Innovative Networking: Rob Tracz

Networking doesn't have to be a dirty word. Nor do you have to hang out in the corners of the room, juggling a glass of wine, a handful of business cards and an arancini ball, whilst wondering if you have spinach in your teeth or if your breath stinks. 

• Join us for an enlightening conversation with Rob Tracz who gives Katische an update on the latest in how to promote your business, spiritual or otherwise offline. Oh and you can give those skanky psychic fairs a miss! Update your skills, your mindset and your network in this episode.
• Rob shares actionable insights on the importance of building deep relationships, utilizing social media like LinkedIn effectively, and innovative approaches to public speaking in unconventional settings. 
• Listeners will find inspiration and practical advice to elevate both their personal and professional lives.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction to Infinite Life with Katische Haberfield
00:39 Season 13 Kickoff and Guest Introduction
01:13 Meet Rob Tracz: Dynamic Coach and Speaker
03:58 Networking Insights and Strategies
07:11 The Power of Authentic Connections
15:49 Modern Networking Tools and Techniques
17:33 Leveraging LinkedIn for Spiritual Entrepreneurs
21:58 Getting Started with Public Speaking
26:46 Creative Speaking Opportunities
34:54 Building Your Support Network
37:36 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

A friend from a past life is calling to say hello!  Will you answer the call?☎️ 

Join Katische for a fun and light-hearted session where she channels a past life friend of yours who has a positive message to bring through.

10 minutes channeling time. Join us for the fun, or apply to become a guest.

Transcript

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0:00

Welcome to the Infinite Life with Katische Haberfield. I'd like to take you on a transformative journey, exploring the mysteries of the soul. I hope you enjoy the regression case studies, mediumship interviews, and fascinating discussions that I've had with guests on the podcast. I hope that these answer some of the questions that you might have about life on this planet, on others, and in other dimensions. Thank you for joining me, and please don't forget to like and subscribe. And most importantly, share with your friends. Namaste.

Katische Haberfield: 0:39

Welcome to the infinite life with Katische Haberfield podcast. I'm your host Katische Haberfield. Welcome back to season 13. We're speaking with some fascinating, interesting people who I've brought on to help in different areas where I think I'm interested in. I want to refresh my knowledge on this particular area. It might not be my mainstream area of expertise, but I've thought I've seen these people and I want to bring them on, learn from them and have a great conversation. So this week we have a fabulous guest and his name is Rob Tracz. And I'm going to read you his profile first before welcoming him. So Rob is a dynamic coach and speaker specializing in helping driven spiritual entrepreneurs like you break through stagnation to achieve holistic success. As the founder of Prime Performance Coaching, Rob guides clients to look good, feel good, and do great things by blending physical, mental, and emotional strategies that foster resilience, clarity, and peak performance. With a focus on creating awareness and avoiding burnout, Rob's methods empower entrepreneurs to elevate their lives and businesses simultaneously. So get ready for actionable insights and transformative strategies that will help you thrive both personally and professionally. And I just want to say, before we get into the episode, please check out the show notes because you can go to survivingthesidehustle. com forward slash free call book a complimentary prime performance strategy session through the provided link. it will provide significant value to you by providing personalized in depth consultation designed to address your unique challenges and goals as entrepreneurs. So welcome to the podcast. Rob.

Rob Tracz: 2:27

Katische, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to to hop on and chat with you.

Katische Haberfield: 2:31

thank you. I'm really excited to talk to you too because I read your profile. And what I remember distinctly is I trained in marketing, so I went to university and did mainstream marketing and did a degree in marketing and a master's in marketing. then I became a university lecturer in marketing. And so you can see that. I grew up in terms of my education with and joining societies, becoming part of professional memberships, doing the, what I back then called the hustle of turn up, hand out a business card. Throw a lot of business cards on different tables, juggle a glass of wine, a few mints, say no to the little mini quiches and think, who haven't I met before? it was a little bit draining because you're like, oh, here I go again, another room, another bunch of strangers. How do I know? Who they are, what they want, and I think I'm missing the point. And I thought, let's get a fresh perspective on networking and public speaking and how people who haven't come from the same background as me. Can use this to thrive in their spiritual business and you're a different generation to me. So I thought there's probably heaps of stuff and things that you've tried that, you know, can really give me some fresh perspective as well. So where would you like to start with from that?

