Episodes

In Episode 4, I had a great time interviewing Financial Fitness Educator, Coach, and Podcaster: Tracey Bissett. Tracey and I had to be introduced twice before we officially became part of each other’s networks. (It happens!) Chatting with her about our shared passions — networking and podcasts — was truly awesome. Ready to be a fly on the wall? Pour yourself a cup of coffee, get comfortable, and listen in on my latest episode.

Show Transcript

Each Connect and Bloom episode is transcribed using Otter.ai. While our team is busy correcting typos where possible, it’s inevitable that some mistakes will be missed. (We’re only human!) With this in mind, please forgive any errors when reviewing transcripts, and feel free to report any issues here.

Despina Zanganas  0:07
Believe it or not, I used to be absolutely terrified of networking. No way. You. Yeah. I’m the host of connections. A transformative podcast designed for women looking to harness the power of networking, make life-changing connections and improve their personal and professional lives in ways that they could have previously only imagined. Because I truly believe that inside each of us is a social butterfly, just waiting to bloom.

As Chief Financial Fitness Trainer of Bissett Financial Fitness Inc., Tracey educates and empowers individuals, notably young adults, and entrepreneurs to take control of and live their financial lives with confidence. As a former executive at TD Bank, one of Canada’s Big 5 Banks, Tracey has worked with and in support of thousands of individuals and entrepreneurs to secure the financing they needed. This hands-on experience coupled with her formal financial education, Masters of Business Administration and Chartered Financial Analyst designation, position Tracey uniquely to coach about all things money. Tracey is also a full-time professor in the financial services faculty within the Business School at Centennial College and is the Executive Producer and host of the Young Money podcast.

Tracy, thank you so much for joining me.

Tracey Bissett 1:35
It is absolutely my pleasure this mean I can’t wait to get into this conversation, because networking has formed such a huge part in my success in my career so I can’t wait to dive in with you.

Despina Zanganas 1:47
Yes, me too. So, let’s kick it off with this question. How did we originally connect,

Tracey Bissett 1:53
we connected through Jackie Porter, who is a financial planner and she’s Canada’s financial confidant, and she and I met a few years ago during a coaching program working with a common coach, and then she was on your show and she thought you and I’d be a good fit, so things kind of came home around that way. So very interesting.

Despina Zanganas 2:16
For sure. This is actually an interesting thing about networking, we actually go back even further. It was, you know, one of the mistakes I made, so we actually were connected initially by by Sharon Connolly, and I think we talked initially but there’s so much going on in my life at that point and then I think I’m the one who dropped the ball, but through the years I’ve heard your name, consistently and I think it’s the same thing. So, yeah, it was things that you really have to pay attention to the people that connect you. Because, I mean I would have loved to meet you. You know so much earlier and thank you for forgiving me for driving

Tracey Bissett 3:03
wasn’t wasn’t meant to be at that time, so we reconnected at the right time. So, how it’s supposed to.

Despina Zanganas 3:10
Absolutely. So why don’t you tell me a little bit about the business that that you do and how networking comes into play. Absolutely. So

Tracey Bissett 3:19
I’m a financial coach for young adults and business owners. And for me, money’s always come easy ever since I was a little kid I loved money and love making it makes sense for people I have a strong career in banking, but throughout my whole career I worked in primarily a male dominated industry. Being in commercial lending and risk management, and certainly networking within my organization helped me get to know people better or develop good relationships which allowed me to progress in my career. When I left the bank I was an associate vice president, being able to connect to find potential clients while I was an account manager in the bank that was all really important. And then when I started my own business, I really relied on my network, my existing network to help introduce me to new people, but I needed to gain a brand new network when I started my own business because my friends and all my colleagues still in corporate were fantastic, but they didn’t know what it was like to start a business and run a business and I’d be trying to ask them questions like how do you make a website, how do you do this even I remember calling it a panic one night, how do you find a web host. And so I had to find all kinds of new friends and new colleagues to help me with this new journey and so it’s been instrumental and all of the success that I’ve had, it’s been through someone that I’ve met someone has supported me. I’m very much a giver, as well so I tend to connect other people very naturally. If I see something and I think I can benefit someone I’m letting them know. And so, not that I think of it like a bank, but I’ve been putting things kind of in the deposits with lots of people over the years and don’t hesitate then to ask if someone might be able to help me in the time that I need some help so it’s all about giving for the other people, and really just seeing how people fit together and how you can make that happen but you definitely need lots of different people in your network to be successful.

