In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews growth strategist and keynote speaker David Nour. Nour shares his immigrant story of arriving in the United States in 1981 with a suitcase and $100, emphasizing the power of education, hard work, and relationship building. He stresses that "your network is your net worth," explaining how cultivating connections before publishing a book or launching a product is essential for awareness and success. Nour advocates a relationship‑first approach to business, likening it to leading with the arrowhead rather than the feathers, especially when working with international clients. He offers advice to his younger self about perpetual learning, mentorship, and avoiding complacency. When asked about happiness, he credits a supportive spouse and family as the cornerstone of his fulfillment. Nour recommends several influential books—Lords of Strategy, One to One, and Friend of a Friend—highlighting lessons on strategy, one‑to‑one marketing, and hidden networks. His favorite quote, from Steve Jobs, underscores the importance of loving one's work. Finally, he directs listeners to find him online via a Google search of his name or the Nour Group website.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have David Knorr with us. He is a growth strategist, thought leader, and global keynote speaker whose 10th book is Co-CREATE: How Your Business Will Profit from Innovative and Strategic Collaboration. His book is an essential guide showing C-level leaders how to optimize relationships create market gravity, and greatly increase revenue. He delivers over 50 keynotes annually at leading Fortune 500 companies, industry associations, and universities. So welcome to the show, David.
Tyler, it's good to be with you.
Awesome, man. Great to have you on as well. And we'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
I came to the US in 1981 with a suitcase, $100, no fluency in English, didn't know anybody, and I'm living the American dream. So we can— and by the way, I'm a big fan of legal immigration, right? Let's just put that out there. But I'm a big believer that, you know, if you gain the education, you work your tail off, you be smart about the relationships you surround yourself with, this country is an amazing place to achieve unbelievable success, and I'm blessed on a daily basis. I'm living it.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Your network is your net worth. So you were kind enough to mention I just published my 10th book. The authors in your audience, the consultants, coaches, trainers, all understand writing A decent book is half the battle. You also gotta promote it. You gotta get it out. You gotta get that value, get that message out, and the network you build before you write that article, before you publish that book, before you try to create awareness for it will make or break your success because we all need awareness. We need more at-bats, and it's very difficult to try to get all of that by yourself.
I agree. And what's your best piece— it might tie in, but what's your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
Sure. So every time I try— you heard I was born abroad, so I'm originally from Iran. I travel extensively, I've lived abroad, I work abroad. Annually, 30 to 40% of my work comes from international clients. The rest of the world builds relationships first from which they do business. Unfortunately, as Americans, we're so focused on the business part that if and only if that part works, we'll think about building the relationship. Hence the disconnect when we go into places and they don't look like us, sound like us, or come from our backgrounds. So if you lead with the relationship like the arrowhead, not the feathers at the tail end of the arrow, it's amazing how much further you'll get dramatically faster.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Uh, it's amazing how stupid you are. No, I, you know, it's, it's, none of us have all the answers. None of us. And a mentor is driven into me. It's amazing how stupid I was 2 weeks ago. So the day you stop learning is the day you become complacent. And the day you become complacent, you're no longer of value to your biggest asset, which is your portfolio of relationships. So never ever stop learning. And by the way, I'm gonna tell my younger self something my dad drove into me. Life is just too short to make all the mistakes yourself. You've gotta find a way to learn from the mistakes of others and be determined not to repeat those.
Yes, I love that. And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Key to happiness? An incredibly supportive, understanding, respectful, loving significant other. I just celebrated 22 years of being married to my bride. And I would not be here if I didn't have Wendy's support. We've got two amazing kids. When we met, I told her, you know, I'm pretty confident in my skills and my abilities, and I've always been good at making money, but I can't do that and raise decent human beings. So let— and I'm not advocating that to you, but let's divide and conquer. And I think in any, any effort, you need a partner by your side. You need a significant other by your side to be that cheerleader, be that sounding board, be that Are you really going to wear that going outside the house today? That's, that's important for all of us.
Totally, I agree. Um, and what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Uh, best book I've read, that's a hard one, man. I read 4 or 5 books at a time. Uh, so if I could rattle off maybe 2, 3 of my favorites, one of them is Lords of Strategy. So it goes— I do a lot of management consulting and it goes back to the foundings of McKinsey and Bain and Boston Consulting Group and those guys. Number 2, probably One to One by, you know, good friends, and these folks wrote the foreword to my most recent book. Don Peppers and Martha Rogers are the parents of one-to-one marketing that says we all need to kind of think about individual relationships and individual customers, not one-size-fits-all. And then, you know, the one I'm currently reading, Friend of a Friend by a guy named David Burkus. It's actually about relationships, about understanding the hidden networks that transform your life. And that's— it's a fantastic— I've read over 100 books on business relationships, and this was a great one.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, You'll Know It When You Find It by Steve Jobs. And why? Because life is too short to wake up every day and hate what you're doing and have what you're doing suck the life out of you.
Yes. And I love that quote. And thank you so much for coming on, man. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
If you just Google my name, N-O-U-R, or just go to Nour Group, N-O-U-R-Group.com, you'll find videos, you'll find my social links, you'll find a few things that I do. Hopefully well. There's a lot that I don't do well, but one or two things, it might, it might work out.
Perfect, brother. Thank you again for joining us.
Tyler, thanks for having me.
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