Rob Tracz: 3:58

I guess we could just dive straight in, into, I guess, in person networking, just to kind of dive in and tackle that because I feel like a lot of people do still kind of, when they hear networking, they kind of get this negative kind of feeling or almost like. A lot of people are kind of turned off of going to networking events because they feel like they might get sold or pushed into some other things and, and I feel like it's, I feel like it's totally opposite. I, when I think about networking events and I, and I go to other events, I look at them like little mini parties and I, I think it's fun and I set little challenges for myself and and I, I go into it with an open mind of, of genuinely looking to make a connection and, and find a relationship with people. these individuals and possibly friendships. And if something beneficial for work does work out, then that's awesome.

Katische Haberfield: 4:49

And, what are some of the little challenges that you set yourself, for example, like how do we even get into that challenge mindset of, you know, being that open minded to, to explore and be curious, but also, be interested.

Rob Tracz: 5:09

Yeah, I think well, I think the first thing really would be shedding some light or bringing awareness to, to yourself as an individual for your business and the things that you're going through, because going to networking events, you do want to find, you obviously want to find work eventually, but like going into it and just making better connections is also like a really great Great opportunity and challenge to set for yourself. And I've done a lot of like internal reflection on my own Person and I've come to the conclusion that I've got three main drives or motivators for me personally And my number one is an adversity. So I'm an adversity drive. So I'd like to challenge myself So when I do have events on the schedule, I like to try to set new things so oh, I want to try to connect with at least two people that I've never met before or I'd love to chat and catch up with somebody that I know is going to be there. And so I like have these little tiny, like objectives for myself going into those. But then going back to those, those drives, my other drives are achievement. So I like to, I like to be successful with what I'm doing. So that's why those, those challenges are helpful. And then also unity too. So I like to do, be successful and accomplish things with others. So like going in and, and if, if I do meet somebody and I'm not the perfect. fit for them and their business or what they've got going on, I might know somebody who is and vice versa as well. So making sure that I'm not just showing up for myself. I'm showing up for a lot of my friends, a lot of my clients, and just being able to be a big connector for others too, because you never know. Well, you never know when you might be able to help somebody else be super successful with their business. You might be able to land them a great contact or a client, and then they're going to want to think extra hard for you, for your business and seeing Oh, who can I pair up or who can I introduce Rob to down the road? So I think those are great ways to approach it. Mm

Katische Haberfield: 7:11

And that reminds me, I don't know if you follow Lewis Howes,

Rob Tracz: 7:14

hmm.

Katische Haberfield: 7:15

he kind of started off way back when, you know, and his, his sports career was dead and he was on the couch and he was like, I don't know what I do want to do next. And he was able to pivot to that from adversity to the mindset of simply how do I help others? And

Rob Tracz: 7:31

Mm hmm.

Katische Haberfield: 7:32

But it was in being humble, I guess, in saying, I need to help myself and but I also can bring others along the way. So I, I really appreciate that you did say that specifically that you go to these events, not only for you, but Thinking to yourself, yeah, I'm not sure if this person and I will gel, or they might not gel right now, but hey, I really should introduce them to so-and-so because they're perfect. So humanizing it like that, so I really appreciate that. Mm,

Rob Tracz: 8:00

Yeah, I think a lot of people think in terms of business and even just in life they get wrapped up into like, the game of life. They almost compare it to like poker and to be successful, somebody else needs to lose all their chips when really that's not true in life. Like everybody can be successful. Even people who are doing the same exact thing as me, coaching and speaking, they Looking at them as competition, I feel like it's kind of a, an older approach, and I look at even other coaches and speakers for opportunities to collaborate because the more that we can work together, we can create more attention, more buzz and kind of get that momentum moving for our businesses, and then everybody kind of wins. And as a speaker, I see a lot of people kind of talking about a lot of the same kinds of material and same principles on different stages. And, you know, It's okay because Me, myself, might, I might say the same exact thing as somebody else, but because of my experiences and my history, I might be able to relate to certain members of the audience slightly different. And same thing for networking events too, like going in and connecting. So like I was saying I really like to connect and make good relationships. I go in and I'm like, okay, who here can I meet that would be cool? To go get sushi with me because I love sushi. So I love to try to connect afterwards and, and try to just develop good relationships. So not necessarily diving in professionally right off the bat, but kind of digging a little bit deeper into the into the conversations and asking better questions instead of just like the surface level of Oh, what do you do for work? Kind of things.

