Michael Morgan On Networking That Actually Changes Lives

Wendy & Rich 0:00
Hey, everyone is Rich Bennett. Can you believe it? The show is turning 10 this year. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who've tuned in, shared a episode, or even joined the conversation over the years. You're the reason that this podcast has grown into what it is today. Together, we've shared laughs, tears, and moments that truly matter. So I want to thank you for being part of this journey. Let's make the next 10 years even better. Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios Harford County Living Presence conversations with Rich Bennett. 

No no no no no, it's just like who is? 

Rich Bennett 1:00
In today's fast paced world, networking is often the key skill that makes the difference between a job that doesn't move forward and one that does. But it's not enough to just hand out business cards and collect contact. You need to make real connections that open doors and change jobs. On this episode, I have Michael V Morgan. He is the author of the Power of Networking, Strategies for Career Excellence, job development, and building greater triumphs in your work. Michael's path from Penn State to Executive Leadership in Cybersecurity is a great example of how to use relationships to get through tough spots in your career and take advantage of new chances. This episode is for you. If you want to get out of your comfort zone, build a network that really helps you grow and learn how to make connections that count. Michael is going to share his thoughts, personal stories, and youthful advice on how to improve your networking skills. So grab your coffee or whatever you're drinking because 

you are going to learn a lot and trust me. Even when you buy his book and read it, you're going to learn even more. As a matter of fact, I'm going to challenge you. First of all, I got to do this. Michael, I'm going to challenge everybody out there listening. If you're part of a networking group or plan to join one, purchase Michael's books for the group. To me, it makes sense and pass them out. It's a wonderful gift. How's it going, Michael? 

Michael Morgan 2:35
It's just going fantastic. How's your days going off, Rich? 

Rich Bennett 2:38
Doing good. Doing good. You had warm weather here. For those of you listening, we're recording on May 7th and it's almost like 70 some, so not bad. The bees, the birds are out. You can't ask for and no range. So you can't ask for a better day. 

I 

Michael Morgan 2:56
completely agree. I live in Texas. So this is the nice weather before 

Rich Bennett 3:00
-- 

Michael Morgan 3:01
I guess 

Rich Bennett 3:01
Before the 

Michael Morgan 3:01
hits. 

Rich Bennett 3:01
heat 

Michael Morgan 3:02
Are you hot? I'm enjoying it while 

Rich Bennett 3:05
I can. Exactly. Actually, I know it gets hot as hell down there, but do you get the humidity like we do here in Maryland? 

Michael Morgan 3:13
it's not too humid. I would say Houston is more humid. 

Rich Bennett 3:16
Okay. 

Michael Morgan 3:16
I live in Austin, so I would 

Rich Bennett 3:18
Oh, 

Michael Morgan 3:18
say the humidity is more in Houston than Austin. 

Rich Bennett 3:21
And you're like keep it Houston, right? 

Michael Morgan 3:24
Can you say that again? 

Rich Bennett 3:25
I said and you're like keep it Houston. 

Michael Morgan 3:27
-- 

Rich Bennett 3:27
We don't want 

Michael Morgan 3:29
You don't 

Rich Bennett 3:30
want it. All right. So I like always like to start from the beginning. So back in high school before you even went to college, what was it that you wanted to do? What was your career path? 

Michael Morgan 3:42
So, in high school, I knew I wanted to go into business. I didn't really know what aspect of business, but you know I looked up to my brother, my father, both of them were, had business careers and I kind of wanted to follow in their footsteps. But when I was able to go to Penn State, that's when I was able to figure out a little bit more specific where in business. And even today, my trajectory has changed multiple times because I've worked in different industries, different functions. But originally, I just knew I wanted to be in business when I was in high school. 

Rich Bennett 4:21
All right. So, and after high school, that's when you went to Penn State, right? 

Michael Morgan 4:25
Correct. 

Rich Bennett 4:26
All right. So, what was it that -- you know, we'll get in that a little bit. But you actually say you -- I'm going to get dive right into the book because I think it's important. You say you didn't always value networking. What flipped the switch for you and how did that change your career trajectory? 

Michael Morgan 4:48
I would say what flipped the switch for me was joining a fraternity at Penn State University. 

Rich Bennett 4:54
-- 

Michael Morgan 4:55
So 

Rich Bennett 4:55
--Faternity! 

Michael Morgan 4:56
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 4:57
Okay. 

Michael Morgan 4:58
a huge advocate for Greek life. I 

Rich Bennett 5:01
I'm 

Michael Morgan 5:01
think Greek life has a bad misconception where people just look at it as a group that just has fun and parties on campus. 

Rich Bennett 5:08
Right. 

Michael Morgan 5:09
You look at the value that it brings, it's a huge network that has been tremendous for my career in personal life. So while I was at Penn State, uh, I was a member of my fraternity, I was a treasurer. And then I was also a president of an organization called Black Male Leadership Symposium. 

Rich Bennett 5:29
Okay. 

Michael Morgan 5:30
And I put together an event for both organizations, where I was able to get representatives from JP Morgan to come and talk to the, and, and, and discuss, you know, what, what they were looking for in candidates and how you can be successful and have a good career Jacob Morgan, and a few of my fraternity members that already worked at JP Morgan heard about the event I put forward. So they reached out to me, and they asked about my interest to join JP Morgan. And at the time, you know, JP Morgan is a fantastic company. 

Rich Bennett 5:59
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 6:00
I, I, I did not picture myself working there. I was speaking, speaking with them to get them to come on campus and speak to my organizations. 

Rich Bennett 6:08
Right. 

Michael Morgan 6:08
But I had fraternity members who reached out. They thought I'd be a good fit. They asked for my resume. They tailored my resume for the role. When I applied for the role, they helped me with interview preparation. When I received the offer, they connected me with another fraternity member who was also moving to Delaware to start JP Morgan the same time. So now I have a roommate and a friend to, to embark this journey as I go into my first career role outside of Penn State. And then there was a network of members of my fraternity that worked for JP Morgan in New York in Delaware in Florida in Ohio. And we 

Rich Bennett 6:46
Wow. 

Michael Morgan 6:46
would have quarterly calls where we would support one another and make sure that everybody was successful in their roles. So they helped me get my foot in the door, prepare me for the interviews, help me accame to a brand new city, a new state that I've never lived before, ensure that I was successful in my role. And this is just based off the bond of being in the fraternity. 

Rich Bennett 7:09
Wow. 

