Small Talk, Big Deals

Choose relevant events, define one useful outcome and follow through with the people whose work fits your business.

Presented by Speed Networkers. With Carlos A. Vazquez and Steven Menard.

Take one useful next step

Download the episode action pack (PDF)

Key takeaways

• Charles focuses on events connected to luxury residential construction. He looks for relevant builders, architects, designers and developers rather than attending every invitation.
• His goal is a new relationship that may lead to architectural plans and an opportunity to join a bidding process. The desired next step is specific to his work.
• Charles describes showing up, networking and continuing the follow-up without becoming an annoyance. He presents this as his own approach, not a universal conversion guarantee.

Chapters

• 00:00 · Small Talk, Big Deals
• 00:18 · The conversation
• 05:29 · Choose a specific room
• 08:44 · Define a concrete next step
• 10:18 · Follow up professionally
• 13:53 · Read the event details

Read the transcript

Edited for readability. Unclear words are marked. Timestamps refer to the finished episode.

Open transcript

00:19
Yeah. Live, bro. Hey, what's going on? What's up, Steven? What's good, bro? Another day, another small talk, another big deal, right? Hey. All right, good to go. All right. So who we got today?

00:35
So today we got Charles Fistel, represents Pacifica Lux, a trusted window and door expert for high-end construction projects. He helps project teams make smart choices early, avoid costly mistakes, and delivers great results. So let's bring him up, Charles Fistel.

00:55
Okay. So by the way, if it was good, it's me. If it's bad, it's all Steven. He's screwed up. Charles, welcome aboard. Welcome to Small Talk, Big Deal. How are you, man?

01:06
Hi, guys. Happy – I guess this is hump day, right?

01:10
Hump day!

01:11
Hump day!

01:12
All right. So did we screw up –

01:15
That never gets old.

01:16
Did we screw up your – what you do?

01:19
No. Sounds good so far.

01:21
You're welcome.

01:24
That's all for you, Carlos.

01:26
Thank you, Carlos.

01:27
Oh, yeah. You too, Steve.

01:30
Charles, man. Thanks for coming out, man.

01:32
Yeah. So the whole point of us bringing you on board, man, is because we understand that connecting people and networking is a big part of a lot of people's business.

01:42
And you seem to be the type of person that knows what connection is all about.

01:48
So thanks for coming, man.

01:50
A pleasure to be here, and thank you for having me.

01:52
You got it, man.

01:53
So tell us – all right.

01:54
So what is it – in plain English, how do people work with you?

01:59
So we are a – like a full-service premier provider of custom windows and doors, all hurricane impact windows and doors for really two market segments.

02:13
All of it is luxury residential.

02:16
All of it is luxury residential.

02:17
And that comprises ultra-lux single-family, ground-up new construction projects, all the flat-roof modern contemporary houses that you see all over South Florida.

02:27
That's the biggest part of our business.

02:30
But we also get involved in boutique multifamily projects, which has two parts, ultra-luxury and then rental apartments where the product lines – the process is the same, but the product lines are significantly different.

02:48
And so for us, our business is broken into two pieces.

02:53
One is how do we get the business, and then how do we execute on the business?

02:57
And so as CEO of a company, I'm responsible for our activities related to getting the business.

03:05
And my background really all starts when I was a CPA out of college.

03:09
I was 20, and I got trained as a professional how to rainmake by some of the best rainmakers that I could ever possibly want to have as my mentors.

03:19
And throughout my entire business life and through many industries, now being in the construction world for the last almost on and off for 10 years, all luxury residential primarily, that I've carried all of that through.

03:34
And, of course, I have plenty of war stories about the networking world, how I see it, what works for me, what hasn't worked for me, some of the insights that I can share.

03:45
I am also very much about helping the next generation because I'm probably old enough to be your guy's father at this point.

03:53
Well, I see a lot of gray on speed, but maybe Carla's here.

03:58
Fun fact.

03:59
I do enjoy the mentoring and helping younger professionals anywhere in the real estate world or business world for that matter.

04:08
And so I enjoy it as part of the process.

04:13
Steven and I are two years apart.

04:15
Carla's cruises and all of his hair dye.

04:19
He definitely keeps it young.

04:20
Shut up.

04:21
I don't do that hair dye today.

04:24
So Steven and I think he's just like a year or two older than me.

04:28
So it's just young jeans, baby.

04:30
I was a skinny little scrawny kid.

04:32
That Puerto Rican blood.

04:33
My puberty didn't kick in until like way after everyone else.

04:38
So I'm lucky.

04:40
I'm blessed for sure.

04:42
But yeah, no, I'm really grateful because even no matter what, you're always able to learn new things, especially now with technology and the way things are going.

04:52
So your insight, being able to tie in what's been working for years and how we can kind of just make it work with today's technology, I mean, it's valuable.

05:02
So yeah, man, it's great that you're all about mentoring and teaching a bunch of young'uns like Steven and I.

05:09
All the whippersnappers.

05:12
Yeah, man.

05:15
Steven, I don't know, man.

05:16
Do you want me to give you a cue?

05:17
All right, Steven, you go ahead and ask a question.

05:21
So what are some of your, I guess, networking highlights or lowlights that you want to share or a tip maybe?

05:29
Well, it all kind of starts with a networking strategy.

05:34
And this certainly has been over a long period of time for me.

05:39
And certainly it's a lot of trial and error.

05:42
But I've been in the real estate construction world at the high end for many, many years.

05:47
And what I really learned as my first strategy is I really needed to be very industry specific with respect to events that I'm going to sign up for.

06:03
Some of them are free.

06:05
Some of them are anywhere between $25 and $200 or, you know, very small dollars with respect to the potential return on the investment, obviously.

06:14
And what I learned over time, including in the real estate construction world, is that I needed to be very super hyper focused on being at events that were related specifically to my silo in the luxury residential construction world.

06:38
Which eliminated a lot of things that I might have gone to without having that strategy.

06:42
But what I kind of learned is I need to have the largest audience in the same room at the same time, whether they're on panels or they're attendees like I am, of key types of people.

06:55
For me, it's spec home builders, luxury custom home builders, architects, interior designers, real estate developers who develop multifamily projects, things like that.

07:07
So that's the first.

07:10
And while I do go to certain other events that are not industry specific, like the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce is a very active group and it's got a load of people who I know in the room are in my industry.

07:25
And so I do attend things like that.

07:28
I've cut out certain things where it's just a bunch of people with no connection to anything that I might be doing.

07:35
Or maybe there's one guy in the room and it's just not enough for me because I see so many invites.

07:42
There's multiple events a day, almost at least two or three times a week where I can be overlapped for hours upon hours at breakfast, lunch or dinner with events.

07:52
So I also have to bide my time, which makes me even more focused on specifically who is going to be at this type of event.

07:59
And that's the first thing.

08:01
The second thing is while it's very social, I'm a business social butterfly in essence.

08:07
My kids are grown and out of the house.

08:09
So I have all the time in the world to devote to this because my core responsibility is generating new relationships.

08:15
I've gotten good as a native Miamian, lived here my whole life, been in business here my whole life.

08:20
I was professional out of college.

08:22
So I ride on my reputation and my Rolodex and my ability to get people to trust me to want to do business with me.

08:30
And most of that is done in person.

08:32
Yeah, there's Zooms and Teams.

08:33
I'm an old school guy.

08:34
And so I like to be in person.

08:36
I like to meet people in person anytime, anywhere kind of thing.

08:41
But so that's the kind of like the first premise.

08:44
The second is what is my goal?

08:46
My world, my goal is to walk out with at least one relationship that I didn't have before, who is willing to send me a set of architectural plans for a project that they have in their pipeline or that they're active on, that I can then get into their bidding and proposal cycle to have the opportunity to win business from them.

09:15
And that is, I think, that people, they love the social part of it.

09:22
But a lot of people, I want to say the majority of people there are not really there with a very specific business interest like I'm describing to you.

09:34
And so without fail, I can't say I'm batting a thousand.

09:39
But I'm batting near a thousand with either walking out with the commitment or follow up because I know we have a bunch of them.

09:47
And let me see where they are in our process.

09:49
Have we yet awarded the windows and doors subcontract for this particular house on the Venetian Islands or in Las Olas Isles or in Boca del Rey or up in Palm Beach on the intercoastal?

10:03
And then inevitably, I do get a set of plans.

10:06
And sometimes I strike gold where I meet a bunch of people and I'm expecting several sets of plans.

10:13
But does it cost me anywhere between zero and $200 to be in the room?

10:18
And so I built my entire business life in this construction world by guerrilla marketing.

10:26
I haven't bought an ad.

10:28
God knows I know all the publish of all of the real estate magazines and all the digital opportunities.

10:32
I haven't spent a penny on any of that.

10:35
It's all showing up, networking, following up, being present, continue to follow up professionally without being an annoying pain in the ass or something like that.

10:47
And so I don't think that there's the majority of people in the room when I go to these events.

10:52
They're all at beautiful places.

10:54
Design District, Coral Gables, during Art Basel season.

11:01
There's so many things and they're all real estate centric or design centric anywhere.

11:07
I don't really shy away from going anywhere.

11:09
I went to an event up in Palm Beach where it was called Meet the General Contractors.

11:15
I walked out.

11:16
I knew a couple of them.

11:17
Most of them I did not know.

11:18
I walked out with somewhere between seven and ten new project opportunities.

11:23
And that ticket cost me $125.

11:27
Not bad.

11:29
So those are kind of like the tricks of the trade as a base.

11:33
Every event is different.

11:35
But as a base for how to go about it.

11:40
And the don'ts for me were don't go to things where you really don't have any idea who the audience is going to be.

11:46
Be hyper focused.

11:48
And then pick and choose the other ones.

11:50
Like I said, the Coral Gables Chamber.

11:53
Super active.

11:54
I happen to have friends who are trustees.

11:55
There are people there that I already do business with who invited me in to go to events with them.

12:01
And so those are really the two core principles for me.

12:04
Being successful in networking.

12:06
Generating opportunities that turn into real business and contracts.

12:12
Which is whether you're a real estate broker and you want to get a listing or you're somebody like me who just wants the opportunity to bid.

12:19
And then I just tell people, give me the audience and I'll sing like Sinatra.

12:24
That's.

12:25
So there's two things that stood out to me.

12:27
You said a lot.

12:28
But two primary things that stood out.

12:30
One, the three R's.

12:32
Writing on your reputation and Rolodex.

