It’s Never to Early to Start Networking

Networking, as you have heard this season is so important and this is another fantastic conversation about the importance of networking. Tom Graybill the VP of Sales for Tri-Marq donates his time to help college-age and high school-age students learn the art of networking, a skill that we use from time to time and some of us more than others. Tom has a wealth of knowledge, with years in sales and a crazy cool background in news offering up great wisdom on the subject.   

 

Leighann Lovely  00:20

HR professionals, business owners and operations at all levels are struggling to figure out what needs to change. Our system has been shocked practices have been questioned, and conversations are finally happening. We all know there has been a huge shift in what people want. inclusion and diversity are common phrases. But often misunderstood generations are coming together more than ever on what's important. Mental health has been brought to the forefront of everyone's mind. Let's humanize these conversations. Let's talk about what's important for employees to be successful in life and at their job and how companies can create an environment to allow them to do both because successful people will make up a successful workforce. I'm Leighann Lovely. Let's get this conversation started.

 

Leighann Lovely  01:10

Well, you're in for a treat. Today I am speaking with Tom Graybill. He is the Vice President of Sales for Tri-Marq Communications, a video and event production company working globally to assist clients from entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 companies. Tom has worked at Tri-Marq for 27 years, and previously was in television news. As a producer for stations in Miami and Milwaukee. Tom is involved in many professional and nonprofit organizations, including serving as president of the Wisconsin chapter of meeting professionals International. Tom graduated from the University of Miami. He has been married for 31 years and has two adult daughters. And a fun fact he was on a game show. Tom, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm really excited to have this conversation.

 

Tom Graybill  02:07

Thank you, Leighann. It's, my pleasure, and I appreciate the opportunity to share.

 

Leighann Lovely  02:11

So why don't you start out by telling me a little bit about yourself?

 

Tom Graybill  02:17

Sure. So I'm Tom Graybill. I work for a company called Tri-Marq communications. We're a video and event production company. I worked there for a very long time. In fact, in March, it'll be 28 years working for the same company, which is which is pretty crazy to think about these days. Before I worked at Tri-Mark, I was in television news. I worked at television stations in Milwaukee and also one in Miami. My tenure in Milwaukee was marked by being there. During the whole Dahmer case, that's probably the biggest case that I had to deal with, which was interesting. I did a lot of work. During that time, I actually produced some news specials every night with updates on the just specifically on the dollar case itself. So that was a it was an interesting, interesting time. You know, going back I'm originally from Ohio, I but I went to school in South Florida. And at a certain point, I got that job in Miami. And then I got the job in Wisconsin, which was very jarring to my then fiance who had never lived anywhere else but South Florida. And so moving to Wisconsin was a bit of a trauma. And every winter, if there's a lot of snow, my marriage teeters on the brink. But so far, we've been married for 31 years going on 32 So somehow I've convinced her to stay all these years.

 

Leighann Lovely  03:49

Wow, yeah, it would be kind of a trauma going from Miami weather to Wisconsin, which you know, right now as we record this, it's, you know, the snow it's it's not bad snow, but it's you know, you go outside and the wind hits you in the face and wow. And the Dahmer case Wow. Which right now everybody knows, you know, people who didn't know who Dahmer was the younger generation. Everybody's becoming aware of who he was because of this Netflix special that just recently came out. So you were actually like in that reporting on that as it was happening?

 

Tom Graybill  04:32

Yeah, it actually was I was I was a news producer. So I was I was producing newscasts about, you know, about everything but then the Dahmer thing happened while I was producing the five o'clock news, and I it's actually a little a little jarring for me because, you know, kind of following along. I a lot of things. I remembered Exactly. And they did a very good job in the Netflix special or the series on how they did picked up certain things. I actually got referenced in in the newspaper about the dumber case, because I made a phone call to Dominus grandmother asking her for an interview. And she kept pressing me for why why why do you want to talk to me? What do you know about your grandson? And? And finally I, I mentioned that you know that he was under arrest and there was some considerations going on. And apparently there were two newspaper reporters in the room at the time when she was on the phone with me. And they commented how another media person had so callously mentioned something despite the woman's age. So I'm that terrible person who didn't say my name, which I'm awesome about. But But yeah, so I also that, I also was mentioned another time, because I have produced I believe, I still hold the record for having produced the worst newscast in the history of wt, MJ television. News history. So why now? So I have you know, and they reported that in the newspaper as well on on a newscast that just went sideways, and etc. So are you for me,

 

Leighann Lovely  06:07

Oh, geez. Oh, my gosh. So let's switch gears here a little bit on top of your day job, which is really what I wanted to talk to you about, you know, you're you, you work a great deal with youth and helping them learn how to network. This is where it I really want to talk to you about because it's, it's ever more important these days. And, yeah, let's let's jump into that.