Michael Morgan 7:09
And this is my first career role coming out of college. So, you know, at the time when I joined a fraternity, I didn't realize the value, the true value of being a member of the attorney and the value of networking. But once that experience happened in JP Morgan, it opened up my eyes. And then I knew I like not only cannot leverage the fraternity, but I had to expand my network and other areas as well. So, I'm constantly looking for organizations to join that are relevant, that make sense for me whether it's internally in my company. A lot of companies have employee resource groups that you can join externally outside the company, but I'm always trying to build my network because you just don't know what doors may open or what opportunities may arise based off connections that you have. And a lot of times within the company, having the right network is going to help you get your job done. It's going to help you move up and get promoted. So, the ability to build and maintain relationships is absolutely critical. 

Rich Bennett 8:12
So, all right, let me get this straight. So, your brothers from the fraternity were also working at JP Morgan and you guys were constantly staying in contact, the group that was working at JP Morgan. To find out how everything was going in, all right? 

Michael Morgan 8:28
Yes, 

Rich Bennett 8:29
So, 

Michael Morgan 8:29
absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 8:32
technically, you guys even created your own mastermind group there. 

Michael Morgan 8:36
Yeah, basically, we 

Rich Bennett 8:39
Wow. 

Michael Morgan 8:39
definitely... 

Rich Bennett 8:40
Okay. I bring that up because a lot of people think that mastermind groups are a form of networking, we're technically, they're not because you're not supposed to do your traditional network and it's basically brainstormed. Trying to figure out what your struggles are, what your wins are and helping each other out. And you guys started doing that, which is awesome. Do you still stay in contact with a lot of them, guys? 

Michael Morgan 9:04
Oh, yeah, absolutely. It's all... I've moved around a lot of different companies between JP Morgan, Chevron, Amazon, Walmart, 

Rich Bennett 9:12
right. 

Michael Morgan 9:12
But I make sure I keep in touch with a lot of different my colleagues, coworkers from those different companies. So just because I don't work at a company anymore doesn't 

Rich Bennett 9:20
Right. 

Michael Morgan 9:21
mean they're no longer a part of my network. So I make sure that I'm keeping in touch with everybody. 

Rich Bennett 9:26
Actually, you wrote that networking is not just about promotion, it can help you perform your job better. Can you unpack that for the listeners? 

Michael Morgan 9:35
Yes, absolutely. So one of the things I tell people all the time, I think I feel like a lot of people have this misconception or mindset where they have to compete against everybody. So they're not, they're not helping one another. I'm going to work in my silo. You're going to work in your silo and I'm competing against you to get better ratings at the end of the year to get promoted. I have a completely different perspective. So I'm all for collaboration. 

Rich Bennett 10:03
Hmm. 

Michael Morgan 10:04
So we can work together and we can both excel in our roles. So as an example when I, when I worked at Amazon, I, I could send myself a quantitative person. Amazon uses a tool called SQL and through this tool, you have to put together queries and you have to extract data, you have to be able to analyze it, interpret it and present it to leadership. Amazon is a very data-driven company. 

Rich Bennett 10:29
Yeah, 

Michael Morgan 10:30
if you can't pull data and have data to support your ideas, like nothing is going to move forward. So I didn't know how to use SQL and, you know, I could have tried to figure out of my own. Probably would have been a very extensive process. 

Rich Bennett 10:46
A little bit. 

Michael Morgan 10:47
Yeah, but one of my colleagues who's on the same team as me, the same role, the same level, she took the time to help give me up to speed and acclimated so that I could learn and understand how do you SQL. So she helped me get my job done. And in the same aspect, Amazon is big on paper writing. 

Rich Bennett 11:05
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 11:06
They don't do PowerPoints at all and she wasn't good at writing papers. So I helped her get up to speed on her paper writing. Years down the road were on different teams, were both people managers and were both excelling in our roles at Amazon because we helped one another. I helped her with her paper writing. She helped me with my analytics. But there are times in your career where you will be asked to do things. And like I said, there are a lot of times where I don't know how to do it. I'm 

Rich Bennett 11:36
Right. 

Michael Morgan 11:36
told this is what you need to do. If you have the right people in your network, they can either show you how to do it or they can at least point you in the right direction. Yeah. As opposed to I could just try to figure out my own and spin my wheels and be spending hours, days, weeks trying to figure something out. When someone could just show me how to do it in 30 minutes 

Rich Bennett 11:57
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 11:57
and it's all said and done. So I think a lot of people look at like building your network is helping you get to the next level and for the promotion. But the first step you have to get your job done. And if you have the right people in your network to show you how to do things or point you in the right direction, it's going to help you tremendously. 

Rich Bennett 12:15
That's very important. I think that's where a lot of people mess up. If you don't know how to do something, you align yourself with the people that do it. And you see a lot of business owners that'll do this. They'll try to bullshit their way through it. And instead of aligning themselves with people that know how to do it, that's how you're going to learn. And I mean, what better way to do it than find out from somebody like yourself. You know, your dish lady was helping you with SQL and then you were helping her with the writing. Otherwise, if you wouldn't have tried to learn it yourself, you probably still be sitting there trying to learn it today. 

Michael Morgan 12:54
Yeah. I mean, just still be trying to learn it or I would, they would have let me go in a certain way. It was like, he's not performing. Maybe 

Rich Bennett 13:01
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 13:01
he's not a good fit for 

Rich Bennett 13:02
a 

Michael Morgan 13:02
him as 

Rich Bennett 13:04
Oh, but actually in your experience, 

especially with the jobs, how does building the right network give people an edge in landing, hidden job opportunities? Because there are a lot of job opportunities that are hidden out there. 

Michael Morgan 13:21
Yeah. Absolutely. I have an example for that as well. So, 

Rich Bennett 13:24
okay. 

Michael Morgan 13:25
One of my roles at Amazon, I interviewed for the role. I met with the hiring manager, I met with the director, I met with the team, the role wasn't even posted. So people didn't even know this role existed. I interviewed with them before the role it was even created. 

Rich Bennett 13:40
Oh, wow. 

Michael Morgan 13:41
So by the time they posted the role, it was already mine. They had to post it technically for HR reasons. You have to put a rec. 

Rich Bennett 13:50
Right. 

Michael Morgan 13:51
But they're already new. They were going to give me the role. And that's because of my network. Someone that I had already worked with, knew I had aspirations to become a people manager. She knew I had a great skill set. She knew that her team was going to create this role and she reached out and she said, "Hey, I know you're aspiring to be a people manager. My team is going to create a role. It's going to immediately have direct reports. I think you have the good skill set and experience it, background to be good at this role. Would this be something you're interested in? Do you want to talk to my manager?" So, that's where I get to these points where you don't know what doors may open based off connections based off relationships. Because this is someone that i've worked with and i knew for ten years. 

Rich Bennett 14:34
Right. 

