182: Julie Brown’s No-Nonsense Approach to Networking Success

If you've ever fumbled with a business card or forgotten a name at a networking event, this episode is for you. We had the pleasure of hosting Julie Brown, a networking expert with over 25 years of experience in the field. Julie shares how she navigated her career with clever networking strategies and how she leveraged her unique personality to make deep, meaningful connections in the professional realm.

Imagine if you could remember every name in a room and make genuine connections effortlessly. Julie Brown imparts her wisdom on just that, revealing her secrets to making a name memorable. She also takes us through an intriguing exercise, her 'list yourself approach', to discover ten unique qualities about ourselves outside our job titles. Julie's book, "This Shit Works: A No-Nonsense Guide to Networking Your Way to More Friends, More Adventures and More Success", is a testament to her expertise, and we delve into some of its contents in our enlightening conversation.

Wrapping up our discussion, we explore the power of LinkedIn as a networking tool and how to use it effectively. Julie emphasizes the importance of doing your homework before connecting with someone and building relationships with intent. We also touch upon her podcast and services, a platform full of resources for those looking to enhance their networking skills and steer their career in the right direction.

Enjoy our fun and lively conversation about how to level up your networking approach because This Sh!t Works!

Connect with Jule Brown
Website | LinkedIn | Podcast 

Chapters

• 0:01 Networking Strategies for a Successful Career
• 5:00 Networking Tips and Mistakes to Avoid
• 15:29 Authentic Networking, Embrace Your True Self
• 22:48 Building Authentic Connections Through Networking
• 37:35 Mid Career GPS Podcast and Services

Transcript

John Neral: 0:01

If you are looking to level up your career and find that dream job before the year ends, there is still time and I'm doing a webinar today, thursday September 7th, at noon Eastern, called Three Strategic Steps to Lend your Dream Job Before the Year Ends. This is a free webinar for anyone who's looking to find a new job, whether inside your organization or at a new company. These steps are going to help you have greater intention and clarity as you navigate this ever-changing job market, to help position you more strategically, increase your visibility and leverage three strategies I know work. I'm delivering this webinar live at noon on Thursday September 7th. You can check my LinkedIn, check the show notes or visit https://johnneral. com/webinar to register for the webinar. If you can't attend live, that's completely fine, because a replay will be available. I'll see you then.

John Neral: 1:04

Everyone networks differently. It's a personal approach. I know there have been plenty of times when I've messed up networking. I got too nervous, I didn't ask enough questions, I talked too much, I didn't follow up. These are common mistakes we all make when learning how to network, but, like any skill, with practice we get better at it.

John Neral: 1:27

Today, you are going to meet Julie Brown. Julie is a networking expert and public speaker who believes that the people you meet can change your life like nothing else, and networking that's how you meet those people. Julie's advice and tip strike the perfect balance of humor and expertise gained from more than 25 years of networking experience. Julie's going to show you that you are your best business development tool at every stage of your career. As a disclaimer, julie's book and podcast use a word that may not be suitable for younger listeners, so you may want to put your earbuds in after the introduction. But in today's episode you will learn why you should be networking more for your job search efforts and building those better connections. Plus, julie will teach you an exercise that will help you build a network you can be proud of as you build your mid-career GPS. Let's get started.

John Neral: 2:30

Hello, my friends, this is episode 182 of the Mid-Career GPS Podcast. I'm your host, john Narrell. I help mid-career professionals who feel stuck, undervalued and underutilized show up to find a job they love, or love the job they have, using my proven four-step formula. Today's guest, julie Brown, is a sought-after speaker, networking expert, business strategist and the author of this Shit Works, a no-nonsense guide to networking your way to more friends, your adventures and more success. I asked Julie to come spend time with us today because every mid-career professional struggles with networking. Julie's approach is straightforward and full of great tips you can implement right away to build your networking strategy to whatever is next for you and your career. I know you're going to enjoy our conversation and it is my great pleasure to introduce you to Julie Brown.

Julie Brown: 3:47

Hi everyone, I am Julie Brown. Please do not call me downtown, julie Brown. I am a networking coach. My job is to make people feel comfortable. Networking because you will hear me say this multiple times the people you meet will change your life, and networking is how you meet those people.