 

Tom Graybill  06:35

Sure that doing that is one of the one of the great pleasures I have in my life. And what it is, is I will go and speak to college classes. And now I've started to branch out into high school classes as well. And teach them the value of networking, I teach them, why you want to learn how to network, where you network, who you network with, and then give them some tips on how to engage in a conversation with somebody who you don't know. And, you know, these are, in many cases, skills that are never taught, you know, I can't say that I've run into anybody who's ever been taught networking. So, you know, so it's invaluable for them to learn this skill and to learn it early on. Because most of us as adults, we learn network by being forced to do it, and just doing it and just eventually finding our you know, finding our voice and finding our ability to go and interact with other people. And it's very fulfilling, especially when I see students who at the beginning of my talk, are kind of like, oh, I don't know, what's going on. Why, why is this important. And then by the end, you can see the light bulb going on. And you know, that you've given them, you know, a hand up on their future career and their future success.

 

Leighann Lovely  07:57

And that's something that you said is really, is really important. A lot of us just learned by saying, but or by being told, like you need to go and do this, right. And with no direction, no understanding, and you and I talked about this in, you know, pre prior to, you know, to recording today about how we were taught, right, or we were what we were told the goal was go to this event, and come out with to sales or come out with a sale or, and that was the only direction that we were given.

 

Tom Graybill  08:35

Exactly, and that's a terrible way to network. That is that, that's a way that becomes it becomes very frustrating, because, you know, people who are at networking events, no matter where they are on the spectrum, and in terms of their networking life, they're not there to do business, you know, unless you literally can, you know, hold your jacket open and and go like, Hey, you want to buy this watch, you pretty much can't do business at a networking event anyway. So it really is about making connections. And what I try to do is kind of pull some of that mystery away. And some of that uncomfortability away from students. Because, you know, they're like, oh, you know, it's so mysterious, and I don't want to do it poorly, etc, etc, etc. So, you know, having them be able to go and have some ammunition, know a little bit about what they're doing. Be able to be confident in terms of how do I how do I talk to a stranger? How can I interact with somebody who I don't know, and where do you one of the things I was gonna say one of the things I tell them to do is the next time you're in an elevator, talk to another person in an elevator, because all of us generally ignore the fact that there's other people in the elevator and we look at our shoes or our water our phone or the you know the flashing lights above the door.

 

Leighann Lovely  09:59

All right, talk to other people. And that's what I was gonna ask where do you start? Where, where? How do you because it's hard to I guess, if you have an introvert versus an extrovert, you know, I'm, I'm a born extrovert, I will walk up to anybody and it drives my husband crazy. By the way, I'll walk up to anybody and start a conversation. And I have learned, because this was not something that I, I knew how to do, I have learned to find a quick commonality. And that is something I had to learn to do. Because I thought that if I just started a conversation, they'll be interested in what I'm talking about, which is completely wrong. But so I've learned to pick up on the cues of oh, they just picked, I just pique their interest with this or asking them, so how do you start educating them? on where to begin?

 