Michael Morgan 14:52
So, that's where a lot of opportunities can arise, but you just don't know if you're not building the right relationships. 

Rich Bennett 15:00
Yo, and the thing is, when you're interviewing with a company, certain things may come out, prime example, which you just mentioned, to where you are actually creating a role that they didn't have yet. Because a light bulb goes off in their mind saying, "Oh, wait a minute, he mentioned this in that interview. We need to do this, but what position, we don't have a position, that does that. I mean, you look at how technology is changing nowadays. You go back 20 years ago, well, maybe a little bit further than that, cybersecurity really wasn't a thing yet. Yeah, or people working remotely. A lot of people didn't work remotely. And if somebody would mention that in an interview, hey, you know, if your interviews are new, our computers are new, but we need to be more secure, well, you're in the cybersecurity field now. So I'm not telling you anything you know how all that works. 

You also talk about Penn State and Carnegie Mellon shaping you in unexpected ways. What were some of the biggest surprises or life lessons you walked away 

Michael Morgan 16:17
with. Yeah, I would say one, I would say one being comfortable with the uncomfortable. I'm originally from New York. So for me to leave everything that I know, friends, family, to move to state college, to go to Penn State, to go to Pittsburgh, to go to Carnegie Mellon University, you know, brand new cities. I had a accolade. I had to build a brand new network. So that was a little bit different for me. 

Rich Bennett 16:46
But 

Michael Morgan 16:47
Even at Carnegie Mellon, I studied abroad. I went to with my school. I went to Brazil and Argentina. 

Rich Bennett 16:56
Oh, wow, 

Michael Morgan 16:57
we went to Florianapolis, Buenos Aires, PSA Apollo. I took classes at the University of Dade Son and Dres. There's just cultural experiences that I just wouldn't have had if I had not gone to the Carnegie Mellon University. And and now, now that I'm in the, the business world for work, I've traveled to Dublin, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul. 

Rich Bennett 17:23
Oh, nice, 

Michael Morgan 17:25
Madrid. So I've had to travel globally and had work meetings with some of our business partners and clients in different cities, different countries around the world. And sometimes you have to be able to accame to, to different cultures, different people, different backgrounds. So for me, going to school, meeting other classmates with different backgrounds, different perspectives, being able to understand how to work as a team, to complete projects, complete tasks, and pushing myself to be in a situation where it's, it's something different for me and putting myself in uncomfortable position, but I'm still able to find a way to accame and be successful. 

Rich Bennett 18:05
Mm hmm. 

Michael Morgan 18:05
Definitely set the path for me to have a successful career. 

Rich Bennett 18:08
Hi. So if you weren't networking, do you think any of that would have happened? 

Michael Morgan 18:12
No, I think networking is critical. Oh, a lot of people in my opinion, get it, get things messed up where yes, you're going to, you go, like for me, I went back to business school to get my MBA. 

Rich Bennett 18:24
Right. 

Michael Morgan 18:25
And yes, going those classes and learning from professors is, is, is important. Part of going back to business school is building your network. 

Rich Bennett 18:33
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 18:34
So I'm building my network with all these pairs who are also getting their graduate degrees and some are going into finance, some are going into accounting, some are marketing, some are consulting, some are in my area where operations supply chain strategy, but now we can help one another. 

Rich Bennett 18:50
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 18:51
Oh, like me making the move after business school, I went to Chevron immediately 

Rich Bennett 18:56
Right. 

Michael Morgan 18:56
and then I made the jump to Amazon. There's probably 200 alumni from Carnegie Mellon that are all at Amazon. 

Rich Bennett 19:03
Wow. 

Michael Morgan 19:04
So when I wanted to make the jump to Amazon, I reached out to my my classmates and they helped interview, prep me and they helped giving referrals and they helped me get my foot in the door. And the same thing as jp Morgan, once I got Amazon, I had a network of Carnegie Mellon alumni who were able to support me and make sure that I was successful. And this is how I've been able to navigate to so many companies, so many industries, and be successful, is because of that network. So, you have to make sure that you're, you're building a maintain your network, like I said, you just don't know what opportunities may arise. Um, but it's definitely critical for your career success. 

Rich Bennett 19:41
And all the people that you met going through to all these different countries, how many of them do you still keep in touch with that you network 

Michael Morgan 19:51
I would say, most, I'm not going to say 100% because I've 

Rich Bennett 19:54
with? 

Michael Morgan 19:54
met 

Rich Bennett 19:54
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 19:54
a lot of people, but I would say probably 75% to 80%, I make sure that I keep in contact with. 

Rich Bennett 20:02
That's good. 

Michael Morgan 20:03
So it's, it's, I treat networking as part of my job. 

Rich Bennett 20:06
yeah. 

Michael Morgan 20:07
So, 

Rich Bennett 20:07
Which, 

Michael Morgan 20:08
um, 

Rich Bennett 20:08
and you should, 

Michael Morgan 20:09
yeah, absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 20:11
You should, eh, alright. I want to, I want to get away from networking in a minute because with all the places that you've been to, I love to ask this question. And of all the countries you've been to, what was the... and I hope you did try the different cuisine. What was your favorite that you tried? For one of your favorites. Yeah, favorite cuisine. The favorite thing you ate 

Michael Morgan 20:36
Favorite cuisine or? 

Rich Bennett 20:36
out of country. 

Michael Morgan 20:37
So I would, I would say, I don't know if I'd say favorite. I would say it's most interesting. I, I, I'm eating live octopus. 

Rich Bennett 20:45
Oh yeah. 

Michael Morgan 20:46
So it's, it's literally moving on the plate and you have to, like, 

Rich Bennett 20:51
You 

Michael Morgan 20:51
grab it, 

Rich Bennett 20:52
have to be careful, 

Michael Morgan 20:53
chew 

Rich Bennett 20:53
too. 

Michael Morgan 20:53
it up. 

Rich Bennett 20:53
Yeah, uh-huh. 

Michael Morgan 20:54
You'll move around in your mouth if you don't chew it up. I would say that to be that's an experience. 

Rich Bennett 21:00
Yeah. 

Was that in Hong Kong? 

Michael Morgan 21:05
Yeah. I think it wasn't 

Rich Bennett 21:06
caught. 

Michael Morgan 21:06
hard 

Rich Bennett 21:06
Like, yeah. 

Did you do it again? 

Michael Morgan 21:10
No, there's, there's one 

Rich Bennett 21:11
That 

Michael Morgan 21:12
time 

Rich Bennett 21:12
was it. 

two. You're like, man, this feels just too weird going down, right? Yeah, it's funny because you know, you got to try it, but I think one of the strangest things that I had, which is very good. And I wouldn't do it, I wouldn't try it here. And I didn't realize how dangerous a danger that dangerous it wasn't. The way afterwards was the pufferfish. 

