How to Transform Your Network Overnight with Founder Caleb Paull

 In episode 10 of The Pillars of Purpose, PJ Crescenzo III interviews Caleb Paull, the founder of The VIP Co., a leading networking and strategic relationship-building company, as he discusses the importance of intentional networking, the balance between work ethic and spiritual momentum, and how to cultivate authentic relationships in both personal and professional spheres.

Tune in for an inspiring episode that emphasizes the importance of genuine connections and personal growth.

TIMESTAMPS

[00:01:38] Relationship building through life changes.

[00:05:21] Building community through networking.

[00:10:25] Craving authentic human connection.

[00:12:24] Generational impact and leadership.

[00:16:41] Faith and persistence in networking.

[00:21:56] Sowing seeds of faith.

[00:24:34] Authenticity in business relationships.

[00:28:51] Confidence through relationship building.

[00:33:16] Honoring people in your life.

[00:36:49] Networking as a developed skill.

[00:39:17] Networking as a skill.

[00:45:30] The importance of post-event networking.

[00:47:31] Standards and personal growth.

[00:51:04] Legacy of intentionality and honor.

[00:53:43] Positive impact on community.

QUOTES

• "Your job is not to cause the seed to grow deep in the soil. Your job is to plow the field and to plant the seeds." -Caleb Paull
• "Networking is one letter away from not working." -Caleb Paull
• "I am just going to do my best in my life and in my world to live a life of authenticity, not through my own strength, but through my identity and through the value that Christ places on my life.” -Caleb Paull

SOCIAL MEDIA

PJ CRESCENZO III

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pjcrez3/?hl=en 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-crescenzo-iii-11679065/ 

Caleb Paull

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the1calebpaull/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the1calebpaull/ 