Despina Zanganas 5:16
I think, like you said, especially as an entrepreneur cuz you, it’s a different set of skills that you need that you don’t expect that you need when you go into the whole entrepreneurship field, it’s a lot easier sometimes when you’re in the corporate world because you know exactly who to go to and where to go for, for certain things. So,

Tracey Bissett 5:33
absolutely and I was an expert at like three things at TD Bank, and then when I became a business owner I had to be good at 50 And that’s pretty daunting when do you get started.

Despina Zanganas 5:43
Absolutely. So, um, what is your, your definition of networking.

Tracey Bissett 5:48
It’s creating a authentic relationship with another person where you can see how you can support each other. And so nothing more than that it doesn’t need to be in a formal setting. I have met so many great people, when I’ve been walking my dog, and created friendships and relationships and that’s actually translated to things in my business, guests on my podcast connections that have led to other things so whenever you can create that genuine relationship with someone else, where you’re learning more about them and seeing, always with a lens of how can you help them, I think that that’s networking.

Despina Zanganas 6:23
Yeah, actually, that leads me to my next question. You talked about you meet people when you know you meet your dog, and, you know, I noticed that you have one of the largest networks on LinkedIn that, you know, where do you actually network, how did you amass this this wonderful network that you have.

Tracey Bissett 6:44
Well, I’d love to say that I started it right when I started my banking career but I didn’t. And this is good advice for anybody who’s early on in their career. Don’t keep the blinders on, like I always thought and I made a been programming in the old days that it was considered to be disloyal to your organization if you were leaving other people. And so I was pretty much headed down blinders on not meeting other people and not really growing my network. And so, when LinkedIn came on, I thought it was pretty cool so I started connecting with people when I would meet them, and then I really took the time when I left the bank to go back through my network and connect with all of those people that I knew. They are on that platform, and now whenever I do meet someone and I think that we’re going to want to be in touch going forward I connect with them right away, but it’s really being curious if there’s somebody I see on LinkedIn that I think that we’d have lots in common and I’d like to meet them I send them a note and ask them if they’d be willing to have a quick chat with me, or let them know hey I’m looking for a guest on this subject and I know that that’s your expertise I saw you on this other program, what would you be interested in. So, not being shy and not being fearful, like networking for me takes place all around it can be on zoom it can be an in person things through courses or trainings I’m taking even when I’m going to a conference even when they’re virtual I’m kind of scanning, who are the other attendees and he looks really interesting that I probably want to want to meet and get to know so I’m always on the lookout, it’s not something I turn off and on. So I think that’s part of the success.

Despina Zanganas 8:17
Yeah, I do the same thing whenever I go to conference I always check out people like I actually spend several hours before every clump France just figure out who’s there and try to figure out how I can actually meet them like you know sit at the same table or something like that so I totally know what you’re talking about. So, because your network is so huge, how do you maintain those relationships I think you have something like 7000 or something like that, you know it’s probably impossible to connect with everybody, how do you how do you nurture that.

Tracey Bissett 8:51
So I’d love to say I have a detailed system but I don’t. So, I’m good at keeping people top of mind, the more people I add to my network I fail sometimes with names but because I have them names written down, I can go and find them, which is great and LinkedIn search function is amazing. So, I’ve been trying to do. One of those outbound reach outs that LinkedIn prompts you to so I’ve been doing a really good job reaching people are happy birthday, which in the past when I was in banking, I thought it was kind of silly. Like, who do I, what do I care if someone wish me happy birthday but it’s a way to reconnect that relationship, and it also reminds me because you can see your prior correspondence in there. Oh yeah, we were gonna get together, sorry I dropped the ball on that or, or let’s let’s do that now it’s a better time to do that so those prompts somebody gets a new job somebody’s birthday that’s been a really good way for me to do that. Also, whenever I’m going to do something new if I’m going to do a new series on my live show or on the podcast I think about who do I know who would be great. I’m also in the process of organizing an industry panel for students at Centennial College for the business school. And so I thought who would be really inspiring for our students to hear from that I know and I could actually reach out and ask them to come and join us for an hour, so I’m always thinking about who do I know and and how might we be able to help each other as well as lots of people reach out to me and say, Do you know someone who does x, and I’ll know probably a handful of people and I’ll connect them, so that we can spread the wealth and other people can get to know some of the great people that I know too.