Tom Graybill  10:58

You know, a big thing really is, what do you talk to people about? And I actually have a really nice diagram that I put onto a whiteboard or a Blackboard, and I talk about different things that you can have a conversation about. And they're, they're real basic stuff, you know, you know, the first thing I always draw as a house. And I asked the ask the kids, what does that represent? And they say, Well, it's a house, I said, well, it represents where you live. We all live somewhere. And in some cases, you know, we've lived in interesting areas, in some cases, we haven't. But you know, that that's a it's an easy conversation starter for somebody, you know, an easy conversation first, you know, you sit next to somebody, and then I just had this happened last night, where I was sitting next to someone who I knew, but I didn't know everything about her. And I asked her, have you always lived in Wisconsin, and then conversation starts from there. So a very easy way to engage in a conversation is to ask somebody where they live. But there's a number of different topics that you easily, you know, and I, I love ones that are very unusual, I will go in. And a lot of times, my first question to somebody who I don't know, who I'm trying to engage with is what do you do for fun? Because it's a very non traditional type of question. And everybody does something for fun. And the thing that's awesome about that, is that almost immediately, that person, if they're, you know, they're in the moment, they'll get a smile on their face, they'll feel good about themselves, because then they'll tell me that they like to knit or they like to sing, or they like to, you know, drive fast or whatever, whatever it is that they do for fun. Now, I've made them feel good. And to be frank, that really is the basis of networking, the very first rule of networking is all about giving. And you can give in many different ways, but an easy way to give is just make somebody feel good.

 

Leighann Lovely  13:00

Right. And to that point is when people feel like you're genuinely interested in them. That releases that good, that feel good feeling right? You take an interest in them. And it's kind of human nature, for them do genuinely, especially if they are a networker to in turn take interest in you. And that definitely, and that's where the natural flow comes from. So what is the typical age of these individuals?

 

Tom Graybill  13:37

So I, when I when I first started doing this, I this actually was an outgrowth of something that I was doing when I was a member of a professional group in Milwaukee with the Business Marketing Association, which is, unfortunately no more. But at the time, we started a subcommittee called the university outreach committee. And what we did was we went out to campuses. So we went to Marquette and whitewater and Ws CTC and other campuses around and we brought information to the students. Certainly, you know, both in an altruistic hey, here's some information that will help you in your career, but also in a sense of, hey, we're the BMA and, you know, we'd love to have you join our organization, if it's if it's right for you, it was you know, a matter of, you know, kind of a recruitment aspect, but giving them some value to show them that, hey, this is a good organization to be part of. After I stepped away from that organization, I was asked by some of the same groups who I had, you know, had appeared, you know, at their campuses before, to say, Hey, can you come back? And can you bring this this conversation to this new class and so that's really where that that grew out of. So, I talked to I have kind of a standing invitation at WC TC and etc, which again, you're you're talking about, it's not necessarily the traditional students who's, you know, in their, you know, late teens, early 20s. You know, they have certainly plenty of adult students who go to technical schools. But then recently, I've got a gig at Concordia University. And they, they're asking me back now to speak to four different classes. And then recently, I started speaking at high schools, mainly Milwaukee Lutheran High School. And that has been very interesting to bring the concept of networking to students who are these are their seniors for the most part in high school, so they're getting ready to begin their college career or their regular careers. But it's something that no one's ever spoken to these students before about why you would network? For many of them, it's a foreign concept, what what is this? You know, this, that's, it's an adult thing. And it's amazing, the kids who get it, I'm just like, oh, my gosh, you are so far ahead now, right? In terms of what you know, how you're going to be able to interact with other people, you know, not just even necessarily Oh, how are you going to benefit my career, but just to make relationships? You know, to be able to, you know, just represent yourself well, and become known, I always tell the kids, you know, it's the old adage, is, it's not what, you know, it's who you know, right? But the reality is, is that it's not what you know, it's who knows you, right? And networking is how you get known well.

 

Leighann Lovely  16:33

And it's, I mean, it's no different than, I guess, going to a party, but staying professional and sober. While you would hope that that's you know, and having conversations that are just a little bit higher level versus, Hey, man, you you want to go play basketball, or it's, you know, a little bit a little bit, you know, high or low. And sometimes this sometimes, you know, it digresses into, you know, although I guess, but for the most part, when you go to these, you know, these events, everybody there is, for the most part, everybody there is with the same goal in mind, let me meet somebody, find some commonalities, and see if it makes sense for us to pass business, or connect each other with other people who they could do business with. And as long as you go in with the, the idea that I'm going to help somebody today, and not the idea of who can help me, you're going to be successful, because it's always a good first get later mentality, which is the hard, you know, the hard lesson I learned, because I was taught incorrectly. And I think that many people who, you know, coming up in business, originally, not I shouldn't say many, but there were a lot of us that were taught incorrectly. Go in there, get as many business cards as you can, and you know, get a sale. And it was like, my first networking, you know, a couple of networking meetings were horrific. I hated it. I'm like, this is horrible. It was absolutely gut wrenching, horrible, you know, and it didn't dawn on me until I just gave up one day, and I just stood there, and I'm like, I'm just gonna have a drink. And I'm gonna stand by the bar. And then people started to approach me and they were asking me questions, and they were teaching me without me even knowing it. The right way to do it. And then I started to figure it out.