Katische Haberfield: 9:41

And that's, so that's the hard thing too, isn't it? If you haven't been to a networking event for a while, oh goodness, I, I mustn't have been for about 10 years or so, to be honest with you, cause kids and all that sort of stuff in the meantime. But, part of it is that fear when you walk into a room and you're like, how do I, how do I ask questions that don't seem small talk that is not meaningful, but how do I develop questions so that I don't go for, hi, I'm a hypnotherapist and I want your business. Like it's that. think even in, if we meet somebody for coffee, it's like, how do we start that discussion where work isn't the first sentence out of your mouth?

Rob Tracz: 10:21

Yeah, so I, so I'm a big acronym guy. So a lot of, a lot of principles and things that I teach people revolve around the acronym. So in terms of networking and connecting with people. Or even just going to have coffee with friends. I always try to remember the name, Ted Ford. T E D F O R D so Ford, the second half, or the second name, is an acronym for Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Dream. So if you can remember that, that name, you can kind of go through those things. So you can talk about family, what do you do for work, what do you do for fun, what are your dreams or projects that you're working on, what are your goals, kind of things like that. Then, so you can work through those, so that lines you up with four questions right off the bat. And then the first name, Ted. T E D stands for tell, explain, and describe. So now you can take those, those four questions on Ford and you can add the different layers. So if you're talking, connecting with somebody, and you're asking about the family, you could be like, Oh, so do you live around here by, are you, do you live by yourself? Do you have family nearby? And they might mention, Oh, my sister's nearby. I'd be like, Oh, that's cool. Tell me about what's it like living near your sister or tell me about your sister. And then that kind of gets it going a little bit more. And then if, if you can take it to the next level down, which is explained, so you could be like, Oh, explain to me what it's like living near your sister or explain to me what it was like growing up or explain to me. Cause then that gets them to dig a little bit deeper into their. Story and conversation. And then the last one is to describe. It's just another way of getting it even deeper into that. So describe to me how it's or what your relationship with your sister is, or describe to me. And it just helps layer that a little bit further. And then you can do that again. So essentially you got those four questions times three, you've got 12 different questions that you can kind of fire and get to know somebody on a deeper level, cause you're trying to gather information and then later you can kind of. talk more business once you have a better connection, you can relate to things. So you want to kind of connect on deeper levels.

Katische Haberfield: 12:32

And I like the way that you put that because instead of asking them a question, so you're thinking of something and you're putting a question mark at the end of it, you've given them that open ended answer, haven't you? By saying describe or explain, which is good because yeah, we often sit there and think, what should I ask them? But it's not what you're asking. I mean you're giving them permission to, to take the floor, so to speak. what sort of, in your own, activities. What kind of networking groups and events have you been to that have surprised you in terms of that kind of authentic connection that you've generated? Or you thought, I don't know, I don't know how this will go, but I'll give it a stab and you thought, wow, that was great. What sort of stuff have you been doing?

Rob Tracz: 13:15

Well, so a funny one, actually a good friend of mine and I were just kind of going to a bunch of our buddies and our friends events that they're hosting. And we have a mutual friend Who's a matchmaker. So she's like a dating coach and she's trying to connect people. So she hosted a speed dating event. So I totally didn't think about that as anything very lighthearted. You just go and you connect with a bunch of people. But I actually made good friends with the guys that were sitting next to me. And. We developed a relationship and we were hanging out so that like we've gone and we've had sushi afterwards and we've gone out for drinks and really connected and, and we've done like Spartan races and different athletic events and playing sports together. And then one of those guys actually refers me business pretty frequently. And I would have never even met that guy if I had never gone to this speed dating thing where I was like talking to like woman after woman after woman, but it was cool experience. And I got to meet a really cool dude and who became one of my good friends.