John Neral: 4:06

We just had a moment where I started laughing as Julie gave that introduction, because, as somebody who grew up in the MTV generation, I didn't ask you that because I feared you probably got asked that a whole lot.

Julie Brown: 4:19

All the time. I also grew up in the MTV generation. When I met my 2B husband and knew we were going to get married, I was fretting over the fact that my name was going to be Julie Brown, because I was afraid. Every day somebody would call me downtown Julie Brown and I've been married for almost 15 years and almost every day it comes up.

John Neral: 4:42

Well, I'm guessing that probably comes up or maybe helps with some networking conversations to at least maybe get some things started, and maybe there's a little cringe factor there on your part that you've got to navigate through.

Julie Brown: 4:56

Well, you know, it comes up as a really good tool. If I might just jump into some of the things that are really important in networking, one thing is remembering people's names. So Dale Carnegie in his famous book said a person's name is, to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language. So if you're in business and you are networking, when you remember somebody's name it is a sign of respect. And so many people take that for granted and just think, oh, they'll have a name tag on and I don't have to learn how to remember names. Remembering names is so important.

Julie Brown: 5:29

So there's a couple of tricks to it, you know. Obviously the first trick would be I don't know, listen to the person who says their name. Don't just be waiting to say your own name. I always like to repeat the name to make sure that I got it correct, because there are slight differences between names. Mine is one where there's Julie and Julia and I don't respond to Julia because it's not my name, but it's one letter. It makes a huge difference. So repeating it to make sure I got it correct. But then also this thing of making a name association. So clearly the name association downtown Julie Brown works. So can you think of other name associations that would help you remember somebody's name? It's a trick that happens really quick in your brain when you remember how to do it and you learn how to do it and it will help you remember a vast majority of the people's names that you meet and then when you see them again and you remember their name, it is so impressive to them, they feel so important.

John Neral: 6:23

Yeah, they feel acknowledged and validated right.

Julie Brown: 6:26

Exactly.

John Neral: 6:27

So names are so important. Neral is not the easiest name in the world to pronounce, so I used to have two L's on the end of my name. My great, great great grandfather dropped the second L, but people will always mess it up. I'll get Neryl, I'll get Neryl and they're like, how do I pronounce your name? And I'll say to them well, the easiest way to remember it, it's like general without the G, e, no-transcript. Oh. And they go. Oh, that's really good. And if I feel like I can go there and I'll say and to the people I don't like, I tell them it's like funeral without the FU.

Julie Brown: 7:04

I had this happen to me. I was out at a brewery and the bartender's name was they and it was such an interesting name I'd not heard of it and I always ask your servers what their name is and I said what's your name? She said they and she saw me trying to remember it. She goes like that. She's like oh, they.

John Neral: 7:28

But it's memorable.

Julie Brown: 7:29

It's memorable. So if you can make something memorable, trick your brain, that will help you in every single business situation, networking situation, family reunion, situation, going forward.

John Neral: 7:43

So, julie, one of the things that I know from my listeners, especially when it comes to networking, is that they know they need to be doing it, but they're afraid of making a mistake or they're unsure of how to navigate the room, be it either in person or virtual. What would you say is the biggest mistake you think people make when it comes to networking, and how can they avoid it?

Julie Brown: 8:14

Well, I'd say the biggest mistake people make is not networking, is letting those things you mentioned hold them back, because there are so many studies that show the value of networking and that networking and creating networks is a business advantage full stop. So if you really want to advance your career, if you are starting a business, if you really want that business to take off, networking is absolutely, 100% one of the things you have to do for your business. So the biggest thing would be letting yourself get in the way of getting out there. In regards to worrying about making mistakes, so what?

Julie Brown: 8:53

We're human, we all make mistakes. Is there anything in your life that you have done perfectly from day one? I'm going to bet no. But suddenly, when it comes to networking, we think we're supposed to know how to do it perfect from the first time. We start networking and we don't give ourselves any learning curve on how to do it or even go to resources to teach us the tools. There's nothing else in our businesses, in our careers, that we wouldn't have a plan for, we wouldn't learn how to do, we wouldn't repeat to try to get better, and yet with networking, we act like we're supposed to know how to do it straight out the gate and it is a learned skill.