 

Tom Graybill  18:52

Yeah, I think I think that that's a very common story. I think that that is the story for most people. And it's a question of, you know, figuring it out at some point, understanding that, you know, it isn't about how many business cards you can get, and even who you speak with. Now, certainly, there's times that I go to events, and I'm targeted, I there's people who I know I want to speak with and I want to make sure that I try to speak with them and introduce myself to them. But there's so many great rewarding relationships that I've had with with people who I know will likely never give me business. They may not even ever refer me. But they're fantastic people to know. And until you take that step out, and and, you know, interact with other people you just don't know, I think the other the other big problem is that a lot of people who are going to networking events specifically, are people who are in sales, you know, in some in some capacity, and in many cases, they have a sales manager or someone else you know, or the owner of the company or whoever, who has has expectations for what they're going to get out of that networking experience. Because in many cases, there's, there's, you know, there's an expenditure, you know, to attend the networking event, right. And that's such a, it's such a short sighted type of approach to networking, it's, well, oh, if you didn't meet the right people, and come back with business cards, and, and, you know, appointments, and whatever, that that was, that was failed. And so networking doesn't work. That is a very inappropriate type of approach to networking, networking, networking should never be quick. Networking takes time. But the relationships that you build are deep. And, again, it's all that's really what's important.

 

Leighann Lovely  20:51

And I completely agree with that, if they're the lasting relationships will follow you your career, if you do it, right. And getting back to the young individuals, I had a conversation, just actually yesterday with somebody that we were talking about, you know, the hiring cycle and the way that people now are getting jobs. And she made a very bold statement, and she goes, it's no longer about applying to jobs, it's no longer it is become who you know, it is not, it's not what you know, anymore. It's become who you know, in order to get your next job. So in that conversation that, you know, we had, it was, you know, networking is that much more important to the hiring process to finding the next opportunity and to have somebody like you approach our high school students approach our college students and get them involved, even for your next internship. You know, if you're looking for that in college, it's, it becomes that much more of an important aspect to even landing that possible first job, you may be able to, you know, landed sooner, or even level up because of who you know. Now, Oh,

 

Tom Graybill  22:16

Absolutely. Every job I've had, I got, basically through networking. And it's invaluable, because hunting for a job can be extremely frustrating. I've never had to hunt for a job. It's been a wonderful experience, because I've had people who will vouch for me, that's the other aspect too. When you go in and you've networked, when you go in for that interview, you're already a step or two ahead of that other person who just simply called in answer to, you know, a LinkedIn job description or anything else like that. You go in with the reputation of the person who referred you going into that. And that's, that's invaluable. I mean, I, you know, my first job in news, I basically lied throughout my throughout my interview, but because I was recommended by my professor at college, who knew that the assistant news director and vouched for me and I, you know, I did a good enough job of, hey, look, I can do the job that he hired me. Now, admittedly, I think they were also hired anybody with a heartbeat. But nonetheless, it still was, it still was an important thing. My job that I got in Milwaukee, was literally because I had a friend of mine who had worked at a TV station in Milwaukee, WT and J. His news director, had called down to the station in Miami, where he was working, I asked him if he wanted to come back and be a weekend news producer. And he was like, wow, it wasn't really in his plans. He wanted to go to a bigger market, then back to Milwaukee. And the new structure. So was there anybody else who might be a good candidate? I happen to be standing next to me, he hands me the phone. He says here talk to this guy. That it didn't he told me it was a job opportunity or anything else, just decent. Just talk to him. And that's how I got my interview in Milwaukee. And that's I mean, every job I've had has always been networking. My first internship I got was because my mother was a great networker. And she, you know, talk to a GM at a TV station in Canton, Ohio and said, My son needs an internship. You know, when when will you have him in for an interview? There was no like, could you do this? It was more like you're going to do this. But right. Networking is just so important.

