Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable
Connections, the show where conversations turn
into opportunities and relationships turn into
real revenue. I'm your host, Michael Foreman,
and this isn't about collecting business cards
or chasing the room. It's about learning how
to connect with purpose, speak with confidence,
and build relationships that actually move your
business forward. Today's episode goes straight
at a topic most professionals avoid and pay for
later. Money conversations, confidence, and the
role networking plays in both income and well
-being. My guest has lived it, transitioning
from corporate finance into entrepreneurship
by taking ownership, building the right relationships,
and learning how to talk about money without
hesitation. If you want stronger connections,
smarter choices, and opportunities that find
you, you're in the right place. I'd like to welcome
Randall Avery to the podcast. Randall, I'm so
happy to have you on the podcast because this
is so very important to not only my listeners,
but to everyone. If you don't mind, could you
give yourself an introduction and tell us how
you got here today? So first of all, thank you
for having me today. I've listened to a lot of
your podcasts. I think this message, the message
of getting out there, talking to people, building
genuine relationships is important. And it's
even more important than my journey and how I
got to doing what I'm doing today. So I started
off my career in internal audit. So a lot of
people think internal audit is the bad guy. Some
people go in and we used to audit our external
distributors. So I was really the bad guy coming
into their distributing, asking for invoices.
So what does that teach you? How do people react
when they're uncomfortable? How to disarm people?
Because a lot of situation we're going to come
in as entrepreneurs, as professionals, people
are not going to be as welcoming. So that experience
was important. I learned about checks and balances
in business in general. After my stint in internal
audit, I did corporate FP &A. So that's really
studying P &A, really providing the analysis
for the business unit owners to make better decisions.
Now, why is that important? That's because I
supported different type of personalities, whether
that's a person who manages sales, operations,
product, marketing, different. type of personalities
who has different preferences on how they see
numbers, and more importantly, how they want
to hear about numbers. Now, I did that for about
seven years, and now I'm a personal financial
planner. I've been doing this for about 10 years.
I sit with individuals, specifically business
owners, and explain to them their numbers and
how they can better win with money. And I use
all those communication skills because let's
be honest, initially, a lot of people don't want
to talk to a financial planner. But as they get,
we move forward. I understand who they are, what
drives them. That's how I show them the correct
numbers to actually win in life. Wow. That's
great. That's great. We can probably do an entire
podcast just on that. Yes. Okay. But first let's
move into this, like the questions that I've
developed for you. Why do so many professionals
avoid money conversations and what actually changes
when they learn to talk about money and with
confidence and clarity? A lot of people are uneasy
about money because, to be honest, they've made
a lot of money mistakes. And they don't internalize
that. That's fine because everybody has made
money mistakes. But they internalize and they
think about what could have been again and again
over and over in their head. So to really open
up and say, hey, this is what I've done with
money, or this is where I am with my money, is
scary for a lot of people because we assume everybody's
doing well with money. We assume everybody has
a beautiful home, nice car, kids can go to all
the activities in the world, but that's just
not the case. And as a financial planner, I get
to see directly how people struggle with money.
Even people who make a lot of income and have
a lot of assets, money is still a sticking issue.
I think the second reason is also we have been
taught money behaviors a lot of times from our
parents. How they use money, how they leverage
debt, how the insecurity within the household
when money was stressed. Parents tell me all
the time, I try to not let my kids feel anything
about money. But we can go into a home and feel
financial stress. So we feel it as children.
And actually, we actually transition to adults
and make money mistakes. That's why money conversations
are so hard for adults. It's true. And you hit
a point. You learn about money from your parents.
And if your parents didn't really know, they
either gave you the wrong information or they
didn't give you any information at all. So you
had to go, A, find out for yourself. But unless
you were self -employed or worked for somebody
else, it really never came up. It comes up. Not
until you're like 30 or 40 years old when you
say, I better really find out what I'm doing.
So what you're doing is so very important. And
the younger they start, the better. That's one
thing. In your experience, how does being comfortable
discussing money instantly shift how others perceive
your credibility and leadership in a networking
setting? I think it goes with any topic. People
think money's isolated. It's this unique thing.
But think about your business. As you open and
are honest on any aspect of your business, how
you're marketing, how your sales, opening up
about that makes you seem a little bit more genuine.