12:35
I don't know if you realize you came up with that.

12:38
I don't know if you.

12:38
No, I didn't.

12:39
You weren't spinning bars.

12:40
It's all about the three R's.

12:42
Right?

12:42
On your reputation and Rolodex.

12:44
If you can't do that's, you know, you're basically going to be weeded out.

12:47
And second is that I know that you're all about the in-person thing.

12:51
We definitely are all about it too.

12:53
What I've learned, and Steven, he's over to it.

12:56
But what I've learned is that if you can create a digital experience that is tailored to an end result, not just a promotion or ad.

13:04
So you gave me an idea.

13:06
If I can create a virtual expo where I can get everyone in the construction industry together before there's speed networking, there's expo booths, whatever.

13:15
The idea would be for you to connect with as many people as possible.

13:18
So that way when there's an in-person event, you've already pre-connected with people.

13:21
You can see everyone who's attending the virtual component, but then now you can have these little speed networking moments where you're connected with like every three minutes with a new person.

13:31
And then you can shortlist the ones that you're going to meet in person at the in-person event.

13:35
So you just gave me a cool little idea that I'm going to research and see what I can do with that.

13:40
So yeah, you're right.

13:42
If you don't know who you're going to run into, it's going to be real hard to see how much of an impact that the whole event is going to have on your overall strategy.

13:53
That's always the hardest part.

13:54
If you don't know who you're going to run into, you know, in most cases, you can kind of tell by the title, like we don't really do business in the there are three main platforms for in-person events in our industry.

14:08
Three, three big guys.

14:10
And I can tell by the title, like we don't, we don't do shopping centers, just not part of our business model.

14:16
So if the whole thing is going to be a panel of shopping center developers and the audience will be geared towards that's not me.

14:24
I'm not going.

14:25
Even if it was free, I'm not going.

14:28
Because there's so many other things that I could be doing where I do have a better handle on the audience.

14:32
Some of them are generalized, what they call State of the Union in Miami.

14:36
And I do go to those because there are developers there that I know that are on panels.

14:41
And I know some of the people in the audience and maybe I didn't catch them the last time I was at an event, but they were there.

14:48
So I'm going to make sure I'm going to be in front of them to talk about, hey, how do we, how do we collaborate?

14:55
I hate that word, but I use it too much probably.

14:58
It's a buzzword.

14:59
How can we work together so we can show you our value, our value prop, how we deliver on our promise?

15:07
And so, you know, sometimes you can kind of read the room without having actually being at the event because it hasn't happened yet.

15:16
But like I said, it's just, it's, it's, you know, I do it with my eyes closed, but there is a method to, I think, getting better results for those people who are actually going in wanting better results and specific results.

15:31
And not just free Prosecco and, you know, and pass around appetizers, which by the way, I also enjoy.

15:40
It's not a bad thing.

15:43
No, you know what?

15:44
I could, I could stay away from Publix my whole life and just go to events and I wouldn't have to worry about eating.

15:50
It should be the bonus of the event, not the draw.

15:57
Exactly.

15:58
Exactly.

16:00
So title.

16:01
So you're going to an event that is titled correctly.

16:04
So that way it's relevant to you.

16:06
And then I guess, I guess that's pretty much what, what, what, what do you want to do?

16:13
Well, there's always a blurb.

16:14
There's always a blurb.

16:16
I look at who the panelists are.

16:19
If I know somebody on the panel and it's within range of my focus, I'm probably going to go.

16:25
If I don't know anybody on the panel and it's kind of on the periphery of my focus.

16:30
I'm less likely to go, but they all have, here's a blurb.

16:33
Here's what's going to be talked about.

16:35
Here's who's on the panels.

16:39
My attention span is probably less than what it used to be.

16:41
I don't really like going to things with earth unless it's a big annual event, which I wish there are some where I got to listen through three sets of panels.

16:50
You know, I'm that's, you know, I don't know whether I still have the attention span for that kind of thing, but, but everybody has their way.

16:58
You know, there's not, there's not one way to do everything, but I just know as I'm a full-time business development executive.

17:05
And so you can put me in the sales category.

17:07
I'm always selling the opportunity to do great business with people who are high caliber professionals.

17:15
We know what we're doing.

17:17
Here's our portfolio.

17:18
Go to our Instagram and you can see the size houses that we work on.

17:22
8,000 feet, 10,000 feet, 12,000 feet, 9,000 feet.

17:28
We're serious players.

17:29
And so it gives me the opportunity, especially in person to show how serious we are because there's emotion involved.

17:37
You can be, you know, if a guy's looking elsewhere, if he's rolling his eyes.

17:42
Or if he's completely engaged with me, that's why I like the in-person thing.

17:46
Because there's, there's a connection you make in person that you just simply cannot necessarily make.

17:52
As much as I'm enjoying my time connecting with you guys digitally.

17:56
Different kind of connection.

17:59
And so that's just, that's just me being old school.

18:03
Yeah, no, I agree completely.

18:06
Carlos has a way to make it fun, but, but absolutely.

18:09
And when we say window and door expert, is that, is that also impact or is that?

18:16
It's only, there's nobody here in South Florida that buys anything other than hurricane impact windows and doors.

18:24
And in our case, everything is what we call high velocity hurricane impact windows and doors.

18:30
Just because of the scale of, you know, if I had a podcast, people have told me I love to talk.

18:35
I probably talk too much.

18:37
I should have a podcast.

18:38
And I said, oh, that's interesting.

18:39
And all I have right now is the name.

18:42
Because when I tell people or I'm talking to people, hey, just you drive around, you see all these modern contemporary flat roof houses and all of the big scale, large jumbo size glass and super tall sliding glass doors up to 12 feet tall.

19:00
It's just big glass everywhere.

19:02
And I said, huh, if I had a podcast, my name on my podcast would be big glass everywhere because it really encompasses what we do.

19:11
And so we focus on that.

19:15
There are certain brands that we use three primarily.

19:20
One is called Euro wall, which is a private equity owned firm based in the West coast of Florida.

19:26
The other is ES windows, which is part of techno glass, a $3 billion New York stock exchange company.

19:32
And the third is Fleetwood, which is based in California.

19:36
ES windows is based in Columbia, although the family that owns it lives here.

19:42
And the third is Fleetwood, which is based in L.A.

19:45
And that's also owned by a fortune 100 company.

19:50
So people always have concerns.

19:52
You know, where does it come from?

19:53
It's manufactured locally by a local guy.

19:57
They have issues and concerns about that.

19:59
So we only deal with top tier brands.

20:01
We're in early design and budgeting where we work with architects before there even is a builder or the spec builders architects.

20:10
And we are there every way all the way from beginning to end, which is pre-construction, product selection, product ordering, measuring the openings, which is all very detailed with lasers, things like that.

20:25
But just to get it here, deliver it to the site, expert installation.

20:30
And you always get Charles Fistel anytime, anywhere.

20:33
If there's any issue, you're not mid-level manager or a project manager or anything like that.

20:40
You get ownership, principle to principle relationship, which is something that I've been doing my entire life.

20:46
Owner to owner, principle to principle as a serial entrepreneur.

20:51
Well, fun fact.

20:52
If you want to connect further, I got some connections and some things I want to talk to you about.

20:56
What are we going to say, Carlos?

20:58
Fun fact.

21:00
Bigglasseverywhere.com is available.

21:01
So go ahead and buy it now before everyone sees this episode because they're going to want to squat and sell it to you.

21:07
So jump on it now.

21:09
Charles, what's the best way to reach out to you?

21:14
You can reach me by phone, 305-785-3900.

21:21
You can look me up on LinkedIn, Charles Fistel, F-I-S-T-E-L.

21:26
You want to see our work and really what we are capable of.

21:29
Our portfolio, a sample of our portfolio, I should say, is on Instagram, and that's Pacifica Lux Windows.

21:39
P-A-C-I-F-I-C-A-L-U-X Windows.

21:48
Charles, thanks for coming out.

21:51
Thanks for sharing some info.

21:53
Good, good, good info.

21:55
And the three R's, riding on your reputation and your Rolodex.

21:58
Thank you, man.

21:59
It was great.

22:00
Thank you.

22:00
I appreciate your time and seeing you guys soon.

22:04
We're going to be working together.

22:05
I know there's going to be some things we can work together on, man.

22:09
Talk to you soon.

22:09
Thanks so much.

22:10
Thank you.

Connect with Charles Fistel

• Instagram · Pacifica Lux
• Instagram · Charles
• LinkedIn

Welcome people into a conversation, learn what matters to them and listen for a project that needs help moving forward.

Presented by Speed Networkers. With Carlos A. Vazquez and Steven Menard.

Take one useful next step

Download the episode action pack (PDF)

Key takeaways

• Patricia starts by understanding the community and building relationships. She describes paying attention to what people do and whether her services fit a real need.
• Her idea of blending in means smiling, welcoming people and staying open to a connection. She treats people as potential relationships, business connections or friends.
• Patricia describes a preference for building relationships rather than chasing an immediate sale. Her experience of pressure-driven prospecting helps explain that choice.

Chapters

• 00:00 · Small Talk, Big Deals
• 00:18 · The conversation
• 05:13 · Know the community
• 06:48 · Be present with the person
• 09:39 · Give relationships time
• 15:03 · Listen for a project

Read the transcript

Edited for readability. Unclear words are marked. Timestamps refer to the finished episode.

Open transcript

00:19
And we are live. Steven.

00:22
All right. Thank you for everyone for being here. It's great. You can be anywhere in the world, but you're here with us. So thank you again.

00:32
And Patricia, yeah, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you value networking and then also your own business and what are you looking for.

00:43
Thank you guys for having me today. My name is Patricia Monico Gera. I'm a senior management consultant. I specialize in fractional project management. I'm located in the, today, rainy South Florida.

00:59
That's right.

01:00
I mean, I've been doing, let me give you a little bit of my background. I grew up in five different countries and my dad always says, don't expect anybody to talk to you. You have to blend in.

01:12
Since then, since then, I've been a person who always network. Doesn't matter where I am. I look for an event and I see if I can blend in the event and connect with people and build a relationship.

01:28
I've been in information technology marketing and operations for many years. And I've been doing that since I arrived to United States in 2020 2006.

01:46
Since then for 20 years, I've been in the community. I met Carlos many years ago in different working activities. And we together did something about doing business from home when it was when COVID hit.

02:02
Right. And since, since then we have been connected and seeing each other in different events.

