Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
Profitable Connections. I'm your host, Michael
Foreman, speaker, strategist, and firm believer
that the right connection can change the course
of a life or a business. Today's episode is more
than just networking. It's about resilience.
It's about starting over. It's about the power
of relationships, not just to grow a business,
but to rebuild a life. My guest today is an entrepreneur
whose journey through addiction and into recovery
has shaped a bold, authentic, and purpose -driven
approach to networking. Their story is proof
that no matter where you've been, you can always
build forward one meaningful connection at a
time. Whether you're in recovery yourself, supporting
someone who is, or just looking ahead to lead
with more authenticity and courage in your business
relationships, this conversation will meet you
right where you are. David, how are you today?
And could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Michael, thanks for having me. I am doing fantastic
today. And for your listeners, I'm a 40 plus
year entrepreneur. And 10 years ago, after working
with a brilliant coach, I decided I wanted to
offer to entrepreneurs the things that Coach
Kevin had offered to me. So I became an entrepreneurial
coach and a facilitator. And I'm in recovery
from alcoholism. And I made the decision a few
years ago, just three or four, to become public
about that. And so I now specialize in helping
entrepreneurs who are challenged with alcoholism
or addiction. Okay, that's great. And congratulations,
because I know how difficult it is. And you've
made it this far. So congratulations are in order.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.
You're welcome. Okay, so let's start. How has
your journey through recovery influenced your
approach to networking as an entrepreneur? My
recovery is through one of the best known 12
-step programs, which is really the fellowship
of those programs is the essence of networking.
although you might not realize it when you go
in like when I walked into my first meeting I
was scared out of my mind I was probably five
or six years before I really admitted that and
I was just really warmly welcomed and really
welcomed into that group I later joined it as
my home group and one of the things so I've heard
you in other interviews on your podcast talk
about how important it is to have great listening
skills when you're networking. And 12 -step meetings,
to me, more than almost any other experience
I've had in my life, is honoring the person who's
speaking. In 12 -step recovery meetings, there's
typically, it could be going around the room,
people are sharing, there could be an invited
speaker. the person is speaking about their experience,
strength, and hope and their journey before,
during, and after recovery, you generally can
hear a pin drop in the room. And it's just this
respect that everyone has for the person who's
speaking. And so that's one of the things I really
think is super important in networking is It's
not about getting my point of view across. It's
really listening to someone else, listening what
they do, finding. And then step 12 in recovery
is about being of service. So the only way I
get to stay sober is to share my experience,
stroke and hope with other people who are suffering
in the hope that they'll get something from what
I, my experience that will help them. And my
belief in networking is that we. We get the most
out of networking when we're being of service
to the other people that are there. And rather
than it being all about me, it's all about the
other people and asking them what they're stuck
on and seeing if there's a way that I can help
them, which there won't always be. But if nothing
else, I can at least be a good listener and honor
what they've shared, you know, by reflecting
it back or giving perspective on it. So those
are some of the ways that my experience in recovery
is very overlapped with how and why and the way
that I network. That's great. And I don't want
to equate what you've gone through to just networking,
because I feel that's so small in comparison.
But the one thing that I see that is the same
is that you approach it with a servant's heart.
And because you're looking to give, not to receive.
So if you can take that feeling, that knowledge,
and just bring it into your networking ordeals,
then you should be fine. But having the servant's
heart is the really the number one way of networking.
And I again, I don't want to compare it to what
you went through, because there is no comparison.
Okay, so What strategies do you use to build
authentic connections in business while maintaining
your sobriety? One of the ways is being coming
on podcasts like yours and really sharing my
journey. For 20 years, I was a daily drinker.
And I was in complete denial about my alcoholism.
And I was a high -performing alcoholic. I drank
because it was rocket fuel so I could get more
stuff done. I drank so the lows weren't quite
so low. I drank because to make the highs higher.