People are willing to open up with you. So if
you talk to people about your money, specifically,
let's talk to business owners about how much
money you're making. What are your expenses?
What are your profit lines? You have those conversations.
People will open up and actually trust you even
more because they realize, like we discussed
earlier, the normal person is not going to open
up. So when somebody opens up, show that level
of vulnerability, that's when you can receive
a little bit of automatic trust. And if you not
only open up. But take advice. You'll be that
person's best friend. And really, the way you
communicate with them is so very important. You
can't just start spouting all these financial
anything, all these big words. And they'll say,
OK, thank you. You didn't help me. You have to
really find that level, find that level of trust
in networking. Know you like you trust you. they'll
do business with you. But your level of trust
is so much higher because when you're dealing
with financials, that just means that, okay,
I don't discuss financials with anybody. So you
have to break through that wall. And once they
trust you, then you're in. And I think it starts
off, a lot of people lead with, oh, I bring in
so much revenue, or I have so many clients. May
I say, suggest, start with a vulnerability. This
is an issue I'm having with my P &L. This is
an issue I'm having with my personal finance.
This is something I'm confused about investing.
If you start from the perspective of taking on
advice, I think it'll work out better if you're
trying to build a relationship than showing that,
hey, I have it all figured out, when that's usually
not the case. Very good. Very good point. And
yes, that would be a great way to break the ice
and kind of break into that conversation. Okay.
Can you share a moment where an open money conversation
directly created a better opportunity, stronger
relationship, or faster trust? Yeah. One of my,
kind of as a mentor, I was a mentor at the time,
and we were just discussing business. profit,
loss, clients. As a financial planner, you get
compensated in many different ways, but the two
primary ways, if you're fee only, is you do a
fixed fee, meaning you just charge a fee and
they do a plan, or you can do asset under management.
And I was describing to him like, hey, the fixed
fee, there's a lot of churn. How can I do asset
under management? I use this custodian, but all
the other custodians require minimums. He said,
Randall. Have you ever looked at the custodian
I use right now? It's Charles Schwab. And I said,
no, I thought they had minimums. They're like,
no, they recently just waived it. And I think
this is important for the audience. You don't
know what you don't know. And somebody is going
to know something that you don't know. So if
you're like I said, take the approach of being
vulnerable. I don't know at all. I actually have
this problem. People are going to quickly try
to solve your issue, especially business owners,
because we are so wired to say problem, solution,
problem, solution. It is impossible. I think
every person is listening. Their spouse probably
knows this. If they're a business owner, you're
always thinking about solution. So if you approach
somebody with the problem, be honest and obey,
I'm having this profitability issue. You'll be
surprised what they give you. I agree. I agree.
I also. I feel that every business owner, I'm
saying owner because I don't want to make it
too big, but every business owner should get
a mentor, should get somebody that they can look
to or be third party and say, Mike, why'd you
do that? Because this is a better way. Or have
you tried this? Or I can't be there with you.
But as you said. Charles Schwab just waived her
fees. Now, you would never have known that unless
you had that person to speak with. And you need
mentors really in every aspect of your business
and your life. There's some mentors who are great
at marketing. Some are sales. Some are operations.
Some are more the technical side. And you probably
need a mentor in every aspect of your personal
life as well. I would say have multiple mentors
because one person cannot be the be all end all
for your life. You just need those different
perspectives. But the key thing is a mentorship
will not work unless you're honest, unless you're
vulnerable. And also that you reciprocate, meaning
that you actually listen, follow direction and
also show that, hey, I see you have this problem.
I can revise you with this advice. And mentorship
relationships should evolve into a symbiotic
relationship where you guys are all winning because
you're all grown. Absolutely. And you made another
good point. You have to listen to what they say.
If it's good advice, follow through with it.
Because if somebody is giving me advice and I
never listen to it, how long do you think he's
going to stick around? But that's you just really
should take all that. You're right. Multiple
mentors to handle multiple problems within your
business. You connect networking to both personal
well -being and income. What's the unseen link
between the quality of our relationships and
the quality of our financial decisions? And this
shouldn't be a surprise to this audience here.