02:13
That's right. That's right. Patricia, I've known you for years. It's been a while.

02:19
We've been at this for a while. You, I think you were actually one of my very first speed networkers online. You tried to get working online.

02:27
Yeah. And how was that? And how was, how was the whole experience of speed networking for you? How do you feel about that?

02:35
It's super interesting. And it's something that you have to do because in networking, if you want to do business with somebody, you have to first build a relationship.

02:46
It doesn't matter if you do it in an hour or in two seconds or in two minutes is this business working is something really, really valuable to me was an excellent experience.

02:58
Right. Right. Well, I'm happy. I'm happy that you said that, but you haven't. Have you done the in-person one or no?

03:05
I've been in two.

03:06
Okay. So you have done the in-person one. I couldn't remember because we've done, we've done a bunch.

03:10
And how do you feel about the in-person version? Because now you got the virtual and you have the in-person. So tell me, tell me your thoughts on both.

03:19
To me, it has been an advantage being bilingual because the community in South Florida, particularly in the place that you usually run the networking are bilingual.

03:31
And many of them are trying to get into the market. So they stumble sometimes in the English, but we make it happen. You know, we make connections and that is awesome.

03:44
Really, really amazing. I really appreciate the invitation to go to your networking activities.

03:49
Of course. Well, thank you. Well, thank you for coming out because it's, it's, it's, it's people like you that really make the event really stand out because, you know,

03:59
if, if it was an event when nobody was there and then sure you got people there, but the right quality people are always tough to have in there.

04:06
So you're definitely a great addition to it and you're always welcome to come by.

04:10
So it, which is kind of like why we invited you over here because you have, you have firsthand experience networking and it's a big part of how you do business.

04:19
And that's how you connect with as many people as possible.

04:22
So the idea of, of all of our episodes, small talk, big deals is so that we can help anyone that's listening.

04:29
That one, at least that one person is listening to this episode to go ahead and kind of just use their, get some ideas from you.

04:38
So that way you can, you can kind of just enlighten people.

04:40
And then the best part is that this is like an, a nice little way to learn more about what you do.

04:47
And at the end of the day, you're, you're teaching people how you're gaining, how you're able to make connections while also telling people what it is that you do.

04:57
So thank you.

04:58
Thank you for that.

04:58
And thank you for hanging out with us.

04:59
So networking, big, big part of your thing.

05:03
So what, what makes a networking experience worth your, your time?

05:08
Like what, what do you find to be worth it when you're networking?

05:13
First of all, build it.

05:15
First of all, know where I am, I am located.

05:19
Know the community and then build a relationship.

05:24
You done the sales in consulting on in project management as I do just connecting with a person and saying, Hey, this is my services.

05:34
You have to build the relationship, pay attention about what the people is doing and see if your solutions or services are something that the receptor is going to be able to say, I opened the door for you to the business.

05:50
So to me has been building relationships.

05:54
And then through the time, usually the people calls you don't need you just to be, the only thing that is, thing is very important in the world is be present.

06:05
Be present.

06:07
Maybe not on every networking event, but at least twice a year, three times a year.

06:13
So the people, first of all, the people has no memory.

06:17
They have no memory.

06:18
Oh, yeah.

06:19
But because we know, we met so many people.

06:22
So, but they're always going to remember something about you.

06:26
Many years ago, I created the concept of fractional project management because somebody said, I cannot hire a project manager.

06:34
But I said, but you always have projects.

06:37
And that person who has projects called me to run a project.

06:42
That it was building the relationship.

06:46
And that is very important.

06:48
And you have to be always present on the networking event.

06:51
Not just seeing what's going on.

06:54
I can't connect with that.

06:55
No, no, no.

06:56
Be present for everyone who connects with you in that moment.

07:03
And then be engaged, you know, engage with the people.

07:09
You mentioned one thing that intrigued me.

07:13
You mentioned about blending into the room when you go to networking events.

07:18
That's kind of like the opposite of what most people think.

07:22
So, how is blending into the room effective for you versus standing out?

07:31
Blending in the room is be inside the networking and open to connect.

07:41
I'm always smiling.

07:43
I'm always welcoming.

07:45
I mean, what is happening usually is that people have is not the people close to a networking event with some specific purpose.

07:57
And they think that everyone is a potential client.

08:01
And I think I think different.

08:03
Everyone has a potential relationship.

08:07
Business connection or a future friend.

08:10
We don't know.

08:12
We never know.

08:14
And be open and receptive.

08:17
Somebody is going to talk to you.

08:18
Not just hide behind your glass, the glass of whatever you are drinking.

08:24
That is the way that you blend in.

08:27
I don't know if you guys in the past we used to go to dance.

08:31
And the guy we used to do, we used to be standing behind.

08:37
Oh, yeah.

08:39
And then they were trying to talk with the girl.

08:42
But the girl was not because he doesn't like the hair.

08:46
The this and that.

08:47
No.

08:48
If you go there to dance, dance.

08:52
Yeah, Carlos.

08:53
Don't be a wallflower, Carlos.

08:55
You know what?

08:56
I got to start dancing more often, man.

08:58
Shake your tail feathers.

09:00
Shake your tail feathers.

09:01
But blending is that.

09:03
Blending is that.

09:04
Start dancing and finish dancing with somebody beside you.

09:09
Okay?

09:10
That is blending.

09:13
So what you're saying is don't ask for marriage on the first date.

09:16
Make sure you're dancing.

09:18
Exactly.

09:20
Don't.

09:21
You're going to get the person that's going to run.

09:27
There you go, Steven.

09:27
So for next time, we got to start the show with some dancing.

09:31
So that way we get the blood flowing and then people can blend in.

09:36
Right?

09:37
Yes.

09:39
Okay, cool.

09:39
So Patricia, a lot of times, especially Steven and I, we believe in the whole farming versus hunting philosophy.

09:52
And essentially what that means is that very much like a farmer, we don't try to pick our crops as soon as we, you know, as soon as we just get out in the field.

10:02
We go ahead and we plan out the seeds that we're going to plant.

10:06
We actually plant them.

10:07
We water them and then wait for the right time to pull our crops.

10:11
And it sounds like you're, you're on a very similar tip where you don't try to close people right away.

10:18
You're all about building that relationship.

10:20
is that, have you even tried to do hunting versus farming or are you have always been farming versus hunting?

10:25
I, first of all, I always, my priority is to farming.

10:32
Because the times that I was working in big companies and they said, go to hunt a potential client, they were running away from the offer.

10:42
So I learned, you learn that in the field.

10:46
We learn that in the field.

10:47
And also if we are, let's say that we are going to, a small and medium business, which is all of us are medium business or small, small business or many of them entrepreneurs.

11:02
Everyone is afraid.

11:04
And, so if you go hunting, they're going to run.

11:08
They're not even giving, giving you the opportunity to tell them, Hey, what about if we talk?

11:17
No, absolutely.

11:18
You're, you're, you're, you're absolutely right.

11:20
As a matter of fact, Steven is in a, is very much in that, in that, in that realm because in his business, not everyone's trying to buy a car right away, you know?

11:28
And you have to, I don't know if you're familiar with, with Steven, Steven, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll do my best not to butcher what you do.

11:35
So Steven, what he does is essentially he takes away the whole bike car buying experience from you having to physically be there and he will go, let me put me in the big part here.

11:45
So, he takes away the whole experience of you having to be there and deal with the hassling of checking out the car, then discussing the rates.

11:54
And he removes that entire thing, but not everyone's looking to buy a car every day.

11:58
You know, sometimes this is a once every two, three year endeavor.

12:01
So it's important that he focuses on, on planting seeds.

12:06
And then when the right time comes, you know, people think of him.

12:10
So I know for a fact that's been his, his, his methodology because it's, it's about who he connects with.

12:18
And then when the right time comes shoot, I've known him for a while and I hired him.

12:23
So it was able, it was able to actually work with him and do it.

12:26
So, and he never, ever pressured me ever, ever.

12:29
It just happened to be like, you know what, let me try him out because I need to buy a car.

12:34
And then to my surprise, it was a lot better than I experienced.

12:37
So I gladly refer him to other people.

12:41
So that would, because I personally experienced it and it all happened because he focused on the relationship with me versus, Hey, when you buy a car, hire me.

12:50
When you buy a car, hire me.

12:52
That's what always been very effective.

12:54
And I kind of just modeled the same approach in my, in my, in my business.

13:01
I like that.

13:02
One of the worst experiences that I ever had.

13:05
I came here in United, to United to 2006, 2006.

13:12
The first thing I have to do because there is no way to have a subway or something like that is buy a car.

13:21
And I spent in the, in the dealership almost five hours.

13:26
And I said, that is a period of awful.

13:30
Because if you have a person who can do that for you, it's amazing.

13:35
Because waiting for, because it's the right, it's this, it's, it was such a crazy game that in my second car, I bought it online.

13:46
Nobody wants to do it.

13:48
He made me feel, he made me feel like a, like a millionaire because millionaires, they send their assistants to go, Hey, you know, buy me a car.

13:54
And thank you for making me feel like a millionaire, Steven, millionaire.

13:58
Steven, I'm going to, without having the experience to work with you, I know what you do.

14:04
And that is so relaxing when you, when you came here, I'm always living in cities.

14:13
And I came here and said, okay, I cannot walk, not even to the grocery store.

14:17
I need to have a car.

14:19
And how a car is not like go to the, to the dealership, but buy the car.

14:23
Go to the dealership and spend hours there.

14:27
And at the end of the day, you never have the good price.

14:30
But anyhow, you have something.

14:32
Yeah, for sure.

14:37
That's what we're here for.

14:38
And the same aspect, I, you know, obviously I've known Carlos for a while.

14:42
And then, you know, the opportunity came up where I can actually refer Carlos because he's a very specific ask.

14:50
And, I know he's working through that right now, but you know, it's, it's all about what, what can we give?

14:56
What can we buy value add?

14:57
And then eventually they'll, it'll return back to you.

15:01
So, absolutely.

15:03
So Patricia, Patricia, what, what kind of people are the ideal people that we can introduce you to?

15:09
definitely there is, let me give you what I learned is the people have triggers.

15:16
If somebody is telling you, if somebody is telling you for years, I've been trying to launch this product.

15:23
That is a project for me.

15:27
I'm not an expert on, on marketing.

15:29
I'm going to hire a marketeer.

15:31
I'm not an expert on super operations.

15:34
I'm not an expert on manufacturer.

