Fascinating Authors

Q: Why did you decide to write this book?

A: I decided to write Networking Like a Pro because networking, social capital and emotional intelligence are areas that absolutely everyone needs to develop skills in if they want to achieve their greatest potential and become as successful as possible.  There is a tremendous need around the world for education in these areas because they are sorely neglected in colleges and universities and they are generally wrongly categorized under the “soft science” heading.

If you ask the average business person or entrepreneur what one of the most important ways to build his or her business is, he or she will almost always tell you “networking or word of mouth.”  Social capital (which is the study of resources developed through personal and professional relationships) and emotional intelligence (sometimes called EQ for emotional quotient) are key factors to the successful interaction of people with one another.  People may get hired because of their IQ, but they get promoted because of their EQ.  All of these subjects have a strong influence on someone’s success and there is a wealth of research being developed in each of those areas.

We give people bachelor’s degrees in marketing, business and even entrepreneurship, but we teach them hardly anything about the one subject that virtually every entrepreneur says is critically important to his or her business–networking and social capital. Why don’t business schools teach this subject? I think it’s because most business schools are made up of professors who’ve NEVER owned a business in their life. Almost everything they’ve learned about running a business they’ve learned from books and consulting. Well, I’ve read a fair number of books, I was a consultant for many years, and I’ve run my own business for more than two decades. I can tell you firsthand that if you haven’t actually owned a business, you have a handicap in teaching a course involving entrepreneurship.

The one thing that all successful people have in common is that they are continuously educating themselves in order to improve their skills.  The fact is, networking skills are crucial and Networking Like a Pro is meant to empower people everywhere master the art of networking in order to continue achieving higher and higher levels of success.

Q: Do you have any secret writing tips you’d like to share?

A: The secret to success without hard work is still a secret!

Writing a book is a long process and it is extremely important to set time aside to write!  I started with four hours every couple of weeks and now I carve out one full day each week where all I do is work on my writing projects.

Q: Tell us a quirky or funny story about you!

A: An experience I had once while on vacation reminds me of how we try to make some things harder than they really are.

I was in Hawaii enjoying the surf when, unbeknownst to me, the water became thick with Portuguese Man O’War jellyfish.  Suddenly I felt a stinging sensation across my chest.  I wiped my chest with my right wrist and arm and lifted my arm up out of the water.  I saw the tentacles dripping off my arm and followed them with my eyes to the body of the Man O’War jellyfish about eight feet away.  With mounting alarm, I shook the tentacles off my wrist back into the water and quickly swam out of the surf to the shore.

I ran up to the first hotel employee I saw, a cabana boy, who was serving drinks to a sunning couple just off the pool deck and urgently exclaimed, “I think I’ve just been hit in the chest by a Man O’War jellyfish! What should I do??”

“Are you feeling any pressure in your chest?” he wanted to know.

“No, none at all,” I replied anxiously.

“OK, OK, here’s what you need to do.  Go on over to the market off the lobby and ask for some vinegar and meat tenderizer.  You’re going to want to spray the vinegar onto your chest and then shake the meat tenderizer onto the same spot and rub it all around.  You’ll be fine,” he assured me.

Well, I must say that I was less than impressed with this bizarre advice.  He was entirely too calm and that was entirely too easy to be a real solution—not to mention that it was just plain strange.  I figured he was doing a version of “let’s goof on the tourist,” so I moved on to ask someone else for help.  Strangely enough, I asked two more hotel employees what to do about my injury, and got the exact same answer: vinegar and meat tenderizer!

I reluctantly trucked down the hall to the store just knowing that they were all back there laughing at the goofy tourist who was actually going to do a self-imposed “meat rub” on his chest.  I was sure they had some barbecue grill going for when I returned to the lobby all slathered up with vinegar and meat tenderizer.

I entered the small market off the lobby and started my search for char-grilled products when I started feeling short of breath.  Suddenly, very quickly and forcefully, I began to experience a crushing weight on my chest.  Was I having a heart attack?  Great!  I’m having a coronary after wasting so much time talking to members of the hotel staff, who were trying to get me to rub meat tenderizer on my chest.  I walked out of the store and staggered to the front desk, which by now was very busy with new guests checking into the hotel.  I made eye contact with the hotel manager and almost immediately, dropped to the ground, clutching my chest, barely able to gasp, “Man O’War!”

What happened next was a total blur.  I seem to remember a small child yelling and pointing at me as I lay there in my bathing suit, gasping for breath.

“Look mommy, there’s a man on the floor.”  The mother said something about staying away from people who do drugs.  I looked over and tried to say no, not drugs—jellyfish!  But all that came out was gibberish.

The paramedics rushed to the scene.  Finally, I was going to get the medical attention I needed.  After determining what had happened, the paramedic opened his lifesaving kit, and I knew he was about to pull out a defibrillator.  I made my peace with God and I braced myself for the big jolt.  Instead, he pulled out—yes, you guessed it—vinegar in a spray bottle and some Adolf’s meat tenderizer!  He then proceeded to spray the vinegar, sprinkle the meat tenderizer on my chest, and thoroughly rub the mixture around.  Within seconds, literally seconds, the excruciating pain began to subside.  Within a couple minutes it was almost completely gone.

What I thought was a big “barbecue joke” on the tourist turned out to be a well-known cure for some jellyfish strikes.  You see, the meat tenderizer contains the enzyme papain, which breaks down the toxin proteins and neutralizes them.  It sounds too simple to be really effective, but it is, in fact, one of the best things to do in that situation.

Thinking back on it, I am amazed at how many people gave me the solution before I had to learn the hard way.  Sure, who’s going to believe a cabana boy?  I mean, what does he know, right?  And the hotel employee—OK, maybe there’s the start of a pattern here but, I have a doctoral degree—I’m “smart,” and these guys have just got to be kidding me . . . Right?  And then the hotel manager as well . . . OK, I admit it, at that point there’s just no excuse.  I should have figured out these guys knew what they were talking about and I did not.

I made one of the biggest mistakes that people in business make—I didn’t listen to the people who have experience.  I assumed that I just had to know better . . . and the truth is, I didn’t know better.

Q: Have you ever battled writer’s block? How do you deal with it?

A: Every writer comes up with writer’s block once in a while and it can be extremely frustrating.  Instead of sitting there spinning my wheels and letting my frustration mount, I use that nervous energy to my advantage by diving into research.  This allows me to still remain productive and, more often than not, it causes me to generate new ideas.

Q: What’s your favorite quote?

A: “One always dies too soon – or too late, and yet one’s whole life is complete at that moment, with a line drawn neatly under it ready for the summing up.  You are your life and nothing else.”  Jean Paul Sartre

Q: Who inspires you the most?

A: My parents inspire me the most.  I have great respect and admiration for their different skillsets which played a big part in influencing me to become who I am today.

By striving to emulate my father’s amazing work ethic and my mother’s ability to bring out the best in people and affect them in a positive way, I have been able to accomplish many of my most important educational, career-oriented, and personal goals.

To this day, I am continually inspired by my parents and I attribute most of my successes to the values and skillsets which were instilled in me by my mom, Jerry, and my dad, Ivan Misner, Sr.