How One Connection Can Change Your Life & Business With Devin Sizemore

Welcome to the Amberly Lago Show, where grit, grace, and joy connect you to unstoppable success. Hey, I am so happy that you are here. You are going to want to grab a notepad and pen because I have Devin Sizemore with us. He is amazing. He has spoken to my mastermind and I was like, would you come be on the podcast? He is the king of connection. I mean, this man Even his wearing a shirt saying, who can I connect you with? And he doesn't just talk about networking, he lives it. He is truly somebody who embodies the power of connection. We're going to talk about how it's so important, how meeting just one person can not only change your business, it can actually change your life. He is the founder of ACEs Connection Group. We'll talk about that. He is a leader. He's a speaker. He is on the road all the time doing events. In fact, he's got like 3 events going on this week, and he is so gracious to take time to be on the show. Um, but we're going to talk about how authentic relationships, how they open doors, they spark new ideas and transform lives. So, um, I can't wait for you to meet Devin. Devin, welcome to the Amberly Lago Show.

Thanks so much for having me. I've been looking forward to this conversation. We always have so much fun when we connect and so, uh, excited to provide value to anyone listening or watching.

Oh my goodness, you're amazing. And you really are the king of connection. Like, you literally make so many amazing connections for me in emails, and you have a whole system about how you do it. But what does being a connector mean to you, and how has it shaped your life and your career as an entrepreneur?

Yeah, I appreciate the kind words. Thank you so much. Being a connector is everything, right? It's, it's the thing that if I could advocate for anything, Make more connections and meaningful deep connections with people. Because as I was dissecting what's worked for me in my various companies across different industries, what I've done with clients over the years, the thing I kept coming back to is, you know, we're building this system that flips the script. People come to you, you get inbound connections, your network grows itself. And that became the thing where I went, man, you know what, I have to scale this because if we can help people generate a million connections, Think about the ripple effect of that. The families impacted, the relationships formed, the new friendships, the revenue, the community impact, the good. Like, it's such a valuable mission and it's so impactful and everyone can participate.

Oh, well, is there one connection that you have made that was like what you consider like a life-changing connection?

Yeah, I like to answer this question in seasons. So I think in every season I have a connection that kind of benchmarked that season. And so, you know, even going all the way back to college, right, I was connected to a gentleman who had a digital marketing agency, and that led to my first job, which also laid the foundation for my first business. If I think about even before that, in high school transitioning to college, I had a mentor who invited me to do network marketing, which was a blessing because it taught me sales and rejection and how to get out there and, you know, sell product and do the kitchen dinner, you know, whatever meetings and stuff. And so I think as far back as I go, I think there are these moments where I was connected to individuals or opportunities that just unlocked things. And now every day I'm connected to amazing people doing amazing things. And so I'm just blessed to play in that world. But there's just so many amazing connections over the years.

Oh, yeah. Well, I— it's unbelievable how just meeting someone and doing a podcast interview can lead to opportunities in business, friendships. Like, I just did a— I did a podcast interview with my friend Arjun Dhingram. And if you don't know him, I've got to introduce you to him. Do you know him?

I don't know him, but we are close to each other.

Yeah, well, I've got to introduce you to him because we did— I did his podcast, then he came on mine. Then we did a speaking event together, then another speaking event, and that led to him flying out from California to come speak at my mastermind retreat. And it was just that one meeting, that one time at an event. And he's like, hey, can you be on my podcast? I'm like, yeah. And we literally went up to his hotel room and did an interview. And that led to this friendship. Like, he's not getting rid of me now. And you're not getting rid of me either. There's so many entrepreneurs that I think struggle with building those genuine relationships. And honestly, Devin, I think that it's even more so for women. I think that a lot of times what I see— and this is maybe it's my perspective, maybe it's just some of the experiences that I've had— is there are guys that want to make those introductions and they want to do things for each other and they want to build. And I feel like a lot of times with women, it's more almost like cutthroat, like, oh, I'm not going to introduce you to that person. And it's, it's not as much of a mindset of abundance. And I'm not trying to put women in, you know, a box or anything like that. But when I was in the dance industry, it was definitely like that. And I think I would even annoy people sometimes when I would walk into an audition and start talking to everybody. Or, you know, I've had people say to me, like, Like, now, wow, you really do give everything to us. Like, and I'm like, well, yeah, the more I can give, the more we all grow. What do you do, or how would you suggest to somebody who is having a hard making those connections? What's one thing that they can start doing that will change that?