15:35
I'm going to hire something, but I know about the business of projects.

15:41
I know that the project has a beginning and an end.

15:44
That's it.

15:45
And the client has value.

15:46
So that is one of the triggers that usually when somebody said, what kind of client I have, somebody who can run a project is a medium, a big company.

15:59
And a small company as well, because sometimes I'm, I'm, as you know, I'm, I'm, I'm educator at a score.

16:07
So in a couple of weeks, I talk about two topics, technology business and project management business.

16:16
And I have people that are solopreneurs.

16:21
So projects is as the late motive of my company is life and business are ongoing projects.

16:29
When we want to do something, we have a project.

16:31
It has a beginning and an end.

16:35
All right, cool.

16:36
That's, that's, that's good.

16:38
So if someone is looking to, has a big, has a bunch of things that have to get done.

16:44
They organize into a project, you are, you could help them manage the project, consult them on the project, coach them on getting the project done.

16:50
But at the end of the day, you help people finish something that needs to get started.

16:55
Because people start things all the time, but they never finish because they don't know what to do.

16:59
And you're the one that has all the, have seen all the mistakes that you can help them avoid and make sure it gets done.

17:07
It's terrible.

17:08
Usually it's about, it's about organization.

17:11
It's not about crazy things.

17:14
It's about just organization.

17:16
That is my expertise.

17:18
Are you losing me?

17:23
I'm sorry.

17:24
Say again.

17:26
Are you seeing?

17:27
Can you see?

17:28
I see you.

17:28
I see you.

17:29
And I hear you perfectly.

17:32
And as a matter of fact, now's the best time to make sure that we get to hear you and see you.

17:35
What, how can anybody get in contact with you and connect with you?

17:40
Anybody can go to my website.

17:41
It's PMO, which is projectmanagementofficebusiness.com.

17:48
Or they can call me.

17:50
My name is Patricia Monico.

17:51
That's PMO.

17:53
Also.

17:53
What happened is projectmanagementoffice.

17:56
So clever.

18:00
At PMObusiness.com.

18:02
Or my phone, which is almost everywhere.

18:06
786-217-2951.

18:09
And then, oh yeah.

18:10
They might just catch you at one of the next speed networking events to connect with you.

18:14
So perfect.

18:15
Patricia, thank you so much for your.

18:17
Thank you for your insight.

18:19
And it's always a pleasure to have you aboard.

18:22
Likewise.

18:23
Talk to you guys soon.

18:24
Bye.

18:25
Take care.

Connect with Patricia Monica Ojeda

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Carlos A. Vazquez talks with Tom of Crypto Signalen about earning trust, checking referrals and combining online introductions with in-person conversations.

Presented by Speed Networkers. This conversation features Carlos A. Vazquez and Tom of Crypto Signalen. Show hosts are Carlos A. Vazquez and Steven Menard.

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Download the episode action pack (PDF)

Key takeaways

• Ask what an introduction is based on and what can be verified.
• Start with a small working relationship and build trust through experience.
• Use a short introduction to decide whether a longer conversation is worthwhile.
• Research conferences and connect with relevant people before you arrive.

Chapters

• 00:00 · Small Talk, Big Deals
• 00:18 · The conversation
• 03:03 · Introductions and referrals
• 03:57 · How trust is earned
• 08:05 · Combine online and in-person networking
• 11:05 · Let a short introduction earn the follow-up
• 13:58 · Choose worthwhile conferences

Read the transcript

Edited for readability. Unclear words are marked. Timestamps refer to the finished episode.

Open transcript

00:18 · Carlos
We are live. Welcome to another episode of Small Talk, Big Deals. We have our guest, Tom [surname unclear]. Sorry, my Latino side of things is screwing things up. I apologize. I should have practiced ahead of time. Thank you for coming in. How are you?

00:42 · Tom
Thanks for the invite, Carlos. I'm good. How are you?

00:45 · Carlos
I'm fantastic. My AI did some homework on you. If it screws it up, AI did it. This is what it pulled from researching you: Tom builds systematic digital asset strategies around market cycles, momentum and risk discipline. Crypto Signalen serves private investors. The in-development [institutional business name unclear] offer is aimed at institutions such as hedge funds and trading firms. Did it screw it up?

01:24 · Tom
No. Quite accurate, actually. Well done, Carlos.

01:29 · Carlos
Thank you. Tell me exactly what it means, from your mouth.

01:36 · Tom
A little about my background: I used to be a trader for a long time and worked in the asset management industry. At some point, I started for myself, trading and developing. I was researching trading strategies for my own trading. From there, I started sharing with my personal relations. Later, institutions started asking if they could join. Now I run two shops. One is aimed at entrepreneurs who want to get more out of their investments. The other is the institutional side, which is more like a software automated trading solution.

02:35 · Carlos
In your industry, there has to be a lot of trust to work with you, and for you to work with them. You are part of the Speed Networkers community. I remember you from at least one event. We've seen each other and shaken hands in person. How do you go about connecting with people? This is a high-trust industry.

03:03 · Tom
There are a couple of angles. I've been in the industry for a long time, so I know quite a few people already. Sometimes I get introduced through people from my past who know what I've done. Sometimes I get referrals from professional parties, like institutional firms referring me to another institution. I used to work as a consultant to private clients. I start asking questions, start with a little consulting, and then they ask what I do for my own trading. One thing leads to another. There are several angles.

03:57 · Carlos
How do you know you trust somebody?

04:01 · Tom
I know how to ask the right questions, and I do the same thing: how long has somebody been working in the industry? How can I verify certain things? Sometimes it's a matter of starting to work with somebody. You can start relatively small, see how they do things, and build trust along the way. Trust also has to be earned.

04:30 · Carlos
It's not instant. Certain things can speed up earning trust, and definitely speed up destroying it. What would be a red flag for you?

04:48 · Tom
For me personally, in the markets I'm active in, it would be things like using high leverage or focusing on crazy tokens, like crazy altcoins. It can be different things. Those are just a couple.

05:15 · Carlos
I know you're Dutch. Are you in South Florida right now?

05:21 · Tom
No, I'm about 30 kilometers above Amsterdam, in a small town called [town name unclear].

05:27 · Carlos
Do you do a lot of networking there? Do you travel the country or the world to meet people?

05:37 · Tom
For crypto markets like Bitcoin, we have several conferences. I'm also part of a blockchain society in the Netherlands, and we have regular meetups. Professional firms give presentations at professional networking events. You can present your firm or listen to somebody else's. Then we usually do something fun, like a padel tournament.

06:16 · Carlos
Meeting people in person is part of your process, not just online?

06:23 · Tom
Online can be done, but because of the high-risk nature, there is something about meeting in person, especially with professional firms. Getting references from parties you both know also helps. Meeting in person is a good source.

06:50 · Carlos
Have you tried networking virtually? If you did, how was the result?

07:00 · Tom
I haven't really tried it. In the end, I wouldn't trust somebody I just met over the internet. Maybe I'm a little old-fashioned. Maybe it has to do with prejudice or not knowing the right type of online networking events. I'm a little more old-school in this.

07:31 · Carlos
There's nothing wrong with that. Because of COVID, we all had to accept the virtual nature of it. Nothing replaces the in-person warmth of talking face-to-face. You see someone's reaction and feel a vibe you can't feel online.

07:59 · Tom
You can pick up much more subtle things when meeting somebody in person.

08:06 · Carlos
I love virtual, but I use it to speed up deciding who I'm going to meet, because the next step is in person. People tell me I look natural and comfortable in front of a crowd. That's what I give off, but I'm really an introvert. I don't know whether to call myself an extroverted introvert or an introverted extrovert.

I've learned to block out the things that make me uncomfortable and focus on the things that don't. At an in-person event, I have a hard time walking up to people and networking with random people. I feel I have to go with someone so we can introduce each other. I feel awkward introducing myself.

I'd rather say, “Have you met Tom? This guy is a brain when it comes to the investing space.” That's easier for me. I'm not going to do that with anyone. It has to be someone I've met, connected with and built some trust with. I've learned to use virtual as support for my in-person strategy. It's been working pretty well for me.

09:43 · Tom
That's a good point. Maybe I should follow up. I have tried phone calls and things like that, so maybe I should combine it better. It's a good tip. I find it difficult, especially with distance involved. As a Dutchie, we're used to a small country where everything is nearby. In this industry, I sometimes get inquiries from London or farther away. Maybe I should combine it more: meet a few people online in London, then fly there, meet them in person and build on the trust.

10:36 · Carlos
You've got to be selective. There have to be things you do to know whether somebody is the right fit before the conversation. Not everyone is a good fit, especially for what you do. How comfortable are you with speed networking?

11:02 · Tom
I'm okay with it.

11:05 · Carlos
We host speed networking mostly in person, but we've been testing virtual. I've been doing this since right before COVID. Every three minutes, your camera and someone else's turn on. In those three minutes, you're pitching and getting to know each other, but you're trying to achieve one thing: is this the right person to follow up with after the networking?

We do it online and in person. The goal is to see whether there's a conversation worth having afterward. That conversation might be 30 minutes to an hour, so you can see what can happen from there. I don't like to try to close anybody on the first one. When I was a young Marine recruiter, I wanted to close somebody and get them into the Marine Corps. As you get older, relationships don't work that way. You can't ask for marriage on the first date.

In your space, I think that could help. Others have done it that way, and it's worked out. They maximize their time without spending lots of time and energy realizing somebody isn't the right fit. In 30 minutes, you're connecting with about 10 people. That's the idea. Then you do it again.

12:41 · Tom
This could be handy around conferences. We have specialized conferences. If you warm up and filter like this, that could be a good combination.

12:58 · Carlos
Conferences I've attended have hosted virtual speed networking beforehand. When the event happens in person, you already recognize people you've connected with. The ice is already broken, and the conversation can go from there. That's been effective. We've adopted something similar, but haven't rolled it out completely because we're working out the kinks. It's been phenomenal for helping people connect.

13:40 · Tom
It sounds interesting. There are quite a few interesting conferences around the world. Knowing in advance that it's going to be productive definitely helps.

13:58 · Carlos
Conferences are part of your networking strategy. How do you research whether one is worth your time?

14:09 · Tom
There are many specialized conferences. Through my network, I know who will visit. I can ask: did you meet interesting people? Was it worth visiting? There are a few I know are probably interesting. Then it's a matter of finding and connecting with the right people in advance. That part is uncertain. You're not sure whether you can meet the right people or whether they have time, or exactly who is the right fit for your product or service. That's the way most people do it.