 

Leighann Lovely  24:36

And that's another thing is that when you meet these people in person, you then connect with them on LinkedIn. And I'm not saying that you have to meet everybody in person before you connect on LinkedIn. I mean, that was originally one of the ways that it started. I'm not going to date myself. But I will originally when LinkedIn started, that is we used to have what we call it LinkedIn parties, we'd all get together, we'd meet in person, and then we connect on LinkedIn. And that's how you like connected with people. It wasn't like, connecting, and then saying, Hey, should we meet up and talk? You know, it was you met them, and then you connect it. But that's the other thing with with LinkedIn, I'm pretty, I'm almost no, I'm positive that every job that I have ever gotten, I have either been reached out to on LinkedIn. And they have either come to me and said, Hey, we want to interview you and sourced me away from where I was at. Or I've gone after a specific position and reached out directly to the hiring manager and said, Hey, I applied to this job. And then they've just circumvented the entire application process, and come directly to me and said, Yep, we're interested. Or you're right, I knew them in person, and they just didn't even have me fill out an application of or even look at my resume. And then just offered me the job on the, you know, on the spot, we'd like to hire you. Like, do you need me to send you anything? Nope, no. Okay, great. I mean, because again, you're it all becomes who, you know, it becomes reputation, it becomes, Yep, I've already you know, you've got like five people vouching for you, we know each other in this in this community. And I am already ready to pull the trigger. And it's like, okay. And when you build, basically a bunch of individuals around you that all understand and know you like minded individuals, even not like minded engine, individuals, people who are, but they also respect you enough to be like, yep, we may not think the same. But I'll still vouch for this person, because I've seen her body of work or his body of work. And, and it's, I have to respect it. And that's what the core of networking, either in person or virtually comes down to, in my opinion, now, you're the expert. Well, I don't know, if everybody just just for my audience here, Tom is making a face.

 

Tom Graybill  27:23

So that's the other great thing about networking is that it's I, I'm still growing, I'm still learning, I'm still, you know, you know, perfecting my craft, if you will, in the networking world. And one of the things that you learn, too, as you go through networking is sometimes, you know, what you think the way you're, you know, your particular approach may not work, depending upon the group that you're in, you know, there's certain groups that are very open to networking, it's very easy, and that's the DNA and the blood of that group. And then there's other groups where it's like, okay, this is going to be a longer process, this is not going to be how many business cards can I hand out? It's going to be, okay, how can I cement a deeper relationship, you know, within that, but, but to me, networking is so beneficial in in just so many different ways, even just, you know, communicating with anybody. You know, one of the things that I strive for, is just to make one person smile. And, and again, it's, it's, it's not necessarily networking in a, you know, in a big, giant word, oh, you're networking with somebody, you know, to make them smile, but, but doing that is how you become a good networker. Because people then feel good about, oh, hey, there's Tom, whatever, you know, and you know, and you get known. And that's fantastic. It's a great feeling to be known.

 

Leighann Lovely  28:56

Yes. And here's, here's another thing is that when the first time that I met, you saw you in a room, you're not an easy person to Miss, how tall are you? Six, five, okay, you're not an easy person to miss and you have a presence about yourself. You're confident you're in. And again, I've I've seen a mix of introverts and extroverts all networking. You don't. And I want to put that out there. You don't have to be an extrovert to network. But there is definitely something to be sad about the extroverts in the room, a confidence in which they carry and often those people are the ones who are sought out. The ones who I really like to meet this individual, they seem like they know what they're doing, regardless of whether or not we actually do it.

 

Tom Graybill  29:49

Well you you've already heard that I just you know, I just lie to get jobs. So there you go. You know, but it is and the thing is, is that none of us are are always extroverts, none of us, you know, can depending upon, you know, the the atmosphere who you're with, I mean, just think of being a date to a wedding for someone you know, you know, so your, your loved one that you're going with, it's it's their family or their friends or whatever else, and you know, no one there, you are an introvert, and you need to be an introvert at the start of that type of thing out of respect, because people don't know who you are, you can't just barrel in and go, Oh, hey, look at me, etcetera, etcetera. It doesn't work that way. And so I think, you know, no one, I think, again, is born as an extrovert, we grow into it, because we have confidence, we know that we can have a conversation. And I do think that there's a responsibility that extroverts have at networking events, is to seek out those who might have more of a challenge, you see that person who's there by themselves, and I'm in I'm in a number of different professional groups, and I was actually president of, of one statewide organization at a time. And I would tell my board after we always had a board meeting, before we had our regular meeting with the with the rest of the members, and I would tell my board before they left, you are all in membership now. Because you are representing the chapter. And so you need to make sure that you are interacting with people because you are in membership now.