Yeah, typically it's because we're playing the wrong game, and it's really important to talk about this. If we talk about referrals and connections, so often we default to this world of a referral being an introduction to a prospect that's positioned to buy a product, right? And that's the world we play in. And so when people think about referral networks or connections, they tend to default to this revenue-focused conversation, which is where they default to sales and marketing too, right? Everything's sales, everything's, you know, pushy.

Yeah.

For people, that creates a lot of friction. So if I say, hey Joe, this is who I want to connect with, and I give you my ideal client profile, Joe has to sit there and narrow down his network to that perfect person. Then he has to decide, are they qualified to work with me? Meaning budget alignment, attitude, timing, right? There's a lot of barriers there. Then is he willing to endorse me to that person so that that person will take a meeting so I can sell it? Like, there's so much friction in what I just said. And so for women, what I find is That trust factor is so critical. And so because the trust factor is critical, it's really hard to want to make introductions, and it's hard to trust that when you're getting one, it is aligned and it's qualified and there's not a weird motive. And so we get rid of all of that. And so my recommendation is stop asking for clients, stop asking for the, the, the client focus. And so what I tell people is I want you to build your network targeting zero clients. And I want you to sit on that for a second. I want you to build your network targeting zero clients. And then you go, oh, Devin, well, how do I make money? Well, we make money because we go after the 6 buckets that have access to our ideal clients, and we'll just reference one. So one bucket is vendors. There are vendors who are selling products and services to your ideal client. And so if we go back to Joe's conversation, and I can tell Joe, hey Joe, you know what, I want to meet mastermind hosts because mastermind hosts, we can collaborate and create. Amazing content. I can bring value to their group. And the more I get to know them, the easier it is for me to refer people to them. It's a win-win for everybody. That's why I want to meet. Now all of a sudden Joe goes, oh, I know a few mastermind hosts. There's no friction. It's all collaborative in nature. It's all value-focused. And so if we shift our ask to the bigger connection ask with people who have access to our clients, the stages, the podcast, the opportunities, we eliminate all this friction. And what it actually does is it unlocks our network and it empowers other people to refer you, and it makes it so much easier for you to refer others because now you're building strategic relationships. You don't have that pressure of, I gotta find the prospect for this person and they got to get a deal done. No, no, we just have to help people build networks that at some point will lead to Stages podcasts and deals.

Oh, that's so amazing, taking the friction out of it. And yeah, I think that there are so, so often that People are so used to people trying— somebody trying to sell them something, you know, and their email, their inbox is like full of— I know mine is— of people trying to sell me something, their product, their service, their— but when I think when you start by offering value and you are, Devin, you are so incredible at that. You offer so much value and you are so generous, like to speak to my mastermind. Everybody loved you. You're so generous to be—

Thank you.

with us here today. And you're so generous in the emails that you— introductions that you make as well. And so every time I see your name pop up in my inbox, it's an immediate, like, feeling of just good. Like, oh, it's Devin. Like, oh good, what does he have to say? Instead of somebody who's just constantly, like you said, looking for that client, looking for that prospect. They want something. With you, I know that you make this email introduction and you do it so beautifully. And you also do it in a way where, like, I can easily go look up that person. You give their info, their, their LinkedIn profile, their website, and you tell about them, then you tell about me. And so it's like, oh, it's a win-win for, for everyone. And so I just appreciate how you make email introductions. What is a mistake that people make when they're making an email introduction?

Yeah, I appreciate that. And it's so good that you get to experience it too, because you can relate to what I'll explain. So I call it the 3 E's. Anytime you're making an email introduction, you want to edify, endorse, and explain. And so you need to be able to edify the person and both parties, actually edify both parties. Why are they rock stars, right? What makes them amazing humans? Then you need to endorse them. You need to validate their expertise in the thing and reason why you're connecting. And then you need to explain, typically one quick sentence, why you're connecting both parties. I'm connecting you because you target similar clients. I'm connecting you because you're both podcast hosts. Maybe you can create some content together. I'm connecting you because one of you hosts an event and the other is looking for sponsors. Maybe you guys could find sponsors, like whatever the motive is that makes both parties understand the reason to meet. And then again, edify and endorse. And to your point, the perfect framework should have their LinkedIn or their website link right after their name. Hey, I want to introduce you to Amberly Lago. Here's the LinkedIn. Oh, by the way, here's a link to the book, right? So give the information so that people can, one, get them in their CRM quicker, two, follow up. And then a quick little nugget on the follow-up side, make sure you have a calendar link. Like, it is 2025. If you are not making it easy for people to book meetings, like, stop it. Like, you've got to be able to reply.