Really, at the end of the day, I drank because
I was an alcoholic. And so I share the story
of coming into recovery, which actually happens
through networking as it happens. So I went to
an event with a guy, Vern Harnish, has a couple
books called The Rockefeller Habits and Scaling
Up. And he's created something called the One
Page Strategic Plan. There's a lot of entrepreneurs
who really find this framework very useful. And
I'd heard about it, but I didn't really know
the details. And I took an entrepreneur that
I was working with and decided to learn more
and went to an all -day session that Vern was
giving here in Vancouver, Canada. And at the
break, he said, hey, there are two scaling up
coaches at the back of the room. And I went and
started talking to them. I talked to both of
them and one of them made me more uncomfortable
than I'd been in four or five years. And he made
me really realize that I was completely unfulfilled
in this phase of my career. And I won't get into
all the details, but I literally had tears in
the corner of my eyes at a networking event with
like a hundred business people, which is, and
I'm not necessarily advocating that as a networking
strategy in this. What I heard was what I needed
to hear. I think that's the important thing to
take away from that experience. And I took Kevin's
card and I had it next to my phone. And probably
once a week, I thought about calling him and
reaching out. And every time I did, the phone
weighed maybe 10 ,000 pounds. Like I wasn't ready
to take that step. And then after about three
weeks, Kevin called me. And said, hey, do you
remember me from the Vern Harnish event? And
I said, yes. I didn't say, I haven't thought
about much else the last three weeks. And this
is a great example of where Kevin saw something
and then he had systems in place so that he made
sure to eventually follow up with me. And I ended
up hiring Kevin as my coach. And he's my kind
of guy. It's like, I'm all in or all out. There's
no in between. With Kevin at that time for one
-on -one coaching, his initial coaching session
was two eight -hour days. So that's all in. So
we worked on my career and we worked on cleaning
all the kind of clutter off the table until after
18 months, I built such a strong trust relationship
with him that he was the first person I admitted
I had a drinking problem too. And in his personal
life, he had encountered people who had long
-term sobriety and were part of 12 -step recovery.
And they'd educated him about how it works. So
he had the tools necessary to tell me, suggest
what to do. And I committed to, that was a Tuesday,
January 27th, 2009. And I committed to him to
go to a meeting by that Friday. And being the
overachiever that I am, I looked online that
afternoon. Saw that when I was going to be driving
home from a networking event at 8 o 'clock, there
was going to be a meeting a quarter of a block
off the road I was driving down that started
at 8 .30. And that was my first meeting. And
the one I just mentioned was the one where I
got really welcomed to and actually made what's
called a home group, which is a group I commit
to going to every week. And I was there last
Tuesday night. So I've been going there for 16
years. That's really great, and thank you for
sharing that with us. How did you navigate disclosing
your recovery in professional settings? So let's
back up the story a little bit. After Kevin,
he'd stopped one -on -one coaching, and I switched
coaches to actually to his coach, a woman by
the name of Nan O 'Connor, based in Atlanta.
And then after we worked together, I told her
about my recovery. that from the get -go. But
as we worked together over the years, she kept
reflecting back to me how every time we talked
about my recovery and my experiences in 12 -step
recovery, how pure my energy was, and also any
questions she asked me, I had answers for. And
she just kept prodding me a little bit to go
public. That took a little while. It probably
took a couple years. And it's not like she brought
it up every coaching call. It's just from time
to time, something would come up around my recovery.
I'd talk about it. She said, wow, like, it's
just your energy is so pure around this. And
then again, all in or all out. So once I made
the decision to out myself publicly and let people
know, I shot some videos. I put them on YouTube.
I promoted them on social media. And I just,
if I'm in a networking event and I introduce
myself, I say, hi, I'm David Greer. I'm just
like I did at the start of this interview today.
Hi, I'm coach David Greer. I'm a 40 plus year
entrepreneur, business coach and facilitator.
And I work. with entrepreneurs who generally
own or founders who have businesses with 10 to
200 employees. And I specialize in working with
entrepreneurs who are challenged one way or another
with alcoholism and or addiction. And it's that
simple. It's part of that very quick summary
of who and what I am and who I try to help. You
had to go through what you went through for you
to have that clarity so you can actually go out
and talk to people, but everything relies on
something else. And you always, but you got to
the point where you are clear. We had that clarity
when you spoke, when you speak, because you are
so well in tune with what you went through and
that you're trying to help somebody else from
going through. It's nothing but a great thing.
That's all. Thank you. Let's go to challenges.