John Neral: 9:33

Yeah, it's such a good point that we have to get better at it, because it gets a little messy. We have those types of conversations that don't always go well for the person who's listening, that thinks that when they network, they have to pitch. What's your take on that, just in terms of should they pitch? When do they pitch? When shouldn't they pitch?

Julie Brown: 10:03

I never pitch. So I want people to think about networking differently and I think this whole idea of a pitch and this elevator pitch is a very antiquated way of doing business and it's looking at businesses as if they're purely transactional. It's this for that how can you help me? I use Scratch my Back, I scratch yours, and that's not the way businesses work actually and it's not the way networks work. It's not the way relationship building works. So we have to start with the fact that if you are networking because you need to make a sale today, you are doing it wrong. Like, networking and relationship building is a longer game. Well, some people buy your product or your services quicker than others. Sure, but networking is a long range game.

Julie Brown: 10:52

So, the idea of going into a networking room I want you to go into a networking room. Be strategic about the room you're going into, for sure, because you don't have all day and you only have so much time to network. So be strategic about the room that you're going into, but then, when you're there, just make it about meeting people and learning about the people in that room. Do not worry about them learning about you from go, because the more you learn about people. The more human-centric you make that conversation, the easier it is to follow up.

Julie Brown: 11:25

The more people like you, the more they're going to want to know what you do. So your job is to just go in there and start building relationships, to ask maybe how you can give first. What do you do? Oh, how could I help you with that? That kind of thing. When you are seen as being a giver and curious about other people and interested in what other people do, there's a reciprocity reflex that kicks in that people want to help you as well, because they see you as a helpful individual, versus somebody who just pitches and hand us their business cards to everybody willy-nilly and doesn't care about anybody in that room.

John Neral: 12:05

I have that reaction, I just go. Ugh. It's such a huge turn off for me when I'm here in a room and for the people who are actively job seeking. They're unhappy in their jobs, they're looking to find that job they ultimately want to love and they've been told over and, over and over again they need to network.

Julie Brown: 12:28

Of course.

John Neral: 12:29

And you just said this so beautifully that essentially this phrase about givers get. How can I be of value and service to somebody? For the person who is unsure of what they can give in a networking relationship when they're looking for a job? What advice do you have for them to navigate these conversations more effectively?

Julie Brown: 12:53

Well, the first thing is don't define yourself by the fact that you're looking for a job. We, as Americans, define ourselves by our profession. It's the first question you are asked when you were a kid what do you want to be? When you grow up, it's the first question you're asked in college. What's your major? It's the first question you're asked at a networking event what do you do for a living? It has propelled us to define ourselves by our profession, when we're so much deeper and more interesting than what we do. So if you're going into a networking event and you are networking to look for a job, I would not forget all of the other pieces of you that are super, super important and interesting and curious, and go in there learning about other people and sharing parts of yourself with other people. The more people know about you and know who you are, the more they're going to want to help you. So I would not go in with that own personal label of I'm job searching or this is who I am. I'm looking. You're so much more than that.

John Neral: 14:01

And to your point earlier about it being a long game it really is that whole idea about how we build these relationships.

John Neral: 14:09

I remember, julie, when I was interviewing, especially for the last job that I had, I would always try to end that tell me about yourself question with something that was different or unique about myself that I pretty much guaranteed nobody else was gonna say so. The way I would do that is I would say I'm a professional bowler and I'm also a huge game show fanatic, and I was on the game show chain reaction in 2005. And at that point I realized that pretty much nobody came in that was a professional bowler in a game show, not let alone had been on a game show. And as I started networking, what was so interesting to me was that even when I simply shared my love of game shows, I would get people that would say to me I watched Jeopardy every night with my family.

John Neral: 14:57

I connected with somebody who was on Wheel of Fortune years ago and won five figures on Wheel of Fortune and we had a networking call and I was like, okay, so let's just get this out of the way. How heavy is the wheel? And to this day, we still like each other's posts on LinkedIn. We still stay connected and things like that. I love how you shared about. We're just so much more than our identity and how we define ourselves, so I really wanna thank you for that.