I know it is. It's so important to have that Calendly. And you know what? Sometimes it takes time. to get those systems in place. Like, I definitely have a Calendly, but it also takes time to go through and make sure your Calendly link, like your schedule, is up to date. Because like, I just sent a Calendly link out to a new client and I just booked a speaking gig and they found a time, but it's on my calendar exactly when I'm speaking at an event. So then it's more work. So when you do the hard thing first, life gets easier. And when you do the easy thing, life gets hard. But I agree. It's so important to have those links in place because you're going to lose that connection, or you could possibly lose that connection if you're going back and forth trying to figure out times, times through, you know, 10 emails of what works for you, what works for me. So, yes, you are. Thank you for bringing that up. You are so good about that. So wait, I want to ask you, how often do you go in and edit your Calendly links? Or times schedule?

Yeah, so I, I'll share some best practices that work for me and I do a really high volume of meetings. And so these things had to get put in place just to make sure I didn't break this. So obviously you want to sync with your, your core calendar, whatever your main calendar is. The other things you want to do if you're going to use a booking link like that is get really good at time blocking. So I typically time block Mondays and Fridays. For either no meetings or clients and podcasts where I'm scheduling, not letting other people schedule on my calendar. And then the other thing I do is I have a limit. So once a certain number of meetings are booked a day, one, my booking platform won't let you book, but 2, I go in and I block that day out and say no meetings on my calendar. The other thing I do is I don't let people book meetings. Uh, it's a week out. So if you book a meeting with me, even if I have time tomorrow, the earliest I'll show is a week, although it's typically 2 or 3. Those are just some best practices that buffer your time because there's nothing worse than your calendar not being set up properly and someone sneaks on your calendar in this weird time slot you had today. And now all of a sudden that time you thought you're going to be catching up, you're stuck on a meeting. And it's not a bad thing because you do want to meet the person, but it just messes up your flow and your agenda and your rhythm. So create those time blocks, create the buffers, block your calendar out when you don't want to have meetings and go way out. Like I've already blocked off holidays, trips, events, things I'm speaking at. I also block off office weeks. So typically every 6 to 7 weeks, I'll block a whole week off so that my calendar won't let you book that week. Again, I may book people that week manually, but I won't let people fill up my calendar. So just some best practices on the calendar side.

That is so helpful. And yeah, I remember when I first started this show, I was like, people could book at any time. Like I was, you know, 7 days a week. If you can find a time, let's do it. And then I was like, wait a minute, I got to get more. I got to block this out and only have podcast interviews on certain days. And that way I know what to expect and I can set up and be my best. And so that's so helpful to do that. Now I want to kind of switch over back to the networking and ask you a question. Because you explained this very well when you spoke to the mastermind about networking. Can you share what people get wrong about networking? Because networking is huge here in Dallas. But I went to a networking event and Devin, it was just like I was getting just a handful of business cards with everybody trying to sell me something. I never went back to that networking event. So that's kind of how I feel about like networking events where you're just being sold to nonstop. What is something that you think that people are getting wrong about networking?

Yeah, the first thing, and we could probably circle back to this on a follow-up question, is you probably don't need to network. You probably have enough opportunity in your current phone, social network, CRM database, email list. You probably have enough. You're just approaching it wrong. And so for those of you who are introverts or just get burnt out from going to these events that are positioned incorrectly, just know that there's a better way. So that's a teaser. But to directly answer the question, when you go networking, I have a core principle. We have 5 of them, but the 2nd core principle is control what you can control. When you're networking, make sure you do everything you can do properly. So did you show up?

Great.