What unique challenges do entrepreneurs in recovery
face when networking and how do you overcome
them? I do a fair amount of coaching around this
particular area, especially because like CEOs,
business owners, generally when get invited to
anything in the business community, there's always
sponsors who want to sponsor the bar because
they want to get access to these people. So booze
is usually free. And I coach around things like
always have a drink in your hand. Like a glass
of water is fine, but you don't want someone
else like offering to get you a drink. Because
especially someone who's not comfortable in being
public about their sobriety, which you don't
owe an explanation to anyone. But you also don't
want to get into a big, no, I really don't want
a beer. And so you can head off at the pass.
Some of those questions by always having a drink
in your hand. Another thing that is critically
important, I believe, is that you need to have
an exit strategy before you get there. So if
you get triggered, and I have had this happen
at networking events where, like, you don't know
when you'll be triggered. I can go to 10 networking
events and it's perfectly fine. And then one,
like something that triggers my subconscious
brain. And I'm feeling really uncomfortable.
So I have to have an exit strategy. And I particularly
have to work out with my spouse if we're going
to a networking or some kind of social event
or a charity gala or something like, okay, dear,
I'm going to let you know if I get triggered,
I'm going to leave. Now, are you coming with
me? Because if not, we need to have separate
transportation. Like you need to talk this through
and have a plan ahead of time. Because maybe
she'll stay and you'll leave. And then you also
have to have the little story that she's going
to tell people. But you need to do this for your
protection. So this is really important that
you, if you know there's drinking going to be
involved, and many networking events, especially
in the afternoon and the evening, there is, how
are you going to protect yourself? Okay, you
answered my next question. So I'm going to just...
skip over it and can you share an example of
a pivotal connection that significantly impacted
your business or recovery i that's why i shared
meeting coach kevin right i getting sober is
the single biggest achievement in my life and
my belief is that the universe put coach kevin
in my path so i could get sober and right And
I go to this event with no notion at all of Kevin
and the other coach were just networking, meeting
entrepreneurs, talking to them, being of same
thing, being of service. And obviously looking
for business, but they were doing a lot of coaching
in the back of the room. And it was a pivotal
encounter that led to the single biggest achievement
of my life. So it's unquestionably. My most important
person that I've met through networking. Okay,
okay. How has networking contributed to your
personal growth in recovery? So, you know, I
network for a number of reasons. I was thinking
about this before I came on the podcast today.
Like, for one thing, I only now I'm at a stage
where I generally only go to networking events
if I think they're going to be fun. or they're
going to have a piece of learning. And there's
something in addition to the networking forms
part of a bigger event. And sorry, I've lost
the question. I know where I am in the answer,
but you have to remind me of the question. How
has networking contributed to your personal growth
in recovery? Yeah, and I look for those things
that are going to challenge my personal or professional
growth. I also, like on the personal side, I
found a conference that happens every January
in Mexico, which is run by people from AA and
Al -Anon. It's called Sobriety Under the Sun.
Tracks about 800 people. And the speakers that
they have, it's not exactly a networking event,
but it is because you're there with... The thing
is, my tribe is recovering people and especially
recovering people who use 12 -step recovery as
their... for getting and staying sober and living
life on life's terms. And I've learned a tremendous
amount by the leadership and by the speakers
there, not just in recovery, but their example
in life and like what they have done in life
subsequent to getting sober and how they have
served their communities in different ways. So
it inspires me not just in my personal life,
but also in my business life. And then a lot
of this personal growth that I've needed to do
in order to grow in recovery has then let me
show up much better as a coach. So this personal
growth work, while it's not directly learning
a new technical skill or what AI is useful for,
those can be useful too. getting to know myself
better because now I can get myself out of the
way more when I'm on coaching calls. Granted
that your personal growth can help you while
you're coaching so you can help other people,
but your personal growth with just about everything
else that you have a new appreciation for because
you know that you're sober, but you can contribute
so much more. And that's what a big thing is.