Katische Haberfield: 14:17

Wow. That's really interesting. I've never thought of that before, because like you're saying, you're focusing on the opposite sex in that situation, but actually it's the people of the same sex as you in that situation. that's, that's a really cool example. And what about this sort of, so again, showing my age here, but as I said, you know, back when I was doing a lot of the networking events, you know, I spent a lot of my marketing money in those days when I just started up my little consultancy, doing the old stationery and beautiful stationery and beautiful business cards. And these days. You know, how do you even, do people even give out business cards anymore? Dumb question. Or do they just go, let's connect on LinkedIn? Or how do you, how do you recommend people approach capturing that contact? Because just to, sorry, I know it's a double part question, but you know, I grew up in the era where people used to have Rolodexes and Filofaxes where, and databases where you would have, right. Contact, name, met at this event. And then you'd have this whole. set of data capturing fields where you're essentially contact managing. I met Rob and his sister's name is Mary Ann. And, you know, he was wearing a green shirt that came from this, you know, he developed this huge thing. And it was like fascinating idea. And, you know, the Jim Rohn's and all of that era, all sort of, spouted that. But what's the modern take on that?

Rob Tracz: 15:49

Yeah. I I mean, I still see a lot of people handing out business cards and I try to keep them and I try to, I try to look them up or connect with them at least in the next day or two afterwards, just to make sure, because it's tough to keep all those business cards everywhere. So I do still kind of collect them and then put them somewhere. But usually when I'm out there, if I have a good connection with somebody. Then I'll just give them my phone number

Katische Haberfield: 16:17

Okay.

Rob Tracz: 16:18

or my email or, or just somehow to follow up. And if it's, if it's not quite too, if it's not the greatest, at least try to get them on social media or somewhere so that I can connect later down the road. LinkedIn is really super great and easy for professional stuff. LinkedIn or Instagram is also kind of fun and you get to see if they're comfortable sharing that, but, but it is important to get some sort of contact information if you do have a good. But you don't like again, like it shouldn't be going and at least I don't go and just look to collect as much information as possible because a lot of people think that oh, you need to make more connections, more connections, more connections, but I think it's really just making deeper connections. So I tried to. get to that level where yeah, we do, we can go get sushi or we can go grab a drink and, and just kind of chat about non work stuff. So when it is work type of needs, then I can bring that up and it's a little bit smoother. They're already like a warmer lead. So it's you want to make sure that you're warming the contact, right? You don't want to just grab somebody cold because then you're like down the road, like how are you, what are you going to do when you, when you If you do need them or something, like it's not going to be as helpful, I guess.

Katische Haberfield: 17:32

Yeah. Yeah. I'm just going back to LinkedIn for the moment. I noticed that I'm starting to see a few more overtly spiritual entrepreneurs on LinkedIn, but it's been for a very long time. Oh no, that's mainstream. You can't go in there unless you're a lawyer or somebody accountant or something like that. and most spiritual entrepreneurs have just been on Facebook and, and Instagram and maybe TikTok. I don't even go near TikTok. But from your perspective, how do you interact to facilitate and flow through with relationships with people that, are, have moved? Into the business contacts, how much does LinkedIn fit into your networking? And, I guess we'll get into a minute speaking generation, PR side of your, your business.

Rob Tracz: 18:23

Yeah, so LinkedIn is something that I'm trying to spend a lot more time on and taking a more serious approach and tackling that because it is such a great tool to stay connected with others and, and So that it's playing a bigger role for me now. I wish I had jumped into it much earlier. But I, I think any kinds of social media is great just to kind of keep that connection. But. You want to make sure that you're, you're still following up with these individuals and you are touching base with them. And, and, and the LinkedIn is great because if it is somebody that you haven't necessarily talked to, or you haven't really connected with since a networking event and like a little while back it's great because then you can kind of refresh yourself a little bit without having to file everything away yourself. And you can kind of check in and see what they've been working on and, and what they've been. up to lately, because when you do want to reach out and you do want to help deepen or bring that relationship to the next level or checking in, it's easier to kind of, Hey, how did the project go? Or I saw you were going to this event and I saw that you did this thing. Because that's part of the, that's the other part of networking and relationship building is, is. putting in the work to build that relationship a little bit further. So you do have to put the effort in and work instead of just collecting the contact and then just say, and then reaching out to them cold call. And later on, in my opinion, it's, it does take that work. So LinkedIn is a perfect place to kind of refresh yourself.