Despina Zanganas 10:25
Yeah, I think that’s one of the benefits of being a connector people always reaching out so there’s always people in your inbox, wanting to connect again. Yeah, it’s probably impossible to connect with 7000 people but you know, there’s always those people and I love what you said about the birthdays and most prompts that LinkedIn gives you, because I’ve experienced the same kind of thing you know you go back to your previous messages and you’re like, oh yeah we were gonna do this or that and I think it’s actually it’s great.

Tracey Bissett 10:53
So it actually doesn’t take much time, so get over if you’re thinking it’s silly because it actually works, but I can go through the birthdays and the job announcements in like 15 minutes a day, so this isn’t a huge time consuming activity to stay in touch.

Despina Zanganas 11:08
Yeah, and in fact, when, when you connect with somebody, sometimes they’ll be like I was actually thinking about connecting with you and I have this new job that I want you to do or Yeah, something like that and it really prompts them to take the next step so I think that’s really important. Once you say some of the misconceptions people have about networking,

Tracey Bissett 11:28
that it needs to be formal, that it’s scary, that you have to be a lot of people talk about nailing your elevator pitch and being ready to, to say that at the drop of a hat and yes you do need to be able to adequately clearly say what you do, but I think initially you want to start off by creating a genuine connection, so not just talking about the weather, but find something else in common that you can talk about. Anybody who knows me knows that I love my dog and if we can talk about dogs in some way like we’re probably going to strike up a friendship of some kind, whether or not it leads to anything business related. That’s okay, we’ve just met someone else who’s, who’s nice and likes dogs too. So find something that you’re passionate about, and then people will get to know you and then they’ll want to know what you do as well, so it all kind of comes, you don’t need to be starting the conversation with. Hi, I’m Tracy I’m a financial coach for entrepreneurs and I would love to help you with your business that’s not really how we want to want to start that

Despina Zanganas 12:31
I find whenever you bring up pets, it kind of, you know loosens up the situation, people just love to talk about their pets. Just yesterday I was I’m part of this Whatsapp group for my office, and you know once in a while, people will say something, and you know other people will answer and then yesterday somebody said, I think we should for a profile picture, we should have pictures of our pets, and the entire day, pictures of their pets, and it was just a joke and everybody was talking about how this is the most activity, there’s been on this group, you know, people were actually engaged. There’s something about animals that connects people, I mean I always see pictures of you, you posted pictures of your dog. I forgot what her name is Bailey, Rosie. Yeah, Rosie Tiger Lily long name was really cute. What mistakes do you see people making when it comes to networking,

Tracey Bissett 13:30
expecting something immediate and really asking for things and I get turned off very quickly. Sometimes I see that with my students, because they’re not sure how to do it so they may contact me and they’ll be like, can you get me a job, short answers No, no, I’m not get you a job. How can we get to know each other and Ken perhaps you’d be top of mind if somebody asked me for someone when they have a role that’s available, absolutely. But that, that expectation that you’re, you’re there to get that, that’s very, very much a turnoff and so if you come from a place of service and wanting to give to others before you expect anything in return, and I don’t think there should necessarily be an expectation of anything in return. I think what you put out in the universe is going to come back to you. So, asking for things right away expecting something to come jumping right to business. That’s another one I would, would encourage people to avoid like make that small talk break the ice, find something in common, because that’s going to be the memorable thing that years later and I have people in my network for over 20 years. years later, that’s going to be the thing that you remember and you reminisce about and oh yeah I like that person because we bonded about our dogs, and now I have an opportunity that does actually align that I want to reach out to them and see if they’re interested in, based on their business or or media job for them or something like that.

