The Art of Networking: How to Build Lasting Business Relationships.

Networking has a reputation for being fake, awkward, and exhausting.

But what if that’s not actually true…
what if we’ve just been doing it wrong?

In this episode, Krista kicks off a new mini business masterclass series by unpacking one of the most misunderstood — and most powerful — tools in business: networking.

This isn’t about handing out business cards or forcing small talk.
It’s about getting in the right rooms, having real conversations, and building relationships that actually move your business forward.

Krista shares how she’s built her business on the backbone of relationships — even while still feeling the nerves that come with walking into a room. Because that part doesn’t go away… you just learn how to use it.

Inside this episode:

• What real networking actually looks like (and what it’s not)
• How the right rooms can elevate your standards and expand your thinking
• Real-world experiences — from events that fell flat to ones that changed everything
• How to show up with intention and say something that actually lands
• The two habits that separate people who dabble from those who build real networks:

following up within 24–48 hours
staying consistent long enough for trust to form
Why this matters:

The difference between staying stuck and growing?
Often… it’s who you’re in the room with.

If you’ve ever felt unsure, out of place, or like networking just isn’t “your thing” — this episode will shift that.

🎧 Hit play and start approaching networking in a way that actually works.

If this episode resonated:

✅ Subscribe for more real, tactical business conversations
⭐ Leave a review — it helps more founders find the show
📲 Share this with someone who hates networking but knows they need it

Want to connect in real life?