Katische Haberfield: 19:55

And I think that, you know, there's lots of good practices on LinkedIn, but there's also lots of practices where you're like, okay, I can see that this person here bought their package and now they're all in this loop of click like comments and And we're boosting. And it just feels so, so fake. So I guess what I'm taking from what you've told me so far as be, make sure you're really authentic with how you are commenting and using that information that you're seeing on LinkedIn, because I guess having one authentic, Interaction on LinkedIn rather than like on 40 or 50 people is, is the way to go. It's, it's the deepening that relationship and, and actively commenting and saying, and as you said, how'd you go with that? That looked really interesting. Is it something that I should go to? I guess that's the, the way that you'd recommend to approach with LinkedIn.

Rob Tracz: 20:44

Yeah, I think it's a great tool for you to yeah, to see what's going on. And yeah, you do still want to kind of chime in on the engagement and making sure that you're still engaging on other people's posts because that shows them that you're, you're are seeing it at least. And then using that as an opportunity to then take it a step further. So if you see Sally just got a promotion or Sal or Jim just did this thing or that thing. Congratulate them and give them the like and such, but then also send them a message and be like, Hey man or, Hey, I saw that you did this. Love to hear a little bit more about it. Do you have time to go out for a drink or grab some coffee or, or yeah, even hopping on a zoom call just to kind of catch up and talk a little bit and, and then get a little bit of insight on what they're working on next or new things that they're doing. And then just offering to provide some sort of value to them. Because then that helps even more yeah. This person might have just had a great speaking gig. You can also reshare some of their material and you could post it and share with others because now you're expanding them even further. And it's, it's about providing more value, right? So

Katische Haberfield: 21:51

yeah,

Rob Tracz: 21:52

having a better connection and deepening that relationship and giving the value when you can.

Katische Haberfield: 21:56

yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so bring that into that second part of your specialty, which is. How did you get into speaking gigs and what, what's your journey been like, and what are some sort of things that you'd like to talk to us about in relation to how people can really get involved in that area?

Rob Tracz: 22:16

Yeah. So sports has always been a big background for me and I've always kind of found myself in leadership type roles in front of the team, kind of leading practices, weight room, training sessions, and so on. So I've always kind of been comfortable in front of people and my background is in strength and conditioning. So when I'd work with teams and stuff, I'm still in front of everybody. So speaking has always kind of been. something for me. But then a buddy of mine started taking it a little more seriously. And then I saw that it could also potentially be a lead generation. Activity or, or tool and then getting paid to get in front of potential leads is even better. So instead of, instead of me spending money on advertising, like someone pay me to get in front of all my possible clients is like a double win for me. So then when I wanted to start taking it a little more seriously, I needed to kind of. develop my skill as and push and get a little bit better. So I actually can craft a message that connects with the audience and can translate my experiences into, into success for these, for the listeners and for the audience members. So that became like a whole process and going back to knowing myself and adversity drive and the challenge, they say public speaking is the number one fear. Like more people would rather die than get in front of a crowd and speak. So of course I wanted to get better at it and pushing myself and small stages led to bigger stages, the bigger audiences. And now I get to travel around, around the U S and I've been in Canada. So it's, it's. It's great. And then really just being able to connect and that is just another opportunity because I look at speaking on stage almost like speaking one to one, except it's to the entire audience. And it's the same thing though, right? So you want to make sure that you're providing value. You're trying to be, you're trying to help in however you can and and yeah. Being able to connect with different audiences then in turn helps the event organizer look really great. It helps the audience really take home value and you never know how you'll be able to impact people.

Katische Haberfield: 24:29

So give us an example of one, one of the very small. First speaking gigs that you did and how you found that opportunity for somebody who's really starting off from scratch, you know, and they're like, I'll start,