Michael Morgan 21:40
Oh, I haven't tried that. 

Rich Bennett 21:41
Yeah. When I was in Okinawa, Japan, I tried it, and it's very poisonous. So yeah, the chefs that make it are like highly trained. They know exactly what to do and everything but, oh, man, it was good. All right. So anyways, back to, back to networking. All right. You're clearly passionate about mentorship. And I believe everybody should have mentors. What separates a great mentor from a good one? And how should someone go about finding one? 

Michael Morgan 22:17
Okay. So when it comes to finding mentors, there's there's two paths. 

Rich Bennett 22:22
Mm-hmm. 

Michael Morgan 22:23
So a lot of companies will have a formal mentorship program where you can fill out a profile. You can list these are my strengths. These are my areas for opportunity. This is what I'm looking for in a mentorship relationship. And they will naturally peer you up with someone else in the company. 

Rich Bennett 22:39
Mm-hmm. 

Michael Morgan 22:39
So if your company has a formal program, I strongly recommend for individuals to apply for it. The other option, you have to organically meet mentors on your own. And I know this can be difficult. I know some people are more intrinsic. Some people are more extrinsic. 

Rich Bennett 22:57
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 22:57
But if I'm, as, I'll use me as an example, if I'm in a meeting or I'm a part of a work project, and I see someone in the meeting that seems to be a subject matter expert. They're taking control. They're taking leadership. They're guiding things. And I admire the things that they're saying, the things that they're doing. I may pull onto the side after their meeting and say, hey, you know, I'm new to the team. I'm new to the organization. You seem like you're your will experience. You have a great amount of knowledge. You've been in the company for a long time. If you have the time and capacity, I'd love to ask you to be my mentor. 

Rich Bennett 23:36
Mm-hmm. 

Michael Morgan 23:36
And I know a lot of people are scared to ask those questions. I tell people all the time, you don't know if you don't ask. 

Rich Bennett 23:44
Right. 

Michael Morgan 23:45
Nine times out of 10, when I've asked someone if there want to be my mentor, they're flattered, that 

Rich Bennett 23:51
Right. 

Michael Morgan 23:51
I asked them and they're excited and they're happy to take on the challenge of being my mentor. The only time that someone has pushed back when I've asked them to be my mentor, they already had three or four mentees and they just, they had too much of a workload. But 

Rich Bennett 24:07
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 24:07
even then, they didn't just say, hey, I'm not going to be your mentor. I'm overloaded. They connecting with someone else to be my mentor. 

Rich Bennett 24:15
Wow. 

Michael Morgan 24:15
So you have to ask the questions. Like I said, a lot of a lot of these senior leaders at companies they want to develop the the the the next generation to take over these roles and you know help the company be better. 

Rich Bennett 24:30
And right. 

Michael Morgan 24:31
And then like I said, they're generally they're flattered that people would ask them to be a mentor. So so make sure whether there's a formal program or or you have to organically just reach out to people, at least ask the question. As far as who's a good mentor to identify, if if you're aspiring to get to a certain level to a certain role and you know there's someone in your company that's already in that role, that's somebody that could be a good mentor for you. 

Rich Bennett 24:59
Right. 

Michael Morgan 25:00
Axe them questions. Axe them, what was their career path? You know, how are they able to navigate to get to that role that you're aspiring to get to? What challenges do they face? What do they recommend? Like, you know, what steps can I take to get to that that level? How should I be prepared? You know, so those are good people to identify. And then I would also say, make sure you are taking the relationship seriously from a mentee standpoint. So I've heard a lot of people get paired up with a mentor. And then the mentee is not setting up meetings to meet with a mentor or they're setting up meetings, but they're not taking the follow-up actions. You know, if a mentor is telling you to do certain things, and then the next time you meet with them, you haven't done anything that they've told you to do, you're wasting their time. 

Rich Bennett 25:48
Right. 

Michael Morgan 25:49
They don't need, they're not being paid to be your mentor. They're doing this above and beyond their job to help you. So you have to come in, they're prepared. You have to set up the meetings. You have to have an agenda. Hey, this is what I want to talk about. This is what I'm currently working on. This is what I'm struggling with. This is what I want to get out of this mentor relationship. Come to those meetings prepared. If they give you certain tasks to work on, make sure you're completing those tasks. And the next time you meet with them, that you're you've made progress or you completed the things they've told you to work on. But if you're not taking the relationship seriously, it's going to fall apart and you're not going to get the value out of it. Don't put the onus on the mentor. The responsibility should be on the mentee to get the most out of the mentor mentee relationship. 

Rich Bennett 26:34
So actually when you wrote the book, because this is the only book you've written, right? 

Michael Morgan 26:38
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 26:40
Did you have a mentor for that as well? 

Michael Morgan 26:44
Funny enough, I didn't have a mentor during the writing process. I've had yeah, I've had mentors throughout my career, different companies and and those type of ventures. Now that I've actually published, I've met a ton of authors. 

Rich Bennett 27:02
Yeah, 

Michael Morgan 27:02
I've built my network and now I have mentors that can help me and determine what's the best way to to mark in my book. What's the best way to promote myself? What's the best way to to find speaking opportunities? What's the best way to get on 

Rich Bennett 27:15
right. 

Michael Morgan 27:15
podcasts? So now I have more mentors. When I was actually in the writing phase, I just kind of had to figure out of my own. 

Rich Bennett 27:23
Right, when was the flow? The funny thing, because a lot of people won't, a lot of authors won't look into that. But with your jobs or any job, you know, and not not just with your job, but even outside, a lot of people that volunteer, whether they're, you know, with a service organization or whatever, it's like every different thing you do, you can have mentors for a mentor for. You know, and well, prime example, you finished the book and now you got somebody helping you with the getting out there, pushing the book to podcast. I know with when I started podcast and I really only had maybe one or two mentors, well not even mentors. I mean, I learned from them, but they didn't know I learned from them. Does that make sense? 

Michael Morgan 28:14
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 28:15
But now, oh, it's a different story. I mean, yeah, I have two that I really, really look up to listen to and follow. And the same with the networking, the networking and the Mastermind groups, there's in my business. I got like different mentors for everything that I do. And then it, I got to admit, it felt weird when somebody first asked me if I could be their mentor. It just, it did. It felt weird. And then the more and more I thought about it, and I talked, I believe it was my sister. She's like, you do realize that you've been mentoring a lot of people for a long time. I said, no, she was, yeah, you have, you just didn't know it. Apparently, I said, Oh, okay. I know. No idea. You're listening to conversations with Rich Bennett. We'll be right back. 