Despina Zanganas 14:53
That totally makes sense. Do you have a favorite networking story like have you met somebody and it just grew into something that you never expected

Tracey Bissett 15:03
again. So, I live in a townhouse in Toronto, and I didn’t know my neighbors, because I was working at TD I was working 60 to 80 hours a week in the office. Then I left the bank and I was taking some time to figure out what I wanted to do but I got my puppy. So I started now going out into my neighborhood and walking all the time and I started to meet my neighbors. So one of my neighbors John, we would often walk together bonded with his dog and my dog and his whole family, and, and he said well what is it you want to do and I said well I like to teach, I’d like to start teaching at a college or university. And so he said, Oh, that’s funny. I’m the neighbor next to my cottage, he’s a professor over at McMaster, why don’t I introduce you guys and see what can happen. So next thing I know I’ve emailed, Mike. Mike is meeting with me at the Starbucks and Hamilton. He’s passing my name on to the program coordinator at McMaster in their continuing education program, lo and behold, they immediately have a need for someone with my experience. So now I’m teaching at McMaster and this is all in the span of like a month or so. So really unusual because, number one, I’ve never been a teacher before I came out of banking, I used to help learning and development with courses, but now I’ve got this in at McMaster was someone I lived beside but didn’t even know, and it just really amazing how it kind of all comes around, and then same thing happened when I quit my job at Centennial it was actually through a distant family member that I reconnected with, and we they were able to pass my name along and there was an opening at that right time and then all of a sudden that that grew into that teaching so you never know what’s going to happen when you talk to people and here I am thinking we’re just getting our dogs some exercise and now all of that led to me having a strong teaching background, it allowed me to go on and pursue formal education and teaching I was able to get an adult learning certificate. Last year, and actually get formal training behind it so this whole new detour that my life took because of this conversation and if I hadn’t been able to meet him and hadn’t been able to get that job, maybe I wouldn’t have pursued the teaching because I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to actually do it. So you never know where things are gonna

Despina Zanganas 17:19
go. I love that story because you never know when you’re going to meet the next connection right, or where it will come from. So moving on to the next question. Do you think that everyone needs to network.

Tracey Bissett 17:33
I do, in a way that’s authentic to them. So I don’t think people who are apprehensive of huge crowds, or go to huge networking events, I think that they may pursue a more targeted strategy and maybe find some people or get recommendations from friends of people they should meet and contact them on a one on one basis, do something that feels natural to you, and do it authentically it doesn’t do you any good to go to 20 networking events or have 20 connections a week. If you’re not actually interested in the people you’re talking to, if you’re just trying to fly by and grab all this information and hope people are going to give you things. So do it in a way that works with your schedule, what’s going on in your life, there’s probably going to be times where you you network more than others. Sometimes you’ll be able to rely on your existing network, adding people in slowly but there’s other times you’re going to need to do a lot of networking, like if you’re a student who’s going to be coming out and graduating and looking for a full time job, you’ve got to be networking a lot more at that time,

Despina Zanganas 18:33
for sure. You know drink COVID It’s been a lot more difficult to network, how have you continued to build that network and keep in touch with people

Tracey Bissett 18:44
because people know I like to meet others they’ve been inviting me to different meetup groups that they’ve been having. So I’ve had the opportunity to network with more people in the US. I actually joined a group in the US called the advanced women’s expert network so it’s all women business owners who are getting together we get together every couple of weeks, you know, smaller groups and then we have access to a larger group so that’s been a new addition not something I even knew about before, but just these informal ones were a bunch of people are getting together and someone says Tracy you’ll probably like this, and sometimes I go back sometimes once is enough but really making it a priority to make that time in the schedule to keep up with it, because you’re only going to be as successful as strong as your network is.