Rob Tracz: 24:41

Yeah. Well, the easiest thing is really to just kind of like host events yourself. So I would, I was starting some couple of workshops here and there. We were a bunch of my friends, we would get together and as we were kind of developing and beginning as speakers, we would host our own events and get in front and social proof. And then I just started posting a little bit on social media and then some people would just randomly messaging me or old clients would be like, Hey Rob, I saw that you do this, you do that. Would you be able to talk? To this crowd or this people and, and yeah, so you got to kind of figure out what it is you do talk about and how can you connect it and to broader audiences. For example, when I was first kind of getting things rolling, I, so I talk a lot, a lot about leadership and personal development. My six principles for personal development is what I coach. That's what I do for my actual work. And somebody was like, Hey, dude, I have this awesome opportunity for you to come in and speak to high school kids. Would you be interested in doing that? And it's not necessarily, not too many entrepreneurs in high school, but a lot of the principals that I talk about are universal. So it was just slightly changing some of the approach so I can still be impactful. And the kids love it. They like the energy. They, they get to take home some stuff. They get some actionable things that they can do where they're feeling good. Then the teachers really like it. And if it's an auditorium type of situation, then you can talk to the parents and other, and other people. So it's great opportunities. It's all about being flexible and malleable with yourself. And I think that's. Carries over to one on one networking as well because you want to be able to be malleable in conversations at different events where you still can connect with a lot of people.

Katische Haberfield: 26:27

okay. Very interesting. And I like the point about getting together with some friends to host events because you know, doing it yourself

Rob Tracz: 26:36

Yeah.

Katische Haberfield: 26:36

It's I might rent this room and nobody might show up. But at least if you've got some buddies and you're all contributing a few people to come along, you start with small steps. Have there been any sorts of speakers events that you've done recently that you have accepted the opportunity for and earlier on you've had a really interesting experience and you thought, wow, I never thought I'd do that kind of a speaking gig.

Rob Tracz: 27:02

Well, yeah, so the schools was pretty cool. And that kind of led to creating like a program for the younger kids. So now I'm going, I'm going in and I'm actually teaching what I teach to other entrepreneurs, but I'm teaching it to middle schoolers now.

Katische Haberfield: 27:19

Okay.

Rob Tracz: 27:19

that was an interesting thing just to kind of like get in and now I can talk to the teachers and things, but I'm still teaching the same things, but being able to turn my coaching program into a kind of like a, like a teaching program, I guess for the kids. So it was like changing a lot of the exercises and things around to make it more fun for them was a cool and unique little thing for me there. Yeah, podcasting is, is a great thing as well. And then also hosting different, different kinds of events and going to different local businesses too. I've partnered up with a barbershop a few times. I've partnered up with a lot of the bars and restaurants, and these are opportunities that you might not. Normally think but going in and bringing a small crowd of people to like restaurants or the barber shops and things like that. It helps those businesses create business and then you have your business. You're showcasing your expertise and you're still bringing everybody around so other people can kind of network and connect as well. So it's like kind of a win for everybody and and having your own smaller events. A lot of people do think like hosting your events. They think like renting out it's large auditoriums or booking like hotels and things like that. But if you can be a little bit creative, you would be surprised on how many, how many different opportunities there are to speak and connect with a lot of individuals.

Katische Haberfield: 28:47

To talk me through the barbershop example, how, how did you get that opportunity? What did you actually talk about? How did it work within? I'm to picture it in my mind.

Rob Tracz: 28:57

Yeah. So it was a new barbershop that kind of opened up and I started going in and I was talking with a lot of the. Barber's there and the owner and I just kind of continued to show up and give business and then eventually I was like, Hey, you guys got a great space here. I would love to do an event. And I was talking with the owner and what ended up happening was, got a bunch of people together. They come in, everybody got a haircut. I gave a talk on self care and how that, how that benefits entrepreneurs and, and how to take care of yourself so that you look good, you feel good, and you can do great things. So it was great because the barber shop got a lot of work from that. I got to talk on self care, rest and reflection and how, and journaling, gratitude, all these different things, and how it would be beneficial to the entrepreneurs. Everybody got a great haircut. Everyone was looking fresh and the barbershop actually loved the idea of it. So they brought me back in for a second one because it's also, it's like a male grooming place. So I was hosting, I was hosting a challenge where everybody's kind of pushing their comfort zones through the month. Well, I connect you with new people doing cold plunges, types of things like that. So a lot of the guys came together for this event and it was a surprise. Everybody got pedicures. So there's a lot of guys were kind of pushed out of their comfort zones. They got that great experience. The barbershop got a lot of business from it. And I got another great opportunity from that because somebody was like, Hey man, this was awesome. I'd love to do something similar somewhere else. And from there just created more business for everyone.