You know, when it comes to car care, I'm pretty picky bad who I trust. That's why I only use American order repair and japa. And guess what? They're celebrating 20 years in business. That's two decades of incredible service and expert car care. Whether it's a simple oil change or a complex repair, they handle everything with professionalism and precision. So if your vehicle needs a checkup, head on over to American order repair. Give me it supporting a trusted local business that's been keeping our rides safe and sound for twenty years. Check them out at americanorderrepairinc. ins.com or call 410-679-6500. Again, it's 410-679-6500 and see why I trust them of all my automotive needs. How? How should professionals approach networking, uh, especially if they're introverted or feel they don't have a lot to offer yet, because I know that's a struggle for a lot of people. 

Michael Morgan 30:34
So one, I tell people all the time you have more to offer than you think. 

Rich Bennett 30:38
Mm-hmm. 

Michael Morgan 30:39
I feel like a lot of people deal with, uh, I'd say imposter syndrome where they don't think they add value to a relationship. 

Rich Bennett 30:46
Mm-hmm. 

Michael Morgan 30:46
And I tell people, hey, you do add value. Like, there are things that you can bring to the table, whether it's your knowledge, your experience, your your background. Like, everyone has different experiences. So there's something that you can teach other people and there's things that other people can teach you, but I wouldn't go into a situation thinking that I just don't have any value to add. 

Rich Bennett 31:11
Right. 

Michael Morgan 31:12
Um, the second piece of what you're saying for, for introvert, I, I like to tell people to take small steps. So you have to, you have to crawl before you walk. So if I tell someone to go to a networking event, I wouldn't recommend the first networking event have a thousand people and tell them, oh, you have to make a hundred connections at this event. Hey, go to something small, maybe it has 50 people, see if you make one connection. See if you can make two connections. And if you start small and you have those small wins, it will build up your confidence. You'll realize it's not as scary as you thought it would be. You might actually enjoy it. And then next time, all right, you made one connection at this event. See if you can make two at the next one. See if you can make three. It's all about building momentum, building that confidence. Um, I think if you set small, attainable goals, where you're, you're building your network, and it's about quality, not quantity, don't go into a situation where you're just trying to meet 30 contacts. And to your point, hey, I'm just exchanging business cards. Hey, I'm just exchanging LinkedIn contact. But I'm not actually building a strong relationship. I'm not actually having good conversation. I'd rather you go to an event and talk just to one person for 30 minutes to an hour and build a strong connection and exchange information and maintain connection with them. As opposed to you go to an event and pass out your business card to 20 people and you didn't really have conversation with them, and you don't 

Rich Bennett 32:37
Right. 

Michael Morgan 32:38
have connection with them. 

Rich Bennett 32:40
And speaking of that, because you, you see with network, I'm gonna say good networking groups, you can have a wide variety of people. Um, you can have well, like you, you're in the cybersecurity field, okay? Uh, me being podcaster. Of course, you're also an author, even authors, uh, let's say mechanics, people 

that make pottery. I mean, you know, all the different types of people and fields. So how can people create meaningful connections? Also, like, unconventional places, but with people that they thought their, their first thought is, well, I have no interest in say pottery or whatever. Why would that connection be even important 

Michael Morgan 33:35
then to, to my point earlier, you don't know what doors may open based off people. So as an example, I like to work out. I've, I've, I've, uh, joined different CrossFit gyms when I lived in Houston, when I lived in Seattle, Oakland, and now I live in Austin. I wouldn't think, oh, meeting at the gym will be a fruitful relationship. 

Rich Bennett 33:59
Right. 

Michael Morgan 34:00
When I worked out at gyms in Houston, I met other people that work for Chevron, Exxon, Schlumberj, other companies in oil and gas, when I worked in oil and gas at Chevron. And these were fruitful relationships connections to help me accume in the oil and gas industry, because that was my first time joining that industry when I joined, uh, Amazon in Seattle. I would go to that gym. I met a ton of people that worked in Amazon and completely different business units that I never heard of. 

Rich Bennett 34:33
Right. 

Michael Morgan 34:33
Or it expanded my, my palette where I was like, oh, I could work on that team, I could work in that organization. And, you know, I, I didn't go to the gym trying to figure out how to navigate Amazon and find different opportunities on different teams, different organizations. 

I wouldn't be narrow minded, I wouldn't say, hey, I work in cybersecurity and I can only network with people in cybersecurity. 

Rich Bennett 35:09
Right, 

Michael Morgan 35:10
like, who knows if I stay in cybersecurity rest of my year, rest of my career, like, I've been in cybersecurity for two years. I used to work in oil and gas, I used to work in financial services, I worked in tech, I worked in retail. So I don't want to pigeonhole myself and make this something that I'm only going to work in cybersecurity until I retire, like, there may be other opportunities. I, I didn't know years ago, I'd be an author. 

Rich Bennett 35:33
Right. 

Michael Morgan 35:34
Well, things can change, don't, I, I wouldn't recommend that people just be very narrow minded and say, I can only speak to people within my industry, within my function, because you just don't know. If you may have a career transition or like, like, what may change moving forward. So I would be open minded if possible. 

Rich Bennett 35:53
You got to be extremely open minded because I think where a lot of people mess up when they went not a lot, but some people mess up when they go to these networking events and join these groups, they're so focused on the business part in their mind. That's all they're thinking about is a business part and they miss opportunities that would, let's say, help their personal life or even their family. Let's say you go in there. You're going to an event where there's somebody over there that is, I don't know, running the daycare. Yeah, but what you're doing, you're like, okay, what do I need a daycare for? Well, it could be, you know, week, a couple of months later, all the sudden. Your wife is expecting you're going to need that daycare. You do you see a lot of people, you know, mess up doing that. They're just so focused on the business part not thinking outside of you know or thinking about their personal life and family as well when it comes into networking. 

Michael Morgan 36:58
Yeah, I'll say absolutely. That's one of the things that's been helpful for me, not just in my career, just in my life. Yeah. I think I told you, I'm really from New York. I've lived in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, California. Yes. It was a lot for me to switch companies, switch industries, but I'm also moving to brand new cities, new states where I don't know anybody. 

Rich Bennett 37:23
Right. 