Julie Brown: 15:28

For the people. And, if I might ask for it, I would like your listeners to do this exercise, and I call it the list yourself approach, and it's to make a list of at least 10 things that make you. You that have nothing to do with your job, and so on. Your list would have been professional bowler, game show fanatic, like on my list would be skier and mountain biker, and I rescue dogs and like. So all of those human things, all those things that are gonna increase the surface area with which you can connect with people. Like, please, everybody, do that exercise, if nothing else. Like, just make that with yourself approach, so that you know I'm so much more than the title on my business card.

John Neral: 16:20

It brings up a great quote of yours that I found on your website as I was prepping for our conversation. You said you can unapologetically be who you authentically are and still be wildly successful. Yep, Tell us more about that, please.

Julie Brown: 16:39

You know, I was always. I was always the person who was too much. I was too loud, I was too much, I was too. This, I was too. I never had a 360 degree review that didn't say I was too much of something. And I realized that I was trying. I couldn't fit in the corporate norms Like I just couldn't. I couldn't fit in rooms in which me having an opinion and voicing my opinion was seen as abrupt, and so I changed it. I started my own company and became wildly successful, doing the things that everybody said was wrong in my 360 reviews For the listeners.

Julie Brown: 17:22

Like I swear in my keynotes. My book has a swear in the title. If you are part of my newsletter. It is colorful and everything I do is loud. My branding is loud, I am loud. You will hear me before you see me Like, and I have never been happier and more successful.

Julie Brown: 17:42

And I think so many times we try to tell people that they have to fit into this certain thing. That is what corporate looks like, and I did, honestly, john, I did that at the beginning of my company because I guess, oh, I own a company now and it should look like this and like all my first videos didn't have swears in them and I was like I look robotic and it doesn't even sound like me and I'm not sending out the content that I wanna send out, because I'm trying to form it into this thing. That isn't me and the moment I let that go where I was like you know what? The people who love me will hire me and the people who don't love me won't hire me, and I'm okay with that. That's when I was like this is what being wildly authentic is.

John Neral: 18:26

And how powerful is it to not only step into that but embrace it in a way that when you show up, it's like here's what you get?

Julie Brown: 18:39

Yeah, and I. What I do love also is a lot of people. After I give keynotes, they write to me either notes on LinkedIn or they'll send me a handwritten note or they'll shoot me an email, and I've had so many, especially women, because I worked in the construction industry for a very long time. A lot of women say I never thought I'd see somebody on stage who looks like me and by looks like it was like my mannerisms, the way I, the way I deliver messages, the fact that if I feel like wearing sneakers to that keynote, that day, I'm going to wear sneakers instead of heels, you know, and using language that they would use, like describing situations in language that they would use, not trying to figure out what is the most prim and proper way to say that this sucks.

Julie Brown: 19:24

And every time I get a letter from from someone who says thank you, thank you. I know that I've opened that door for that person to be who they are.

John Neral: 19:34

Yeah, yeah. And being who we are, whether we're building these kinds of relationships, both professionally or personally, there's just no other way to do it. No, we want people to like us for who we are. So, julie, let's talk about your book. Your book is called. Your book is called this Shit Works a no nonsense guide to networking your way to more friends, more adventures and more success. Yeah, so great title, completely it's got great shelf appeal and great title and everything. So what would you say are? Or let me rephrase that what would you say is one networking tip that you don't get to say, one networking tip that you don't get to talk a whole lot about, but you know, is so good for people that they want to hear it right here.

Julie Brown: 20:23

I think I'm not sure if they want to hear it, but it is. The best networking tool is to be prepared, and what I mean by that is, whenever somebody makes a strategic introduction for you, do your research, understand who you're meeting, get as much information as you can get about that person. I just had, right before I got on this, I had a coffee with a gentleman who I'd been introduced to by a woman in my network and I went back. I could figure out like, okay, he knows Nicole from this person and I know Nicole from Aaron, so he probably knows Aaron. He lives in the same town as me, so we probably might have seen each other at other places. Like trying to figure out like, and we sat there and honestly, it was like we were too old front and I've never met before and it was like two old friends and because we had so many we knew at that point, we had so many mutual connections, so many people that were friends with me and know like and trust me, know like and trust him. So of course, we should know like and trust each other and we as prepared for all of those meetings as possible and I just think we get maybe like email introduction. So I'll give an example.