Do you gather people's contact information so that you can control the follow-up? Because if anyone follows up with you, they're just trying to sell you something. So you want to get people's contact info so that you can control the follow-up. That'll help you set the foundation for how you follow up. Have some set questions. This is where people go wrong too. You just kind of stumble into the event and you're like, well, I'm a seasoned pro at this. I'll just ask questions and stumble through the room. No, no, no. Like have a set, like I ask these 3 questions, then I move on. I ask them for their card. And I go about my day. Now, other people, yes, they're going to try to sell you. They're going to be positioning and asking more questions.

Great.

You can go along with it. But again, you just want to get their contact information because the goal of going to an event is just to meet as many people as you can and get their information. So I don't mind if people want to sell and hard push business cards at me because it just helps me get more contact info. Oh, that's a good way to look at it. Yeah, well, that's why I said you got to change the way you look at the mindset. Hey, if all these people want to sell to me, Great. Are you going to give me your card? Fantastic. Because what will happen is they're not going to follow up. And in fact, I don't even carry business cards to events because what I tell people is, hey, I'll shoot you an email and follow up with you because I want to make sure I control the follow-up. And by controlling the follow-up, I can send a message that sounds like this. Hey Brittany, it was great meeting you at the Dallas networking event last night. I enjoyed briefly learning about you and what you do. I'd love to schedule a time to learn more about you and what you do so that I can better connect people to you. Here's a link to my calendar. I look forward to connecting with you. What we've done, no matter how the conversation went at the networking event, is we have disarmed all of it. I am reaching out to learn about you, to connect you. I'm not reaching out to sell you anything, and I do not expect to be sold, although you may show up to the meeting, they may try, but then we just disarm them in the meeting too. So those are some tips there, right? Have some set questions, kind of laugh at the game, because if your game is to get the most contact info, great. Let them, let them shove business cards at you. Fantastic. Well, I love— And then make sure you buffer time to follow up.

Yeah, I love that you give this specific formula on how to shoot an email over to them. But what you said was pure gold, that have a set of questions to ask, because I think a lot of times in networking events, people just want to go and talk about themselves. But you're saying something totally different and you're like, have questions to ask that person. That's brilliant. And also, I actually don't prefer business cards. I mean, I usually get a stack of them and I need— I have them on my desk right now and I need to follow up with these people. So you've inspired me to shoot them an email. But if I don't do that right away, a lot of times I'm like, who is this person? How did I get their card? Which event did I meet them at? Because you and I both do a lot of events. So how soon do you follow up with them? Do you do it like the next day, that night? Like, how soon do you follow up with them?

Yeah, let me give you 2 answers because I want to address old business cards because everyone listening, 99% of people have old business cards sitting somewhere. So best practice is if you go to an event the next day, time block 1 hour to follow up. It's about all you need, especially if you're dropping them in a CRM and sending a templated email. That way, at least you're getting them in the process. One tip I can give you for this is, and this is what we have, is we have an intake form. And so I literally don't even go to my CRM. I just go to a form that we've built and I just put your name in. I put the event name in. I type some notes about you that I remember. I grab your LinkedIn, connect with you, hit go. It automatically drops you into a funnel that sends you all the follow-up messaging. And then it moves you to our nurture campaign, does everything for you. So I want to tease that because I think people—

Are you serious right now? Like, that's, that's brilliant.