Michael Morgan 37:23
And I have to build a network and a support system, I have to meet new friends, and I know a lot of people that are just so focused on the business and then they try to move to different places and they're just not successful moving to a new city, a new state, new country. They end up having to move back home and pivot their strategy for the career. And it's like, yeah, yes, you have to be focused on your business, but you also have a life outside of work. And you need to build your network and be able to accimate. And like you said, maybe finding somebody at a daycare or finding somebody that can connect with your partner. I'm married. I have a wife. We move. I've lived in Seattle, Oakland and Austin with my wife. So yes, I'm networking for myself. I'm also networking for her. And 

Rich Bennett 38:15
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 38:16
now we can find couples and go out on double dates and she can, she can meet people and she can make new friends. So it's not always just about me. It's about us. So you have to, like you said, you have to be open-minded because a lot of these things will be important not just for your career, but for your personal life. 

Rich Bennett 38:33
Or having the one of you convinced each other to take a pottery class yet. 

Michael Morgan 38:39
Not yet, but I'll bring it up to her. 

Rich Bennett 38:41
Person that does pottery yet, right? She's speaking of family. So you quoted your grandfather who said pick your own company or pick your company. How has that advice played out in your professional life? 

Michael Morgan 38:59
Oh, it's been, it's been critical. So I'm, I'm networking as much as possible, but I'm also making sure I'm sobrialling myself with the right individuals who are driven, who are trying to push me, support me, uplift me. and help me be the best version of myself. So, you know, whether it's my friend group outside of work or it's individuals, I associate myself with in the workplace, I'm making sure to figure out who are the right people that I want to surround myself with because that is going to make a tremendous effect on your career trajectory on your happiness in your life. So, you have to make sure that you're identifying the right individuals that you want to surround yourself with. I don't want to just be around in the workplace be with people who are okay with the bare minimum and just want to do like what the the basicHey I clock in the eight o'clock, I leave at five o'clock. I'm not working over time. I'm not trying to learn anything additional. I'm not trying to improve process. This is my job. This is what I do. I don't surround myself with those people. I'm surrounding myself with people who are, who are driven, I want to be VP. I want to be SVP. I want to be Steve sweet. I want to manage a team like those are the people that are going to help push me to be a better version of myself, so that we can both achieve the goals that we're looking for. So, you know, surrounding yourself with the right people in, in picking your company, absolutely critical. 

Rich Bennett 40:35
Actually, what's something that people, and I know you mentioned the one, but what's something that people misunderstand about when networking that you wish more people would get right. 

Michael Morgan 40:47
I would say one. And I think because the times are changing, a lot of people just look at networking is, hey, I can send you a couple of messages on social media. And, hey, you're a part of my network, I had to go on LinkedIn. I had to go on Instagram, we're a part of and they, I feel like there's a lost art of the face face interaction that I tell people all the time. So, even today, my role, my role today in social security, I'm fully remote. 

Rich Bennett 41:18
Right. 

Michael Morgan 41:18
But our headquarters are in the Bay Area since Santa Clara. I make the effort to go to headquarters once a quarter and meet with colleagues. Customers, stakeholders, and build those relationships. And when I'm in town for the week, I'm setting up meetings for breakfast, for coffee, for lunch, for dinner, for happy hour, I have my, my work meetings during the day, but 

Rich Bennett 41:40
Right. 

Michael Morgan 41:40
I'm there to build relationships and have those those face face interactions. You know, if, if I'm traveling either for fun or for work and I'm going to a city, let's say Chicago and I know I have friends or colleagues that live in Chicago, I'll reach out and I'll say, hey, I'm in Chicago for the weekend. I'd love to catch up. Let me know if you're, you're free for an hour to grab coffee or to grab lunch. So I'm always trying to find opportunities to have that face face interaction to really help build and strengthen those relationships. I mean, technology is fantastic. I love using social media. You know, we have our phones. We can call people to do video 

Rich Bennett 42:15
right. 

Michael Morgan 42:15
The text, so leverage technology, but don't be solely dependent on technology where you haven't seen someone face to face in five years, but you've liked their posts on LinkedIn. Oh, that's a strong relationship. I like their love. They're post like, no, make the effort to try to meet with them in person. You could really have that that face face interaction. And it's going to make a world of difference when it comes to networking. 

Rich Bennett 42:38
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'll never forget it was 

a couple of years ago. There is somebody that I connected with. It may be on Facebook, but we were always going back and forth talking about business. We would video call never met him in person. And then finally I, they came, they came here to Maryland and they contacted me and said, yeah, I'm here, but it's for a short time. Would you mind getting lunch? I'm like, absolutely. And it just get that brief one hour time spent with them just talk even though we talked business and everything every time we met virtually or through social media, but that time meeting in person made it so much more better. And I think it makes the friendship a true makes a true friendship as well. You know, and now yeah, we're staying in contact even more. Still haven't seen each other in person since that launch. But you know, you take advantage. I mean, you think about it. You met people in Brazil, Hong Kong and all that. How often are you going to be able to get to them and have that lunch or coffee anymore. But if you could, if they're coming over here, one of you is going to contact the other. And you're going to do, and it just makes it that much better. And I think it's immense. The business relationship even more, if that makes sense. 

Michael Morgan 44:11
Yeah, no, I completely agree. And I think it definitely makes 

Rich Bennett 44:15
sense. Yeah, 

Michael Morgan 44:16
it's good to be able to connect over the phone and through video and through email, but to your point, I sort of point, it'd be, it reinforces it when you're able to meet face to face and have that. 

Rich Bennett 44:28
or 

Michael Morgan 44:28
That in 

Rich Bennett 44:30
I sew the book, the power of networking. This is your self published. 

Michael Morgan 44:36
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 44:37
How long did it actually take you to write? 

Michael Morgan 44:40
And to end, I'll say it was about a year to. 

Rich Bennett 44:43
Okay. And what was the hardest part about right now? 

Michael Morgan 44:49
I'd say the hardest part. I'd say turning it into a business book. 

Rich Bennett 44:56
Okay. 

Michael Morgan 44:57
So I wrote the book and I worked with editors and I gave them the the first copy of it. And they were just like, this is it. A busy book. And they. 

Rich Bennett 45:09
Right. 

Michael Morgan 45:09
They were like riffing in a partner like you're all over the place. Like, like what are you going for? I was like, I've never written a book before. 

Rich Bennett 45:15
Yeah. 

Michael Morgan 45:16
Show me the way. Tell me what I need to do. And they helped me make it more structured. So I had, I had all the content. I just had a structure correctly. So the way I, I changed, transitioned it into more of a business book. Every chapter has a has a theme. And I'll start off the chapter, going to details. Oh, this is how you, this is how you stand out interviews. This is how you excel in your role. This is how you transition to a people manager. So I'll go into different topics. And then I'll supplement it with my personal stories of how I was able to execute it when I was at JPM working or Chevron, Amazon, Walmart, these different companies. And then I always finish the chapter with a summary. So this is the topic that we're discussing in this particular chapter. These are some stories from my personal life and career to supplement how I was able to implement these strategies. And here's a summary of the key takeaways you get from this chapter. And you know, when I was in this writing the book, I wasn't writing the book in that way because I just, I didn't know how to build a business book. But working with the editors, to me, took my book to a whole other level. We're just a lot more structured and impactful and able to give succinct takeaways for the readers for every single within the book. 