Transcript

0:03

Welcome to The Pillars of Purpose podcast with your host, PJ Crescenzo. This is The show where every week we have real conversations about what it looks like to improve our faith, our family, our fitness, our finances, and ultimately have a life of fun. If you're looking to build on pillars that last and you're looking to have a life of purpose, this is The show for you. Thanks for tuning in and look forward to today's episode. Welcome to The Pillars of Purpose podcast. Today, I have an amazing friend, a dear broTher, The founder of VIP, which is one of The best and most impactful networking and strategic relationship building companies out There. We also have a phenomenal professional salesperson, a believer, a man that just carries himself with complete excellence, my dear friend, Caleb Paull. Welcome to The show, broTher. Thank you, broTher, thanks for having me. Bro, so grateful to see you. This is fun because I just get The opportunity to talk to you in addition to interview you, so it's a great way to kill two birds with Yeah, very organic. You're actually one of The few people that I didn't need to prepare 20 questions for because I just have questions I want to ask you. Which, starting off, question number one, you can walk us through your journey if you want to provide context to The question, but The original question was how has living in multiple cities impacted your relationship building skills and your ability I love that. Well, I will give a little bit of context. I grew up in Massachusetts, lived There for 18 years, was a homeschooled kid. Me and my six siblings were homeschooled our entire lives. And definitely earlier on in my childhood, we were more strict kind of lived under a rock weren't exposed to many things and as I got older, you know, I Started working at a very young age, but I was exposed to more things at that time 15 years old working in The food industry and Then at 18, I left The house and moved to Colorado for a year lived outside of Denver and during that time I really started to find myself and my identity outside of The home, which was broken and very divisive and unhealthy in a lot of aspects, despite having really strong relationships with my siblings. So in a funny sort of way, The early stages of my relationship building skills and finding a love for building relationships was actually with my siblings, because The best best and closest friends that I had were my two older sisters. And Then as The years have gone on, I think all of my siblings have become closer friends. And, and as we've walked through different journeys, uh, separately and togeTher, that's drawn us closer. But I spent a year in Colorado and through that time met a lot of different people. Um, and 20, this would have been 20, 15, I ended up moving to Ohio for two years and was still working in The food industry at this point. Um, Then I moved to Pennsylvania for a couple of years. Then I was like, what am I doing with my life? I need to, I need to create some roots. And so I moved to Orlando, Florida. The reason that I did that is because I had a longtime friend and mentor that lived here. Well, he moved here in 2017 from Massachusetts and he said that if I got a year of experience in sales That he would hire me and give me a job in Orlando. So at The time I was living in Pennsylvania I got a sales job working in automotive sales and 11 months later. I was flying down to Orlando to interview for a job with this mentor figure of mine and So, January of 2020, two months before COVID, I moved to Orlando, relocated here. And brand new industry, brand new city. Besides Adam, I knew nobody else and nothing else about Orlando except that And now, let me just chime in that now you Yeah, I would say for for my age and The time spent being here, I've definitely built a lot of relationships and that was all, you know, that all started by coming here in 2020 getting on LinkedIn. I didn't. use LinkedIn prior to that and starting up a page. Now I'm almost at 10,000 followers. I'm like 40, 40 followers away from 10,000 followers. And that has been completely organic. There's been no like technology that I'm using to help me get followers. There's nothing, There's no ad spend. There's nothing I'm doing on that oTher than just actively connecting with people. And I think The steady Theme throughout living in all of These states leading into Orlando was I just wanted to experience true depth and fruitfulness in community because I bounced around so much that I didn't really get to that point, aside from where I grew up living There for 18 years. But living in Colorado for a year, Ohio two years, Pennsylvania for two years, You know it takes longer than that to build depth and true quality and substance in relationships and so when i moved here. Orlando i was that much more motivated to build strong relationships and to just surround myself with The right kinds of people. And as I did that, I started to realize everybody else has The same desire that I have, to build community, to be surrounded by great people. WheTher They know it or not, They want accountability. They want to be called to a higher standard, because I definitely wanted that. And although I felt very uncomfortable in The early stages of networking kind of paving my way here in Orlando, especially when COVID happened, totally shut down my plans of, you know, going out and meeting people. But as things opened back up from COVID, I got out in The community more. I joined a private social club, downtown Orlando, had no idea what I was doing There. I just felt totally out How much or how successful do you think your intentional networking would have been if it wasn't for The I'm trying to think of The author, but The book of Walden going out into The forest, your years of just going from city to city and kind of roaming around The United States, like how much of that prepared you for The ability to be that intentional because you in some ways wanted to rebound socially or was that always The case and The timing Well, I think looking back even into my high school years, I would consider myself a relatively personable guy and a likable guy, just good, good energy, positive athletic, like I'm that type of person, but definitely more introverted. And people that see me now would have a hard time believing that They're like, what you're out. All over The place how are you an introvert and i'm like no trust me i am it's it's because i think and feel so deeply about relationships and about community. That drive me to do The things that i do at The capacity that i do Them. And also because i realize that's The price that i am willing to pay to position myself as a subject matter expert on this issue and to be positioned to an organization that has a whole sales force that needs to get out and. be in The community and build an auThentic brand and all These things. I want Them to look at me and be like, oh, heck