14:59 · Carlos
What's the ideal connection for you? Who would you like to be introduced to?

15:06 · Tom
Mostly trading firms, hedge funds or really high-net-worth individuals.

15:16 · Carlos
How does someone introduce you? What questions can they ask to see whether it's worth introducing you to them, or them to you?

15:27 · Tom
My product is Bitcoin trading combined with momentum trading and gold trading. People have to be interested in trading those things. If they're looking for really low risk, like sovereign bonds, I know it won't be a fit. If they're looking for an alternative investment or a risk-return basis that interests them, it could potentially be a fit.

15:58 · Tom
“Right now, annual CAGR was historically 56% annual rate of return with 11% risk.”

*Editorial note: this is an unverified guest performance claim. The transcript supplies no measurement period, methodology or definition of “risk.” Audio confirmation is pending. It is retained here as part of the source conversation, not used as a promotional result or investment recommendation.*

16:05 · Tom
If that risk-return profile sounds interesting, it could potentially be a fit. It has to be somebody in this market.

16:15 · Carlos
How can people reach out to you?

16:18 · Tom
Through my website, [website unclear in machine transcript]. Click contact and we take it from there.

16:26 · Carlos
Thank you for hanging out with me and sharing your tips. Good luck. We'll talk soon.

16:34 · Tom
Talk soon, Carlos. Thanks.

Connect with Tom of Crypto Signalen

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Start with a specific plan, find a shared interest and use a trusted companion to make the first introduction easier.

Presented by Speed Networkers. With Carlos A. Vazquez and Steven Menard.

Take one useful next step

Download the episode action pack (PDF)

Key takeaways

• Jeff describes a plans-first approach: decide what you want to do and invite someone to do it with you. A concrete activity gives a connection a shared starting point.
• Carlos describes connecting through a shared interest before the conversation naturally turns to business. The person and the shared activity give the exchange somewhere to begin.
• Jeff and Carlos discuss finding someone to attend an event with and introducing each other. Carlos explains why introducing Steven feels easier than introducing himself.

Chapters

• 00:00 · Small Talk, Big Deals
• 00:18 · The conversation
• 03:17 · Start with a specific plan
• 11:27 · Find common ground
• 12:16 · Bring a networking companion
• 20:09 · Look for mutual relevance

Read the transcript

Edited for readability. Unclear words are marked. Timestamps refer to the finished episode.

Open transcript

00:33
What's up? How you doing, Carlos? Thanks for having me. I'm fantastic. Thanks for asking. Of course, we've got my co-host here, Steven Menard from Motor Breeze. What's up, Steven?

00:43
Hello. Hello. How's everyone today? I'm fine.

00:48
Fantastic.

00:51
Yeah. So, fun fact, I told Steven to do the intro. He says I'm not ready for him or no one's ready, so I can't wait to hear his next intro for the next episode. All right, bro? No pressure on you.

01:05
Enough about Steven. Jeff, thank you so much for coming out, man. Thanks for hanging out with us. And I reached out to you. I reached out to you because, I mean, you're on the Speed Networkers list.

01:14
You were going to attend one of our events because you have actually a platform. I'm really excited to let everybody know about it. But here's what my AI did. Here's a little homework. And you're going to tell me if it screwed up. If it screwed up, AI did it.

01:27
All right. Sounds good.

01:28
If it did good, I did it. All right? Sounds good.

01:31
So, Jeff founded Plus One, a plans-first social app that moves people from profiles and endless chat into real-world plans. The company reports one of the 32,000 downloads and is active in South Florida with an early New York community. Is that right? Is that good?

01:47
How many downloads did it say we had?

01:49
At the time, it says 32,000.

01:52
Yeah, approximately. We probably have like 35,000 now. But yeah, we built this last year and we are launching in New York in November. We're doing a big launch party November 21st. So, that's really exciting.

02:05
So, a lot of people are starting to know us in Miami. I was just at the Brickle Run Club yesterday. I don't run. I hate running. But I went there after all the guys are done running where they all like co-mingle. And I was handing out swag. And a lot of people already had the app downloaded. So, it's kind of cool.

02:22
That's dope, man. So, November 21st, New York. That's awesome that you're going nationwide, man.

02:27
All right. So, here's the warm opener that my AI recommended me to say. It says, Jeff, plans first, profiles second. Feels like a reaction to what social apps have become. And it has me to ask you this question. What were people struggling with that made you reverse this whole usual model?

02:47
Well, according to the Forbes studies, about 80% of people experience swipe fatigue and they're just kind of sick of dating apps.

02:55
Myself included and a lot of my friends don't even use dating apps anymore, especially for men. It's kind of rigged against men. The majority of people on the dating apps are men.

03:04
So, you statistically need 1,000 swipes just to get one meeting in person. It's extremely time consuming.

03:10
Plus, there's no really good apps to meet. Like, if I want to meet a guy to go, you know, play golf with or basketball or something.

03:17
So, I wanted to build an application that wasn't focused on dating that had more of a plans first approach.

03:22
Like, this is what I want to do. Who wants to do it with me?

03:27
So, you just totally flipped the whole – you just disrupted an entire behavior because, yeah, swiping, swiping.

03:34
Now, you're creating a more intentional, focused approach on meeting the right person for whatever you're interested in, right?

03:41
Yeah. So, we don't market ourselves as a dating app. We just market ourselves as an app to find people to do things with. It's that simple.

03:48
We don't need to – in a world that's overwhelmed with apps now, everyone, their mother seems to be vibe coding an app.

03:55
And, you know, like, you have apps that are just geared towards people that want to connect for fitness dating, Christian dating, whatever, all sorts of weird, like, niche things.

04:05
We want to be the Swiss army knife of apps to meet people for whatever purpose you want without being labeled as a dating app or a friendship app or, you know, whatever the case may be.

04:17
Got it. So, Steven, you going to say something? I see your mouth moving.

04:21
No, I like that a lot because that's cool that you – here's your plans.

04:26
Can't hear you.

04:26
Who wants to do it with me? It's kind of like how –

04:28
Hold on. I'm sorry, Steven. Jeff, you don't hear Steven?

04:32
I don't hear Steven now.

04:33
No? Oh, damn.

04:35
I hear Steven. Damn, I hear Steven. Yeah. Go ahead again, Steven.

04:40
No, now I don't hear you. Now you're muted. Go ahead.

04:42
So, I still don't hear him.

04:43
I definitely don't hear him either.

04:44
You want to translate?

04:46
Okay, so –

04:47
Now I don't hear any of you guys.

04:49
Oh, you don't hear me either?

04:51
Now I don't hear Carlos. Let me try to refresh.

04:57
Steven, I don't hear you, by the way.

05:00
Steven, I see your lips moving, but I don't hear you.

05:03
Now you hear me?

05:03
I hear you now, yeah.

05:06
Okay, here comes Jeff.

05:08
All right. I am back.

05:10
Jeff, you're back. Can you hear me?

05:11
Can you hear me? Hello? Hello?

05:12
I can hear both of you now. It's a little bit low, but I can hear you guys.

05:16
All good. All right. Weird.

05:18
Is better, better, worse?

05:20
I hear you. Good to go.

05:21
Yeah, I can hear you. I can hear you now.

05:23
All right, Steven, you're going to say something?

05:26
No, I think that's a cool concept of – because that's kind of how I want to operate as well as, here, this is what I want to do.

05:35
Who wants to go do it with me?

05:36
And that's how Meetup – I've used Meetup as such, never for dating purposes, but always looking for people who were like the same interests, biking, whatever, and then we'd meet up.

05:49
But the app is kind of cool because that way I assume it's something that's geotagged, someone that's close to your area, and you can quickly connect with people that are looking in the same interests.

05:59
Is that correct?

06:00
Yeah, exactly.

06:01
So it defaults to the recommended setting, which is based on location, your gender preferences, interests.

06:07
So it tries to curate the feed based on what you select when you sign up, as your interests are.

06:14
As far as Meetup, Eventbrite, all these other companies, those are, as you know, more towards group and ticketed events, promoted events.

06:23
It's not really designed for one-on-one.

06:25
Our app is the app you would use maybe to find someone to go to a meetup.com event with, right?

06:31
So that's kind of how that works.

06:33
So, yeah, it's kind of cool.

06:34
We're kind of bridging the gap between dating apps and group meetup apps.

06:38
It's for one-on-one or a small group meeting.

06:41
So with a premium membership, you have the ability to prove up to 10 people for a plan.

06:46
And we call them plans, not events.

06:49
So, you know, an event is too formal.

06:52
Like a wedding's an event, a concert's an event.

06:54
But a lot of people use it for random stuff.

06:56
Like, I want to go for a walk on the beach.

06:57
I want to get a dinner.

06:58
Dinner's not an event.

06:59
We call them plans.

07:00
What's your plan for the weekend, right?

07:02
What's your plan?

07:02
So we use a plans for his approach.

07:06
That's awesome.

07:07
So, okay.

07:08
So then you were able to achieve 35,000 downloads here in South Florida.

07:13
You had to have networked and had to connect with a bunch of people to get to that point.

07:17
What did you do to actually achieve that?

07:20
Well, it's not just Florida.

07:22
Believe it or not, we have people from all over the world downloading the app.

07:25
So just the other day, someone requested to join my plan to go to Soho House.

07:28
She's from Paris.

07:30
I'm like, how did you hear about Plus One?

07:32
And I don't put on my profile on the founder.

07:33
People don't know.

07:34
And she just used ChatGPT, things to do in Miami, meet people in Miami.

07:38
So we're ranking in Google and chat, all the AI platforms when people are looking for things

07:43
to do.

07:43
Plus, they just see us organically on TikTok, Instagram.

07:46
So that's why we're scaling in New York next, because we already have hundreds and hundreds

07:49
of users organically there.

07:51
And the third city would be LA, and then probably Dallas or Austin.

07:56
But as far as your question is how we built our following, our community is through meta

08:02
ads, content creators, and then organic through, like I said, Google SEO and AI.

08:11
That's amazing, man.

08:12
Congratulations on getting the AIEO or AEO, whatever it's called.

08:17
AEO, yeah.

08:18
If you put in, it's hit or miss.

08:20
I've seen it sometimes where it works, sometimes it doesn't.

08:23
But a majority, a lot of the times, you put in like best app to meet people in Miami and

08:27
ChatGPT will put us in the top two or three or something like that.