Rich Bennett 46:40
So when you were writing the book, was it your idea or the editor's idea to put a quote at the beginning of each chapter from somebody? 

Michael Morgan 46:50
That was that was my idea. 

Rich Bennett 46:51
I love that man. Because I love quotes. I love different quotes. And then when I saw that, it's like, oh yeah, I love it. How? God, because there's so many great quotes in there. But when you're focused on a certain type of thing, how long did it take you just to find those quotes? Or you like me, you see a quote or even hear a quote, you just stored in that notebook in your brain. 

Michael Morgan 47:19
No, it took some time. So like I said, every chapter has a specific name. And then there's there's some quotes immediately when I like, I knew the thing for that chapter. I was like, oh, I know what quote I'm going to use. 

Rich Bennett 47:32
Right. 

Michael Morgan 47:33
Like, like it just pops in my head of like, all right, that's easy. That's done. There are other chapters. It was a little bit more difficult where I had to do more research and try to find a quote that I thought was impactful and relevant for that particular chapter. But yeah, it took time. And I have a lot of chapters. So, 

Rich Bennett 47:50
oh, I know. 

Michael Morgan 47:52
So 

Rich Bennett 47:52
It's 

Michael Morgan 47:53
they're trying 

Rich Bennett 47:53
a 

Michael Morgan 47:53
to 

Rich Bennett 47:53
very 

Michael Morgan 47:53
find. 

Rich Bennett 47:54
informative book. 

Michael Morgan 47:55
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 47:57
Very informative. That's why I said in the beginning, I believe anybody's got a networking group. They need to purchase this book and give it to the people in the network. Because, or if somebody's like on the fence about starting a network or how to network, this is perfect. Better yet. I'm going to go even go one step further. Anybody listening to that's a teacher. And you're you're teaching business management and school. This is a perfect book for the students as well. And actually, the books doing rather it seems like it's doing rather well. Now I'm looking strictly on Amazon, but I'm sure, you know, other places maybe do I'm sure it's doing as well too. And it's already been at a year. What's been the biggest struggle struggle since you've become author of porn or and pushing the book? 

Michael Morgan 48:49
I say the biggest struggle, balancing everything. 

Rich Bennett 48:52
A 

Michael Morgan 48:54
lot of people have seen me post and talk about the book, and they assume I'm just a full-time author and a full-time motivational speaker. 

Rich Bennett 49:02
Right. 

Michael Morgan 49:03
Not the case. Working full-time in cyber security. I work for a startup called Netscope. So on my nights, on my weekends, that's when I'm doing marketing for the book to help promote it. That's when I'm reaching out and trying to find opportunities for speaking engagements. So I'm essentially working two jobs at the same time. Uhm, so balancing that has been difficult, uhm, my job in Nesco has been very accommodating and you know, I've, I've let them know when I was writing the book I let them know in advance I talked to HR, I talked to legal, they said, 'Hey, that's fine, you know, as long as you get your job done, you don't mind'. 

Rich Bennett 49:43
Right. 

Michael Morgan 49:55
I had, uh, I have a friend who's doing the same path where she's getting into motivational speaking, she's doing coaching and she was doing this while she was working at a company full-time and they saw her making posts on LinkedIn about her doing coaching and motivational speaking and they made her make a decision and said, 'Really' either you work here or you don't, but you're not going to work here and do that on the side. 

Rich Bennett 50:21
Well that's not very motivating to say. *laughs* 

Michael Morgan 50:24
I know every, but every company's different. So, I mean the fact that Nesco has been supportive in mind of hers and allowed me to do both, I'm very appreciative. So it's, it's been a lot to manage both, but I'm grateful that my company is accommodating and allowing me to do both. 

Rich Bennett 50:43
Alright Michael, what did she decide to do? 

Michael Morgan 50:46
Oh 

Rich Bennett 50:46
You 

Michael Morgan 50:46
she 

Rich Bennett 50:46
left 

Michael Morgan 50:46
left 

Rich Bennett 50:47
me 

Michael Morgan 50:47
her, 

Rich Bennett 50:47
hanging? 

Michael Morgan 50:47
oh sorry sorry. She left her company so she's, 

Rich Bennett 50:50
Good. 

Michael Morgan 50:50
she started up her own company so now she's a full-time speaker, coach and she seems to be thriving and she seems to be happy so her company lost lost a great employee, she could have, same as, same as my situation she could have done both. 

Rich Bennett 51:03
What made you decide to get into the motivational speaking 

Michael Morgan 51:07
part? So, for me, I mean the same reason I wrote the book, I genuinely enjoy helping people. And I know I wouldn't be where I am in my career if people didn't help me, didn't give me guidance, didn't give me mentorship. So 

Rich Bennett 51:22
Right 

Michael Morgan 51:23
now to bring things full circle, yeah, I mentor people, I speak with people one on one, I try to help them, but writing the book and and doing motivational speaking, now I can get my message out to the masses. Instead of me speaking to someone one on one, I can speak to a crowd of a hundred people, 300 people that are all getting my message. Instead of me speaking to someone one on one, now there are thousands of people who have purchased the book that can get the insights from the book. So now I can reach a larger, larger audience and it's 

Rich Bennett 51:53
right. 

Michael Morgan 51:53
my way to help other people and make sure that they're successful in the same way that people help me get to where I am today. 

Rich Bennett 52:00
Right. So with the motivational speaking part, because I'm sure after you're done you have people that will come up or even contact you later on down the road, let's talk about taking both ways, motivational speaking or the book. Has anybody contacted you about how you have helped them and is so can you share a story with us? 

Michael Morgan 52:29
Yeah, absolutely. So as the end of all of my talks, when I do motivational speaking, I actually I use a tool called talk of that where I put, I know, 

Rich Bennett 52:42
talking that. 

Michael Morgan 52:43
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 52:44
actually, 

Michael Morgan 52:44
it's 

Rich Bennett 52:44
okay, 

Michael Morgan 52:45
I think too, 

Rich Bennett 52:46
okay. 

Michael Morgan 52:47
But at that all my speeches, I provide a QR code. So all the attendees can scan the QR code. They can give me real time feedback, real real time testimonials on, you know, on that actual event that I spoke at. They can connect with me on social media, on LinkedIn, on Instagram, but it's a way for me to connect with the audience 

Rich Bennett 53:10
Right. 