yeah. We could have this guy teaching our team, not because They had one conversation with me, but because They have witnessed So I think that's part of it. But I guess from an intentionality standpoint, in every season of my life from growing up feeling like that nobody understood me. I was again, a sheltered homeschool kid. There were seven of us. We all just turned in and leaned on each oTher because There was nobody else. We grew up in a very dysfunctional home, and at that point in our life, we didn't feel like anybody else understood. We were even talking about this yesterday as siblings, that There was that time in our life where we would sit around and be like, is There anybody like us? We felt so isolated from society. And I think that was definitely The birth, I guess, of this sense of wanting to build something, this social circle of belonging is how I often describe it, because that's what I want to create, a psychologically safe Place for people to learn to ask questions to grow to build strong and fruitful relationships which oh by The way is messy and difficult and uncomfortable. You know and i guess i just come to see this and interacting with so many people from so many different walks of life so many industries so many ages that we as human beings it's very simple we've just lost sight of this as society we are craving. more than ever before to just connect auThentically with anoTher human being, to be seen in our pain, to be seen in our, in our circumstances. It doesn't mean that we're going to be fully understood, but we want to be seen and acknowledged and we're all starved of just godly encouragement. So I want to lean deeper into The human connection from a coaching perspective of really walking through what it looks like to build These deep connections. But I want to go back first to where you were at in childhood, right? So you come from this broken household, your siblings, you guys feel isolated, you're homeschooled, you had a very unique upbringing. speak to somebody who maybe didn't have The best upbringing through a practical lens and through a spiritual lens, what did it take for you to respond in such a positive way? Because There's people who have had The same upbringing but are in a shell and They're isolated and They don't want to break out. They don't feel confident to go build relationships because of some of The trauma They faced. So spiritually and practically, what did it look like for you and what advice could you give to go out and make those connections you create those Yeah, I would say first and foremost is seeking mentorship from godly men and women who have lives and who are leading families or leading people in a way that you respect and in a way that you're drawn to. So now I spend a lot of time pursuing relationship with older men who are in positions that I want to be in. They're raising families. Maybe They're at The point of pouring into grandkids that Their kids have. And I'm like, that's The kind of person that I want to be. Why? Because that displays legacy. That's generational impact. I want to be that kind of leader. So I'm going to lean on those types of people to be in my ear, to give me advice, to give me counsel on certain things, and also to help me work through some of The battles of The upbringing, right? Because I'm not fully capable on my own of working through that. Of course, The Lord can give you supernatural strength and can bring a sense a deep sense of inner healing to those wounds. But I think oftentimes he does use The body of Christ to aid in that journey. And it is a journey. Yeah. You know, his followers to help bridge you from one season of struggle Totally. And The Bible even talks about that. It talks about bearing one anoTher's burdens in love. The Bible literally says, don't know your Christians by The love you have for one anoTher. Wow. So what a beautiful picture this is that by supporting one anoTher properly and loving one anoTher, The way that Christ did for His church and The way that The disciples did, that is literally how we proclaim to The world that we're His, that that's like our stamp is The way in which we care for and love one anoTher. So that is The deeper kind of overall mission, but I would say practically and just Giving some additional perspective is embracing The fact that this journey is going to be hard and The journey towards breakthrough and towards clarity. Towards freedom from some of The things that may have held you captive before. wheTher a certain mindsets or belief systems that were trained in you from an early age, getting out of that and getting to The place where you can operate with healthy, like seeing through a healthy set of lenses now, is a process. If you are consistent and you show up and you don't quit, I believe that God will honor that and surround you with The kinds of people that are going to help you work through it. And that means people who are going to tell you things that you don't always want to hear, right? Things that you need to hear and people to love you. well enough and love you enough to speak those things into your life because They know that it's what you need. But my perspective shift over The years has been, it's only through difficulty that you can truly be resilient. And There's a sense of, of empathy and compassion that can come as a result of going through trials and hardships. And no amount of money can buy grit, determination, resilience, like true, you know, those calluses. And I don't mean in like an indifferent kind of way where just like, oh, I just don't care about anything anymore. No, I mean it in The oTher way where you're just, you have thick skin, you can deal with people, you can love with people well, you're very patient, you're very, you're just steady and firm. that kind of stuff comes through difficulty. And if you can see it that way, Then you learn to embrace The difficulty of The journey because you know, on The oTher side of that is a sense of depth and substance in your relationship. That again, no amount of money could buy, no amount of book knowledge could I love that. And I also love The idea of healthy calluses where you've maybe rubbed your hands and had a couple bruises, but you're still lifting weights and you're not completely out of The trenches because of what you've been through. Walk me through, so zero to 10,000 followers on LinkedIn, or 40 short, but by The time this episode drops, we'll cross 10,000 so we can celebrate at The same time. And if he's short, be sure to follow him on LinkedIn and connect with him as this podcast comes out. Walk me through The relationship between work ethic and showing good seeds and putting in The work versus favor and grace and maybe some of The spiritual momentum that you found in Orlando. And this is kind of a good question. I'd be interested, right? So you moved to a city two months before COVID. You don't know anybody and you want to set out and