Opportunity comes through connection. You obtain
a job through going through an interview process
connected with somebody. You attain a client
by doing some type of sales process or some type
of way that they feel connected with you to make
a purchase. You cannot connect economic opportunity
from relationships. So that is, I think, the
key to everything. The second thing is, let's
say you're able to make a lot of sales. Life
is not fun unless you have genuine connection
with folks. People love to do business with people
they enjoy doing business with. So I would rather
make 50 % less income, but really enjoy eight
hours out of my day than making twice as much
and not enjoying that. So think about people
also want to enjoy their life. So if you mix
great relationships, enjoying the job, what you're
doing, how can you not enjoy life more? Now,
the counter is if you don't have those things,
that's where I see the negative money behaviors.
different uses of different alcoholism, doing
things with your money that are not wise. Those
are the symptoms of that. I'm not fulfilled in
my job. I don't have fulfilling relationships.
So it's hard to separate the two. It's really
a crutch, right? The alcoholism, the drug use
or something else. Yes, you're spending a lot
of money in that, wasted money, but you're using
that as a crutch. There are several issues you
have to take care of, but that's one thing. You
have to use your money smartly. There's a saying
that I bring up whenever I do workshops or anything.
People hate to be sold to, but they love to buy.
People love to buy what they hate. Just think
of that car salesman. When you walk through the
showroom floor, he comes right up to you with
a business card and say, hey, I'm Joe Schmo.
Look at this Cadillac. Oh, it's got great. It's
this. Do you want to take a ride? Because I can
take you a ride. Just let me get my manager and
I'll just, I'm like, stop. Or the salesman that
walks up and says, hey, Randall, how are you?
If you have a problem, let me know. I'll be right
over there. And you go off and do undrush. And
those are two things. So people hate to be sold
to, but they love to buy. I think one of the
things that I've learned through a lot of my
sales training is people, I think naturally as
entrepreneurs and people who have something to
sell, we want to show up and be the hero in people's
lives. But nobody wants you to be the hero. What
they really want is a trusted guide. And once
I switch from selling to guiding, and actually
sometimes I may guide them away from me. But
as long as I'm guiding them, providing my expertise,
staying in my line, say, hey, I'm the financial
expert. This is what the guy, these are the places
you can go. And also I have this. I think if
people switch their mind to being guides instead
of being the superhero or trying to show up as
the superhero in the room, you'll get more, become
more receptive and become more likable, to be
honest with you. Absolutely. You become more
of a likable person. You have to, like when you're
going to a networking event, you're always trying
to get onto the same level as them. And I use
something called FORM, family, occupation, recreation,
and a certain message. You try to get onto the
same level, they're husband, wife, sister, brother,
son, daughter, whatever. I talk about youth sports.
I was a baseball coach for 16 years, an umpire
for another three years. So once you get onto
youth sports, that's what I'll talk about. And
I'll talk all day on it. And they never feel
like they're like, oh, he demands my attention.
They want to give me that information. So it's
all how you take it. What separates? surface
-level connections from relationships that consistently
lead to referrals, partnerships, and shared wins.
I think it's when two people come together and
they always think about what I can give. never
focusing on keeping score on what they're receiving,
but I'm saying, hey, I genuinely like this person
and I just want them to do well. And when both
parties take that approach, it becomes a beautiful
self -fulfilling cycle that goes on and on. Because
if you think of somebody who's always looking
for somebody's best interest. They usually for
that to be in that mentality, they usually have
to have something going for themselves. So that
checks that box. So they're not in a deficit.
So two people are not in a deficit looking to
better the other person continuously. I think
over time and not keeping score because it could
be five years. One person is helping out one
person on the other. Could be another five years.
The other person is helping out another just
to bring the story full circle. That mentor told
me about Charles Schwab. He's a college professor
now. And guess who goes and lectures at his classes
every single year? You see how that cycle continues
to go back and forth over again. So if you're
always looking to give, I think that's when a
beautiful relationship happens. That's known
as having a servant's heart. Yes. When you go
to a networking event. I keep going back to networking
events, but use this in any part of networking.
By having a servant's heart, you're looking to
help everybody else. You're not looking to sell
anything. You're not looking to give anything.
Just, Randall, I like you. I like how you do
business. I like what you do. How can I make
you more successful? How can I be a good referral
source for you? And if I did my job correctly,
you'll turn around and say, Mike, I don't even
know what the hell you do yet. And you're trying
to make me more successful? Yes. So that's having
a servant's heart. That is looking to help everybody.
