I spoke recently at Long Beach State University to a large group of graduating business majors and their mentors. It was an annual event at a local country club and it gave me a great chance to share my vision with a big audience. But my speech keys in on some very important points: Creating your own Brand, Finding a Mentor, Developing a Network of Connections that you continually stay in touch with, and Understanding that Rejection is part of this game.
When it comes to building up your network of connections, I use some important stories and examples around LinkedIn to make some key points. One point I make is the need to grab as many coffee meetings as you possibly can with “targets” at specific companies of interest to you. I talk about my son’s college roommate at Boston College who wanted to work in a Hollywood role in the worst way upon graduation, but Derek knew nobody out here in LA in production or at a studio or at a talent agency. So he set out on a mean coffee meeting terror to find as many people as he could on LinkedIn who had begun at a college in Boston and ended up in LA LA Land. And it worked. In fact the story that I told worked so well that one of the seniors at that event the other night shared this post with me above. Thanks for listening! You give me the inspiration to share more with others.