be strategic and intentional with relationship building. How many doors were open where you could attribute it to The Lord? How many doors were open because you just refused to stop knocking? And what did The combination of those two things look like as you've built this incredible network Wow, that's powerful. I think it is definitely a combination of The two. It is The faith in action, turning The doorknobs and trusting that, hey, The Lord is going to open The doors that are meant to be open. I like this analogy that it's in line with The scripture that God opens doors that no man can shut and he closes doors that no man can open. When you lean on The sovereignty of God in that sort of way, you can just rest in The fact that The opportunities that are meant to be mine, The deals that are meant to be mine, no man can take away from me. And what's not for me, you can't give to me. Like, how powerful is that, right? So as you're knocking on The door, right? As you're picking up The phone, as you're connecting with people, sending message after message after message, and They're just not answering it, They're not answering it. There are times where I believe God wants us to continue to show up and be persistent in our, in our, in exercising our faith. There's been so many times, even early on in Orlando, because I just didn't know what I didn't know. I didn't know who was who I didn't know, you know, calling up on a company. I had no idea The background of that company. I'm just calling on Them because I found Them online and, or maybe They visited our website and I'm reaching out to Them. I know nothing about Them, but, What I do know is that There's an opportunity for me to serve, for me to bring value to that business owner. And I think that still plays into my approach now where I'm reaching out to people and sometimes I'll even feel, I'm like, oh, this just feels kind of salesy. I don't like that. But I also know that I'm bringing Them a solution to Their business, to Their people, to Their team. who it's meant to be for, God will bring into alignment those opportunities. There's been so many times, PJ, where I'm talking with somebody about a specific person that I haven't been able to reach out to, and here They come walking up at an event or at a room, and I'm like, I was literally just talking about Them 60 seconds ago. That is not an exaggeration. This has happened so many times where I'm thinking about somebody or I reached out for The 19th time to somebody and I'm like, it's hopeless. I'm not going to connect with Them. And Then I literally stand in line with Them at an event or I see Them in an elevator and I'm like, This is fantastic. You said so many things that I could extrapolate from. One is, I think when you share The scripture of God can open a door that no man can open and God can close a door that no man can open, it shares just The value of obedience because you're being obedient to, I could go on such a tangent, but you're, you're, you're sharing obedience with The almighty. And I was talking to Ellen about this yesterday, how The Bible says There's multiple gods, right? But There's one God. And a lot of times people create gods with The power and The place and The hierarchy that They're giving it in Their life. But when you align and know The movement that comes and The sovereignty that comes with The one that you're being obedient to, it makes obedience easier because The promises have already been stated that he's going to fulfill. So that's one. The oTher part of that is, it reminded me, I heard this recently last week, but about being in The middle. That's one of The toughest things about being obedient is when you reach out for The 19th time, you're in The middle. You haven't gotten The breakthrough yet, but you have 19 attempts to make a breakthrough. And that's that season where sometimes it's hard to trust because you're like, hey God, I'm in The middle here. Am I about to go through this door? Do you know that I've been knocking? Do you know where I'm at? But it's actually in The middle where we're supposed to trust The most, because that is where The opportunity to trust and be obedient is, at The time where we haven't yet Yeah, and oh, by The way, no, and I appreciate that, and The oTher analogy that I'll give, too, is The parable of The sower, you know, where he's planting seeds, and some of The seed fell on stony ground, some of it fell in soil, and it was fruitful, right? went deep into The soil, and Then There was oThers that fell on The crops over here, and The birds ate it. But The point is that you're sowing seeds. And when you don't get The result that you want, it doesn't mean that you just stop sowing seeds. You continue to sow seeds and to nurture those seeds, which that is part of The great commission of a disciple, is to plant seeds. Your job is not to cause The seed to grow deep in The soil. Your job is to plow The field and to plant The seeds. That is your job. The rest is faith and trust in God to bring The harvest at The right time. And There's a lot of stuff in scripture about that. In Ecclesiastes, it talks about The seasons and There's a time for There's a time for planning and There's a time for harvesting is a time to live and There's a time to die like There when you begin to see life. That way when you be it and Then it begins to trickle into everything else you see networking that way you see business development that way you see team building and all of These things in that sort of way is seasons but in The midst of all those seasons. you are still called to be faithful to show up and plant your seeds and to allow God to have open hands and to allow God to have his rightful place in The process of planting and growing and reaping. Like, do you How valuable And this is from a sales perspective for The kingdom, but you can speak to it intellectually. How valuable is it to want to network and to build relationships, but to adopt The Christian framework in relationship building? What does scripture and The belief in Christ do for somebody in The marketplace when They're looking to build more relationships. And not that you want to start on your faith pillar because your goal is to get more connections on LinkedIn, but if you can speak to how that upbringing and how that belief system has helped guide and shape you and what you've been able to do with relationship building. And you could tie those things togeTher. I think that'd be helpful to just reinforce why we believe what we believe aside from The truth and The history of it, but just some of The pure Yeah. So, you know, if you follow my stuff for any length of time, you'll hear me talk about auThenticity. And this is one of those words that I think is kind of, is kind of misunderstood and misrepresented in culture. Because if you think about it, society and like big tech and big media does not actually reward auThenticity. It rewards fake and artificial and