And Zig Ziglar is big with this. What goes around
comes around. Because if I helped you, you'll
feel compelled to say, oh, Mike, help me. I have
to find somebody for Mike. But what you described
is having a servant's heart. Yes, correct. Okay.
Can professionals intentionally build networks
that support not just growth, but better judgment,
confidence, and long -term stability? I think
there is a, of course you want to always give.
What we talked about earlier, once you give,
somebody listens, and they put into practice,
and you see that growth, guess what happens?
You're going to be attracted to those people
who listen and grow, listen and grow, listen
and grow, until eventually, hopefully, if you're
being mindful, your whole circle is just listening
and growing together. So if you are that person,
you're going to begin being around other people.
So it creates little networks where all you are,
what we call high performers could be another
corporate word for that, are somebody who are
just winning in life. That's what should happen
over time. You're hanging around people who are
listening. You're also listening and winning
as well. And then that's how those semiotic win
-win relationships happen. Absolutely. I couldn't
agree with you more. Okay. You made the shift.
from corporate finance to entrepreneurship. How
did your network influence your willingness to
take ownership, risk, and responsibility? To
be honest, so I did initially, I did pretty well
for myself in the corporate world. So when everybody
knows you as the corporate person and then telling
them that, hey, I'm going to take away the title
of the corporation and start your own business.
A lot of people are hesitant. They're scared.
They're fearful because one, they don't know.
And they're saying that that's a route I haven't
heard. But the route you were going on, I've
heard been successful a hundred times over again.
So the initial was, are you sure that you have
a headstand? Are you sure that you want to make
that move? After that, then they begin to watch
you and they've slowly become to support you.
They say, OK, be serious. And I think the biggest
thing is once you begin getting results. And
that's the hardest thing, going from zero to
results for your clients or whatever you want
to serve. Once that results, that's when they
say the flywheel begins to spin faster and faster.
But getting from zero to getting results for
people, I think that's the challenge. And once
you start getting results, that's when the support,
I believe, explodes. You're right. And you say
support. I say credibility. You need that credibility
for somebody to trust you. And in order to get
somebody to trust you, it's a whole big cycle.
But once you start that cycle, once you start
forging forward, there's no stopping you unless
you stop it. So unless you say, okay, enough
is enough, your clients will see you building
and building and you'll get more and more clients.
That's the way I've seen every business start.
That's the way that I started with speaking and
everything else. I had to first build my credibility.
Looking back, what networking habits helped you
move from employee thinking to owner thinking
faster than anything else? In the corporate space,
it's about speed networking. It's about quick
hits. What can you do for me? All those different
things. Who do I know you? And in the corporate
space, they don't teach you about sales. They
don't teach you how to truly build relationships.
When people think of building relationships in
business, it was a gray area, but I'm just going
to pull back the veil. Build relationships as
you're building with the personal friend that
you grew up for kids. So what do you guys do?
You guys go out to eat with each other. You guys
share hobbies with each other. You guys are vulnerable
with each other. You guys do these different
things. Those are the exact same things you have
to do to build a relationship. And I think the
difference was I didn't know you had to massage
and work at it. So it's natural with the friends
that you grew up with because you guys have a
rhythm and a flow. You actually have to create
a rhythm and a flow with each new person that
you really want to build that intimate connection.
And it takes time. And it's almost like nurturing
a garden. You have to till the soil. You have
to plant the seed. You have to water it. And
you have to look and watch. And the watching
is the headache. But that is what you have to
do to build a relationship that is not corporate,
but actually as far as an entrepreneur. Which
is exactly what I do. It's exactly all the networking,
all the everything else, what I talk about and
everything else. So what you just said about
building that relationship. Ever since the pandemic,
people have gone from transactional to relationship.
And the relationship for me is so much more rewarding
than transactional because you get closer. But
that's exactly what you have to do to build your
relationship, to build your clientele. I'd rather
have 10 clients like that than 100 clients transactional.
Because the relationship will go further. Okay.
For someone still employed but feeling the pull
towards independence, what small networking moves
can they start making now without burning bridges?
