice in real time with real people, and having that coach next to them, to coach them through what they’re talking about, whether it be their elevator pitch or their conversations, how what their strategy is. And it’s nice to see how other people are going through it. And they don’t have to be in the same industry. They don’t have to be in the same role. It allows people to diversify one their network and to seeing that they’re not alone, that there are other people that are feeling the same way as that.

Lee Kantor: And when you kind of explain to them that when that when networking, you’re not like necessarily trying to sell anybody anything, does that kind of create an aha moment of taking some of the pressure off that, you know, I got to get to a sale as quickly as possible. Maybe they they have those misconceptions.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. Sometimes it depends upon the client because there’s some people that are job searching. There are some people that are looking to get promoted. Some people are thinking about it from a business development perspective, but it’s really uh, for most people, the aha moment comes with it’s one human talking to another human, and there’s no specific outcome that I need from this conversation. And knowing that it’s one conversation. Can I get a second conversation or a third conversation? Makes it easier versus thinking that I need to get something or give somebody something in that very moment in time, knowing that it’s an evolution versus a transaction.

Lee Kantor: And that that’s the key, that this is a human relationship and it should be treated as such.

Rachel Rozen: Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: So, Rachel, if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation, uh, where can they go? Is there a website?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, my website is connection catalyst dot me. And they can also find me on LinkedIn.

Lee Kantor: And that’s Rachel. Rachel. Rosen. Rosen. Yes. Well, Rachel, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Rachel Rozen: Thanks, Lee. I really appreciate the conversation today.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.