08:32
Connect with people in Miami, things to do in Miami.

08:34
So we are ranking, and that's partially because we have hundreds of blogs on our site.

08:39
So it crawls at.

08:40
And my co-founder, Angie, she was largely responsible for that.

08:45
So it's kind of cool.

08:47
That's cool.

08:47
Yeah, that's definitely a huge need, specifically in Brickell, downtown.

08:53
A lot of people have moved here from New York, California.

08:57
And I'm on the Brickell Living website, Facebook page, and I see it all the time.

09:05
And they have built up that community quite a bit since COVID.

09:08
So I definitely see the need for that.

09:12
And I personally don't like these.

09:14
Like there's a million Facebook and WhatsApp groups like the Brickell, downtown living.

09:18
Problem with those, it's not an efficient way to connect with people.

09:21
There's a lot of times it's people spamming people.

09:23
And as you know, you have to go through this feed of hundreds of people.

09:26
It's just extremely disorganized and not efficient.

09:30
I personally despise WhatsApp groups and these Facebook groups.

09:33
Now, and it's the same freaking like 30 people that go to these events.

09:37
You're sweating your ass off.

09:39
It's like people are asking what your job is before your name.

09:42
It's an unauthentic, in my opinion, not a good way to connect with people.

09:46
I've tried to go to these meetup groups and these like Facebook group meetups, but they just, they suck.

09:51
You know, you don't get quality people.

09:53
You get a million business cards that go nowhere.

09:56
I'd rather be in the comfort of my own home, you know, in my underwear, post a plan on, post my plan on plus one and then boom.

10:03
And then I get 30 people.

10:05
I had 60 people request to join my Soho house plan all from the comfort of my couch over the, over the, over like a week's time when I, when I had it up.

10:12
And then I just pick the people I think I'd vibe with the most.

10:15
I don't have to sweat my ass off in a hundred degree weather, fake networking with a bunch of people.

10:21
So AC is important.

10:23
So we want to make sure we have AC.

10:25
Steven's definitely got you.

10:26
He agrees with that.

10:27
So what would make an event not suck?

10:31
not suck is the problem is it just played out, dude.

10:34
I don't like events.

10:35
I mean, it just played out.

10:36
Now I'm a little hypocritical for saying that because we host monthly, we host a monthly wellness event called Macho Mingle.

10:42
But the thing that sets the plus one wellness event apart from all the other played out ones like coffee and chill, cups and chill, all the end chill ones is that ours is a hundred percent free.

10:53
We don't charge anything.

10:54
You just need the plus one app to get in.

10:57
And, you know, we have multiple workout classes, DJ are really cool way to work out and network with people.

11:03
But then more importantly, starting at our event in October, a hundred percent of net proceeds are going to go to charity to help combat human trafficking.

11:13
It's the only wellness event, I believe, in the country that gives a hundred percent of net proceeds from sponsors to charity, which is kind of cool.

11:20
We don't care about making money from Macho Mingle because we're a technology platform that supports that.

11:26
So, yeah.

11:27
So what I find, especially when it comes to business, people don't care.

11:32
They don't really care about the company or the business.

11:35
They care about the other person.

11:36
And one of the ways that I know that I've been able to really connect with other people is when we have something in common.

11:41
And it kind of just flourishes into, hey, we both have something in common.

11:45
By the way, what is it that you do?

11:47
It kind of naturally leads to business.

11:49
So I can see how Plus One supports that approach of doing business.

11:54
Get to know the other person, have something in common, and then see what happens after that.

11:59
So I think that your app really does serve that.

12:02
And you're right.

12:03
I mean, a lot of these networking events, they're hot.

12:06
They're disorganized.

12:07
You probably either know everyone already there and you don't want to continue doing business or you don't know anyone and it's a bunch of clicks.

12:15
Yeah, yes.

12:16
And we tell people, when you create Plus One, you put what you're looking for, friendship, networking, dating, right, collabs.

12:24
And then when you post a plan, like I've posted plans to find a Plus One to go to these networking events with just because I don't want to go alone and be that loser when you have these groups that are all talking to each other and you're there by yourself, right?

12:36
So I don't care.

12:38
If you want to go to a networking event, cool.

12:39
Use our app to find someone to go with so you have a networking wingman, right?

12:44
So that's kind of how we do it.

12:46
That's actually a great idea.

12:47
That's actually one of the tips that we share with people is go with a wingman because it's awkward, at least for me.

12:53
It's awkward for me to introduce myself.

12:55
Hey, guys, what's going on?

12:55
My name is Carlos.

12:56
I'm a mind marketer.

12:57
Like, whatever.

12:58
Hey, have you guys met Steven?

12:59
Steven is my man.

13:00
He's always hot.

13:01
Thank God there's AC.

13:02
He does motor breeze.

13:03
To me, that's a little easier to – he laughs at me.

13:08
That's easy for me to do because it's not about me and I help break the ice for him and then he kind of just reciprocates and does hate.

13:14
He wears thongs and puts a rifle badge.

13:17
You know, we can always mess with each other.

13:18
But I like the wingman approach because it helps break the ice much easier and it also helps when we host the event too.

13:25
We don't have to approach anybody because everyone is already approaching us.

13:29
But at the end of the day, when we have to go to a networking event, I prefer the wingman that gets it, that I don't have to introduce myself and we kind of just work together to achieve that.

13:40
It's good.

13:40
It's always better to be with someone that you have similar interests with and our slogans – I don't know if you say it, never go solo.

13:48
I see it.

13:49
It's – we believe that people would live a better life and do more things in life if they just had someone to go with.

13:56
And the problem is we live in a very, very flaky society.

14:00
It doesn't matter if you're the most popular person in the world.

14:03
You're going to have friends that make plans and they cancel.

14:06
They had good intentions when they made the plan.

14:08
The day after, I don't feel like going.

14:10
I'm tired.

14:11
I'm sick.

14:12
Whatever.

14:12
Something came up.

14:13
It's the same three or four bullshit excuses.

14:16
And plus one solves for that because let's say I post a plan on plus one for dinner tonight at Carbone.

14:21
I might have 10 people requesting that want to do that same thing on the same day with me.

14:26
If the first person I approve flakes, right, let's say they're being non-responsive or change their mind, okay, unapprove them.

14:33
The next person on the list I approve and we're instantly connected.

14:36
If there was no plus one, you'd have to start the process of finding someone to go with all over again, which might not happen.

14:42
It's a genius thing we built.

14:44
I'm humbled.

14:46
How do you get followers?

14:48
How does that work?

14:49
You don't need followers on plus one.

14:51
You could have followers, but you post a plan.

14:54
It's automatically discoverable to everybody in the platform.

14:58
The main thing that you could, as a social aspect, you could follow each other.

15:02
That way, if you post a plan, I'll be notified whenever you post a plan.

15:06
So it's also we market ourselves not as a way to meet new people, but also coordinate and arrange plans with your existing friend group.

15:13
So if you're all on your plus one, you all follow each other's profiles.

15:17
You can share a profile.

15:18
Instead of texting everyone, be like, what are you up to this weekend?

15:20
You just go on my plus one profile and see what my plans are.

15:24
So we have that.

15:25
You can organize private plans with your friend group, too.

15:28
We also have integrations with Ticketmaster.

15:31
So let's say you just want to explore what's going on near you.

15:34
You go to the ideas section and it automatically populates live events through Ticketmaster.

15:38
And you can even purchase tickets through there.

15:40
We have date ideas, happy hours.

15:42
So we have a vast array of things in the ideas section to give people ideas and inspirations of things to do.

15:48
So then the plan to get on the on the app.

15:52
Well, what is the what is the process?

15:55
What's the cost?

15:56
What's that look like?

15:57
It's 100 percent free for most use cases.

16:01
But let's say you want to become a power user.

16:03
You want to prove more people, post more plans.

16:06
We're doing a special now for only five dollars a month.

16:08
You have a premium membership.

16:09
Eventually, that will be ten dollars a month.

16:11
But that gives you a lot of features that you could do.

16:14
And then we are rolling out a really cool platinum membership portion, which is kind of good to be like the Raya of Plus One.

16:21
Super exclusive approved portion inside of the Plus One app.

16:26
So when you go on the app, it's going to say platinum plans.

16:29
You click on that.

16:30
You can't see shit unless you're an approved platinum member.

16:33
And then it will give you a pop up that says apply here.

16:36
So we're going to only approve like high quality, you know, successful people, people we guarantee are not catfish.

16:42
You know, because women care about safety.

16:45
So we want to make sure the people that are platinum members, we will pay the money to go through extensive background checks and, you know, proof of job and all that.

16:54
They want safety and stability.

16:55
Men want women that are not catfish.

16:57
So we'll do video interviews for the women and we'll verify them on social media.

17:02
So people are going to be exclusive.

17:04
This is going to be fucking huge.

17:05
No, this has never been done before by any social connected social app.

17:09
I don't think in the world.

17:11
Such a highly vetted exclusive portion.

17:14
So we want Plus One to be for anybody.

17:16
But that Plus One platinum membership is going to be a game changer as far as who's on there.

17:22
So then who would be the ideal, the ideal type of person to use Plus One?

17:27
The platinum or in general?

17:29
In general.

17:30
Let's start with general first because someone's got to get started.

17:34
So in general, just anyone that wants to do something and find someone to do something with.

17:38
So it's people that use dating apps that are sick of them.

17:40
And they want to find dates.

17:43
People that just want to connect to people that go to networking events that are sick of going to networking.

17:47
So people want to build their community, whether it's for one on one dating, networking or friendship.

17:52
So in general terms, anyone really.

17:55
I don't care what you look like, what you do for a living.

17:58
If you want to use Plus One, we believe everyone deserves a Plus One.

18:00
We will allow just about any plan on there conceivable as long as it's legal.

18:06
Now, we have had some girls say, oh, I want guys to take me shopping.

18:10
We prefer not to have that.

18:11
We did have too many of them at one point.

18:13
So we started to delete some and send messages.

18:16
Because we didn't want gold dingers.

18:18
We didn't want to pay.

18:18
Now, this is Miami.

18:19
It's expected.

18:20
But we didn't want people to go on there and just be like, oh, this is a sugar daddy app.

18:25
So we had to kind of like police that a little bit.

18:29
But other than that, we've been letting people post whatever they want.

18:32
You want to go to Comic Con.

18:34
You want someone to play chess with.

18:35
You want someone to go to Carbone with.

18:38
Whatever the hell you want.