Well, that's what— yeah, because I do too much of it. Like, I'm at— we have 2 networking events this week. I'll probably meet 60 to 70 new people. I can't— there's no time for that. But I can give the business card to my VA. My VA can send the templated email. The other part of this is you can templatize everything. It doesn't have to be custom. And this is where a lot of people put so much pressure on themselves, is to your point, What event did I meet you at? What do I remember about you? You actually don't need to remember anything because the email I send people is identical and it never changes. And then you're going to get a follow-up email in 7 days that says, hey, just bumping the previous email, would love to connect with you. Then an email 7 days later that says, hey, we're still trying to connect with you, here's a link to my calendar. And 7 days later, another one. And then after that, we drop you into the nurture cycle. We bug you for 6 weeks. Now, if you have old business cards, here's a secret. You can use the nurture check-in email to reignite those business cards. So let me explain. You have a stack of business cards, or maybe you even scraped. I was on a webinar a few weeks ago and I got guilty of this. I grabbed everyone's names and then I just totally dropped the ball on following up. Well, 3 weeks later, I was able to email everyone and this is what the email sounds like. Hey, it's been a while since we last connected. I wanted to check in with you and see what's new and exciting. Are there any new challenges in your world? We also haven't connected in a while. Would love to get back together. Here's a link to my calendar so that I can better learn who to connect you with. So same language there. And then that's it. Then we drop them in a 6-week follow-up cycle so we can at least take these dead contacts, get them a touch that invites them to a meeting in a very aligned way, gets them into our CRM so we can nurture them every 6 to 8 weeks. And then it sounds like a normal touch because it has been a while since we connected. Right now, you don't have to say, I suck at life and dropped the ball following up. Although sometimes I do send that email too. Like, hey, I got to apologize for being so late and following up with you. I've spoke at 6 events. I've been traveling like it's been crazy, but I still would love to get together with you. So sometimes I'll add that sentence or 2 at the beginning and then use the rest of the email template and just send that out. Because guess what? Everybody's busy.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love that, man. You are giving us so much gold. Now, you have built a community. Tell us about your— and I love that your background shows your, your connection group and real people, real conversations, real connections. Tell us a little bit about that so people can maybe join your community and get to know you more and get to know these systems even more, because I just think you're brilliant at how you connect, how you follow up, and how you word your emails and how you make introductions. But what, how, what was the reason you started this group and how, how can people get more involved with you in the group.

Yeah, I appreciate that. Yeah. So you can go to connectionexpansion.com. That will take you to my website, to the page of ACEs, or devinsasmar.com. Click the ACEs link. The name of the group is ACEs Connection Group. So if you're on Skool or go to Skool, just search ACEs Connection. It'll pop up. The group was formed because I wanted to provide as much value as possible. And what I realized is that I needed to bring people that were like-minded together in order to facilitate my mission to facilitate 1 million connections. And the only way I can do that is to educate more people. And so in the group, we've got a few pillars of success. The first pillar, and this is all free. So let's get that clear too, right? ACES is free. Everything inside of it is free. So there's so much value. The first is networking done different. So we do connection blitz meetings. My guarantee is every connection blitz meeting you get on, you're going to meet someone new. And I guarantee you've never sat on a virtual networking meeting that is that efficient and will generate as many results. I just got an email since we've been on. From someone I said, hey, how was the blitz last week? He had 4 meetings, already talked to one, has 2 referrals out of it. Like, this is a real-time email, just came in. Like, that's one meeting he attended. So come network and hang out with us. It's totally different if you're burnt out with networking. It's a different way to do it. The second thing is the Connection Expansion System Masterclass is fully inside the— inside school. So my whole system, everything I teach, all the email templates, the GPTs, it's all available. The third pillar is we do expert interviews. I've interviewed over 25 amazing thought leaders and experts on all topics, from family office talking about managing your wealth, from a billionaire to styling consultants to AI to SEO to whatever the topic is. We've probably interviewed someone. And so all of those pillars are available, all free. Come hang out with us. We're just about to cross 300 members. By the time you listen to this, we'll probably be Well above that. But we're growing rapidly.

How long have you had the community?

I launched it in a paid version January of this year, and then we reopened it free with all of the new pillars and everything in June.

So what was your decision in going from a paid version to a free? Because most people go free to paid.

Yeah, I think that communities, free communities are the future of email lists. And so what email lists used to be or what Facebook communities used to be. I think that Skool, Circle, some of these other platforms, a free community where people raise their hand and opt in to participate, I think creates this amazing group that you can create momentum inside of. And so we're seeing that people, you know, ability to fill webinars for myself and others and all sorts of other stuff. So by going free, we eliminated the friction. I didn't want to have to negotiate or try to prove the value because what I know is true is If you come to a networking meeting, come to a connection blitz meeting, my guarantee is I'll make 3 connections for you. So every new member, every person that comes to a meeting that's new is going to get 3 connections. I know for a matter of fact that if you come, you're going to be blown away. If you get 3 connections from me, you're going to be blown away. And at some point we'll find a way to play more. That's great. I don't need to rush the sale because that's so against what we teach. And so I realized that trying to sell super high-ticket offers or trying to sell a paid community, just fundamentally didn't align with what we're building. And so now we just attract amazing people. We've added 3 members this morning already and they're just amazing. Like, I love connecting with people and helping facilitate. And yes, over time we are going to generate revenue, do amazing things, create content together. But that's my recommendation. Have some sort of free community offer, get your people together and have a great conversation.