manufactured content, perfect, everything that looks perfect, The highlight reels, that's what society rewards and recognizes. So we talk about auThenticity and, oh, you should be your auThentic self, but that's not what's rewarded. So I just say, you know, instead of getting caught up in all this, I'm going to be pursuing my auThenticity through my identity in Christ, through The consistency and The things that I find in The Lord. And because I'm living in this auThentic manner, I'm going to hope and pray it opens up doors for me to talk about The source of my auThenticity, which is not myself. It is not my own efforts, right? By living a life of consistency, you know, you see a lot of like duality and compromise in The business world where, you know, They'll talk a big game and They talk about loyalty and integrity and honesty. And Then over here, They're cheating, They're cutting corners to increase profit margins. And They're not looking out for The best interest of The end user. And so I'm like, well, I don't think that that's living a life of integrity as a business owner. So I am just going to do my best in my my life and in my world to live a life of auThenticity, not through my own strength, but through my identity and through The value that Christ places on my life. And Then some of The oTher top attributes that I pursue when I build relationships, when I network, when I post content, is number one, a spirit of humility. Because scripture is pretty clear that one of The things that God hates The most is The spirit of pride. God hates pride. It's one of The six, seven things that God hates The most, more than anything else. And what I love so much about humility is that Jesus Christ himself, The king of The universe, modeled this in his life. He came into human existence in The most humble, helpless form of a baby and was laid in a feeding trough that animals eat out of. Why did he do that? He came to put himself in human form to be able to relate to us in all of The same, same ways that, you know, as opposed to, you know, that's As you say that, Every time I hear The story of The gospel, There's, and this is why scripture is so powerful, sharper than a double-edged sword living, breathing organism. You can hear The same thing over and over again, but it moves differently. I've been reflecting a lot on. The one who's The greatest will be The last, The one who serves will be a true leader. I mean, The idea of servant leadership. But think about The strategy of our faTher in heaven who placed his son in a manger, and If that doesn't tell you what leadership should look like, that The creator of heaven and earth had his son born in a manger, as a reflection of how he views pride. Not a gold palace, not on top of a pyramid. Like you said, he was born with animals, to just show The spirit of what it looks like to be humble. But now I do want to transition and ask you, so you have humility, but Then talk to me about confidence, because I see both, right? So you have this humility, but Then you also have this confidence to move in a certain way. So what does that transition look like, and what does Well, I think that I'll just, I'll add one more quick thing to what I was saying before, in terms of humility, The things that I pursue in relationship building is humility. AuThenticity through my identity in Christ, humility, and Then honor. Seeking to honor oThers well, always. Seeking excellence in The way that I honor people in my relationships. Little things like if They're on your mind, you should be picking up The phone and texting Them. and letting Them know that you're thinking of Them and wishing Them an amazing day. It could be something as small as that, but it's like, how are you honoring people in your relationships? And I think in a funny sort of way, that ties into The next question is sense of confidence. I'm confident in my relationship building, and I'm confident in what I'm doing, not because I'm The smartest guy or The most polished tool in The toolbox. But I am extremely confident in who God has called me to be and who God has prepared me to be. Again, through that journey that he's taken me on from childhood and The struggle and The unknowns and The uncertainties of moving from city to city, not really knowing people, having to figure things out on my own, by The way, I didn't move to all those places with family. I move all those places on my own with nobody and Then I'm in a place now where five, well, four out of my six siblings have followed here to Orlando, and we're doing life togeTher. We're involved in The church. We spend time with each oTher. I've got multiple siblings getting married right now. Just lots of beautiful things going on, right? But you zoom out six years ago and people would see me now with The suits and They think I'm this confident guy. And I was like, guys, you don't understand. Six years ago, I felt completely awkward wearing a suit. And not that long before that, I was taking out The trash and working in restaurants with grease all over my cloThes. I did not feel confident or equipped or worthy to be walking into business rooms and negotiating deals and contracts. I dressed that way to help me feel more confident and to make up for what I was feeling inside. I was like, well, at least if I can look The part, I can look confident that that should help me. Right. But as you walk in faith and as you begin to experience and witness firsthand God's faithfulness and God's provision over your life, you do start to find more confidence in that because you know that If you're still alive and standing, you and God have 100% track record of getting through. What feels impossible in The moment, what it feels like, I don't know how I'm going to overcome this obstacle. I don't know how I'm going to climb over this mountain. Well, I've got news for you if you're still here. You 100% track record. And that gives you a sense of confidence. Obviously doing your side, playing your part. Again, planting The seeds, watering The seeds. get is going to give you a certain degree of confidence like for me i'm not i'm not. Five years ago i wasn't as confident to get up on The stage and talk in a mic and capture The attention of a whole audience cuz i had never done that before but after doing it time and time again applying myself to that. showing up, ready to learn, again, humbling myself to say, hey, I'm The low guy on The totem pole here. I want to learn. I'm willing to make a fool of myself, to put myself out and hear constructive criticism from oTher people on what I did well, how I can improve my tonality and my vocal variety. It took time and time and time and time again years of showing up before i really started to experience The breakthrough to where. Invite me to a party tonight with no preparation say i need to get you on The mic i need you to welcome everybody into The room i need to make him feel loved and important i got you like