Julie Brown: 21:35

I was introduced by email to a woman. A woman in my network sent an email to introduce me to another woman in that she knew and I could have just as easily responded. Thank you so much for the introduction. So, and so I'm so glad to be introduced to you. Let's set up a time to chat. I could have easily done that, and that's what most people do, but I didn't.

Julie Brown: 21:55

I looked at the email and I looked at her email address and I was like Okay, well, that's a company name. So I went to that company's website. She owns her own company. Going through the website I realized very down at the bottom she had a picture of three dogs and at the bottom of the website she had her dog's names and they were Una, lily and and Beja. And I was like this is crazy. I have a cousin, una, and I have a niece, lily, and I also am a dog mom who brings her dogs to work every day.

Julie Brown: 22:25

So when I wrote that email back and said I'm so excited to meet you, especially because you're also a dog mom and you're never going to believe this, but two of your dog's names are the same as my cousin and my niece, una and Lily, and it immediately, immediately creates this connection and what I'm? I think people are thinking this will happen on its own. You have to do the work like do a little bit of research to figure out how already interconnected you are, how many things on your list. When you do that list yourself approach, can you find out about that person in their bio? You know, draw up all of those different ways to make that connection, to increase that surface area in advance of meeting with that person. It's, it's it's going to make meeting a stranger feel like meeting a friend.

John Neral: 23:16

And it doesn't have to take that much time, Nope it doesn't, it doesn't. Yeah, and to pull out and extract something that is relatable and different and personable. It just increases your likeness and credibility that much quicker Because you've taken the time, as you said, to do your research and be prepared.

Julie Brown: 23:38

Yeah.

John Neral: 23:39

I'm sure, like you, you get a lot of solicitations on LinkedIn.

Julie Brown: 23:43

Oh yeah.

John Neral: 23:44

Right, and so I was sharing the story over the weekend. But somebody had reached out to connect with me and they had they had something that was I found to be pretty eye catching in their LinkedIn headline and it said I think I'm funny, right, okay, you think you're funny, that's great. Like, let's, let's explore this, okay. So I responded and I shared. I said I said I appreciate that you say you think you're funny, as somebody who taught middle school math mathematics for 14 years, having a sense of humor got me through.

John Neral: 24:22

What came back to me was an auto generated message in their campaign and I had this type of visceral reaction and I'll admit at the time that we're recording this. I haven't done anything with it because I'm not sure what I want to do with it. Like I don't know if I want to write back and be like hey, take me out of the campaign, let's just have a conversation, or if I want to block them. I haven't really kind of decided. But navigating on LinkedIn because we can hide behind the screen and we only have to do it one at a time, let's say is something that I know a lot of my clients feel some safety around and at the same time, are also scared about as well. So, when it comes to playing on LinkedIn and building those kinds of connections, what are some of your best tips to help people build more intentional relationships on LinkedIn that, to your point earlier, make them feel very authentic?

Julie Brown: 25:28

Yeah, I would. It's the same answer as if you were trying to build them in person. Start with who you already know. So look at your connections on LinkedIn and actually really take some time and look and say, okay, who are these people connected to? They've got to be connected to them for a reason. Are these? Would they be strategic introductions for me? Would I be a good person for them to connect with? Like do your research, come up with a list of people that you want to be connected to and then do that again, that second level of research. Reach out to your friends and say, hey, I see you're connected to John on LinkedIn. I was thinking about reaching out to him and connecting. What can you tell me about him? And then you can start building in your reach out with all of I was talking to so and so, and they mentioned this and you and we have this in common and I think we'd be a good connection and start building it as if you were asking for a strategic introduction in person.

Julie Brown: 26:23

Another thing is you can follow people and not link in with them. If you want to maybe go at it a little bit slower, you can follow somebody that you're interested in connecting with. When you follow somebody, you are privy to all of their posts and you can start being thoughtful and responding to their commenting and responding to their posts and start getting their attention doing it that way. Once you've done that for a little while and you've added some really thoughtful information and comments and retorts to their posts, then it's not weird when you reach out to them you could say hey, I've been following you for a while, been commenting. You commented back. I thought maybe we should connect because we're having this back and forth on the platform anyways.