 

Leighann Lovely  31:29

Right, and you you hold that responsibility of when you see somebody standing there by themselves quiet, not understanding or not even not understanding, but but having that fear of how do I approach or, and there's still some times where I'll walk up to a group of people who are engrossed in a conversation, and I'm like, do I break in and introduce myself? Or do I let them finish their conversation, where's the line of, like, Hey, I'm here, or I'll just quietly go on. And then being the person who is engrossed in a conversation, you know, I always try to remember if somebody new walks up, that I'll pause, introduce myself, introduce the person I'm talking with. And then, you know, kind of finish our finish up our conversation really quick, and then bring in the new person because I hate being that person on the outside. And those are just things that as now a seasoned networker, I notice. Whereas somebody who's new, they don't.

 

Tom Graybill  32:40

And that's an that can be a an easy source of frustration. Because, you know, I don't know how to do this, I don't want to embarrass, embarrass myself, I don't want the other people to appear awkward. One of the things that I that I do in when I go and teach is that I show body language of how to be welcoming, if you're having a conversation to welcome other people into your circle, if you will, and, and at times how to see, well, these are people who are embroiled in a, you know, a personal conversation that they're not open to, and so maybe it's time to look for somebody else. And it's not just a matter of engaging, but I also teach how to disengage, which is a very important skill to have. And, you know, it's one of those things where you can have it make a great impression on the person you've spoken with, and they can be feeling really good about you. But then if you disengage poorly, now, now they have a different, you know, their last image or their last memory of you is not a good one. And it can really cost you, you know, status in their eyes. And it's, again, these these techniques, none of it's rocket science, it's, it's more of just understanding how you know, the psychology of people, right? And how you need to make an impression and how you can make one quickly. And certainly how you avoid making a negative impression.

 

Leighann Lovely  34:13

And that's it's while disengaged, that's wildly important, because at a networking event, you never want to get stuck talking to the same person all night long. Or you've defeated, you know, the, and a lot some people will they'll, they'll bring, trust me in the early days, I'd be like, Okay, I'm not gonna go to this one alone. I'm gonna bring a wing man. And then what you find yourself doing is standing and talking to that person all night long, and you're like, wait a second, it just completely defeated the purpose. So I'd go with that person. Then we would split up and we would walk around the room and then we come back together and be like, Okay, how are you feeling? Are you comfortable? Are you talking to people? And then it was like, Okay, now I'm getting into my groove where I have absolutely no problem going to a networking meeting completely by myself. Often walking in and being totally fine. Even a brand new, you know, group that I've never been to, typically I run into somebody I know anyways, but again, that's, you know that this is what happens when you've been doing this for too long. Like, oh, I know everybody here I need to find a new group. But, you know, it's when you disengage where you're talking, and all of a sudden that conversation gets to the point where it's like, okay, we've exchanged information, we've, you know, we've, now it's time for me to move on, it's time for you to move on. You never want to be like, Okay, peace out. Gotta go. You know, so, I struggled with that one in the beginning of okay, now I've spent, you know, 20 minutes. And I've only got, you know, half an hour left before this is over. What do you say to that person? Or what body language? Or how do you walk away from that person without them feeling like, you're not interested? Or you're being rude? Right?

 

Tom Graybill  36:08

Yeah, yeah, it's wildly important. Yep. And it doesn't have to be awkward. It really is more putting yourself to a certain sense in their shoes, on how am I going to make this person feel good, as I'm leaving them, right. And, and I, in my, in my classes, I give techniques, you know, and some key phrases and some other words that you can use. And, again, the great thing about is that I give enough variety that the person can kind of pick and choose what they're most comfortable with what fits their personality, how are they, you know, and even even with that, too, it just gives them options. I mean, you know, you're not always going to start every conversation with what do you do for fun? You know, sometimes it's not going to be appropriate, sometimes we need to start in a different way, right? So you have to, you know, it's good to have a number of different options, in any situation that you can adapt to what is the most appropriate for that that particular moment. You know, and again, once you get experience in networking, it just, it just becomes so easy. It's just, it's just what you do. It's not any special sauce or, or secret method or anything else. It'd be, you know, good Networkers are very genuine, and how they relate to other people. It's not forced.