let's let's make it happen. I have that level of confidence because of The actions that I've taken So many good takeaways. So let me just recap for The audience a couple things that I just want to make sure we don't miss. The first question that started this thread was, how are you honoring people? Simple question, but really powerful question. So if you're listening to this, this is going to be a master class on strategic networking. And oTher than being auThentic, I was going to add anoTher addition to that word, but it stops at auThentic. So oTher than being auThentic, knowing your identity, being humble, I just want to capture The question from Caleb, which is a phenomenal question. How are you honoring The people in your life? Right, really powerful question. I'm going to reflect on how you honoring The people in your life. And now I just want to honor you for a second. Just as we go into this of here's some things that I heard and thought of about what you were describing, but also what I've seen you do. So you partnered with The process because I think a lot of times people fight The process. They know. what They're supposed to do, and They have this ongoing relationship with, am I committed? Am I not committed? You partnered with The exact process that is required to build an incredible reputation. It says a good reputation is worth more than silver and gold. And you built an incredible reputation because you partnered with The process and were willing to do These non-negotiables year in and year out. That's number one. Number two you did it with principles so as you were talking about wraps of it says i planted apollo's water and god gave The increase anoTher scripture that i love talking about The growth of The kingdom. What you did is you not only did The wraps but you did The wraps in The right way and i think if i had to re answer The question of what's The value of building a business are going into The marketplace with The kingdom driven philosophy. We can all do a lot of wraps but when you're doing The wraps with The right playbook. you're gonna get The right results when The time is due. So you've done The reps, and you've done The reps in a right way. And also, I just wanna attribute, I don't know when The opportunity to say this is gonna come up, so I'm just gonna say it now, that because of your preparation, through three to four years. When I came to Orlando, your wisdom and transfer of knowledge to somebody that has never had a problem shaking hands and walking in a room helped me get so much more intentional and clear about how I ought to build relationships because of The journey you are on. So when you came to Orlando, January of 2020, if I came to Orlando three years earlier, you may have not been able to give me The same insights and wisdom and instruction that I needed to go and build a business and provide for my family. But because you were willing to put in The rap, you Then were able to equip me with The knowledge. And in turn, you've probably helped hundreds of loan officers with The same three questions that I recite from Kayla Paull, when you walk into a networking event. So anyway, bro, I just want to honor you for how well you've partnered with The process and for The work that you've done over The years. And I can't wait to see what you continue to do, because I don't know anybody that's better at pure networking, strategic relationship building, shaking hands, building deep relationships and connections than Kayla Paull. So we're My pleasure. All right, so let me go back to, I didn't even have to ask one question on this list. I started one question and we went 35 minutes. Let me go back to some questions that I think are valuable for The audience to hear. So when did you, so this is probably gonna start anoTher thread, so I might only get two questions in, but when did you first identify networking Oof. Well, I joined The Citrus Club downtown Orlando, which is a private social club, in The spring of 2021, which at that time COVID was still happening. It just was a little more chill in Florida at that time. It wasn't quite as strict as oTher places in The country. And when I first joined that club, that's when I started attending events like business events, networking events, social hour events. I had never done that type of stuff in my life. And again, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what my goals should be. I didn't know what my outcomes should be. I'm just like, I'm just here to meet good people. I'm here to build relationships with like-minded people. I'm here to build people i'm here to build alongside people who might have similar goals in life and business and hopefully along The way find some people that could use my help. And from a sales perspective right at The product that i bring to The marketplace hopefully i can i can. Bring that up but it took me going into rooms probably hundreds of times if i'm being honest. before I started to recognize some of The, um, I don't know. I, I, The most simple way I can say it is that networking is one letter short of not working. And I think a lot of people are guilty of just networking so much that They're not actually working. Like They're I'm so glad you just said that because literally my next question was going to be, I'm coaching hundreds of loan officers nationwide on how to build Their business. And I built my business through sphere of influence. I never took leads. I never made online calls. So I'm telling Them events one-on-ones, but The question I wanted to ask you for myself and for everybody I talked to, how do you find The balance? And I know we're already going to anoTher question, but I really do want to know this. How do you find The balance between being busy networking? I know There's nobody better in The world to ask this question. First, being efficient and productive with networking. So I'm actually going to ask The question to The mortgage and real estate world that you could filter through The lens of VIP. So I'm a real estate agent. I'm a mortgage loan officer. I want to make more friends and have more people send me natural referrals. So I fill up my calendar with 10 things on Eventbrite. At what point do I develop The discernment to know, is this thing I'm going to fruitful or am I just showing up for anoTher happy hour and walked away Yeah, that's so powerful. And The answer to this, I think, kind of goes into The answer of The last question as well. It all goes togeTher, right? I would say that The time, The exact time that I figured out that networking is a skill to be developed is when I learned that networking is a slippery black slope, that if you're not careful, it can just become a big time waster. And that's funny to say, because it's like, this is networking that's supposed to be good for your business and good for your relationships, right? How is that a time waster? But it is for a lot of people. And I believe that it's much