Yeah, and I'm a lot more empathetic. I've been
to probably 2 ,500 12 -step meetings now. And
the number of stories I've heard and the inspiration
of what people have managed to overcome and being
able to hear those stories and be inspired by
them has also then formed my own ability to inspire
others, to help others to inspire others. So
again, when people hire me as a coach, they often
say, we're only going to talk about business
issues. And I go, I'll never talk to you about
anything you don't want to talk about. Now, six
months in, almost guaranteed there'll be some
personal or life issue that enters into our coaching
discussion. Because this notion that we can compartmentalize
ourselves into these finite rooms, there's my
career room, there's my... personal resiliency
room there's my relationship room is just completely
bogus so my my belief very deeply uh especially
as a coach is that and as an entrepreneur is
whenever we grow in business personally relationships
that growth spills over into every other aspect
of our life i agree a hundred percent there's
no way that you can compartment You can't separate
all the different things of your life, of your
business life, because it's so intertwined. There's
a saying, an entrepreneur, but there's another,
there's a solopreneur. I'm a solopreneur because
I'm by myself and I go out and I speak and everything
else. There's a work -life balance that I have
to keep with my wife, with my family, with my
job. They all have to work together. Otherwise,
they don't work at all. And that's what I think
you tried to explain. Let me go on advice. What
advice would you give to other entrepreneurs
in recovery who are looking to expand their network?
If 12 -step recovery works for you, I'd highly
recommend that. That obviously expands your sober
community. And people in recovery tend to help
other people in recovery. So I've had some career
opportunities that were a result of networking
through 12 -step recovery. There's that aspect.
And then my general advice is you need to know
your tribe. So whether that's other recovering
entrepreneurs or it's like other entrepreneurs
at your level, like there's some peer networking
groups here in Vancouver, but, and some of them,
I think do a great job of matching entrepreneurs.
So they get entrepreneurs to meet monthly who
are roughly at the same stage status, like not
way bigger or further or way. lower I think whether
you're in recovery or not and you're an entrepreneur
it's who is your tribe I really encourage entrepreneurs
to not do it alone to find others whether it's
a mentor whether it's a coach but also to find
your peers in your community who you can network
and spend some time with And it's not necessarily
you listen to another entrepreneur and do what
they did. Oftentimes it's listening to another
entrepreneur and realizing the struggles you
have, others have. And then it's not, yeah, it's
not just me. And it's true. The people that I
coach are entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs that are
up to a certain level. But I have a coach, I
have a mentor. And because... I need to go further.
So regardless of where you are on that ladder,
you need somebody, yet you can help people. So
that's the way that I see it. So let's bring
this whole thing full circle. And how do you
see the intersection of entrepreneurship and
recovery shaping future network practices? Wow.
I'm not certain I have an answer to that. I've
really struggled to find other coaches like me,
business coaches who specialize in recovery.
So if you're one of those and you're listening,
I'd love for you to get in touch. And there's
also, I know of one sober recovering entrepreneur
community that I found, but I think that's a
really interesting idea because I think that
as recovering alcoholics, I talked about like
some of these networking problems. There's also
problems in closing big deals where alcohol is
usually involved and now you don't drink. So
that because of the role of an entrepreneur,
I think it's very helpful if you're working,
if and can network with other entrepreneurs who
are also in recovery. So I encourage you to find
those, but again, not many people are being public.
So it's a challenge. To figure out most people
just don't want to be public about their recovery.
So it's, I don't really have an answer to that,
but I'd like to see more of it. That's okay.
Listen, David, how can somebody get hold of you?
If somebody wanted to be coached by you or just
sit down and talk to you about anything, how
can they get hold of you? So I had two part answers.
So the first part is I want all your listeners
to know that I have an offer. I offer one hour
free coaching to anyone who wants it. If you're
stuck on something, business, alcohol related,
it doesn't matter. Reach out to me and I'm happy
to spend an hour with you. Now, how do you reach
out to me? CoachDJGreer .com. That's Coach D
as in David, J as in James, Greer .com. Top left
corner of every single webpage on my website
has my phone number and my email address. use
one of those and reach out to me or use the contact
form if that feels better for you. Perfect. David,
I can tell you're a great guest and you give
information. I hope all my listeners got just
as much information and I really appreciated
you coming on. Thanks, Michael. I really appreciated
being here today. Well, hold on, folks. Don't
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-E -V -V -E -D -U -P -K -I -D -S dot org. A huge
thank you to our guests for sharing such incredible
insights today. And of course, a big shout out
to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in
and spending your time with us. If you're interested
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Michael and fill out the request form. Remember,
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get out there, and make some meaningful connections.
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