I love that. And I'm joining, by the way. And gonna find you on Skool.

What—

tell people what Skool— some people might not even know what Skool is, but I think it's blowing up.

Yeah, Skool is an amazing community management platform, and if you're looking to manage a community, I would say it's probably the easiest to use as a host. There are other great ones out there from Circle to, you know, HighLevel, the CRM we use, they've got a community builder. The reason I like Skool is what we find with all of our members, they average, they're in 3.5 to 4 communities, right? So 3 to 4 communities. And so when people go to sign up, there's not a lot of friction because they're probably already on the platform, even if they're on the platform from some super old group they forgot about.

Yeah.

I'm currently in like 9 or 10 groups now, which is amazing. Like, I love being in other people's communities. One, because I can see what's working and see what questions they're asking. And 2, there's communities on every topic from AI to the one that one of my friends just launched is just on profit, right? How do you build a business on profit? I love it. I love what she's doing. And so I was like, yeah, let me come support that. So that's what Skool is. It's an amazing platform. Check it out. The other thing I'll tell you, especially in our group, is check out the map tab. If you go to the map, you can see where all of our members are.

Oh.

I don't know how many countries we're in now, but it's probably 20, 25. And almost every city in the US, there's probably someone. So what I do is when I travel, I go to ACEs, I go to the map, I zoom in on the area I'm traveling to, and then I can start messaging other members and say, hey, I'm going to be in the, in the group or in your city. Do you want to get together? And so it's a great way to continue to get some face time instead of just virtual time. So other reasons about why to use that platform too.

Oh my gosh, that is so good. I mean, I literally, I'm taking notes here. This is so amazing. Another question about your community. So are you on a Facebook group with it at all, or is it just through Skool?

Yeah, just Skool. So I decided I didn't want to force people onto a lot of platforms. So we don't have a Slack channel. We don't have a Facebook chat group. Everything's inside of Skool. I use a different platform for our brand partners because we share revenue. So there's a better platform for that. But no, all inside of Skool. We just keep it there.

Okay, that's awesome. So you— I've got to look that up. That's amazing. And then tell us about your book. How many books do you have?

Just one myself. Okay.

I thought you had just the one that— well, no, I don't like to say just because having a book is a big deal, but I see so many books behind you, so I just wondered about that. Yeah.

So my book's Connection Expansion. You can find it on Amazon in all formats. Audiobook if you want to listen to me talk for an hour and 54 minutes. Or you can go to my website, devonsizemore.com. At the top, you'll find the book tab. There's an opt-in. You can get a free PDF copy if you don't want to pay. No worries, I've got you covered. So you can opt in for the book that way. The book covers the full Connection Expansion System per my first principle, which is always add value. Everything's in the book, everything's in the class, everything's in school. There's nothing hidden. So every email template, follow-up process, best practice— yes, there's more and more we create, so we just capture that. But yeah, grab the book. And then the reason there's a lot of books behind me is I've been working with Million Dollar Author for years. They're one of our trusted brand partners. And so these are some of the clients I've either worked with or I just think their content's amazing. So I want to feature it.

And I do read a ton of books. I see Chris Jarvis's name up there.

Yeah, Chris is a trusted brand partner. We do a lot of work together and I was actually episode 2 on his new TV show.

Yeah, actually, he just texted me to ask me to be on his show. And I'm like, yes, I'd be honored. And, and you know what, he dropped the ball. So I'm going to reach out to him because he hadn't— he hasn't texted me back. But no, he's one of the most giving people. I mean, he gave— he came on my show and he gave everybody a copy in my mastermind, a copy of his book. He's amazing. He's amazing. So I know we've We're wrapping up, but I just have a few more questions for you. I just wondered, has there ever been a season— because you talk so much about connection, the importance of it, building the community— has there ever been a time when you felt a little disconnected or even lonely?