John Neral: 27:13

I like that. Again, it's about taking that time to just be personal and be a personal bull in that record. So huge shout out to Kate Dunovan, who introduced us. I had Kate on the podcast last year and she hosts an amazing podcast called Fried, the Burnout Podcast. That's how we got connected. I mean, I share that in the sense of that was I met Kate almost a year ago and here you're now in my circle and we get to talk and you get to do what happens.

Julie Brown: 27:45

This happened this way, john. I reached out to Kate and I said hey, kate, I want to meet some more podcasters. I respect her, she's been on my podcast, I've been on her podcast. I said I want to meet some more podcasters, so would you please, out of the podcasters that you know, tell me who you think that my energy aligns with, because I have a certain energy and that we would be good for each other. And she connected us, and that's how you ask for something like that. You don't ask to be introduced to everybody. I said who would my energy align with?

John Neral: 28:22

So, Julia, I want you to make the hair on our arms stand up for a minute.

Julie Brown: 28:26

Oh God.

John Neral: 28:28

I'll put you on the spot here. Share with us, please, a success story that you know from networking, either that you've personally experienced that transforms your business, your career trajectory, whatever that might be, or even one from one of your clients you know, someone that you had worked with. Just tell us a little more about the power of networking and how it works.

Julie Brown: 28:54

You know it would be really hard for me to say just one thing, because I have lived this for 24 years. My entire life is built around people that I've networked with and I think there's a lesson here and I'll answer the question. But I think there's a lesson here that people should stop bifurcating their life into work and life, or work friends and real friends. Like there is none of that anymore. If you come into my life and you are my friend, there is no designation of you are my work friend or my real friend, and so my entire life is people that I've met through other people or through going to events. I don't, it's not even a business thing, but it happens sort of business-y. And I was introduced to a woman. I didn't know her.

Julie Brown: 29:45

Again, strategic introduction my friend John introduced me to a woman, shannon and through email, and he said I don't know why you guys don't know each other, but you should. We weren't in the same industry, she was in the financial services and I was obviously in construction. He said I think you guys should know each other and he just left it at that, like he put a little color in it, like you both live in the same town and you're both really athletic and you both love wine and traveling, and blah, blah, blah. I mean fast forward. She is my best friend, one of my best friends, my best friend, one of my best friends. We've done multiple trips together. We bungee jumped, strapped to each other's bodies, off of the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zambia, like, and this all happened within two years of this introduction.

Julie Brown: 30:34

And so when I say the people you meet will change your life, it doesn't mean just business, like. I never would have done that if I hadn't met her. And I think there's something really interesting here, because if we're talking about mid-career, we're talking about people who are probably in their 40s, and there are studies that show that the average adult hasn't made a new friend in more than five years. And we just heard from the surgeon general that we are in a loneliness epidemic. And if we know we're in a loneliness epidemic and we know we're not making friends as adults, if we got better at not separating our lives between work and friends and making everything you know a friendship, a relationship, I think we'd be a lot happier, I mean, but I could honestly tell a million stories because my entire career has been. I didn't do this alone. I have so many people invested in my success that it would be hard for me to fail.

John Neral: 31:36

Well, you made the hair on my arm stand up with that answer and I normally ask, like, what advice would you give for someone to help them build their mid-career GPS? I mean, I'm going to judge here. I don't know if you can top that.

Julie Brown: 31:50

I mean I became best friends with her. Our husbands became best friends. I mean I have a million of these. I mean I can say that almost every single person I met as a friend out of college I met through networking and they are my best friends.

John Neral: 32:05

Yeah, and I love what you just shared too about to stop compartmentalizing our work and our lives. We know the boundaries just kind of blur in that regard, just especially in light of the pandemic and everything that's happened, but take the time to get to know somebody and you may just end up having a friend you never thought you might have had.