deeper than just that people lack strategy or maybe that They're lazy or whatever oTher reason. I think There's some deeper spiritual and psychological reasons why people network so much. It's because They're hungry for connection. They're hungry to build relationships with people because we are lacking that at such a high degree right now that people just want to get out and They just want to be around growth minded people and There's something to be said for that and i'll respect that for what it is but i what i also want to say in response to your second question is. This is where self awareness comes into play and i think a lot of people lack self awareness. you have to get to a point where you can walk away from a networking event. And if you have mentorship and accountability from your team leads or from The oTher people in your business or your peers or your colleagues, if you can have that, it's even better. But if not, you got to get to a place where you walk away from an event and you can honestly say to yourself, how did this actually help me? Who did I meet at that event that actually moved The needle forward in my business? What business opportunities were generated through this event? Okay, how many? Okay, and just be self-aware and honestly audit. So you have to audit and be able to quantify. what opportunities and relationships that I produce at that event that helped me move The needle or had The opportunity or actually Yeah, because here's why that's so important, PJ. And even as I'm thinking about this, I'm like, this is just This is like world shattering information right here. The reason why this is so important is if you swing The pendulum to The oTher side and you say, I'm just trying to be seen and known in my marketplace, that is an endless, exhausting hamster wheel that you will never satisfy that craving, ever. If that's your goal is just to be, and I know this because I have been this person that that's what I was, that's what I was consumed with. I was like, I just got to be seen and known and be trusted by everybody. But The problem with that is it'll never feel like it's enough because The follower count, The impressions on your Instagram, The That's not quantifiable. To The human mind, that's why There's so many people that are out There suffering with deep anxiety and depression as a direct result of social media, because it's not fulfilling. It's like synThetic. It's like a synThetic drug where you think that, oh, at this point, I'm going to feel like I made it. But you're not. You will not feel that way. So when you can say, what are your desired outcomes from networking? And Then what would it look like to accomplish and meet those desired outcomes? Okay, now we're getting somewhere. And Then when you can go into an event, with a complete clear understanding of who you want to meet? Well, first of all, clear understanding of why you want to go to The event in The first place. Is it because you're you're trying to meet a contract to connect with somebody to close a contract? Is it because you're trying to support somebody in your inner circle? And There's opportunities for that. Is it because you want to meet some new friends? Like you've got to be honest about why you're actually going. And Then who are you going to meet? What are you going to talk about when you meet Them? What are you going to talk about? What kinds of questions are you going to ask? And Then here's The kicker, which most people fall flat on Their face, is what are you going to do when you walk away from The event? Because The real work in networking does not happen at networking events. It happens when you leave The door of an event because you can have The most amazing conversations in The world at a networking event. You can have The best conversations of anybody in The room, but if you leave, if you walk out that door and nothing else happens after that, all you did was have a bunch of conversations at an event. That's The masterclass from Caleb Paull is The work in networking starts when you leave The event. And I'd actually take it one step furTher because everything you describe is The intentionality before you arrive. So all of The work and networking is actually before you show up and after you leave. It's not during The event, which I think is why you said anoTher beautiful quote, which is networking is one letter away from not working because everybody's just showing up hoping that when I, when I get to this event, My business is going to explode, but you had zero preparation on who am I trying to meet? Why am I attending? What am I looking to accomplish? What's my target outcome? And you had no game plan or rhythm for everything you're going to do when you leave The event. So if all you do is show up to And The harsh reality about even this is human nature, psychology, people don't trust you and want to work with you and give you business and refer you because you met Them at a networking event that nobody would ever say that. But yet we still operate from that mindset. We think we're going to show up at all These events and be like, yeah, business opportunity. I'm like, I don't know anything about you. I'm not like that's that's where we have to get more creative after The event. Like, so if you could just commit yourself to that process right There of doing The work after The networking, you will win. I promise you, you will win. But most people never do that. And that's why They're stuck in The same rat race of going to event after event after event. And They're still struggling with The same issues. They still don't have depth in Their inner circle. They still don't have clear outcomes. So, bro. All right, well, before I ask you The next question, if you are somebody that finds Themselves on a hamster wheel and feels busy but not productive, with your networking efforts. Please rewind The last four minutes and just listen to Caleb's masterclass on networking. Also, you can connect with him for consulting with VIP for additional strategies on networking in your local market. All right, bro, this has been by far The interview that's flown by The fastest. Some of These I've had to fight to get to 40 minutes. With you, bro, I'm like 46 minutes in and I literally went through two out of The 10 questions. So I'm gonna do a rapid fire Three questions to cap us off. So The first is talk to me about standards. One of The things that I admire The most about you, I'll never forget. We're at The citrus club and I go to grab a drink and you say, I don't drink, I'm a believer. And I was like, my entire paradigm was shattered. Not that There's anything wrong with believers who do enjoy a glass of wine, but it was The way in which you just said, yeah, I'm a faTher of Christ. Like I just don't do that. And this like beautiful, standard. I know we're all falling. I know we send, but I just want to get into your mind a little bit on what standards mean to you, how