Yeah, I think on the entrepreneurial journey, I think it is normal to feel alone. Um, you know, the more successful you get too, you're going to outgrow friendships, you're going to outgrow relationships. The good news about always making connections is there's always new people coming into your world. And when those new people come into your world, it gives you opportunities to redo your inner circle and your friend circle. And so I share that because as you grow, you're going to need new people. And so I'll go through seasons where I'm like, man, I haven't heard from some of my friends in a while. That's interesting. So either I need to take initiative and reach out or I need to reevaluate who is actively communicating with me and maybe adjust my inner circle or adjust the friend circle a little bit. But word of advice, plug into a community. I don't care how many or where. Plug into a mastermind. Like you need to get out of your stuff and be very careful plugging into industry-only masterminds.

Yeah.

I don't mind it because you can learn best practices from people that are ahead of you. But if you're going to do that, plug into a community, an event, or a group that is outside of your industry. Because what I find, having worked with hundreds and hundreds of clients across every industry, is typically the solution to your problem is already done in another industry. You just don't know it. So you've got to plug into other people. You've got to have a mentor or coach you're working with. Like, you've got to check these boxes. They're must-dos if you're going to run a business. And they will accelerate your growth and they'll help keep you off that kind of feeling lonely moment.

Oh, that's so important. That's the power of connection and community. And I will tell you, like, I just had my in-person mastermind retreat and in the middle of it, had a kidney stone that was not fun and ended up having to go to the hospital. And Luckily, I had people and connections that I was like, hey, you got this. Can you take over the rest of this for me? And it's like when you have those true connections, it's just powerful and you've got somebody that's got your back. And so I think that's so important. If there's somebody listening today who wants to really level up their connections immediately, what's a simple step they could take in 24 hours? Like, let's say they don't have a group. Well, I know they can go reach out and find you on Cool. That's one thing they can do. But what's something they can do today so they don't feel lonely on that? Because it can get lonely on the entrepreneurial journey and you can outgrow friendships of people that aren't— they don't understand the things that you're doing. So what's one thing somebody can do today?

Yeah, I tell people the answer is always the same. Go to your network and find someone or 2 or 3 people you haven't talked to recently. Recently is open, but maybe 6 months or older, and just send them a message that says, hey, it's been a while, let's catch up. Get them into a meeting and be curious and ask a bunch of questions. Because without re-engaging your network and having curious conversations and getting to know them, and then again changing your ask so they can refer and connect people to you, why are they in your network, right? You actually have a dead database that is doing nothing. It's a vanity metric, right? Oh, I have 10,000 emails. Fantastic. How many referrals are you getting? None. Well, then who cares about your 10,000, right? Why don't you just go get 3, 4, or 5 and have meaningful relationships? So just go catch up with someone and be open to the possibilities in the conversation. You don't need to go sell them. So stop, stop trying to sell and close a deal with that person and just be open to the conversation.

Oh, that's amazing. And can you tell us one more time? And I'll make sure you guys, if you're driving or you're jogging or whatever you're doing and You can't look at this right now. It's going to be in the show notes. Can you give us where people can find you? Tell us the most important links for people to get your, your book, but really the best place for people to find you and so they can join your community.

Yeah. So connectionexpansion.com will take you to the community page on the website. Then you can join or devinsizemore.com, D-E-V-I-N, size, then more dot com. Everything's linked on there. So the school community, my book's linked on there, info on me as a speaker, testimonials, whatever you could want. It's all on the website. All my social links are there as well. On every social platform, my handle is DP Sizemore. Connect with me, send me a message, say you heard me on the show. I'd love to connect with you and invite you to a connection blitz so we can build connections together.

Oh, thank you so much for being on the show. Wow. I mean, I just love how you remind us That one authentic connection can shift everything, not just in business, but in life. You have just given us so much gold and a new way of thinking about networking and building relationships and building your business. So thank you. I'll make sure to drop all these links in the show notes for you. And Devin, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for all that you give to my community and all that you do for everybody else and all these amazing connections that you have made for me throughout the time that I've known— gosh, how long have we known each other now? Maybe a couple of years?

I would say, yeah, it might be a couple of years now.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you're amazing. Thank you for being here. And you guys, please, you know, if you, if you really got some, you know, good wisdom out of this, share it with somebody that you know who needs to make more connection, who needs to have a bit of Devin in their life so they can join his community and make sure to subscribe to the show. And thank you for being here, and we'll see you next week.