Despina Zanganas 19:29
You mentioned women’s group see you attended a women’s groups and COVID Do you think that women network differently than men

Tracey Bissett 19:39
do. Yes or No, I will say, because I grew up in my banking career working predominantly with men, and even took a big move to go to calgary from Toronto and my. The average age of my group was 61 and was all men, except for our female admin assistant, and we had the best time and it could have gone completely different but I took the time to get to know all of them individually, as people and then in return they were very gracious and helped me learn everything I needed to know. I think that sometimes women talk themselves into the fact that there’s so many differences, and instead of just being person to person, I think is how we should always approach it no matter how we identify. So if we’re genuinely interested in another person, if we come at it from that way I think it’s, it’s a good place to start.

Despina Zanganas 20:32
Yeah, absolutely. What would you say your favorite way to network is is it LinkedIn is it going to events, is it something else.

Tracey Bissett 20:43
LinkedIn is a good one. I also prefer kind of group settings where it’s a smaller contained group, where I can actually get to know the people and be able to retain top of mind what everyone does, and things about their life. I think I’m calling beyond going to lots of huge events now, I will still go to some a year but just with timing in my schedule and I really am enjoying being home more and not having the stress of driving traffic and construction. Just lately I’ve been able to do all of that again and it’s reminded me like I don’t, I don’t love that person. If I’m super stressed when I get there because I think I’m going to be late, that’s probably not a good place for me to be going. So I think I’ll probably keep it to smaller activities, as well as kind of the one on ones, whether it’s through LinkedIn or zoom or just by phone sometimes I prefer the phone versus the video, because I think there’s a lot of pressure to always be on video. Yeah,

Despina Zanganas 21:37
I think so too. I mean, there’s pros and cons when it comes to videos right like you can actually see the person’s face and their reaction and that’s what I actually miss from seeing people in person because then you can read their body language. But yeah, it can get really exhausting, when you’re on a video all the time you feel like you need to look good and the lighting has got to be right so I totally, I totally know what you mean.

Tracey Bissett 22:06
They usually your first call would be on a zoom and then once I’ve established that initial relationship and I feel like we’re going to have a nice going forward, then, then usually we’ll switch to phone.

Despina Zanganas 22:17
What do you wish somebody told you about networking.

Tracey Bissett 22:22
I wish that someone had really relayed the value of the network. I remember hearing when I was in business school, it’s important to build your network, but I didn’t hear so many concrete examples of the why, and so I didn’t really know how to go about it and so I did meet lots of people and I’m a social person, so kind of came a little bit naturally and I was curious about others. But if someone had talked about, okay, you’re probably still gonna know those people in 20 3040 years and that it’s not about what they can do for you in that moment, but it’s about coming full circle and relying on each other repeatedly over that time, I think I probably would have approached it a little bit differently, and then just like I mentioned earlier when I was in my corporate career and had those blinders on head down, I wish I had spent more time developing my network inside and outside the bank, because I thought that the key to be successful was to just work really really hard in my role and I didn’t want to take time away to do those coffees and to have those other meetings when that would have been beneficial as well and it might have led to a different career path even in the organization. When you think back so just to be broader and to understand more about what, what really is the value.

Despina Zanganas 23:37
Yeah, I’ve seen that so many times people will say, I’m fine, where I am right now I don’t need to network, I’m, you know, I, I’m on the path, and then you don’t know what’s going to happen 20 years from now, like people will pop up and different, it’ll take you into different directions I mean that’s definitely what happened to me I thought my entire life I was going to be a part of digital marketing and design, and after a while I just got a little tired of it lost my passion and wanted to take another direction so I know exactly what you mean I hear it all the time from, especially younger people you know they can’t see the value and I have to say that a lot of people that I worked with in my 20s just haven’t taught that, you know, in my 40s.

Tracey Bissett 24:25
The other great story about that. A client I used to support. In year 2000 or 2001. So this is a long time ago, and he reached out to me in the summer, and he needed help in the organization he was working in now. And he obviously didn’t have my phone number because my phone numbers changed many times over, but he still had my business card so he searched for me and LinkedIn. And he was able to find me he left me a voicemail and immediately I could place the voice but still the name and the company were a little bit fuzzy. And we had a chat on the phone and he was reminding me of the things we had done then and then I was able to help him right now. And so when you have a good relationship with someone, it doesn’t matter how much time goes by, because you can always revive it and started up again and reconnect so I think that’s a great thing.