Visit Panacea Luxury Spa Boutique
💚 https://panacealuxuryspa.com

Transcript

Welcome To Serenity And Fire

Krista 0:10

Welcome to Serenity and Fire, the podcast where wellness meets grit. I'm your host, Krista Quadenti, founder of Panacea Luxury Sotto Team. Join me as we dive into the intriguing world of biohacking, clean living, cutting-edge thought trends, and the hustle, grind, and grit of entrepreneurship. From my personal battle with weight management, infertility, and the 30-year journey to create and launch my dream business. Building a sanctuary for those who have been touched by cancer, I'm here to share real talk, inspire big dreams, and spark a passion for holistic living inside each and every one of you. So let's dive in. Welcome back to Serenity and Fire. I'm really excited to jump in with you today because I have had a lot going on in my business over the last couple of weeks, and I thought my listeners really need to hear about all of this. So I thought I would do a little mini business masterclass series on everything from networking the right way and the wrong way to interviewing for the right hires to making super tough decisions in your business around things like restructuring, reorganizing, and even terminating highly valued employees. So buckle in because my next four episodes are going to take you through the ins and outs, the ups and downs, and everything in between all of these topics. For today's episode, let's start this masterclass series with one of my favorite topics, networking. I'm sure as soon as I mention that word, many of you are like, oh my God, I want nothing to do with this topic. I absolutely hate networking. Or you're probably possibly someone who's quite frankly utterly terrified of the thought of having to stand in front of a room of a bunch of strangers that you don't know and talk about yourself andor your business. Believe me, I get it because while I've literally built every business I've ever owned on the backbone of networking. And even though I've been practicing networking in its true form, which I'm gonna explain to you here in a little bit, for at least the last 25 years, I still get heart palpitations every time I have to stand in front of a group of people that I've never met before. So I don't, I don't really think that that fear ever goes away. But a little dose of fear can go a long way when it comes to making your business successful. You just really have to think about fear over frozen. You can't let fears freeze you so much that they prevent you from doing the things that you know are going to elevate and grow your business. Because if you do, you'll never let yourself step out of your comfort zone and take the risks needed to help your business really truly grow and thrive. I 100% believe that no matter how scary networking feels to you, it's essential to building a business and quite honestly, to building many relationships. So this isn't just for people who own businesses or thinking about owning businesses, it's for everyone. Um, and so I really want to get into how to do networking the right way so that it doesn't feel so scary and intimidating and how to really put yourself out there because most people think that networking is just going into a room, having really awkward conversations, making surface-level interactions with a bunch of people you don't know, handing out your business cards and walking out the door and forgetting about everything that happened in that meeting. But that's not networking. Real networking is going to expose you to people who operate at much higher levels, people within your own peer group who can help you learn tips and tricks and things that they've done in their businesses to help make them successful, ideas that you haven't been exposed to yet or that maybe you haven't thought of, standards that maybe force you to recalibrate your own standards within your business or even your personal life. And it's just an opportunity for so much growth and learning and building those relationships and partnerships with people who are gonna be brand ambassadors for you and who are gonna be that support system for you. They're gonna be there for you when you need them, and vice versa, you're gonna be there for them when they need you too. And having that kind of support system goes such a long way when you're someone who is running a business. And when you get into the right rooms with the right people, that's when you really truly start to evolve. So let's talk about the different types of networking. There's so many different kinds of networking groups that you can be a part of, everything from EOA to um the chamber. There's also all types of different business networking events, there's industry networking events, women's groups, I mean, you name it. There's literally a bazillion networking groups that you can be a part of. And finding the right one can sometimes be a challenge, but you have to just really put yourself out there and and and just go to a bunch of different ones and try to find what works best for you and your business. So for instance, I recently went to a Financial Times um retail summit. And I thought, oh my gosh, this is gonna be such an incredible event because we're gonna learn everything there is to know about incorporating AI into your business and into your retail space, how to better merchandise our products, what's hot and new in the industry. And I was super, super excited about this. And as it turned out, it was very much an anticlimactic experience. I did take away a couple of key learnings. So I did get something out of it, but it was not at all what I expected. It ended up being a lot of heavy-hitting CEO type professionals who didn't want to share any of their best practices or any of the things that they see coming up in the future because I think they just didn't want people to steal their ideas. And unfortunately, that was not a super beneficial networking event for me to be in. But then most recently, my director, Jen and I went to iSpa in Vegas, and this is the International Spa Association conference, and it was the most incredible conference I've ever been to. Everything from the most phenomenal inspirational speakers, like people like Jay Shetty, Diana Cander, John A. Cuff, they're so phenomenal and probably the best speakers I've ever heard. And honestly, the price to go to this event was very high. But that alone, just being able to sit in the room with such heavy-hitting inspirational speakers, made the entire conference worth it. But on top of that, we also got exposed to tons of incredible vendors that we had not been familiar with, um, had the opportunity to build some really great relationships with some of the vendors that we do already work with, that we didn't really, you know, know some of the people high up in those companies. And then the breakout sessions, there were so many great learning opportunities and the opportunity to be in a room with other people in our industry and hear what they're doing in their businesses and where they're struggling and where they're seeing successes. So it was a really great opportunity for us to not only validate how well we're doing things at Panacea, but also an opportunity for us to benchmark ourselves against some who are maybe doing better than us. And we use the opportunity to also have some services at the Canyon Ranch Spa there in Vegas. And that gave us, you know, always gives us inspiration and ideas. And quite frankly, I love it the most because it lets me see and gauge where our team is in comparison to other top tier five-star quality facilities. And so those types of networking events are so great for your business. And anytime you can go to one where you're gonna learn techniques and philosophies and ideas and have inspiration that you can take back to your team and your business, those are the kinds of meetings that you want to be a part of. And then you have events like Carrie Croft's IRL event that she hosted last week. I was so fortunate to get to be a part of the panel with some amazing badass women. And they truly are badass, but the whole theme of the night was in her badass era. And I love it because, you know, Carrie started the event with the definition of badassery and its behavior, characteristics, or actions regarded as formidably impressive. And I just personally really, really connected to that. And I love that she asked me to be a part of that because I sat alongside some of the most impressive female entrepreneurs that I've had the pleasure of meeting. Women who are doing really, really big things and making meaningful impact in the Columbus community. So it was really humbling and super magical to be a part of something so powerful and so moving. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to go check out the Carrie Croft show because she just put it on her podcast, the whole entire event and replay. And you just have to really, really check it out. The night was just filled with such incredible women, endless inspiration and encouragement, and well, quite frankly, just badassery. So things like that, when you can get in a room with that many amazing people, and they were from all different walks of life, different businesses, some who weren't business owners, um, just looking to be inspired and uplifted. And, you know, we got to meet so many other great women in the room, and just the energy was so incredibly contagious. So those are the kinds of networking events that you want to be a part of. But here's the thing about networking is that most people typically get networking wrong. They go into the room, they don't talk to anyone, they sit around the tables or the circle or whatever, however, the group is set up, and they wait until it's their turn. They stand up, they say, Hi, my name is Krista. I um am with Panacea Luxury Spa Boutique, and they just sit back down. Like, nobody's gonna remember that. That is not impressionable, and that is definitely the wrong way to go about networking. And then those same people also, once it's over with, they're like, thank God, they pick their stuff up and they leave. And they never have a conversation or dive into building relationships with anyone in those rooms. And they hope that people are just gonna remember them. And the fact of the reality is that you gave them nothing meaningful to walk away with. So for me, and the way that I coach my team is that you have to go into your networking events with intention. You have to have a reason for being there, and you have to make that reason clear to everyone in the room. You also have to talk about something that's meaningful to the people in the room. And sometimes what you talk about might not be meaningful to them right in that very moment, but it's something memorable that they think about. And then in the moment when they need it, they remember that it was you that talked about that. And then the most important thing is that you have to actually talk to people. You have to get around the room, you have to introduce yourself, have the tough conversations, be genuinely interested in them and what they do, and find out how you can collaborate together, work together, help each other. And the probably very most two important things after that is one, you have to follow up. So if somebody asks you for something or you ask them for something, you have to follow up in a timely manner, typically 24 to 48 hours. But but the more critical thing is that you have to be consistent in your presence, meaning you have to go over and over and over. So for instance, when I had my budget blinds business, I went to literally about every realtor networking event in the city. I loved those meetings so much because typically they would have anywhere from 15 to 80 realtors in the room. I always had an opportunity to stand up and give a 30 or 60 second commercial. And then if I sponsored a meeting, I could do like a 10-minute presentation. And every time I stood up, I always had a prop, I always had a tip, I always had something that linked custom window coverings back to what was important to them, which was selling houses and what would matter to their buyers. So every time I came in, of course I introduced who I was, what company I was from. I would say our catchy tagline, which for me back then was naked windows are wanted. Um, so that was my catchy tagline. And then I would always have a fun new piece of learning information that would be relevant to their businesses and to what they do every day, but then also something that would be memorable for them. And there were some groups that I made instant connections with, and then there were other groups who didn't give me a single piece of business for two years. But then, man, once I was in, I was in. And I would be their preferred provider for all of their clients. So sometimes it takes a really, really long time to build those relationships and to build those connections, but you have to be really committed to the process. So you really have to think about the groups that you want to be a part of, make the investment to be there and be committed to building those relationships and making sure that you're gonna do everything you can to make the time that you're spending there successful. So, for example, right now we participate in a group called the Devoted Pros. It is a collaboration of wedding venue professionals, everything from photographers to um DJs to bartenders to event planners. I mean, it's all over the place. And we attend those meetings. They have a meeting once a month. And Christina, my event manager, now goes to them on a regular basis. But and I told her when you go to these meetings, you need to say when you get up and it's your turn to talk to the group, make sure that it's something relevant to them. Make sure that it's impactful and that it's powerful and that it's succinct. And start building and following up on those relationships and those engagements that you're making while you're in those meetings. And now, even after just a few months of her going to these meetings in my place, she's already built some really great relationships and connections with people that we have been able to leverage and use in some of our Panacea sponsored events at the spa. And also building great relationships with other businesses for when we have clients come in who need resources like bloom bars or photo booths or you know, whatever it is you name it. She's building those relationships. So that's a really great group of exposure. And then we had an opportunity to have all of them come to the spa and sit in our event space, see where we hold events. We got to do a really great presentation on the importance of decompressing and incorporating holistic therapies and wellness hacks into your life to help make you more productive and successful in your personal life and in your businesses. So we got to really talk about things that were really relevant to them and also to their clients and why they need our services when they're prepping for weddings. And so those are the kinds of things that you want to think about when you look at networking and look at it as a fun opportunity to share with people everything that you do. And if you don't do that, a lot of people will never know about you or your business or whatever it is that you're trying to talk to them about. If you don't take the chance and take the risk and put yourself out there, then how are people gonna find out about you? So again, going back to some of the principles that we talked about in many of my episodes, you just really have to be comfortable with the uncomfortable and take those little scary risks and know that in the end, that hard work is going to pay off. So I hope that you found this conversation interesting. If you're someone who has a business or is looking to start a business, I would love to hear about your networking stories. Um, and if you have any tips or tricks for other listeners on how they can make their networking endeavors more successful, please definitely share them. I love hearing from you. And that's a wrap for today. Thank you so much for tuning in to Serenity and Fire on this little masterclass on networking. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you want to hear more in this business masterclass series, tune in next week because I'm going to be talking about interviewing and structuring your interviews for the right hires. So if you'd like to support the show, please always follow us on social, leave a review, and continue to tune in to any of my previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, don't forget to keep balancing serenity with fire. I'm Krista Guigeny, and I'll talk with you more in our next episode. At Pennusy of Luxury Spa Boutique, we don't just offer traditional spa treatments. We create rituals that relax your mind, restore your health, and rejuvenate your spirit. From biomolk technologies to advanced oncology training care, everything we do is designed to help you keep on the deepest level with clean, holistic therapy, products, and amenities that are. And right now, you can experience two of my favorites: our whole body LED life and hydropolic oxygen therapies. And as a thank you for listening, you'll get 10% off your first session when you use the code SRENIB10 at booking. What is your fantasy? Let us help you find it. Because true wellness isn't a quick pair, so it's a ritual.