In this episode of the Business Blast Podcast, host Tyler Wagner interviews Andrew Bridges, an international business and supply chain student at the University of South Carolina. Andrew shares a recent personal story where a last‑minute visa denial for a study program in China forced him to seek alternatives; through relationships cultivated by professors and family contacts, he secured internships at Integration Point and Intel within days, illustrating the power of investing time in people. He then explains the Chinese concept of guanxi, contrasting it with Western networking and emphasizing deep, culturally aware relationship building for US‑China business. Andrew offers broader business advice: be human, trust your judgment, and leverage the uniquely human comparative advantage in an increasingly automated world. He advises his younger self to embrace unreasonable creativity when pioneering new ideas. On happiness, he highlights setting purposeful goals and the personal joy of owning a dog for work‑life balance. The book that impacted him most is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, from which he learned that genuine interest in others builds faster connections. He outlines practical steps for listeners, recommending informational interviews as a gateway to relationships. Andrew’s favorite quote, “Your network is your net worth,” encapsulates his philosophy. He concludes by directing listeners to connect with him via his LinkedIn profile.
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All right everyone, welcome back to the Business Blast podcast. Today I have Andrew Bridges with us. He majors in international business and supply chain at the University of South Carolina at the Moore School of Business. So welcome Andrew, and we'll dive right into the first question. The first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, Tyler, I just want to say thanks again for having me on today. I really appreciate it. And to answer your question, actually, I think, I think the answer to this is really what's happened to me these last 2 weeks. It's been kind of a roller coaster, actually. So this semester, I was expected to go and study at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. And at the last minute, my student visa application to China was rejected on sort of like a really minor and kind of unforeseeable bureaucratic formality. And it was also too late to enroll back at the University of South Carolina. So as a result, I was looking at potentially, you know, 6 months of no study, no work, and a bit of a financial hole from trying to deal with the visa issues. So actually within 2 days, I was in front of the CEO of Integration Point because of professors Mark Van Essen and Al Langtot in the Darla Moore School of Business. These guys used their personal relationships to get me in the door. I mean, within a week I was extended an internship offer. That same week I also received an internship offer from Intel, and that's due to a family connection by the name of Larry Landis and also Mark Nelson, who really put their neck out for me to help get me in. And so as a result, my next 6 months have been filled up with these 2 incredible opportunities. And I think that really the underlying valuable message behind that is just that, like, your investment of time in people will really pay huge dividends. And I think that that's kind of like a running theme throughout my life. Is, you know, really investing in that network and spending the time to develop those relationships is what, you know, will really help you in the long run.
I agree, man. I'm glad that all worked out for you. I actually studied abroad as well from USC, and I went to Darla Moore too. And yeah, I mean, I just— I know that could be tough in this situation, so I'm glad that worked out.
Thank you.
The next question I have for you is, what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Yeah, so for this one, I'm going to take it sort of with the international business route. I'm a huge advocate for understanding sort of the culture and how that plays into business. And so I sort of specialize in business between like China and the US. And with China, sort of the best example of that is this idea of guanxi, which is, I guess directly translated, it's like relationship. But it's really, it's sort of like a deeper version of like the US's idea of like networking, right? Like, so with networking, you can, you know, maybe meet up with somebody in an office and get to know them a little bit. And then, you know, reach back out to them on LinkedIn and be like, hey, would you mind putting me in touch with somebody else? Blah, blah, blah. With Glancé, it's really, it goes really deep. Like, you know, it's sort of this idea of, going to tea houses and spending time with them and getting to know really like their family and getting to know their values and showing them that you are really a genuine person and stuff like that. And so I just think with international business in general, whether it's with China or, you know, with countries in Europe or South America, really wherever you're going, taking the time to understand the culture is, you know, the biggest component.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice?
Yeah, I would say just be human and trust yourself. Pretty much nothing is ever just like a transaction, and there's always somebody on the other side, right? So if you have invested the time researching and you surrounded yourself with the right people and you've done your due diligence, just trust yourself, right? Be human and leave the emotional parts of the process to the machines. You know, in business school, for example, we always hear this concept of comparative advantage. And in the age of technology that we're in right now, our comparative advantage as humans is that we have the ability to relate to one another and that human experience. So I would just say to leverage that.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
I would say it's okay to be unreasonable when you're being creative. So if you want to shape the world with like an entirely new idea, you have to do something that hasn't been done before. So there's not always going to be supporting evidence that it will work, but making that jump and being a little bit unreasonable is absolutely acceptable.
Next question is, in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
I actually have two for this one. First, you need to set goals. The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose. Second, and this is one specific to me perhaps, but you got to get a dog to come home to. I'm in love with my dog. He's the guy that just really relieves the stress at the end of the day. I can come home and just relax. And I think that that's really a vital component of being happy is, you put in work during the day, but you also need to have that work-life balance. And I think, just dogs in general for me, they just do it. They're amazing creatures. They're so empathetic. So yeah.
I agree, man. I love that answer. Get a dog. The next question I have for you is, what's the best book you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from it?
Yeah, so the best book that I've read is How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I know it's kind of a goofy title, but It is honestly like an incredible book, and the way that it's structured is just such a fun way to read. And I think that the thing that I learned from it— there's a quote that I pulled, but it basically says you can make more friends in 2 months by becoming interested in other people than you can in 2 years by trying to get other people interested in you. So basically the idea behind that is just, again, kind of to go back to my first answer, actually, is just invest in the people around you, right? Show them that you're interested and they're going to be quicker to be interested in you.
I love when people say that's definitely one of the top books. Just a quick question that it's off course a little bit, but how do you recommend we do that? What are some steps that the people listening to this could take to do the recommendation that you said to become interested in people? Is it just like, reaching out on social or like what steps do you take to create those relationships?
Yeah, definitely. Actually, one of my favorite things to do and something that's been a great way for me to get a foot in the door or just develop a relationship with somebody in maybe a company I'm interested in or, you know, just whatever it might be, is reaching out and asking to do an informational interview. I think a lot of people have an idea maybe of what an informational interview is, but it's really loosely structured. It's whatever you make of it, right? So you reach out to somebody and you just say, hey, you know, I absolutely love what you're doing. Hey, I followed you a bit on social media. I love the company that you're a part of, the program that you're a part of, and I really wanna learn more about it. This is what I already know. These are some of the questions that I have that I think would be specifically tailored for you to answer. Would you mind either hopping on a call, whether it's through the phone, through Skype, or meeting in person if you're geographically in the same area? But I think that that's a really great step to do that.
And thanks for answering that as well. And the next question I have for you is, what's your favorite quote and why?
Yeah, so to keep with the theme of the network, it's really short, really concise, and I like it. It's just, your network is your net worth. So your net worth is really dependent on the people around you and who you surround yourself with. I know that a lot of times people say that like you're the sum of the 5 people closest to you, right? So yeah, I would say your network is your net worth. Awesome.
And I 100% agree with that as well. I live by that. So thank you for coming on, Andrea. And the last question I have is what's the best way for people to find you online or connect with you?
Yeah, I think the best way for people to find me right now, I'm definitely trying to be a little bit more active on my LinkedIn, so I would just say through LinkedIn. I'm, you know, just linkedin.com/en/andrewebridges would probably be the best way for people to connect with me.
Perfect, man. Thanks again for coming on. We appreciate it.
Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me.
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