you've developed those, how you hold yourself to a high standard. So walk me through standards and I'll actually just let you answer that before I ask The next question. Just walk me through standards and I think again, it comes back to The clarity in what I want from even from a goal standpoint. That's just something that I'm, that I desire to build within my relationships is, is standards. I want to raise, like if you were to read The mission statement of my goals, which I'm obviously it's end of The year, so I'm working on Them again right now. You would see that I want to be The type of friend and The type of networking buddy The type of client or The type of business partner that raises The people around me to a higher standard through. Everything The way that from The way that They communicate to The words that They use to The way that They shake someone's hand like just raising standards and this is not coming from a place of performance. this is coming out of a deep, this flows out of that same sense of honor, right? I believe that by raising your standards, you're putting yourself in a whole noTher frequency and ability to honor people and to honor yourself and to honor The Lord, to honor your commitments, right? You enter into a whole noTher freaking world when you raise your standards. And that's, that's And you're right, bro. It's an upward spiral. I'll share a quick story that I think is fruitful for The audience and I'll just share with you cause you're my boy. So I was thinking about on Christmas Eve, I get a work phone call with some negative news about an employee and somebody in The organization. And I, my immediate response was, Hey, it's Christmas Eve. I'm with my family. I'm going to have a good time. two years ago, and I'll deal with it on Monday. Two years ago, when that comment would have came, it would have shattered The whole day, which Then would have negatively impacted my marriage, which Then would have led me to get angry that my wife was upset that I was upset, which Then would have led into my children, which that would, like, it was this spiral. And The only reason I'm sharing that is because of this pillars of purpose journey, when you, I love what you just said, you said The mission statement of my goals. And I'm literally thinking out loud, I'm like, well, what is my mission? I know my mission is to encourage oThers to pursue Their God-given potential. But this pillar is a purpose podcast is actually been a source of accountability for me because it's cause me to get competitively excellent in all of The pillars where i want to be competitively excellent in my faith. And my fitness and The way that i lead my family and The way that i manage my finances and to make sure that i'm doing it with The spirit of joy. and that I'm having fun because that's what my life of purpose looks like to encourage oThers to pursue Their God-given potential because I have These five pillars I'm pouring into. So The only reason I'm sharing that is when you said The mission behind my goals is what allows me to have The clarity of what I want and allows me to have The standards that I have, it was just an affirmation for me and helped connect The dots a little bit closer for me on even what I'm doing when you said that. So I appreciate you sharing that. All right, so it's The last networking event that Caleb Paull is ever going to bless a crowd with with his presence. You put The mic down. You've taught your two billionth human being on how to build an effective network in Their market. You've been an honorary doctorate at 10 Ivy League schools around The country. There's a statue of you on Orange Ave with a handshake and a record for The most memberships at The Citrus Club. What does Caleb Paull Man... I... I've been thinking a lot about this, of course, being at The end of The year, and The word is definitely still honor, but since I've already said that, I'll use a different word, but it's The same heart behind it is intentionality, thoughtfulness, consideration, right? I want people to think about me not as somebody who knew a lot of people or hosted big events or had a lot of followers. I want people to be like, crap, That that that guy has influence a lot of people not through not even through his successes eiTher through The battles through The blood and The sweat through The insecurities and showing up at events when he just didn't even feel worthy to be There and and had this way of. Involving people and making Them feel seen and heard and valued even if you knew nothing at that at that moment knew nothing about Their story There was just a sense of warmth where They just They knew that They belonged There because of The way that he made him feel. And The way that he valued Their time and Their attention that he treated that as like The most precious commodity. Is our attention which all by The way social media and all The big companies that's what They're chasing after two is our attention so. We have to kind of put that back into perspective and say, that's what everybody around you is craving too, is your attention. But you've given it to so many oTher things and you've spread it so thin that you have nothing left to give. to people when you do interact with Them and you do have an opportunity to build a healthy, fruitful relationship, but you don't have The attention and The care and The honor because you've given it away to so many oTher artificial things. So that's what I would say I want to be known for is just somebody who honored and loved people well and brought Them togeTher, not for some sort of selfish gain, but because I know that The thing that we need right now as a society is one anoTher, The support of one anoTher. So I see myself as a catalyst to bring people togeTher so that that might happen, because I believe that that's what we need as a generation. And if that could be my legacy, Then I would consider I would say, well done, my good and faithful servant. That sounds like a journey that is definitely fruitful. Bro, I love you. You do everything that you want to be known for. You are extremely intentional. You've had an incredibly positive impact on my life. My family loves you. The city of Orlando loves you. And even if nobody loves you, I know The Lord loves you because of how pure your heart is, bro, and just how much light you shed as a vessel that's out in The community. So bro, I love you. Thanks for being on. Let's go. I can't wait to see you beyond a screen in The near future. And Thank you so much for joining today's episode of The Pillars of Purpose podcast. If today's episode was entertaining, educational, or if it was a source of encouragement, please share this with a friend, a colleague, a family member, or anyone that would benefit from this message. Please subscribe and stay tuned for future episodes. We look forward to bringing you value every week. Hope you guys have a blessed day, blessed week, and let's go.