I think the number one thing I would recommend
is find somebody who does what you do. And literally
cold call them. Does somebody something that
you want to do and literally cold call them and
reach out to them and say, hey. I'm looking to
do what you do. How did you get started? The
natural corporate employee mentality is like,
why would they tell me anything? I'd be their
competitor. But you'll be surprised that people,
especially entrepreneurs, will open up and say,
hey, this is how I did it. This is how I recommend
it. This is how to adjust. And if I started day
zero today, these are the steps that I can do.
And don't just take that for one person. Take
that for multiple people. And then after that,
continue to keep in contact with them. Nurture
that soil. Take them out to a coffee. Tell them
how you do this. And even go as far as, do you
have a project that you need help on? So what
are you doing? You're getting somebody who can
vouch for you. And you're also getting some potential
practical real world experience. You put those
two together, you will have a level of confidence
when you step out that you won't have if you
just make a jump early. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Some of my coaching clients. when they're trying
to attract people on LinkedIn or something else
like that, people are always willing to discuss
what they do. If you called me and said, Mike,
how did you do this with networking? Or what
about this networking event or something else?
I take that as I'm the professional. That means
that you're coming to me for help. I'm going
to open up. I'm going to give you everything
that I can. That's the way I believe. personally,
every employer or every person in that type of
position would do. They would just open up. Would
you mind if I had a cup of coffee with you? Not
at all. Sure. Come on by. I'll spill my guts.
If they're close enough, can I buy a lunch? You
know, and you can discuss things over lunch.
Absolutely. That is the best way. to get and
start building your relationship and build that
kind of that work relationship where he, that
person can also become a mentor. And people say
our word. What if they don't respond? Think about
it this way. You probably don't want to socialize
with somebody who wouldn't help you out. And
the second thing is they may be in a point in
their life, whether they're slammed at work,
whether they have some personal matters, that
they probably need that space. So don't take
it personally. Just know that it's part of the
process. And if you're going to be an entrepreneur,
getting used to being ghosted or rejected may
be a skill set you may want to develop. So it's
a win -win across the board. Yep. Get a thicker
skin. That's the best way to say it. Just a little
bit thicker. And if you get ghosted, they don't
answer you. All right. So you know what? You
tried it. You move on to somebody else. Okay.
Let's bring this full circle. If you could give
one networking principle that improves both income
and peace of mind at the same time, what would
it be and why does it work? As entrepreneurs,
we may have a typical client base. One thing
that I would recommend is try to punch up. Ask
for that client that may be slightly above your
usual client base. Network with somebody who's
slightly above where you are as an entrepreneur.
And if you always try to network and punch up,
I think you'll be surprised at who's open to
share things with you, as we discussed, and also
what may fall into your lap and in your hands,
because people are always looking for people
to help. Key thing is, you have to listen, you
have to follow through, and you have to show
fruit. If you show fruit, there'll be a lot of
people eating in your garden. I promise you.
Absolutely. Absolutely. This is why networking
done right changes everything. It's not about
who you know. It's about how you show up, what
you're willing to talk about, and the trust you
build through real conversation. If today's episode
made you rethink your approach. how you approach
money relationships or the next step in your
career don't keep it to yourself share this episode
with someone who needs to hear it make sure you
subscribe to networking unleashed building profitable
connections so you never miss a conversation
that can shift the way you connect and earn and
if you're ready to make that take your networking
skills to a higher level, visit me, michelaforman
.com, and learn how I work with professionals,
teams, and organizations. Until next time, show
up with intention, speak with confidence, and
build connections that pay off. But before we
leave, Randall, if somebody wanted your services,
wanted to get in touch with you, what's the best
way they can get in touch with you? Thank you
for this opportunity. My name is Randall Lavery.
I'm a certified financial planner and charter
financial analyst. If you want to reach to me,
if you're a business owner looking to build wealth,
if you're looking to more strategies on how to
grow your wealth and your business, you can go
to my website. It's going to be www .deasilwm
.com. That's deasilwm .com. I'm also on all social
medias. Just look under my name, Randall Lavery,
and you can find me, follow my content, learn
a little bit more how I think and how I help
business owners grow their wealth. That's perfect.
Randall, thank you so much. I learned so much
by having you on this podcast, so we can probably
have another two -hour talk. But thank you very
much for coming on the podcast, and I hope you
do well in the future. Take care. Thank you for
having me. Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere.
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All right, folks. A huge thank you to our guests
for sharing such incredible insights today. And
of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing
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