Despina Zanganas 25:18
So it kind of reminded me of something about LinkedIn I mean have you connected I’ve noticed this a lot, that just because people aren’t talking to you doesn’t mean that they’re not watching what you’re doing on LinkedIn, right so when they’re ready, they’ll reach out so it’s so important to post, and to comment and things like that, because there’s some people that are just so terrified of social media, so they won’t, you never see them there but they’re actually really, really active,

Tracey Bissett 25:48
for sure. I have the benefit because I have red hair. So, and I post a lot of my picture because of my podcast and my other things that I’m doing so, when I actually go to events, lots of people recognize my face. And before I would have been like so mortified that my face would be everywhere, but that’s just what I need to do in my business. And so that actually helps because people will come up and they’re saying hey I checked out your podcast what’s really great and I’ll be like, I didn’t even know you were listening, but people are always watching and always listening so it’s really amazing and this is another story that’s especially good for those who are not understanding value of network. One of my students listened to one of my podcasts. He liked to the guests that I had, he didn’t reach out to me. He actually took it upon himself to introduce himself to the guest and say I saw you with my professor Tracy and I really love the work your company does. Do you have any job openings. I’d love to support your mission, and she did. And he gave him a job. And so through him meeting me. Taking the initiative because in my classes I talk a lot about you’ve got to be professional, you have to do your own outreaches, like I will, I can help you but you need to do your own and be professional, and he, he didn’t do it perfectly, but he did it in such a way she knew that he was legitimate and caring and an honest person. She confirmed with me did I know him. Yes, and they work together. He then went on to graduate got another job because it was a part time one and now he is working back with her again in a full time capacity at a different company.

Despina Zanganas 27:27
Wow, that’s amazing. That’s actually so it’s expiring, that actually makes me think of another question. How has your podcast helped you with networking,

Tracey Bissett 27:38
always super fun people reach out to me they want to be on the show, it gives me an excuse to reach out to pretty much anybody I want, so it’s no longer just, why are you reaching out. What are your intentions it’s, oh I’ve got this show and I think you’d be really great for my listeners because of blah blah blah blah blah, whether it’s your experience, your perspective. Things that you you’ve publicly said that haven’t gone well that I think you can share, and it gives me a valid reason without any kind of hidden agenda to reach out to anybody I want, and those that are excited about it they respond to those that aren’t or not and so it really helps with that and I think that’s fine, I used to reach out to people before but I think I get more responses now that I have a platform to bring them to.

Despina Zanganas 28:28
Yeah, you know what, that’s the same thing for me when I was probably in in Canada, it was so easy, people would just pick up the phone, because they want to expand their brand right so it’s, it’s such a great platform and the same thing I found for me with my podcast a lot of people reach out because, first of all they want to connect and they want to extend their message further which I think is amazing. What’s the tip that you would share with introverts who just are scared of networking.

Tracey Bissett 28:59
I would say, first start with people who are in your network that you don’t know very well, and just reconnect and have a conversation, maybe a short 15 minute conversation on the phone, even if it’s zoom isn’t very comfortable. So start with the people you’ve met and you already liked a little bit but you don’t know them very well. And then when you’re done talking to them, ask them who else do you think maybe I could talk to. When based on what you were looking for the things that you’re interested in, and that way you can grow your network slowly in a more calm way and you don’t need to be showing up to these big events. The other thing would be is if you are going to a conference and Despina you talked about it how you research the participants before you go. If you went with a buddy so say you came with me and you’re very introverted, you might say Tracy you know I really wanted to meet so and so. Would you be able to introduce us at the event. And so I’m your friend, I’m going to support you, I’m going to help make that happen, so that it’s not as uncomfortable for you to go and try to make that approach on your own so whatever you feel is comfortable and please, don’t be shy about asking your friends to support you because everybody wants to support each other, and everyone has something that they feel nervous about doing so. If somebody can help you, there’s probably something that you can do for them in the future and return the favor was something they were uncomfortable with,

Despina Zanganas 30:19
um, you have alluded to, alluded to it before. What do you think jobseekers need to stop doing