Katische Haberfield: 30:35

I love the idea that, you know, something as simple as a haircut can be just seen as routine mundane. I just. Just got to go and get the haircut on Sunday at four o'clock before it closes. But you've turned it into something that's directly linked to what you do, which is help people understand how important self care is and how your outward appearance is to the success of your business and your own feelings of self confidence, self worth and stuff like that. So tell me, did they have their haircut while you were talking or before you were talking?

Rob Tracz: 31:05

So they, they got their haircuts both times the services were going on while I was talking. So they had kind of like a big screen TV. So I was kind of up front and I was, I had my, some slides, but I was walking up and down. I had, I hired a videographer to come and it was just great because everyone's, they had multiple chairs. So people are getting their haircuts and they're all just kind of hanging out. And yeah, it was a really cool experience.

Katische Haberfield: 31:30

I mean, I've done that. I did a talk, Oh, pre COVID in a Pilates studio. And I remember thinking at the time, how's this going to work, but it worked out. So that's why I was like curious because I was mentally picturing it. And I'm wondering because it's also, I guess when you do a traditional speech in a traditional conference room or something like that, it's very, I don't know, static. It's like you sit in a row and people are, you know, playing with the mints and you wait looking for direct eye contact. And this is challenge would've been a challenge because it's like. They're focused on other things, but they're also relaxed, but they're listening to you because when you're in a barbershop, you know, they natter all the time anyway, don't they? It's all about talking and making that connection. So it would have been a challenge for you on one level to do, I'm going to talk. I'm going to get their attention, but they don't need to be eyeballing me for me to get their attention. I understand that they're intelligent people and they can do two things at once. They can get a haircut and they can be inspired by me. And I don't have to be thrown off. By the fact that they're doing something else, because I guess sometimes we just do this whole thing of, you listening to me, you know, like school, school style, like eyes on me, or you're chucked out. So did you find that, and another level for you in terms of challenging your own speaking skills or what sort of is the most interesting or up leveling for you in terms of some of the locations or positions that you've put yourself in by choice to do a speech that's in a non traditional setting.

Rob Tracz: 33:08

well, I think, I think that was, it was more fun. So I, it was a little more relaxed and plus it was a more intimate kind of a setting. So there was eight, there were eight barber chairs, so it was eight people and obviously the barbers and myself and the owner. So it was less than, less than 25 people total. So it is a little bit easier to gain their attention and I did sell tickets for that. So usually when people do pay a little bit more, then they pay attention a little bit more. But then I've also spoke at conferences with a couple hundred people and yeah, you do kind of lose a little bit of the focus if depending on what time of the day it is and on different parts of your story. You're still up. What I like to do is I like to now push myself different ways, so I'm trying to continue, like always trying to get better at everything I do. It's like one of my core values is progress towards mastery, so I'm always pushing. So I like to try to work in new things that are really challenging for me. So last year at this conference I was speaking at, I wanted to say A mini part of my speech in Spanish. And so I've been practicing, I've been trying to learn Spanish for what feels like years with Duolingo. But I felt confident enough to kind of say a few things and I pieced it together. I messed up a little bit on the Spanish, but it's okay. Not, not many people noticed and I, I just was like, hey, I'm here to getting better and here's what I've learned so far kind of thing.

Katische Haberfield: 34:32

Yeah, cool. Cool. And what else would you like to talk to people about today? Because we've talked about networking and we've talked about speaking and both of those have been, you know, to try and push the boundaries of ways that you can connect and develop authentic relationships with people. What else should spiritual entrepreneurs consider? How else can you help them?