Michael Morgan 53:10
and I get a lot of feedback where I'm connecting with people and they're grateful, you know, because of your advice, your tips, I was able to get this job at this company. Because of your tips and advice, I was able to, you know, excel in my role and think about networking differently, because your tips and advice, I was able to move to the next level. And for me, it's 

Rich Bennett 53:33
rewarding. 

Michael Morgan 53:34
Yeah, it's so rewarding and fulfilling. To know that I'm able to help people, reach their goals and their aspirations. Like I said, and that's part of the reason that I wrote the book and that I've started getting into motivational speaking is that I want, I enjoy helping other people. But yeah, these are some of the testimonials and feedback that I've been getting. 

Rich Bennett 53:54
All right, when's the Ted talk coming? 

Michael Morgan 53:57
Hopefully soon, I want, I've been watching Ted talks for years. I'd love to be on 

Rich Bennett 54:02
oh, 

Michael Morgan 54:02
the, 

Rich Bennett 54:02
me too. 

Michael Morgan 54:03
Give on myself. So hopefully, hopefully, whoever is in charge of the Ted talks, hopefully they're listening and they'll reach out after. 

Rich Bennett 54:11
You may be a suit you never know alright so something very important because I already told people where to you know about purchasing the book and everybody after you purchase it leave a full review whether it be on good reads Amazon Barnes or whatever. But tell everybody your website and how they can get in touch with you if they want you to come and speak today because you don't speak to just businesses you'll speak to nonprofits and all as well right 

Michael Morgan 54:40
yeah absolutely 

Rich Bennett 54:41
okay. 

Michael Morgan 54:41
So, yeah my website is Michael V Morgan so V is Invictor Michael V Morgan dot calm so feel free to go on my website I have a contact me forms you can send me a message and I'll respond immediately. Also I'm on all social media platforms if you go on LinkedIn Michael Morgan PMP is my name is my PMP certification or if you search by the URL it's Michael V Morgan on LinkedIn on Instagram it's Michael dot V dot Morgan. So whether you want to reach out to me on my website on LinkedIn Instagram feel free to connect with me. 

Rich Bennett 55:19
Alright, wait man what's PMP certification 

Michael Morgan 55:22
project commitment professional. 

Rich Bennett 55:24
I knew that. I was just. 

Michael Morgan 55:27
And 

Rich Bennett 55:28
those of you listening when you go to the website also sign up for the newsletter as well don't forget to do that. So Michael before I get to my last question is there anything that you would like to add 

Michael Morgan 55:43
the last piece of advice I'd like to add everybody's journey is different. So I know a lot of people that like to compare it contrast and they'll say oh I see my colleagues and they're doing this I see my classmates and they're doing this my network is doing that everybody's director is different. You know you have your own career path as long as you're you're putting in the work. You'll be able to achieve your goals but try not to compare yourself to other people sometimes you may have to take two steps back to take a couple steps forward sometimes you may have to make a lot of a step in order to move forward. But you know enjoy the process enjoy the journey. And like I said if you put the work in you'll be able to achieve whatever your aspirations are. 

Rich Bennett 56:27
So my last question for you you 

Michael Morgan 56:32
ready? 

Rich Bennett 56:33
Yeah I'm ready sure 

Michael Morgan 56:33
yeah 

Rich Bennett 56:34
because I asked some hard 

Michael Morgan 56:35
man. 

Rich Bennett 56:35
ones What's the difference between an orange 

Michael Morgan 56:40
the difference between an orange? 

Rich Bennett 56:42
Yeah no I'm messing with you 

Michael Morgan 56:43
that. 

Rich Bennett 56:46
I mean it's a it's a bicycle because of that stone have sleeves don't ask me I don't know I don't always tell me that anyways so if you could go back and give your undergrad self one networking role to live by what would it 

Michael Morgan 57:03
be? 

I'll say put in the effort to to maintain relationships so in college to me it's very easy to make connections and meet new people. And when you're at school like I went up Penn State there's 40,000 students all these students live within a five mile radius it's very easy to maintain those connections when you graduate. And then people moved to New York and Philly Delaware Chicago Texas California now it becomes a little bit more difficult. So I make sure I tell myself like hey it's very easy to maintain your network here. It's going to be difficult when you graduate people gets you know spread out. So to make sure that you're you're following up you're you're taking down people's contact information a lot of like there are a lot of people that went to school with that I didn't share contact information with because it's like I'll see them. I'll see them in class I'll see them in the gym I'll see them here. And then we graduate is oh I don't have their information. So so make sure that you're exchanging that information you're putting in the work to maintain those relationships. 

Rich Bennett 58:15
And the thing is you think about it. Got because I still stay in touch with some of the guys I served in the Marine Corps with, but nowadays, now back then we didn't have social media. I don't even think God we may not even had email. I'm so damn old. But actually we did it. Yeah, God holy cow. But you think about it now with social media linked in Facebook whatever it makes it so much easier to find those ones that especially after college and military career provided through on social media you can find them. But yet to your point it's important to get their contact information because not everybody is on social media some people just refuse to get on it in a way you can't blame them. So you can't blame them at all. Michael thanks a lot. And man, best of luck to you. Oh wait a minute, what's the second book coming out? 

Michael Morgan 59:17
I'm still I'm still in the thought process a lot of people are very been actually about the second book, uh, I don't have a timeline but I am, I am considering writing another book and adding to the portfolio. 

Thank you. It's been a pleasure being a guest on your show. 

Rich Bennett 59:50
Thank you for listening to the Conversations with Rich Bennett. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and learned something from it as I did. If you'd like to hear more conversations like this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, I'd love it if you can leave a review. It helps us reach more listeners and share more incredible stories. Don't forget to connect with us on social media or visit our website at Conversations Thank you for joining us today and having us do some exercises with RichBendit.com for updates, giveaways and more. Until next time, take care, be kind, and keep the conversations going. You know, it takes a lot to put a podcast together and my sponsors help add a lot but I also have some supporters that actually help me when it comes to the editing, software, the hosting, and so forth. And I know there's a lot that goes into putting this together, so I want to thank them and if you can, please, please visit their websites, visit their businesses, support them however you can. So please visit the following. Real-life Real-life prosthetics, cutting-edge solutions, restoring ability since 2001. Go to real-lifeprostetics.com. For new circle boards, nobody does charcuterie like full circle boards, visit them at fullcircleboards.com. Sincerely, so your photography, live in the moment, they'll capture it. Visit them at sincerelyseuer.com.