Tracey Bissett 30:26
spamming and asking for jobs number one, avoiding LinkedIn, I have a lot of students who are sending out resumes, but their LinkedIn is either non existent are very poor. In terms of the way their profiles written the picture they have posted, and I’ve been telling my students and other job seekers, your LinkedIn profile, that’s the first place I’m going, I’m going to go there before I look at your resume. So it’s really important that that be of superior quality and you need to commit time to doing that. And if you can’t, don’t send out those resumes, because people are going to then be looking for. Who are you connected with so take that time to start building your network, at a minimum, connect with everyone who’s in your class, like you don’t need to know all these other people start with the people you actually know, start with your professors, not all professors will connect with students because of some bad experiences. I connect with all my students, but I certainly let them know if you’re unprofessional with my network because now you have an open access to it, you’re going to be removed from my network. So it’s a two way street I’m letting you in and I’m trusting you. But if you do something that that goes against that you’re going to be removed. So, how you conduct yourself is really important. And just like my student who approached the woman to get the job, like, be professional actually approach people take a shot. If you don’t want to connect with them right away, follow them on LinkedIn, start commenting on the thing yeah a post, if they’re speaking somewhere going, especially because everything’s online watch the talk that they do actually send them some insights that you gleaned from what they were doing. People like to know that what they’ve put out in the world is appreciated. So, taking those small little steps that do take time, but if you’re a job seeker, you’ve got to spend a couple hours a day on things like that, and it’s gonna pay off, not just for that first job, but to build that network down the road because you don’t know who’s going to be working with who in the future, and you can potentially be somebody else’s boss in the future, the way things go around.

Despina Zanganas 32:24
I think that is amazing advice just commenting on people’s posts. You know what I’ve seen as a lot of people are afraid to just start because they think that, you know I’ve got 10 connections, it’s gonna look horrible. But you have to start somewhere. It’s like, you know that thing about buying a house, you know, you should have bought it yesterday. Well, so now you have to start today, you know, just put it on there and connect genuinely with the people that you should connect with because five years from now, you’re still going to be zero if you don’t start something right so yeah I think that’s so important

Tracey Bissett 33:02
family, your friends, your neighbors, there’s all kinds of people that you know that you’re discounting and you don’t realize, and they’re not going to think, oh that’s just some kid I’m not going to connect with them. Everyone understands the importance of it. So, ask them nicely and send them a little note with the invite. I’m just getting started on LinkedIn would really appreciate your support and expanding my network. Yeah, I think that’s a great way, people care about you, they’re not going to say no. Yeah, yeah,

Despina Zanganas 33:29
that’s true. And not just I think it’s really important to add a note, right, because if people connect with you and you don’t, you know who is this person. Or maybe you know them but they just can’t remember you, it’s always important to add something because they’re more likely to connect that way.

Tracey Bissett 33:48
I also do it to remind me. So if I say, it was so great to meet you. Lean In event with this speaker. That way I can almost transport myself back to that moment in the situation so then when I’m talking with them again, I’m triggered to how did I meet them, especially if it’s a stranger.

Despina Zanganas 34:07
Yeah I think that’s that’s so important I wish people weren’t so afraid of younger people, I think we’re if they weren’t so afraid of LinkedIn.

Tracey Bissett 34:15
Yeah, important to have to have a professional looking picture not taken by a professional photographer but look how you’re going to show up in the world professionally, not from a party not from a wedding, not from something where you’re trying to make an artistic statement I’ve had a few students who want the side of their face because they think it’s cute. People just want to recognize that yeah that’s the person I met.

Despina Zanganas 34:41
Yeah, no, I think, I think it’s so important. So, now I want to talk about the six degrees of separation question that I warned you about in advance, you know, I wanted to make sure you could give it some thought. So for everyone in the audience who doesn’t know what that means, the six degrees of separation is the concept that everyone in the world is basically six degrees away from each other so Tracy is there anyone out there that you’ve always wanted to meet and why.