18:39
It doesn't matter.

18:41
Well, I got one.

18:42
This might be the final question.

18:44
But you clearly meet a ton of people.

18:47
So you get a lot of people that invite you or want to meet with you.

18:50
How do you go through the noise?

18:54
How do you get through the noise of trying to meet the people you need to be meeting with?

18:59
Meeting as far as when I use it personally on the app or just out about?

19:03
Just clearly.

19:04
I mean, let's just talk about from the app.

19:05
Because clearly, plus one is your life.

19:08
It's your business.

19:10
And shoot, you can talk to everybody.

19:12
But at the end of the day, it's about the right type of connection.

19:16
Who do you decide is the ideal type of person to connect with before?

19:19
Because everyone wants to meet with you.

19:21
I would think that people would want to connect with you.

19:24
How do you decide?

19:25
Well, I post plans on the app just because to show people value.

19:29
And if you can't use your own app, who will, right?

19:31
So I set an example.

19:33
I try to post cool plans.

19:34
It's one thing we're lacking is attractive men posting cool plans, according to women.

19:39
So we are trying to get more attractive men.

19:41
That's why I'm going to the run clubs and places where young, fit guys hang out.

19:44
So that is being worked on and being fixed.

19:47
I won't be the only hot guy on there for long.

19:50
Steven, you bet you see Steven there soon.

19:53
Don't worry about it.

19:54
Steven, yeah.

19:54
We're coming hard.

19:56
So when I approve people on my plus one plan, I just approve people that I think I'll vibe with.

20:02
It doesn't necessarily mean I don't care if they're attractive or not.

20:05
Just people that look interesting.

20:07
And that's it as far as that goes.

20:09
As far as I meet people out in the wild, I usually try to connect with people that could benefit me and I could benefit them.

20:16
So I usually read through the bullshit.

20:18
There's a lot of scammers out there.

20:20
I can usually see right through it.

20:21
And I could try to connect myself with high quality people.

20:24
They're also building something cool or have something good to offer.

20:27
Awesome, man.

20:28
Good to go.

20:28
Yeah, because you attract what you are essentially.

20:32
My mom said, hey, show me your friends.

20:35
I'll show you who you're going to be type of deal.

20:36
And that kind of fits the line.

20:39
Mom, you still have good advice.

20:41
So yeah.

20:42
All right, man.

20:43
So how can anybody reach out to you?

20:44
How can they connect with you?

20:47
So joinplusone.com.

20:48
That's our website.

20:49
Gives you a lot of information.

20:53
Joinplusthenumberone.com.

20:54
Also just plus one, PLUS1 in the App Store.

20:57
That's where you go to download an App Store or Google Play.

20:59
And then also Jeff at joinplusone.com if you want to reach me directly.

21:04
Plus one underscore app on social media.

21:07
So lots of different ways you can reach out.

21:09
So we love the feedback.

21:11
A lot of our features we have is because of user feedback.

21:14
We always listen to our users and we're excited.

21:17
We have a lot of really cool features coming out.

21:19
And this is just the beginning for PLUS1.

21:21
It's going to be amazing.

21:22
I can't wait to see what happens next, man.

21:24
Thanks for your time, bro.

21:26
It was great.

21:27
Sounds good, man.

21:27
Thanks for connecting.

21:28
I definitely want to learn more about it and talk with you further.

21:31
Post a plan, guys.

21:32
Post a plan.

21:33
Say less, man.

21:34
Say less.

21:35
I'm coming.

21:36
You can tell me twice.

21:37
Steven.

21:38
All right, guys.

21:39
Bye.

21:39
Bye, guys.

21:40
Thank you.

Connect with Jeff Wulkan

• Website
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

Pay attention to the person in front of you, anticipate useful help and stay open to a new way of working.

Presented by Speed Networkers. With Carlos A. Vazquez and Steven Menard.

Take one useful next step

Download the episode action pack (PDF)

Key takeaways

• Melissa describes hospitality as treating people well and anticipating what they need. She tries to understand another person's situation and identify how she can help.
• She values meeting in person because she can notice body language and demeanor. The conversation explores how that differs from connecting through a screen.
• Melissa distinguishes public speaking, which she knows, from podcasting, which was unfamiliar. She accepted the invitation as an opportunity to try something new.

Chapters

• 00:00 · Small Talk, Big Deals
• 00:18 · The conversation
• 01:29 · Learn through a new opportunity
• 02:24 · Explain where your help fits
• 10:14 · Understand the person's needs
• 11:27 · Make room for real connection

Read the transcript

Edited for readability. Unclear words are marked. Timestamps refer to the finished episode.

Open transcript

00:36
All right. Enough about me. Enough about you, Steven. Today's episode is all about our guest, Melissa Burce. Is that how you still say your last name?

00:46
It's Burce. Burce if you're nasty. Just kidding. I'm a jokester myself.

00:52
Nasty as you want to be.

00:52
Yes, it's Melissa Burce.

00:54
Well, thank you for coming today. How are you?

00:57
Thank you for having me.

00:59
Awesome. How are you? How are you today?

01:01
I'm great. Just excited and thankful for this opportunity. I'm appreciative to be a part of this podcast and share my story.

01:12
Awesome. Well, I mean, you had to preface this podcast. My microphone's all acting up. You had to preface this whole podcast by saying you're not comfortable speaking so that you want to let everyone know that you're totally out of your comfort zone.

01:26
So what made you even want to jump out of your comfort zone? Why did you even do it?

01:29
There's two things. I'm very comfortable with speaking. I've done a lot of public speaking. I've had meetings at major corporations. I'm not comfortable with the podcast realm.

01:40
As I admitted to you, I've only ever heard one podcast. I don't watch podcasts. So that's where I'm stepping out of my comfort zone.

01:48
I love speaking to people, connecting with people, presentations. It's just this is not something that's comfortable for me. But, you know, they always say nothing good happens in the comfort zone. Right.

02:01
So when you sent this opportunity to me, I felt like this was a good chance for me to face my fears, do something new, put myself out there. And that's how we got here.

02:11
Awesome. Well, OK, so let's just jump right into it. If we haven't already. You said you're comfortable speaking to people. So what is it that you do?

02:19
What is what is what is what is your day to day look like? What what's your profession?

02:24
So I am currently a global account executive with a company called Conference Direct.

02:29
Conference Direct has been in business going on 30 years. I am a professional meeting planner.

02:35
So essentially what I do is I assist my customers with sourcing hotels for conferences, events, meetings.

02:42
So site selection, contract negotiations to negotiate better terms for their meetings, for their events.

02:52
But the back story on that, I kind of fell into this role. I spent almost 30 years working in the hospitality industry.

02:59
So growing up as a kid in Miami Beach, hotels were everywhere you went.

03:05
Turned 18, I was like, hey, I need a job, fell into the hotel industry and absolutely loved it.

03:10
It was one of the few industries that you didn't need a degree and you could just work hard, be resilient, consistent.

03:16
And I was fortunate enough to create a career for myself.

03:20
I've worked every aspect of hotels, reservations, front desk, catering, have worked at many of the large hotels in Miami.

03:29
So I was at the Fountain Blue as corporate catering manager, Hilton, Miami, some new hotels here in Fort Lauderdale.

03:35
And the last position I held before I went on my own was director of sales at the Trump and Sunny Isles.

03:41
So I was able to create a very great career for myself in hospitality.

03:48
But, you know, again, it's stepping out of the comfort zone, doing something different.

03:52
And I had just kind of gotten to a point in my career where I'd done all the things.

03:56
I, you know, didn't know if I wanted to become a regional, if I wanted to be corporate.

04:01
And I took the opportunity to join this organization.

04:05
A friend actually invited me with something that she did.

04:07
And she was like, hey, I think you'll be a great fit.

04:10
You know, all of the expertise and the knowledge that you've accumulated over the course of your career.

04:15
You know, let's try this out.

04:16
So that's how I got with Conference Direct.

04:19
So I just made my one year anniversary in July that I've been working on my own.

04:23
And yeah, so essentially I've taken my 30 years of knowledge and expertise that I've learned.

04:29
And I am now using that to the benefits of my customers by saving them time.

04:34
Because, you know, I know you plan your events.

04:36
And if you don't plan events on a regular, it's very time consuming.

04:40
And there are a lot of companies and organizations that, you know, they don't have a meeting planner

04:44
in-house.

04:44
They outsource a lot of this to their executive assistant or somebody on the team.

04:48
And essentially it becomes a full-time job on top of their full-time job.

04:51
So what I do is I bring my knowledge.

04:54
I give you back time.

04:55
And I save you money by negotiating the best terms.

04:59
And just, you know, using my expertise to help you with your events and conferences.

05:06
Dope.

05:07
Dope.

05:07
Steven, did you write all that down?

05:09
I did.

05:11
Some of the stuff she almost does like what I do as far as just saving people time, money,

05:17
and hassle.

05:19
It's a different industry.

05:21
But a lot of the same things as far as, so you're planning out corporate events for said

05:30
hotel is what I've gathered, correct?

05:33
Yes and no.

05:34
So basically Conference Direct, as I mentioned, I am a solopreneur.

05:40
So I do work for myself.

05:41
But I am an independent contractor for Conference Direct, right?

05:44
They've been in business since 1997.

05:46
So next year they'll be celebrating 30 years.

05:50
Conference Direct is a very well-known third party within the hospitality industry.

05:55
We have 500 global associates located throughout the entire world.

06:00
Most have all been former hoteliers.

06:03
So what I do is I use my services to support companies, right?

06:09
Whether it be a marketing company or a pharmaceutical company, you know, even a social group.

06:16
You know, I work with some international competitor groups, like any group, anyone that's looking

06:22
to plan a group.

06:22
So what I do is I help my customer secure venues at hotels or just standalone venues.

06:29
And again, use my expertise to help them negotiate the best terms to save them time and to save them money.

06:35
So a lot of that is done based on the partnerships that Conference Direct has established with all of these hotels.

06:40
So, I mean, we have agreements with all the major brands, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, independent hotels.

06:47
So it's that, but I'm supporting my customers, right?

06:51
Right. And then also helping the hotels as well.

06:54
Right. Because for them, we are a wholesale buyer.

06:56
We carry weight and leverage.

06:58
Like you go to any hotelier, they know Conference Direct.

07:02
Right. We booked, I believe it was $1.4 billion worth of business last year, 14,000 room nights globally.

07:09
Right. I think the largest conference that our associates booked was about 30,000 people in Vegas.