 

Leighann Lovely  37:27

No, and I absolutely agree. You know, and in my key because of my background, HR, staffing, I always start I almost always with somebody I've never met, what do you do for a living? It's ingrained in me my eye. When we walk up to somebody at a wedding or a party. It's, it's my husband is like, God, you never stop working. You always like it's, it's just, it's just the question I ask, what do you do for a living? Are you happy? Do you enjoy it? Like, oh, my God, I'm interviewing this person.

 

Tom Graybill  38:03

When you pull the format, can you fill this out? For me? That's maybe where you cross the line?

 

Leighann Lovely  38:09

How much do you make a year? Would you like to make more? Do you need benefits? You know, I'm a serial. I'm a serial worker, a serial networker. I can't, I cannot turn it off. It's just who I am. And it drives my husband crazy. But yeah, I mean, it's just, I've been like that my whole life. But you also have to understand, I grew up with parents who, you know, had, I guess, customer appreciation parties. And I was networking at a very young age. I just didn't know it. So then when I started my first job, and they're like, you're gonna go to this networking meeting, and you're gonna get three sales. And you're going to, I thought, oh, okay, so that's networking. I was just being the good daughter helping host this party. And then when I realized, no, I, I'm not doing it right now. I was networking. I was going and talking to people and getting to know them. That was real networking. So now, I I want to make a point here, right now. This is really a volunteer thing that you are doing. And that's amazing. I wanted to point that out. Because in reality you should be. You should be having classes that you're you're being paid for this because this is something that should be a regular scheduled class that students are able to sign up for and having a true instructor that because out of all of the things right now, in the world that people need. This is one of the classes that should be mandatory. going into a professional going into any type of of, you know, industry or whatever it might be. It's something that's this is part of the package of training on soft skills. And we aren't training our youth, we aren't training our college students on soft skills. And this is one of those things that I truly believe needs to be addressed and trained on. So I just want to commend you that you're one of those, you know, there's a handful of people out there who are continuing to do their part and, and helping and I want to commend you on that.

 

Tom Graybill  40:36

So well, it's, it's incredibly rewarding for me, I used to tell the instructor at WCC who would give me two hours to go in and talk to the students that that was the best two hours of my year was going in and talking to these these kids and, and in two hours I can I would cover, I'd go beyond networking, I would talk interviewing, and I would talk a little bit of resume stuff as well. But it is incredibly rewarding. And I've had so many great experiences doing it, that, you know, that that's again, how I get paid, is through those great experiences. And I've actually had students come back and say, Oh, hey, I remember you, you came and spoke to my class about networking. It was really kind of cool, where one of the members of the Brookfield chamber came up to me and said, Oh, hey, you know, you spoke I remember you spoke, spoke to us, you know, taught us about networking. And this is a guy who owns his own company right now, and is very successful. And, you know, I, I can't necessarily take all the credit for it. But I'm happy that that hopefully, I gave him some skills to be able to be useful.

 

Leighann Lovely  41:50

You should bill him now. No, just don't think that he's gonna pay that bill, but probably no, no. So I'm just, you know, we're coming to time. And before we get too far down the rabbit hole here, I wanted to talk to you just a little bit about because we talked a little bit about your background and where you've been, but you now are with trademark, you refer to in many circles as the video guy. And the question of the season, which I don't think that you got a huge preview of that. I want to ask you that. But tell us a little bit just a brief what is what is trademark?