Tracey Bissett 35:06
So I have to if it’s okay. I always wanted to meet David Chilton The Wealthy Barber, right. So, for obvious reasons given what I do. So certainly would love to meet him and love to have him on Young Money. But secondly, I wanted to find someone, so I thought maybe your network could help me find someone who used to be my teacher in grade, 11 and 12. misir, I think Larry Rinaldo. And he was my teacher at Queen Elizabeth Park High School in Oakville, Ontario, and he was instrumental in helping, where I went in my life, so if anybody could find him for me, I would love that. That

Despina Zanganas 35:45
is awesome. That’s the first time anybody has said, somebody who isn’t super well known, but I think that’s, that’s great. So what exactly did that Mr Rinaldo do?

Tracey Bissett 35:58
so I was in French immersion so late immersion so a lot of my classes were in French. And if we had to do things as a class and some people had bigger parts to them because I was strong in my, my French skills. He would always give those kinds of opportunities to me, he was helping me think more about my future. What extracurriculars could I be doing to bolster when I went to university, and really just showed that he believed in me, in a way that I think my teachers all thought I was doing a good job but he really made it known that he believed that I could be something really great.

Despina Zanganas 36:34
So that’s amazing, I I love great teacher stories,

Tracey Bissett 36:38
and I’ve tried to find him but I haven’t been able to in our school is that school is torn down so it’s not like he could still be there. So, there may be someone who’s listening who would be able to find him.

Despina Zanganas 36:48
And where did you grow up again

Tracey Bissett 36:50
when it was in Oakville, Ontario, of voluntary our Queen Elizabeth Park High School. I would have been my teacher in 9092 9192 93, so.

Despina Zanganas 37:02
Oh that’s awesome. Yeah, I want to find it for you. That would be awesome. Yeah, so if any of the listeners know one of those two people and know how to connect you. That would be great to reach out to me and let’s get Tracy and them connected it would be amazing. So, before we close out, do you have any final tips that you want to share with the audience or anything you’d like to reiterate.

Tracey Bissett 37:29
So think about your network, as this living, breathing thing that continues to ebb and flow over the years, and be yourself as you create it, be authentic, so look for elements of commonality and be a giver first. Don’t look for your network to give you things, and I guarantee that if you’re, you’re treating it well and you’re taking care of it and you’re staying connected and helping others it’s all gonna work out well for you and be part of your success. So really give first and don’t be looking for things to come back your way. Yeah,

Despina Zanganas 38:01
I think that’s great advice. So, before we close for people who actually want to get in touch with you. Where can they find you

Tracey Bissett 38:08
best places on LinkedIn. So Tracy has an E and this wood has two s’s two T’s, please drop me a note share any comments from today or ask any questions and let me know, you heard me here on the connected room podcast with Despina.

Despina Zanganas 38:23
That’s great, thank you so much, Tracy I’m so pleased that you said yes, but to be on my show and I can’t wait to continue to connect with you.

Tracey Bissett 38:33
Thank you so much.

Despina Zanganas 38:42
Thanks for tuning in to connect and a podcast that empowers women to master the art of networking and make life-changing connections I got a burning question about networking. Share below or shoot me an email at Despina at connect and bloom.com. If you want to explore this topic further, head on over to the Connect and bloom website. Follow me on Instagram, or Facebook, or if you haven’t already subscribed to this podcast, be sure to connect and bloom with me again.

Thanks for tuning in to Connect and Bloom — a podcast that empowers women to master the art of networking and make life-changing connections. Got a burning question about networking? Share it below, or shoot me an email at despina@connectandbloom.com If you want to explore this topic further, head on over to the Connect and Bloom website, follow me on Instagram or Facebook, or — if you haven’t already — subscribe to this podcast. Be sure to connect ~ and bloom ~ with me again in our next episode!

Tracey’s Links

Website:
www.bissettfinancialfitness.com

Podcast:
ymwithtraceybissett.libsyn.com

Twitter:
twitter.com/bissettfinfit

Instagram:
www.instagram.com/bissettfinfit

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/bissettfinfit

Linkedin:
www.linkedin.com/in/traceybissett

Linkedin Company Profile:
www.linkedin.com/company/10570745/admin

YouTube
www.youtube.com/c/TraceyBissettTheMoneyCoachforEntrepreneurs