07:14
So I can assist clients anywhere from a meeting of 10 to up to 30,000 or larger.

07:21
So, yeah, that's pretty much what I do in a nutshell.

07:26
So I dedicate myself to sourcing, essentially, you know, helping my clients look for venues, also contract negotiations.

07:34
But aside from that, Conference Direct also helps with like client registration.

07:38
Let's say you booked your own meetings and your own events, but you need somebody to handle your registration day up.

07:43
We have a service that we can help with.

07:46
We also do app development.

07:49
Right. So like housing, you know, with these large conferences, housing is always a very big task and it's very daunting where we can offer that service as well.

07:57
We do on-site conference management.

07:59
Right. So if you just need someone to be there, work with the hotel, do the event orders, work with AV and all the various departments, we can offer that service.

08:06
We're even so far now doing cruises. Right.

08:09
Like a lot of companies are steering away from the traditional hotel and are starting to book meetings on cruises.

08:16
So we even do that. Right. Where we can do it.

08:18
You're going to sign up Carlos real quick.

08:20
Yeah. I see. He's obviously a cruise fan, but it's so much.

08:24
It's essentially every aspect of a conference and hospitality that we help with and support our customers with.

08:33
Absolutely. Absolutely. I love did somebody say cruising.

08:37
Somebody my headphones.

08:40
I heard that. I just got platinum status on Carnival.

08:45
Well, just got it right before they changed to that rewards program.

08:48
So, Melissa, right before we had you on the show, this is what we came up with.

08:53
Why we asked you to be on the show.

08:56
And you tell me if I got it wrong or my AI.

08:59
If it's right, it's me. If it's wrong, you know how AI screws everything up.

09:02
So Melissa is a global account executive serving South Florida.

09:06
She came up through hotel operations and describes her edge as being helpful, hospitable and solution oriented.

09:12
A strong lens for an industry built on trust and repeat business.

09:16
How's that sound to you?

09:17
Sounds perfect. But outside of serving just the South Florida market, I can help clients source events all over the world.

09:25
I have a customer I'm helping right now book a group in Rio.

09:29
So the NATO, we have a client that we support that's based in France.

09:33
Right. So it's not just limited to the South Florida area.

09:37
We support customers all over the world, located all over the world and also looking for event venues all over the world.

09:44
So I'm definitely we definitely have to talk afterwards because I use live events to help people build authority.

09:50
So you and I have a lot of synergy that we have to continue after this this interview.

09:55
So but what's what's important is that you meet a ton of people.

09:58
So in here, I prepared this question.

10:02
What did working in the hospitality world, how did it help you in connecting with people and how to actually take things to the next level when it comes to like doing business with other people?

10:14
I mean, the word hospitality is being hospitable. Right.

10:17
You think of hospitality, you invite people to your home, you know, you treat them well, you take care of them.

10:23
You have no choice but to deal with people all day. Right.

10:25
And my first role was working at the front desk. So I was customer facing. Right.

10:30
Like it was all day, you know, creating memories.

10:33
That's how we used to explain it. Like people come here for whatever reason, whether it's business, professional, you know, sometimes people travel for very, you know, other reasons, unfortunate reasons.

10:41
Right. You never know why someone is traveling. Right.

10:43
So they always say lead with your heart, create a sense of hospitality, always anticipate the guest needs.

10:50
Right. And be friendly. I mean, in the world that we live in, it's so easy just to be friendly and kind because you never know what somebody is going through.

10:58
And I think where I've always had success is that I've always just tried to think of other people like, how can I help?

11:04
How can I be of service? What can I do to make your stay more comfortable or your conference a success or your event a success? Right.

11:10
I always put myself in the other person's shoe, try to identify pain points and then come up with solutions to help them with those different challenges that they have.

11:19
All right. So then where has networking made the biggest difference in how you just do business with others?

11:27
I mean, it's a game changer. We live in such a digital world where people can, you know, hide behind screens and voice their opinions and, you know, send a thousand emails.

11:37
But there's nothing like in person. Right. You meet people in person.

11:40
You get to actually see who they are, their body language, their demeanor.

11:44
Like meeting somebody in person and connecting with them is such a different experience than connecting with them virtually, even though, you know, this is obviously virtual.

11:52
And but it's a different connection. Right. You get to really get to know someone and there's nothing like it.

11:57
And, you know, as far away as we're moving from that, I think that society as a whole is, you know, saying, hey, we need in person.

12:05
You know, COVID was one of the darkest, darkest times for our industry.

12:09
And we lost so many people. And, you know, we try to hold it together.

12:13
And, you know, a lot a lot of companies were saying, well, no, you know, we're going to go virtual.

12:17
We're going to do all of our meetings because at the end of the day, people are trying to save money.

12:20
Right. Because it impacts their bottom line. Yep.

12:21
But they realize that there was such a need and such a demand for in person.

12:25
I mean, our industry was could have been wiped out. Right.

12:28
All these AV audiovisual companies, they were like, yeah, we got this.

12:32
We'll do your hybrid meetings. No, people want in person.

12:34
The power of connecting with people in person is there's nothing compared to it.

12:39
You can't compare anything to it. Yeah, for sure.

12:42
I mean, you're speaking to the people who love in person.

12:46
That's why we created the in-person speed networking.

12:48
So we know that there's more value in creating those communities and that in-person feel for sure.

12:55
So what would you say would be your biggest pivot, whether it's in life or in business?

12:59
Was there a pivotal moment that helped you, I don't know, launch or create more opportunity for yourself?

13:08
I mean, with this role specifically. Well, let's go back.

13:12
I joined hospitality. Like we said, Carlos, we've known each other for a long time as kids.

13:17
I kind of fell off the map because I had an early start. I had my oldest daughter in high school.

13:22
Right. So that was a pivotal moment because it was like, OK, you're not a child anymore.

13:26
You need to get a job and you need to take care of your kid. Right.

13:31
So my whole goal into getting to the hotel industry was I needed work.

13:35
And once I got in, I was like, you know what, if there's any industry that I can get into and make a career for myself,

13:40
is going to be this industry because, you know, you met GMs that I used to be a dishwasher and I was a bellman and I'm the general manager of a hotel.

13:47
So I was like, you know what, I'm going to make money and I'm going to make it here. Right.

13:51
So that's essentially what I did. Every time there was a new opportunity, every time there was something, you know, another job.

13:58
I didn't know it, but I was always the first one to put my hand up, give me a chance.

14:01
I'll learn. I'm a quick learner. And essentially, that's how I built my career.

14:05
You know, I got to a point when I was a director of sales that I had people that were, you know,

14:10
had master's degrees in hospitality and FIU and they were working for me, not knocking people that go to school.

14:15
I mean, if I could have gone that route, definitely that just was not in the cards for me. Right.

14:20
But again, this industry paved the way for me to be able to be successful and create a life for my family.

14:27
And so, yeah, I mean, having my daughter young was pivotal.

14:30
But what propelled me into Conference Direct a few years ago, my dad moved in with me during COVID.

14:35
He's retired and he got really sick.

14:38
He was diagnosed with coronary heart disease, 95 percent blockage and had to have three heart surgeries in four months.

14:44
And I went from director of sales and catering, you know, putting on million dollar events to working out of an emergency room trying to help my dad survive.

14:53
He did. Thank God. But that's when I really had to take a step back when I was working in the emergency room and thinking, like, what am I doing?

15:00
I'm at work and I'm thinking about my dad. And when I'm with my dad, I'm thinking about work and I'm literally spreading myself thin and I'm not effective for anyone.

15:09
Right. So I made the decision to tender my resignation. And I said, listen, I need to take a step back and I need to focus on what matters.

15:17
And that's my family. That's all I've ever done. This work was my family.

15:20
So I took a sabbatical, which was nice. I'd always heard about it. I didn't know what it was.

15:24
Went out to the desert for about three months. My sister lives in Vegas. So we did hiking. We went camping.

15:29
We did all the all the things. And then I came back.

15:32
Did you do like a silent retreat or ayahuasca or not that far?

15:34
No, I'm not.

15:35
Not Aaron Rodgers.

15:37
Sobriety is a hell of a drug. I don't need drugs to enhance that.

15:40
You know, I just needed nature. I needed air. I needed time to reflect and say, OK, I've done all of this. Now what? Right.

15:46
So joining Conference Direct, that happening with my dad was a pivotal moment for me and saying, OK, I still want to work in hospitality.

15:53
I know that I can help customers. I just can't be stuck at a hotel dealing with budgets and numbers and people and all the things, the events.

16:02
Like I need to be able to work on my own, work independently, still take care of my family.

16:07
And yeah, so that was what changed it for me. And here I am.

16:11
Melissa, you your life is like a you had like a fast track to making big, big girl decisions.

16:19
And I'm proud of you. You've done you've done a lot. Obviously, I know you at the beginning before we even got here, you gave me my kudos.

16:26
But I've known you since you were younger and you had to grow up faster than a lot of us.

16:33
And you're doing great. I'm really proud of you. And I would love for people to really get to know you.

16:38
How can anyone reach out to you, get to know you? So that way, if they want to do business or just even make a new colleague, how do they get in contact?

16:47
I mean, like I'm old school. Pick up the phone and call me. My cell phone is 754-707-1285.

16:55
You can also send me an email. It's Melissa dot Burce, B-U-R-C-E at ConferenceDirect.com.

17:01
And if you just want additional information on Conference Direct, the services that we offer, just hit the website, ConferenceDirect.com.

17:08
And you can learn more about our services. You'll find my associate profile on there as well.

17:12
But listen, just call me. You know, pick up the phone. Let me know how I can help. Send a text. I'm old school.

17:18
And we'll see you at one of our events. So you might come out. People might come out and meet you in person.

17:23
So, Melissa, thank you so much for your time. You're just a chock full of knowledge.

17:29
You're just fun to be around. And you just you did great for somebody that's not comfortable in public speaking situations.

17:35
Thank you. I appreciate it. And I definitely want to come to your events, but do something in Fort Lauderdale.

17:40
Sometimes like, you know, I'm from Miami, but I can help you. I can help you find a venue in Fort Lauderdale.

17:45
I'm hosting a networking breakfast on Friday at a hotel nearby. So something in Fort Lauderdale. I'll help you out.

17:51
You see? OK, Melissa, let's talk about that breakfast. Say less. All right, Melissa, I'll talk to you guys soon.

17:57
Bye, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Bye bye. Take care.

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