 

Tom Graybill  42:41

Sure. So Tremec is a video and event production company. And we work you know, with all manner of different types of clients from from entrepreneurs up to the fortune 50. And we work throughout the entire world, especially on our event side, we just did an event A week and a half ago in Malta, which is a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Sicily. And so our teams right now are spread throughout the country, because it's meeting season, helping clients with conferences, sales meetings, user group meetings, annual meetings, whatever. So that's a that's a huge part of our business. And then, you know, on the on the video portion of our business, we do all manner of video from animation to live, you know, to interviews to going in and shooting in factories, we have a really awesome interactive display that just got put up into the war oil in Milwaukee to honor the 64 recipients of the Medal of Honor who who came from Wisconsin, so it's a giant video wall and a kiosk that you can, you know, see the stories of these, these gentlemen and what they did to earn this recognition. So it's, it's really a very awesome experience that I've been able to have. Every day is difference. We, you know, again, working with all manner of clients, large and small, and hopefully going to be helping a, a budding country music star with his first performance video to go and get him more gigs. That hopefully we'll be shooting in March and, and I get to do a lot of you know, it affords me the freedom to go and do the networking thing as well as do some other things to sponsor causes that are important to, to me. You know, I'm a member of the the USO Marketing Committee, and each year we get to produce some videos for their annual gala to honor the heroes of Wisconsin to the servicemen and women who serve in the different military branches and keep us safe. It's it's, it's a privilege to be able to help in that tiny little way to help these men and women.

 

Leighann Lovely  44:59

That's amazing. That's absolutely amazing. So the question of the season may not apply, but what would you change about your job or the practice that people have in your role?

 

Tom Graybill  45:13

What would I change about my job? You know, again, having having been here as long as I have, obviously, I'm, I'm very lucky and very blessed with who I who I work with both my clients and my colleagues. So I'm not sure that there's, there'd be much I changed about my job other than I changed the perception that's out there, that, you know, I can get it done cheaper, that that price is the only consideration that matters when it comes to, you know, doing events or video production, that there isn't a difference between working with a professional versus going and shooting it on my iPhone. And, you know, getting it out there. I mean, it's great to me, that there's so many options for people to get video content out there, because video is one of the most effective marketing tools that you have. But it is something it's important that things be done. Right. Right. And and I'd say even on the event side, it's even more important because you only have one chance to do a live event, right? And if it isn't done correctly, right, you know, I will, I will say there was an event that you and I attended. And one of the things that that did troubled me about that event is that you have a stage and you have no lighting on that stage. And so for me sitting in the back, it was dark. And it was hard to see the speakers who were there, and it wouldn't have taken much to get a couple of lights up there. But it's something that people don't think about if they're not working with a professional who's in the business,

 

Leighann Lovely  46:46

Right, that make them look good, of course. Yep. Yeah, that makes sense. Well, if somebody is interested in reaching out to you, how would they go about contacting you?

 

Tom Graybill  46:58

Well, probably the easiest way is is email. I'm still a little old school when it comes to making contact. But my email is a very easy email. Well, I think is an easy email to remember. But there is a little twist to it. So we are trademark with a Q. And the reason that we're trying to work with a Q is because originally we were going to be founded by three graduates of Marquette University. So try Mar Q makes sense. It was only two guys from our cat. But by Marq doesn't roll off the tongue like tri Marq does so. So we kept it with that. So yeah, anyone who would love to, you know, I'd love to interact with anyone who'd be interested in chatting about networking. Certainly, if I can help them on the video or event side, happy to do that. But my email address is Tom@trimarq, T R I M A R Q .com.

 

Leighann Lovely  47:46

Excellent. And I will put your contact information in the show notes. Tom, this has been an awesome conversation. I really appreciate you taking the time. And I think it's just absolutely amazing that you, you know, donate your time to you know, work with our youth on such an important thing that, you know, I wish that I would have had somebody who taught me so thank you again for taking the time to talk with me today.

 

48:11

Thank you so much, Leighann. It's been my great pleasure.

 

Leighann Lovely  48:16

Thank you again for listening to Let's Talk HR. I appreciate your time and support without you the audience this would not be possible. So don't forget that if you enjoyed this episode, to follow us, like us or share us. Have a wonderful day.

 

Contact – Information

 

E-mail - tom@trimarq.com

 

LinkedIN - linkedin.com/in/tomgraybill

 

Website – www.trimarq.com

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, networking, talk, conversation, person, milwaukee, job, important, extrovert, networker, students, wisconsin, tom, dahmer, interview, taught, event, speak, professional, trademark

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/cruen/family-time License code: 2330NZD3BLNDKPYI

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