Rob Tracz: 34:54

Yeah, I think so keeping it in kind of the terms of or in the conversation of socializing and such, I think it's important for everybody actually to kind of know their team triangle and it's kind of like a little exercise that I go through with my clients and identifying the different positions on, on the team. So if you pick if you were to envision a triangle at the top, the smallest point that's usually reserved for the coach. So thinking of like sports teams, the coaches at the top and identifying your coach or the individual that you have that you can learn from and you can grow from, and whether you know the person or it's just somebody that's a role model that you want to, you inspire to be just that knowing who that person is, at least. That can kind of help guide you on a lot of different things. But the next layer down are the captains. So you want to have one coach, you want to have three captains that you can identify. And these are the captains that you can lean on and you can collaborate with. And it's important to know these guys because these are the guys that you want to invite and bring with you to your networking events, especially if you haven't gone to networking events. in a while because this will help you feel a little more comfortable in the different settings and, and you can, you guys can work together on that. And same thing with any other part of your business too. So I collaborate, my captains are also coaches and they're also speakers, but We work together to host events and host projects and, and different programs and things like that. So then we can kind of cross pollinate our audiences too, so that we're all building and growing our businesses. So just as a reminder, you want to have one coach at the top, you want to know at least three captains, and then you should really know five crowd members. So like in the stadium, the crowd, these are guys who are always supporting you and cheering you on with a lot of things you're doing, because They might be interested in going to these networking events or they might be interested in going to your things and you should be able to call them up because they kind of, they kind of help keep you accountable and motivated for the different things too. So, like I said earlier, I like to go and I try different challenges for these events. So, if I'm going and I want to find if I want to meet, meet a new person that I haven't connected with before, I share. Share some of these challenges with your crowd so then they can kind of hold you accountable and be like, Hey, who did you meet at that event? I thought you said you were going there. Did you meet somebody new? And then if you don't, then you got to answer to them and you kind of kind of have to eat that yourself. But I think really identifying your team triangle can help you not just in business, but socializing and in personal life too.

Katische Haberfield: 37:34

Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's great. Because yeah what you show me today is that, you know, personal and professional development doesn't need to be a, a solo effort. It doesn't need to be a cutthroat effort and you don't need to push anybody down. In fact, the way that you've shown me today is that it's really expanding your network in a really beneficial way for you and for others. And it's fun and it's a way of including other people so that you're helping them become accountable and they're helping you become accountable. And it's, it's like the ultimate win win. It's really, it's very inspiring the way that you look at it. Because it's much less threatening, I think. Much less threatening. Wow.

Rob Tracz: 38:18

Well, yeah, so when you have that pressure of looking at networking as Oh, I need to do this for business instead of Hey, I want to connect with somebody and make a good genuine relationship. It does make it more fun and it does remove that pressure of, Oh, I need to sell, sell, sell, sell. Because I like. The hardest is, the hardest thing is your first sale and your first client and things like that because you do have so much more pressure on yourself. But once you kind of flow and you come from that abundance mindset and you're looking to just connect with good people and because you want to provide more value and you're just genuinely having fun with it, then yeah, there's a lot less pressure.

Katische Haberfield: 38:55

Yeah. Yeah. I like it. And, I, I think there's a lot here that people can rewind and listen to over again and take a few notes because sometimes you listen to a podcast in the car here and, and, or you're on your way somewhere and you're like, Oh, I'm just going to listen to teach, have a chat for a while. And you're like, Oh shit, I need to, well, excuse me. Take some notes now because there's some things that I can really visualize myself doing in my life, but I need to think about it. And I was just having a chat with Katische, but wow, that was really impactful and I really appreciate what Rob said. So. Yeah, just if you guys, there's no, there's problems in rewinding these episodes and listening from the top and, and taking a few notes and saying, yeah, okay, I'm gonna, I'm going to try that. And you know what, I'm going to find Rob on social media and I'm going to say, Hey, this is what I did. did what you said, and I would love to hear if somebody goes speed dating. That would just, just you know, I speak to a lot of people in their 40s, and you know, we're going through the whole midlife thing, and devotees out there, and so, there you go, all you 55 year olds, there's your excuse to go speed dating, because Rob said it's okay, and you can meet some buddies as well, and it doesn't have to be about the The people that you might want to have a romantic relationship, it can be all about the people that are going to be in your triangle eventually.

Rob Tracz: 40:21

Yeah.

Katische Haberfield: 40:22

Thank you so much today, Rob. I really enjoyed talking to you and I will put the, the link in the show notes so that people can get on board and have a free call with you and or. Also just follow you on social media and see what interesting and fascinating things that you are getting up to that they can also model and mirror. Thanks

Rob Tracz: 40:45

Yeah.

Katische Haberfield: 40:45

us today.

Rob Tracz: 40:46

Oh, appreciate it so much. Thank you so, so much for having me on. This was fun.

Katische Haberfield: 40:50

Yeah. Namaste. Thank you.