Episode 2 - Building Lasting Connections

Parker Gates discusses the value of nurturing authentic connections with past colleagues and clients. He shares a personal story about a long-time professional relationship that led to new opportunities, emphasizing that maintaining genuine, non-transactional relationships can be highly beneficial.

Parker advises against cold networking tactics and encourages reaching out to 'warm' contacts—those you have previously worked with and genuinely like. He highlights the importance of staying connected with 'rad' people for mutual support and future collaborations.

The overarching message is to invest in meaningful professional relationships, as they can lead to both personal and professional rewards.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Hey everybody, Parker Gates here with Starting Block and this week we're gonna talk about something maybe a little bit different than what we sometimes talk about here at Starting Block. We. We oftentimes get into topics of, getting started, uh, as, as the name of the product would imply, right?

So we talk about, forming an LLC bank accounts, first, clients first hires, all of those kinds of things. And so, but today I wanna talk about, uh, a tool that or a, I don't know, maybe a behavior, a way of being. That I have used for years that has been critical to the success, not only of the business that I have now, but uh, of my last business.

And maybe most businesses, I would say that most entrepreneurs feel pretty strongly about this. The ideas, uh, what I would call network cultivation. That can sound a little bit slimy. I don't really even love the word network, but, for lack of a better word, we'll use that. But it's, you know, this idea of like really maintaining good connections and contact with people that you've worked with in the past.

So let me start off with a, a little [00:01:00] story. Last week, I. Co-facilitated a workshop that I'd been helping design for a couple of months with a guy who asked me to come in. He brought me into this organization that he works for, and I've known this guy for probably 15 years. And we did some work together.

He was leading innovation efforts at a hospitality organization. That, uh, stoked worked with several years ago and, um, really we're stoked to kind of cut its teeth, actually. And, um, he and I just had a great friendship and a good rapport and we did a bunch of good work together. And so, you know, years later when it was time for him to, to do this work at the organization he's with now.

You know, he knew to call me. Uh, he thought, well, that'll be fun. Parker will be the guy that can design this kind of workshop and lead it for these kind of people. And, and he wanted to, to, to work with somebody that he kind of trusted and knew. And and so that's why he called me. And so I, you know, the, the great thing about this is I have not, uh, worked with [00:02:00] this guy probably directly in 10 years.

But I've always maintained, you know, kind of a, a conversation with him. You know, not daily, not weekly, not anything like that, but. I was always kind of like shooting him a text or an email every now and then just to check in and, and see what's going on. Um, when we weren't working together he's, since the last time I saw him, he's probably worked for three, really like, big organizations and, um, and, uh, but that I've never worked with.

But when I was in town I would stop and see him and, and go grab pizza with him and his wife or something like that. And he became a friend for sure. And, um, and so. Uh, you know, the great thing is, is that he called me back later on for this work. I think what I, you know, the thing I think I want to say is just like, invest in your network.

Like, not just like. The transactional investments, like, and I've tried this like, look, I promise I have been the guy that's like, oh man, that person that I'm, connected with on LinkedIn. Like, uh, I definitely want to, you know, maintain that [00:03:00] network and, and, and hopes of doing more work together. Man, that has never worked for me.

Like it usually comes off as kind of gross, like it feels gross when I send them a message. Knowing that the only motive I have is to, try to work with them in the future and it feels gross to them, um, knowing that I'm just a guy trying to, uh, get in on some kind of gig. And so that doesn't really work.

But if you meet rad people out in the world, uh, that you work with, man, maintain that relationship, maintain that connection. If, like, if they lived in your town for instance, and you would probably be friends with them, or if they lived in your neighborhood and you go catch a run with them or go play pickleball or whatever it is, people do like, if they're those kind of people.

Then maintain contact with 'em. Send 'em an email once a month or, or whatever, like, keep a list of people that are rad to work with and keep in touch with them. Keep in contact with them. Think about all the people that you've worked with that weren't rad. And then you start [00:04:00] to realize that the people that you worked with that were cool, like that's a, that's a treasure chest man.

And, and that's a, that's a thing that you really wanna, like, take care of and cultivate those relationships for something later on. And it might be that they need you or it might be that you need them who knows? But it, what I wanna say is like, it's, it's really well worth your time and your energy to reach out to these people.

You know, when you're an entrepreneur or consultant, you kind of move from client to client fairly frequently, so I would just say like, earmark, you know, the ones that are repeats, the ones that you, you wanna work with again. That's all I, you know, that's all I wanna say is that like this stuff. It pays off in so many ways.

It pays off one in that, you have a friend and you have somebody that you get to talk to and catch up with and keep up with over long periods of time, and, and you get to refer work to them and they get to refer work to you or, or you get to hire each other or whatever. Uh, those things are are super cool.

But you know, it's also just another human connection. And [00:05:00] if there's anything good that's come out of the internet, it's this opportunity to connect with people that you know are not local to you. And so, I, you know, I would say like, I, it's a small handful of people I've worked with, I don't know, hundreds and hundreds of people over maybe thousands, I don't know, over the last, whatever, 20 years of my career.

And, you know, there's a, there's a relatively small amount of them that I, I keep up with. Fairly often, or they keep up with me fairly often. The same is true for, for my, you know, direct clients, especially like my coaching clients. Those are people that I do a pretty good job of vetting to get in.

And then when we stop working together, I still keep up with 'em. I'm still like curious like how they're doing and what's going on in their lives. And I genuinely like, want to know. And so, most of them will tell you that I will reach out, you know. Every couple of months with a text or an email and just check in and say hi and see what they're up to.

I love to hear how they're doing and, and how their lives continue to grow and change and transform and so you know [00:06:00] that stuff is awesome. So, I don't know, look cool. People like, like really cool people are rare, is what I wanna say. Don't let that go, especially if you have an opportunity to do good work with them.

If you have that opportunity to go do good work with them, make sure that you stay in touch with them and jam with them whenever you can. Whether it's, for-profit or not-for-profit. Like get together, do creative projects, get together and ideate, get together and like, you know, ask 'em to help you test a prototype.

All that kind of stuff. So anyway, that's it for this week. Cultivate your network. You know, all the time you get this, you get this information, you know, you get this like, suggestion to go on LinkedIn and start like cold DMing people and trying to reach out to new people. And I guess that probably works.

I've never tried it. Um, I'm sure it works great for a lot of people. Um, I. Fairly allergic to it at this point, but, um, but the people that are a hundred percent worth reaching out to are not cold. Those are already warm. Those are people you've worked with. They're people that know [00:07:00] you. They're people that probably like you.

Reach out to them and just say, hi. Just check in, see what they're doing. See if you can offer 'em something like for free or like, tell 'em you built them something, you made 'em a, a video or a podcast. Send them a little selfie video like. Make it special, man. Like the same thing that you would do for a friend, you know, here in town it's the equivalent of like buying somebody a coffee or a beer or whatever, you know, like, give them something and then just let them know that you're still around and you care about 'em.

And, uh, if the opportunity to work ever arises, man, you'd be down because they're so cool. So anyway, that's it for this week, y'all. Hope you're having a good week. Hope work is fulfilling. I hope your life is fulfilling. Don't forget your life. Work's not that important and it's pretty important, but it's not that important.

Okay. All right, y'all talk to you soon.