Julie Brown: 32:32

I make new friends. You're my new friend. I make new friends. I mean I make new friends. I don't want to say every day, because that's not true. I make new friends probably every month. I make two new friends and they are my friends. I will keep in touch with them. They are my friends and I've met them all through networking.

John Neral: 32:52

One of the things I most appreciate about that is, as we start building our network more intentionally and we pull people in, that, first and foremost, we know we can help and they might be able to help us down the road. Any time I need to go into my LinkedIn connections or go into my email list. There are dozens and dozens and dozens of people that I can either connect people to or I can reach out to be like, hey, I got a quick question and I will get an answer. I will get whatever I need in that regard.

Julie Brown: 33:26

So in networking circles that's called the robust 50. So when you break your network into circles of people, that's called the robust 50. And it's very important to have 50 robust connections to do exactly what you just said. I need information on this, I need a strategic introduction, a referral, anything. When you think about that, the size of your network and what sizes of networks work best and what are the different strengths of the relationships you have your five, your 50, and your 50 and 100 and more, that robust 50 is so important.

Julie Brown: 33:56

But what I will say to the listeners for who are looking for jobs, there's also this thing called the circle of 100, which are weak and or dormant ties. And I'm sure you know that when people are searching for jobs, most jobs happen through referrals, through networking. They most often come from weak and dormant ties. So your listeners have to get really comfortable reaching back out to people that maybe they haven't talked to in three or four years. That's not weird. Three or four years went by real fast. If you don't remember, with the pandemic it went by real fast. So MIT did a study on it ages ago called the power of weak ties, and there's been a lot of studies on the power of reconnecting to dormant ties, because they're not dormant because you burned a bridge. They're dormant because of circumstance. You used to work together and you don't. Somebody moved, somebody had a kid and took some time up. Dormant ties are so strong. So I want your, I want everybody, to realize how powerful their network already is.

John Neral: 35:00

Absolutely Well said, Julie. Thank you so much for your time and this incredible conversation today. I know you gave us a lot of things to consider. I'm going to turn the mic over to you now. So if people want to connect with you, get your book, listen to your podcast, follow you. The mic is yours. I'll share all the good stuff with us.

Julie Brown: 35:21

So the easiest thing would be. There's a couple of easy things. My website is Julie Brown BD, so B is in boydysanddogjulibrownbdcom because Julie Brown is a famous name, so it was already taken, and what I would suggest is go there and scroll all the way to the bottom and sign up for my newsletter. My newsletter is hilarious and it is networking tips and stories and it comes out every Wednesday and I don't sell on it, it's just super fun. So go to my website, juliebrownbdcom, to sign up for the newsletter and I don't spam you, it's just once a week. If you want to connect with me on LinkedIn, I am Julie Brown BD on LinkedIn and just let me know how you found me. Tell me you found me through John and we can connect. And my book, the Shit Works, is available on Barnes, noble or Amazon and I also have my own podcast, also called this Shit Works, available wherever podcasts are listened to.

John Neral: 36:19

I will make sure all of that is in the show notes and when I post on social media about it. Julie Brown, thank you very much for being a wonderful guest on the Mid Career GPS podcast.

Julie Brown: 36:31

Thank you for being a great host. This was so fun.

John Neral: 36:34

Same same. So, my friends, just a couple of takeaways here. So remember, early on, julie asked us to do an activity where we write down 10 things about ourselves outside of work that are different, unique or interesting. That can be an opening for you when you're networking or you're building these kind of connections. The other thing is to show up authentically as yourself. Take the desperate out of it, be afraid to make a few mistakes, but take time to build those relationships and also to ask for strategic introductions. Leverage the power of your network you already have. Who can somebody connect you to? And don't forget to be that same resource and value for them. Offer who you can connect them to as well. So until next time, my friends, remember this we build our Mid Career GPS one mile or one step at a time, and how we show up matters. Make it a great rest of your day.

John Neral: 37:35

Thank you for listening to the Mid Career GPS podcast. Make sure to follow on your favorite listening platform. If you have a moment, I'd love to hear your comments on Apple podcasts. Visit JohnNarrowcom for more information about how I can help you build your Mid Career GPS or how I can help you and your organization with your next workshop or public speaking event, don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on social at JohnNarrowCoaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters.