OTS 074: Super Connector – Darrah Brustein

On the Schmooze Podcast: Leadership | Strategic Networking | Relationship Building

Today’s guest is a fellow super-connector, serial entrepreneur, and author. Her first business, founded in 2009, is a credit card processing company which spans 38 states. She next launched Network Under 40 in 2011 to help people make valuable social and professional connections that lead to friendships and business. This endeavor is now hosting sold-out events in 7 U.S. cities. She also founded Finance Whiz Kids in 2012 to teach elementary aged kids the basics of financial literacy through fun and engaging stories. Her kids’ book series by the same name caught the attention of the World Economic Forum and she was invited to their Annual Meeting in Davos to present about youth financial literacy. The through line of everything she does is what she calls “netweaving” - connecting the dots between one person or business to another. She gets so much joy from helping others get closer to their goals and has learned, in turn, that what goes around, comes around. To inspire others to follow suit, she founded the social movement #GiveItForward, which aims to empower 1,000,000 people to intentionally give to one person in some way every day, with no strings attached. Please join me in welcoming Darrah Brustein. On the Schmooze is on C-Suite Radio. Listen to our show and many other great business podcasts at C-SuiteRadio.com. In this episode we explore: her thoughts on leadership: Leadership is assessing whether it is more critical to stand in the spotlight or to provide support for someone else taking the reins, and then working where you are needed to empower those around you. how her biggest piece of advice for others is to understand how valuable follow through is, and how follow through is the biggest differential between people who are consistently successful vs. those who are not. her motivation for starting Networking Under 40, which is now active in 7 cities, with over 30,000 people involved. how she was able to grow to a place in her career where she has flexibility with her time, and now gets to pursue her passion for teaching others through speaking, writing, and many other outlets. her definition of a super connector - someone who can’t help but go into the world and pair people together based on their different needs and offerings. how she aligns her relationships to allow her to genuinely engage with people on a regular basis, and uses Google Calendar to help her engage consistently. What were the key takeaways you plan to put into practice this week and benefit from for years to come? Share your thoughts in the comments. LINKS Darrah Brustein on LinkedIn and Twitter www.darrahbrustein.com Network Under 40 Network Over 40 Finance Whiz Kids Join the #GiveItForward Movement LinkedIn notes app - www.robbiesamuels.com/dux-soup FollowUpThen app - www.robbiesamuels.com/followupthen Books mentioned in this episode: “Croissants vs. Bagels: Strategic, Effective, and Inclusive Networking at Conferences” - by Robbie Samuels “Financial Whiz Kids” by Darrah Brustein Stay Connected: Interested in booking me to speak? Learn about my Art of the Schmooze session on effective and inclusive networking, and the other sessions I offer Interested in individual or group coaching? Schedule a 20-minute phone chat to discuss working together Connect with me on LinkedIn @RobbieSamuels on Twitter and Instagram New to my website? Start here On the Schmooze podcast archive and show notes for recent episodes Subscribing and leaving a rating and review on iTunes helps this podcast be discovered. Need help using iTunes? 10 Steps to Subscribe, Rate & Review on iTunes. Thank you! Affiliate Links: Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links above are “affiliate links”. This means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless,