Strengths That Create Opportunity: Leadership, Relationships, and Growth | John Bryant

Episode 44: BNI The Perfect 100 Podcast with Tammy Zurak

🎙 GUEST: John Bryant of Weather and Climate Consulting, LLC
🌐 Website: https://weatherandclimateexpert.com

CliftonStrengths: John Bryant: Belief | Analytical | Focus | Achiever | Arranger

In this episode of The Perfect 100, Tammy Zurak sits down with John Bryant to explore how strengths-based leadership and intentional BNI networking create meaningful opportunities for entrepreneurs and business owners.

John shares insights on leveraging CliftonStrengths to improve leadership effectiveness, build stronger relationships, and create sustainable growth through trust and consistency. The conversation highlights the importance of networking for referrals, personal development, and authentic communication in building long-term business success.

📚 Topics Covered

How to leverage CliftonStrengths in business for leadership growth
Why networking for referrals leads to stronger business relationships
Practical networking tips for small business owners
How to build your personal brand with strengths
Ways to improve leadership through trust and intentional communication
Strengths-driven leadership insights for entrepreneurs and professionals

👉 Whether you're focused on business growth strategies, professional development, or building a referral-based business, this episode provides actionable insights you can put into practice immediately.

🔗 Websites: https://bnitheperfect100.com, www.tammyzurak.com
📩 Coaching Inquiries: [e-mail]
💡 Free Resources: www.tammyzurak.com
🎯 Book a Zoom to discuss Strengths and Coaching: Book a Strategy Chat
📸 Instagram: @zbusinesscoach
🔗 LinkedIn: Tammy Zurak on LinkedIn
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction to John Bryant and Specialized Networking
03:41 Growing Up with a Passion for Weather
07:39 Studying Meteorology and Broadcasting
10:57 Breaking Into Television Weather
13:59 Learning from Success and Failure
18:11 Covering Major Weather Events
22:15 The Challenges of Forecasting Weather
25:33 Lightning Safety and Public Awareness
29:25 Becoming a Forensic Meteorologist
32:33 Communication Skills and Professional Growth
34:45 Taking Risks and Embracing New Opportunities
38:45 CliftonStrengths and Self-Awareness
42:11 Learning to Love Networking
46:22 How BNI Changed the Way He Builds Relationships
51:02 Failure, Growth, and Professional Development
55:22 Coaching, Mentorship, and Business Success
59:10 Investigating Weather-Related Cases
01:03:59 Memorable Storms and Real-World Lessons
01:08:46 Curiosity, Learning, and Continuous Improvement
01:12:54 Unexpected Opportunities and Career Growth
01:17:33 The Most Important Networking Skill
01:20:47 Final Thoughts on Relationships and Success

Creators and Guests

Host

Tammy Zurak

With 10+ years in BNI, I've experienced both the franchise and company-owned sides as a member, Director Consultant, Chapter Success Coach, and Managing Director. I've proudly maintained a perfect Power of One score of 100 for the past six months in the East Memphis Chapter (something that very few of BNI's 300,000+ members worldwide can claim!). I'm also a Gallup Certified CliftonStrengths Coach and I'd like to give you an overview of how you might use your personal Strengths to maximize your BNI experience!

Guest

John Bryant

What is The Perfect 100?

Hosted by longtime BNI leader and CliftonStrengths Coach Tammy Zurak, this podcast is your weekly boost of insight, inspiration, and action. Whether you're brand new to BNI or a seasoned member, these conversations will help you take your chapter engagement — and your business — to the next level.

Hello and welcome back to the Perfect 100 where we explore BNI, business, CliftonStrengths
and the journeys people take through it all.

Before we jump in, I have a quick favor to ask.

I recently looked at the YouTube analytics and discovered that only 51 % of you people
that are listening or watching more importantly on YouTube are actually subscribed to the

channel.

So if you're enjoying these conversations, one of the easiest ways to support the show is
to hit the subscribe button.

and it doesn't cost you anything, it just helps us reach more people and allows us to
continue to bring great guests and content every week.

And of course, if you know a business owner, entrepreneur, leader, or team who could
benefit from CliftonStrengths or business coaching, speaking, or training, referrals are

always appreciated.

I work with clients both locally and globally.

All right, now today's episode is a little bit different.

Most of our guests are active BNI members.

John Bryant is a former BNI member who is a forensic meteorologist, climate consultant,
and expert witness whose work takes him all over the country.

As I've prepared for this interview, I realized that John represents a challenge many
professionals face.

Some businesses fit naturally into referral networking.

Others are highly specialized.

Some people seem naturally wired to network.

while others are wired to execute, analyze, and solve problems.

So today, we're going to explore not only John's fascinating career, but what happens when
your business doesn't quite fit the traditional networking mold.

John, welcome to the program.

Thank you, Tammy.

I really appreciate you having me on and I look forward to this conversation because
growing businesses and how you coach businesses is pretty cool.

So I think what you do is awesome and I appreciate you allowing me to be on the show.

Well, it is my pleasure and I think the audience is going to find this very interesting.

but let's start where, let's get a little background.

So before weather became your career, what were you like as a kid?

Tell me about growing up.

What do your folks do for work, that kind of stuff.

Yeah, well, my dad was uh an engineer for a long time and he was actually a rocket
scientist, believe it or not.

I just thought about that.

I did not get those brains, but he was an engineer for a long time.

My mother, she grew up...

uh

Well, my roots are in Mississippi, but she did speech therapy and worked for Memphis Oral
School for the Deaf.

And my dad worked for Boeing, uh NASA, Pickering Environmental.

uh So I do have good inspiration from my parents, that's for sure.

Nice.

you're that one saying, you it's not rocket science.

And in your case, it actually is.

I get it.

But you can you can kind of legit say that, you know, in my family, we're all about rocket
science over here.

So tell me about weather.

What first sparked your fascination with weather?

You know, tell you what, and I have asked this question to everybody that is interested in
weather.

I'm like, okay, and there are a lot of people that are fascinated by weather.

I asked them, when did you become interested in weather?

I have never gotten an answer where somebody says, oh, just the last couple of years.

It seems like people are born.

Some people are just born to find weather fascinating.

And that is me.

I've been a weather dork all my life.

I love weather.

And it's always fascinated me.

And I love asking people that question that are weather fanatics.

And I have never had one person tell me otherwise.

So cool.

you, the meteorology kind of the, it was just a natural progression for you or was that
something you decided kind of that made sense for what your interests were?

Yeah, natural progression because I always knew, which is, I think this is pretty rare,
and I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything because my kids are still trying to

figure out exactly what they're gonna do.

But I always knew what I wanted to do.

Now, I...

didn't necessarily have the confidence.

Now I always ask my mother, mom, do you think I have it?

Mom, do you think I have it?

And she would say, yes, son, you have it.

Yes, you have it.

uh But I used to grow up watching the Weather Channel and I'm dating myself here, but I
would use VHS tapes to tape the Weather Channel and then practice at my house and stop the

VHS tapes and act like there was a green screen.

This is just a wall of a global map, not to scale, but

Anyway, that's what I would do and I just pursued my dream and it did work out not
necessarily the way I planned it, but it worked out and it just, I will give my mother a

lot of credit for saying, son, you do have it.

Because I didn't know, I didn't believe and she just instilled upon me, you have to
believe in yourself if you want to achieve and be successful.

Yeah, love that.

Well, and I listen to a lot of podcasts and a lot of actors have that where they'll say,
when they talk about their background, one of the things that seems that comes up often

when I'm listening to them is that they all were acting as a kid, right?

They were all putting on shows at their house for their folks or their family or the
neighbors.

they were looking for the opportunity to be the thing, right, as they were practicing and
honing.

So I love that you were recording yourself and practicing, um you know, that you could
foresee moving that forward into a career.

So talk about, tell me about TV because how did you get into TV and, you know, why was
that the step you wanted to take?

this is how I got in.

I have always been a Mississippi State Bulldog.

believe it or not, they had a program for not only did they combine the science, but they
also uh combined the broadcasting element.

grew up loving Mississippi State because my parents went there and it was actually just a
blessing from God to be honest with you because they had the perfect program that I needed

for college and I worked through high school.

Germantown High School has an excellent uh television.

I mean some of the studios that they have at Germantown High School at the time when I was
there are better than local television stations.

So that helped me and then of course my education being fortunate enough to grow up

uh where my parents were, you know, had the means to send me uh somewhere.

And plus I just had the drive and motivation and I loved it.

I really loved what I did in college and.

At the time, now this is not the case, but you know, at the time it was one of the only
school.

was the only school in the country that boasted a 100 % job placement rate right out of
school.

So I don't think that's the case.

Now things are more challenging.

Things are just more challenging in the workplace now, especially in the field I was in.

And so, you know, at the time it was like, okay, I've got a job.

I started working uh in college at a low, not a local

station, but I would travel on the weekend, Greenville, Mississippi.

And then to make a long story short, television normally, you you start in a small market
and you, your goal is to move up, right?

um And, and end up in your dream place.

But TV, you have to pivot.

If, if, if anybody's listening to this show or watching the podcast right now, you have to
prepare for the unexpected because different things are going to come your way.

You're going to have to move.

You're going to be disappointed, but you have to keep going.

You just have to pick your bootstraps up and keep going.

And so I went to Tupelo for three months and then I came to Memphis and worked for two and
a half decades for three stations, three or four stations.

And it was really a journey.

And I'll tell you how I got a job, my third job in Memphis.

I bugged the heck out of my news director and I wrote her letters.

I called her, you know, I just, she'll tell you, I drove her crazy and she finally,

was nice enough to give me a job and then it was off to the races and she believed in me
and Peggy Phillip.

I've got to thank Peggy Phillip for giving me my first job and it really it really worked
out from there.

Awesome.

Yeah, well, there's a lot of stuff in there.

you know, that stick-to-itiveness that, you know, I think every business owner has the
people that are listening are primarily BNI people, business owners.

that having the, what's the word I'm looking for, perseverance, right, to work in those.

I have an uncle that's in TV.

Well, he was in TV.

He was a sportscaster.

So he all the same things you just said, work in a small market or, you know, kind of take

take the, come up and you you gotta take, you gotta take the work in the tiny markets and
not make a lot of money to get to the next one, which is bigger and so on and so forth to

get to the big leagues, right?

And sometimes we never get to the big leagues or then we shift directions to something
else.

And sometimes that's really hard.

because we thought we were going one way and now we're going another, right?

So, welcome to most people's stories, I feel like, right?

It's very few people kind of start out from, especially if you have that dream when you're
little, you know, that I want to do this.

I'm standing in front of a camera making, you know, videos because I want to do this,
realizing that dream and then sometimes it changes.

I feel like that's a common story for entrepreneurs.

and your story doesn't end there.

We're gonna talk about that, where it does go in a little bit here, what do people tell
me?

Because I think you were a celebrity on television, so I think that comes with that, comes
some things, but what do people really misunderstand about being a meteorologist on

television?

Yeah, well, we could go a long way with this one.

And the first thing I will say, and I'm serious about this, um I had calls when I first
started at the NBC affiliate here in Memphis.

People would get mad um that it rained and I said that it was not going to rain and they
actually believe that we control the weather.

I kid you not.

And so that people would get upset.

But I can tell you a mis-

Misconception I'm not going to speak for every broadcast meteorologist or meteorologist,
you know in the world, but I will tell you the overwhelming number of meteorologists Want

to get it right?

We want to get it right for who we're delivering it to those are our clients the viewers
are our clients and we have to serve them and so I promise you one of the misconceptions

is that we

we just get it wrong all the time.

you can keep a job.

You'll never get fired because you've got the forecast wrong.

And so that's one of the misconceptions.

Another misconception is that it's so glamorous and it's just like the hardest thing in
the world.

People think it's easy to be a journalist.

It's not.

I'm, well, I'm still in the field because I freelance for stations here locally sometimes,
but not full-time.

uh And I will not go back full-time.

But I would say that's misconception.

It's one of the most stressful jobs in America and across the planet really to be honest
with you.

Okay, and why?

I um think the number one reason is you're always fighting for ratings,

Typically, that's how success is defined in the workplace.

If we're just talking about revenue, oh you're always, every show, you're thinking, how
can I beat the competition?

What can I do to differentiate myself from beating the competition?

And here's the deal.

It doesn't matter uh if you know that you did the best job in the world.

You can look at the ratings the next day and you may lose.

Right.

And that is the biggest pressure is looking at those numbers every day.

you're number one?

Great.

But guess what?

That was yesterday.

It's all through today.

You have to maintain that competition every day to be number one.

And that's why I would say it's one of the most uh challenging jobs in America and also
stressful.

I would read those polls, you know, what the top 10 most stressful jobs and think of
journalism.

That's easy, right?

That's glamorous, right?

It's really not sometimes.

It's really, really stressful and it's around the clock.

Social media, I remember when that came along.

Again, dating myself, I was in there before social media and it was easier.

Now the platforms are increasing and it's, I mean, if you're not careful, you can really,
really, uh let me just say, become a workaholic and your family life can get compromised

and...

To be honest, that's what happened to me uh before I got out, especially as chief
meteorologist.

It doesn't matter whose fault it is, it ultimately comes back to you as chief.

um And that's a lot of pressure.

uh But it's just the way that it is.

Those are the nuts and bolts of it, to be honest with you.

Yeah, well, and again, you kind of described, which I'm sure the people listening are
hearing, is the parallels between, so you're working with the team, right?

So it isn't just you.

If the team as a whole isn't meeting those expectations, then you're failing because,
especially in the news, it's a 24-hour cycle these days.

So whatever happened yesterday doesn't matter.

It's what happens today and the next day.

Every day is a new day for you.

It's not a

I mean, you build a reputation and a brand, but that can change in a heartbeat.

And it's just like being in business is if you're running whatever business you own or
work in, that changes too, if you're not working at it every day.

And I think what you said is fascinating that, you you used the word journalist a couple
of times, and I don't know that people consider that you're standing in front of them

telling the weather, but.

it's much more, right?

As you're looking at the weather models all the time and you know, tell me about what's
the biggest weather event that you ever covered?

Hurricane Katrina without a doubt.

remember I was very young in my early 20s and I was really I'm a hurricane expert because
I've chased so many that that's one of the crazy storm elements of me.

I love chasing hurricanes and so I had experience in college and in my lower 20s and I
remember my station the NBC affiliate at the time said we're sending you to Hattiesburg

and down into southern Louisiana.

They it was a smaller station so they didn't have

The personnel, if you will, and they needed round the clock coverage.

And they just didn't have the staffing because smaller stations just don't have the
staffing that larger stations do.

So they sent me and I will never forget that experience.

Changed my life.

And I remember Tammy, this is something interesting too that I just thought of off the top
of my head.

Our job is to serve viewers, right?

And provide them with life-saving information.

That's the most important

thing meteorologists do and I remember saying to the viewers

And I really thought this that the TV station was going to fall.

I mean, not the station, the tower was going to fall on the TV station.

And I said, folks, look, if we go silent for a minute, I promise you we're going to get
back up and running as quick as we can to provide you with information, but no doubt about

it.

And it's not just being on TV.

It's really connecting with those people when you are off the camera and hearing their
story and their journey.

And I just remember.

remember everybody coming together in that Hurricane Katrina situation.

It was miserable.

It really was.

um And we, you know, when the hurricane had kind of come and land, I remember work, it
slowed down and we thought it was over.

And I was at a restaurant, lucky enough to have power.

And then we saw the levees break and it was like...

I was with my producer and I was like, oh my gosh.

I mean, it was just a moment that is inconceivable.

um so there's no hesitation, Hurricane Katrina.

Yeah, that's probably, we have some viewers that are outside the country, so I don't know
that that would make, I think if we're in the United States, we all know that, right?

It was such a big weather event, even in this area, we had a lot of people that lost their
homes and ended up here because they just gave up, I don't want to live in the zone

anymore, I'm just done with it, so they ended up moving, and we absorbed, I think a lot of
those folks come into this area.

So is that the longest shift you ever worked?

I'm always amazed.

I don't

actually watch local news because I don't have the channels that get me that.

But whenever there's a weather event, guess what I do?

I go online and I pull up, I pull up a live broadcast so I can see what's happening.

So I know if there's a tornado, because we live in an area here where we don't have
basements for the most part.

I don't have a basement.

So I'm like, you know, where do I need to be?

Is there going to be a tornado in my backyard?

I need to be prepared if I need to be in a, you know, cubby hole somewhere.

So how

what does that look like?

Yeah, and I will backtrack for a little.

Yeah.

the global people that are outside of the United States, I was not working, uh but I was
headed to London.

It was my first trip to actually get out of America.

I was so excited.

And I don't know if you remember or not, but there was a volcano uh that blew up or
erupted and spewed all this ash.

mean, massive uh eruption.

And I remember we had to land

in Holland, Amsterdam.

I'll never forget this.

Thankfully, my buddy at the time, had uh some family who lived in Holland, which I was
really lucky about that.

But air travel across Europe, I believe it was three days where air travel was grounded
because of this eruption.

So for your global audience, if anybody was a part of that, you definitely know what I'm
talking about.

So I wasn't working, but I'll never forget that.

And that's a weather event too.

um Not the traditional meteorology, but

the environment and the way the planet works, it's all tied together.

uh So I forget the question, but I just wanted to say that for our global audience.

the longest shift you ever had to work and now you because you said you were working
around the clock for Katrina and I know if that was the longest one you ever because I

when I'm tuning in I'm thinking to myself these people are on like

And they're saying the thing that strikes me the most is how many times you're saying the
same thing over and over and over because you have to keep everybody because that storm is

coming across and you need to let everybody in the front of it know do you need to be in
your cubby hole somewhere, you know, and that's so you're constantly saying the same

things over again.

So what was that event for you?

Yeah, that was Hurricane Harvey when it came.

into Texas and believe it or not, the weather, our weather patterns are changing and
hurricanes are staying stronger now further inland.

And so Hurricane Harvey, when it went through, when it came through Southeast Texas,
caused all that rain.

I remember there was 31 tornado warnings in a 27 hour stretch.

And when it's a tornado warning, you are wall to wall.

I mean, you have to keep talking, like you said, repeating yourself.

So 31 tornado warnings.

27 hours and I remember being at the station that entire time.

I had to take a break to be honest with you.

I mean, I had to try to sleep an hour ice storms when they go on.

And here's another thing.

I mean, stations now are just breaking news.

It's just it's always a fight.

They're extending it longer, but I would say probably 48 hours where I was at the station.

Hurricane Katrina was a week now.

It wasn't, you know, on air for.

Yeah.

I would say to answer your question, I'm trying to think here, um probably 24 hours an
entire day.

Yeah.

that you're on camera and talking, engaging people and warning them, know, which is the
biggest thing is.

The only time I see the weather, I shouldn't say that, I look at the weather every day
because I have dogs and they are big and they are furry and I do not want to be, I do not

want to be in the rain with big furry dogs and plus one is terrified of thunderstorms.

So I am always, I feel like a junior meteorologist every day.

I'm looking at the weather going, we should be walking between here and here.

yes.

Yeah.

And the dogs, they do.

You always have to plan your day and time when it's time for them to go out.

And you're like, let me look at the radar.

So I definitely relate to that.

Well, and one of my dogs is like, we know when a storm is coming because he must feel the
pressure change and he immediately gets very clingy.

And you know, you're suddenly, I mean, he's 136 pound dog and he's terrified of storms.

So when he comes by you, lays down and starts slobbering, you know there's a storm coming.

Like it looks like it's sunny out.

No, there's a storm coming.

Yeah, I've got a German Shepherd.

Interesting mix.

I have a German Shepherd and a Pomeranian.

Now the funny thing is the German Shepherd is freaked out about storms and is doing the
same thing that you're talking about.

My Pomeranian, she just sitting outside like enjoying it, which is so weird.

But yeah, dogs have that sick sense of when weather is coming.

Like you said, pressure changing.

And so I do.

I do watch animals.

Animals really know about the weather.

Even even bird patterns.

I mean, I'm fortunate enough to be able to look

outside, live along the Mississippi River, and it's a microclimate of its own, uh meaning
just there's different weather here on the island versus what there is in the city of

Memphis.

But you watch birds and how they freak out or how they plan and they change their
patterns, uh and they know.

Well, they're flying in the sky.

They see the clouds too.

But yeah, animals have this sixth sense, if you will, about weather and it is real.

so watch animals next time you're thinking of is a storm coming?

Because you'll see, I'll see people jogging and you'll see it lightning.

And it's like, what are these people doing?

And so I'm watching that, not the sky, but the animals and what they're doing.

And they have that sixth sense.

So watch animals.

Yeah, so you shouldn't be jogging during a rainstorm.

With an umbrella.

yeah, yeah.

I mean, it's just not smart.

Come on.

You know, little bit of logic here.

We did have a lightning strike a couple of weeks ago down here and it, know, thankfully
the people weren't home.

uh Firefighters were awesome.

They got the animals out or the dog out.

We're just talking about animals.

uh And so you know what I'm freaked out most about with weather?

And that is lightning.

you know, for all of our, if you're watching, listening, don't mess around with lightning.

I can't predict where it's going to strike.

Nobody can, to the like precise home or apartment, um, don't mess around with lightning.

I tell kids all the time and it really, this is for adults too.

When thunder roars go indoors, it's a cliche.

We say it all the time, but people can remember that.

I don't mess around with lightning.

It freaks me out.

Okay, awesome.

So what did being in television teach you about credibility and trust?

it taught me everything.

And like you were saying, look, it takes one split second to lose trust.

And it takes years to build up trust and a reputation.

You have to know that.

You have to know that you say one thing.

This is another reason there's pressure.

You say one thing and your reputation, your trust is gone and you can't get it back.

people will remember.

And so that was, this is always the number one thing.

And I really, and even now, I, you know, I want people to trust me, you know, you want to
maintain a reputation.

And when you're in the media, it doesn't matter if you're on TV or not, when you're in the
media working at a station, anybody can make up anything about you, right?

But you literally, you go to a Grizzlies game or something and it's the way you walk.

It's like, Oh my gosh, you know, somebody's looking at me.

What are they going to say?

That's another reason it's stressful.

to dinner, know?

mean, people looking at you and all this stuff.

It's a tough job.

It really is tough job.

Reputation is huge.

Well, and that's a celebrity thing, Is that you don't necessarily think your weatherman
has celebrity, but they do, weather person, woman, whatever.

uh And I think that that's a, I went out with my uncle, he lives in uh Indiana at the time
he did.

we went, he was in the Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, yeah, market.

and we went out some places for dinner and people are coming over and I'm like, this isn't
my uncle, but to me, but everybody's like, oh, there he is.

It becomes a whole thing.

And so now you're living your life.

Imagine everybody listening if everything you said and everything you did in your business
was being broadcast.

It makes for a stressful environment when you have to be careful, everything you say, how
you show up, but guess what?

everything you do and say on social media is the same because it only takes a minute for
you to say the wrong thing in any place and become part of a problem.

That is so true.

I, you know, one thing that I started telling kids and now, like you just said, mean,
adults, anybody, any business uh owner, POP, the acronym POP, post only positives.

Um, and, and you can, you're safe.

You just never know.

Um, always think before you post business owners.

you know, you have to do social media to be a successful, uh, business owner.

You are, well, maybe not everybody.

but most people have to do it.

ah And so post-summit positives, I would give that advice to any business owner.

Yeah, love that.

So forensic meteorology.

So for everyone listening that has no idea what that is, give us a little background.

What does that mean?

Yeah, so basically, you know, I was a forecaster, right?

uh And now I'm a hindcaster.

What the heck does that mean?

ah You know, I mean, really, it's basically a weather detective.

There's only probably a few hundred of us in the country.

uh In the United States, there's not many.

So what I do basically, all right, let's say there's a car accident, right?

uh I'm thinking of a case, Michigan, and the two parties, they wreck, right?

One person says it was raining.

Another person says, nope, it was sunny.

Well, it occurred over an area that, you know, it was really in a rural area and people
tend to forget.

They have their own memories about weather and the cases I'm dealing with, mainly
attorneys or my clients, insurance companies, individuals as well, but

People have their own memory of what the weather was on a certain day.

And normally, the other person disagrees.

Of course, of course.

It was raining.

wasn't.

um So that was on an individual level.

you know, I'm.

Of course, you're the host here.

asked me the questions, but forensic meteorology in business is big and it's becoming
bigger because storms are becoming stronger.

And you wouldn't believe the amount of money that are involved in some of these cases.

And really, to be honest with you, forensic meteorologists are not that expensive when you
look at the big picture of what a case actually could go one way

or one way or the other, because if something goes to a jury, you never know what's gonna
happen.

Doesn't matter how good you present things.

When at the end of the day, it's up to the jury to decide, you know, what they're gonna
do.

And nobody can predict that.

I don't care how good of an attorney or a meteorologist you are, it's not a jury, anything
can happen.

Yeah, the thing that sprang to mind when you were talking about that is Tracy Morgan and
the Walmart truck.

And I don't know if that was weather really.

I don't know any, don't remember any of the details of it, but let's just say there was
weather involved.

And I think he got millions of dollars from, know, he was in an accident with a, with, I
think it was Walmart.

I won't swear to that, but I'm pretty sure that's what it was, but he won a very big case.

um

So I'm imagining that that is, you know, if we throw weather into the mix, then that can
be pretty important where you come in.

So you're the expert witness.

So what does it take to become an expert witness?

Part of what it takes is I was really fortunate to be able to leverage the career that I
had because as an expert witness, you have to be able to explain complex meteorology

topics in a...

to a non-technical audience, a jury, a judge, a counsel, you're in a legal setting.

If I were to sit and tell you about the jet stream maxes and all this, and I wasn't able
to tell you what that meant, or uh let's just say bring it to a lay person that's not a

meteorologist, you are not going to be very successful.

So my television oh experience has allowed me to be able to communicate

uh complex meteorology topics in a non-technical way.

And I would say that's one of the biggest challenges of being an expert witness, really,
uh to be honest with you.

And so I was fortunate enough to be in TV to develop those communication skills.

oh And you you just try to talk like we're talking right now and keep it simple.

Well, you the interesting thing is we're all an expert witness in our own business, but a
lot of us don't speak that plain language that is necessary to communicate what we do.

And I think that that's a revelation I just had while we're sitting here is that, you
know, if you're not able and I hear this all the time when I'm in a chapter where there

are.

you know, people who work in IT as a good example is they tend to talk about all these
high level things that nobody has any idea what they are.

And in their mind, they know exactly what it is because that's what they do, but they
don't communicate it to the lay person.

maybe that's a, you need a, you, what's that show, tell it to a 10 year old or a five year
old, whatever the age is.

If a five year old can understand what you do, then you're speaking the right language.

But if you're speaking to them and they look at you like you're crazy,

or at all, then you may have a problem with your marketing and your commercials about what
you're doing if they're not reaching everybody.

You're exactly right.

Everybody's an expert when it comes to their own business.

And if you cannot communicate that um to potential clients, then you're not going to have
as many.

And you're so right.

I think that's such a good point to any business owner listening um is communicate what
you do, what your service is.

Because if I don't know what you do and how you're going to help me, I'm not going to
know.

Yeah, and if you didn't...

somebody else or so you lose a client.

think a lot of people uh miss that mark uh messaging.

uh It's messaging marketing uh so important for business success.

uh so if yeah, if you haven't done that and most people, maybe most people have it or some
people have it.

uh Yeah, I would definitely definitely encourage you to uh think about that.

uh Maybe this week or maybe whenever you're listening to this podcast, whenever you

hear it.

You know, just try it and what's go wrong, right?

Yeah.

Well, and if you're, you didn't catch the previous podcast episode, Jim Rosemary was the
guest.

He talked about your benefits.

You know, you should really be talking about the benefits that you bring, not, you know,
what you do.

And that's a great also follow up to this one to, build on that.

So you're to build on something, let's build it to talk about trust.

how do your clients

Yeah, I mean, a lot of it's reputation, a lot of it's communication.

It's an interview and most of my work, I'll be honest with you, is I would say a lot of my
work is outside of the state of Tennessee where I live.

so you have an interview and the client, they interview you and they get a feel.

You tell them about your successes.

I talk about my successes and I think most people can look through some

somebody and be like, I don't know about that person.

They seem to be blowing smoke.

basically just talking to the clients and saying, look, if you hire me, I'm working for
you.

uh You're paying me.

I think reputation, people talk in litigation and the attorney industry.

They talk more than you think they do on both sides, plaintiffs and defense.

And so just building up reputation and trust.

working your hardest, the client, my father-in-law, ultimate business guy in my opinion,
uh he tells me, he's like, look, the client's always right.

The customer's always right.

Now there's one thing I will tell you in my business where the client is not always right.

uh I had a client ask me to remove the uncertainty in data limitations in a forensic
report.

And I said, I'm sorry, I cannot do that.

That goes against the pressure.

principles of what I'm doing.

So you can have your money back.

I'll give you your money back.

I'm not taking that out of my report.

That's part of ethics for an expert witness to do.

And ultimately, um he came around and said, okay, yeah, we'll leave it in the report.

I said, yes, we will.

Otherwise, you know, find another expert.

Right, which there aren't that many of, which is good for you.

Well, yeah, there's not many.

That's true.

How do attorneys find you typically today?

Yeah, well, you know, you and I were just talking social media.

know, I work, you know, as a business owner, this is another thing, as a business owner, I
found out that I work harder as a business owner than I did in television.

You know, and you can get so addicted to work that you have to stop sometimes and balance
yourself and balance your family.

Sometimes my wife says on the weekend, you know, turn your computer off, just put it down.

But I would say social media,

Blogging is huge.

There are expert witness directories that you can pay for.

I've got something that's coming up that's really exciting.

I can't talk about it right now, but it's a partnership with a business where we're...

looking to actually do some matching because let's say somebody in California has a fire
case and they have no clue about me, right?

But if I market, if we start to match needs uh for a case, um then you can really get some
visibility.

But I'm always on social media blogging.

It's amazing.

And Tammy, look, these algorithms now,

I'm just talking social media with artificial intelligence.

It is hard to stay at that top.

Google could have changed their algorithm this morning.

I'm not calling out Google.

I have no idea.

I haven't checked yet.

That's another thing I do every morning.

What has changed?

What has changed to where I'm going to rank?

uh And that's a big, big part of my job.

I don't love it, but it's something not just for my business and industry.

but everybody, you gotta keep up now.

It is more challenging than ever to keep up.

If you're not paying attention, you have to stay awake.

even on weekends, I try to keep up.

it's hard, it's really hard.

Awesome.

All right, so want to transition a little bit.

em One thing that's become obvious as we're talking is your business isn't built
necessarily on transactions.

It's really built on expertise, trust, credibility, all the things we've been talking
about, right?

So kind of brings us to networking.

So let's talk about BNI um and the challenge of being what...

Some will call a unicorn.

So you were in a chapter, you kind of have a unicorn kind of business because there's
really not anybody doing what you're doing, right?

It's unique.

And there are other unicorns and lots of chapters.

like to think of, I don't like to think of it this way, but business coaches, which is
what I am, are kind of unicorns because it's hard for people to define.

What I do is different from the business coach in the next chapter and so on and so forth.

And there aren't that many of us.

Why?

What originally attracted you to BNI?

Yeah, I had look networking.

Really, I had it and by the way, your business coach and yeah, you didn't you get a 100 %
on this Clifton uh score?

always.

That amazed me.

That's a tough test.

um Yeah, so P and I um literally I had coffee with a guy um and you know we were he was a.

financial guy, I'm a meteorologist, know, I'm two different um industries.

And he said, have you ever heard of BNI?

And I said, no, I haven't.

I have no idea what BNI is.

And he said, you should try it out.

You should go to a local chapter.

And I did.

And some of the business lessons that, I loved my chapter and some of the business, the
number one lesson I learned because I went in to BNI thinking, okay, it's time to get

clients.

I'm in BNI now.

Give me my clients.

It's not how it works.

uh Givers gain is the number one thing that I remember in BNI, that lesson uh that went
into my head.

And I guess my point is,

relationships.

You develop relationships first.

You don't look for what can I gain.

um Givers gain, that always works out.

I have noticed that.

&I taught me that.

so relationships, givers gain, the rest will take care of itself.

Okay, so did you, what did you hope before you kind of knew what it was, what did you hope
it would do for your business?

Well, I hoped it would grow my business.

And that was really why I got in.

right?

Yeah.

Most people do that, right?

Yeah.

BNI really did because it taught me how to, a lot of people don't like networking.

I love it.

I used to hate it.

It used to intimidate me, but I love networking.

And that's really the power of BNI, right?

Networking and referrals.

I saw how it works.

And I will tell you that uh the person who comes to paint my house or the person who comes
to fix my HVAC, uh

almost all people are from BNI because I trust them, right?

You know, we're talking about trust and you develop this trust in these relationships.

And so most of the, that's still a deal with BNI people all the time.

They do most of my work to be honest with web stuff.

mean, all kinds of stuff.

do feel like they immediately understood what you did?

No.

uh That is uh probably one of the most complex uh challenges that I faced was that 30
second elevator pitch that BNI does.

boy, that really taught me how to explain what you did.

Nobody really knows, to be honest with you.

And look, don't know, there may be more than a few hundred in the country, I'm not sure.

But if you look at the data, generally two, 300 people,

do this on a full-time basis.

ah So BNI taught me that, but nobody knew what it was.

uh My 30, what is it, 30 minute presentation.

uh

did it.

It was 30.

ah You know, I think people started to understand and really found curiosity and really
were trying, trying so hard to get me clients.

And that's why I BNI.

We're in it together, right?

We're in it to grow our businesses.

And uh one thing about BNI I love also is the uh I in BNI, business networking
international.

I mean, what, what, what

What kind of other organization allows you to tap in to resources where you can connect
with people globally?

I really, as oh my last few months at BNI, I started to utilize those online resources and
I encourage any business owner listening, if you are a BNI member or if you're not, take

advantage of those resources, the speed networking that they do.

There's so many resources at BNI and it did help me.

those speed networking events.

I actually got a client out of that.

um And so take advantage of everything BNI has to offer.

Awesome.

So do you feel like some professions are easier to refer than others?

Absolutely.

I certainly I do.

um Yes.

To answer your question, because I would see the success stories all the time in BNI.

And, um you know, it's just like, oh, you know, hey, you know, I got a guy who knows this,
this lady and, you know, this person and, you know, just seeing that power um each week.

It was exciting.

It's a lot easier than what I do.

Yeah.

I mean, I

I would say ah definitely um it's a lot easier for some industries than others.

Yeah, and looking back, what do you think were your biggest challenges working in that
framework, so to speak?

Yeah, the biggest challenges were to figure out who needs my services, right?

And, and I, I loved my chapter because everybody tried so hard to get me clients.

mean, really, really, really hard.

Um, and, so just trying to connect me with attorneys, um, insurance professionals.

Look, I'm, hey, look, there are people, there are attorneys and insurance professionals
that have no clue what a forensic meteorologist is.

Which I found crazy.

ah But some of my friends that were insurance agents didn't know what it was.

And so, you know, that's a challenge.

It's a real challenge.

It taught me a lot.

Yeah, one of the things I notice is that a lot of members network what I'm going to call
horizontally.

They're primarily looking for opportunities with the people in the room sitting around
them.

Does that resonate with your experience?

Okay.

um And as a BNI member, need, you know, somebody can say, well, I know this person.

You have to follow up that if I don't follow up, then it's not the person's fault who's
referring me to somebody else.

You know, it's not like it's a bad referral.

I have to follow up.

I have to intentionally say, yes, let's meet for coffee.

Let's talk one-on-one um and have that, you know, relationship building because they've
handed it off to you.

your job to close a deal as far as you know a business transaction so yeah that's that's
huge.

Yeah, and I think that that horizontal networking uh sometimes, know, if you're kind of
just horizontally looking within the chapter, you're asking for who you need within the

people that you meet, you you're seeing every week.

Some professions like yours, maybe mine, um others that they require maybe a more
strategic approach to a vertical kind of process.

So you're hitting different people in different ways.

Do you feel like that might be

might have been true for your business.

That kind of included you, but.

Yeah, no, no, definitely, definitely it's true.

It's not just horizontally, it's vertically as well.

you know, when I think vertically, think, OK, I think I think social media, to be honest,
I think my website, right?

I'm thinking who can see my website because that's how a lot of people find me.

how can how can look at the end of the day, forensic meteorologists were competitors.

We go up against each other in court.

You know, we're experts.

witnesses at the end of the day were friends as well.

You know, so it's like, uh you're trying to provide valuable content where you can rank
high.

um And you have to be very careful because I have to stay in my meteorological lane.

You know, when it comes down to litigation, I can't overstep and act like an engineer.

I'm not an expert.

I'm not an engineer expert.

I've got to remain in my expert lane.

And so, yeah.

horizontally, vertically, any approach for me.

Yeah.

Perfect.

Well, so you ultimately left BNI.

Do you feel like it didn't necessarily, was the challenge of it that you were maybe not
looking at a strategy for how to work BNI outside of just the people in the room

potentially?

Yeah, that's a great question.

And I would say yes.

And in fact, I've even thought about, you know, re-entering BNI.

because my last few months of, would say of BNI were the best.

And they were the best because I started to, I mean, like I said earlier, I don't want to
beat this horse, you know, to death or whatever.

But really taking advantage of the resources.

You know, because we're most BNI members, we're thinking, all right, we meet on a certain
day, a certain chapter.

We go do our other thing, right?

And we do our referrals, you know, our CEUs, all that kind of stuff.

But the resources and the speed networking, I was like, maybe I should stay in this.

it just, you know, it was one of those things where it just.

It wasn't, uh you know, people step out of BNI all the time.

And I've seen people come back.

uh So it's, you know, just one of those things that I just, and it's interesting that I'm
sitting here saying I didn't have time for BNI.

But.

At that time, I didn't have time to be at a certain place every morning and find
substitutes.

And I did not want to go against that because I'm like, okay, if I'm not doing it, then
it's not benefiting the chapter and it's not benefiting me.

For sure.

So I want to, we're going to take a little journey here in a minute, but what advice would
you give another business owner who feels like they are a unicorn in BNI?

Yeah, just, hey, don't worry about failure.

Everybody's, you're going to fail as a business.

And what you do is you learn from your failures and you you fail, you get knocked down,
get back up.

It's okay to fail.

It is fine to fail.

I failed two or three times, you know, before success.

Be patient, work hard.

You have to work hard.

And if you don't, you're just not going to grow.

This is my belief, so you can disagree with me.

um

I, I want to say I'm just going to embellish on that because there's a saying, don't work
hard, work smart.

So I want to show you something.

uh So this is a, on this slide, so if you're watching on YouTube, you're going to see, and
if you're not a minute describing, because you can't see it.

But I, because I was preparing for this interview, I did a search inside Connect and I
found

Guess what?

Hundreds of attorneys within BNI.

Because I know that's your top one, right?

So I decided to see what would this landscape actually look like?

um This is just one page.

uh What is your reaction to seeing this?

I love it.

like I was saying, mean, I, you know, just since we have connected, of course we've known
each other, but, you know, connected about this podcast.

I've just started realizing the resources that I had and yeah, connect.

mean, when you're showing me the screen, I want to go sign up again.

It's the power of being I look attorney.

Yeah, I mean it's great.

It's great and I think I think a lot of people Tammy.

I think a lot of people don't utilize this.

as much as they should.

really don't.

At least that was my experience in my chapter and it was my experience.

I only the last couple of months did I see stuff like this and I'm like, wow.

And I did go to another chapter in Colorado and you know, we're all doing the same thing
for each other.

We're helping each other grow.

And I found attorneys there and I was like, my goodness, I went to another chapter.

I found an attorney.

So yes, the power of BNI is really, really amazing.

Well, don't feel bad that you've probably never seen this page because I will bet you lots
of money that if I pulled aside a bunch of BNI members, they would have no idea that this

exists, right?

Because of what I do and how I work, my number one CliftonStrengths is strategy.

um So I normally think about these in Swiacoa trade is because

I understand that there's value in having a plan to, know, think BNI is wonderful for
getting people in a room and teaching them, you know, that there's power in numbers

because that six degrees of separation that we, you know, have that Kevin Bacon game is I
can ask you who, you know, I want to meet so-and-so and you probably are going to be able

to find somebody in between, you know, me and that person if we talk long enough.

And

what people don't recognize is there's more, you know, and I think that they
unintentionally limit themselves to the people sitting in the room.

uh So seeing that now, how might your strategy for networking be different if you had
thought of it in, I know you know that it's a global audience, but would you kind of

seeing this change your uh thought process and how you might approach it, were you to come
back?

100%.

I mean, it's an easy answer.

You're showing me.

just looking at the screen right now, mean, you know, it's, it's almost like, you know, in
businesses, we're always thinking about ROI, right?

Um, and, and so just seeing the screen right now, BNI, really is, is not that expensive.

You know, you get one or two deals and it pays for itself.

You're good.

mean, really.

So just seeing the screen right now, if I connected, all right, we're talking about
connections here.

That, that's what we're talking.

If I connected with one person and there was one transaction done, that pays for 365 days
of BNI.

Just one person.

That's it.

So just seeing that is the power of the connections with BNI.

um As a business coach, you're pretty much telling me, hey, here are the resources.

They're right there in front of your face.

Take advantage of what BNI does.

Yeah.

So and that's just the start, right?

So um there's really a ecosystem that is involved in any referral strategy.

And what do say we take a crack at building yours right now?

Oh, sure.

Absolutely.

I'm game.

I'm down.

Let's do it.

right.

So we talked about attorneys.

I'm going to guess they're specific attorneys within that list, right?

So give me kind of the smattering of a few of them.

Yeah, I'll be honest.

um probably the best connections for me, I see legal and accounting, you know, I mean, I'm
not.

probably matched prime for an accountant.

I'm not an expert in accounting.

ah But when I see anything like um insurance, uh property law, oh, Elliott, personal
injury, if I'm seeing that correctly, personal injury law, Elliott would be a great

contact for me.

Let's see, legal and account, again, accounting, I'm not an expert, I always try to stay
in my lane.

Real estate is another one.

uh Weather and real estate go hand in hand.

um

see business law now, uh business law now, ah but there are several connections there, but
Elliot, let's connect.

I I purposely didn't show people's last names or where they are because we're going to get
John back in BNI so we can figure out how to connect him.

And I'm going to get those referrals.

back in.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, and I'll tell you another thing that.

I was in the green sometimes, but I was also not in the green.

I guess if you don't know BNI, you don't know what I'm talking about.

You've got to have a certain number of CUs and referrals.

And that's the beauty of it, because it keeps you accountable, right?

And that's the beauty of it.

It makes you work to create these connections.

But yes, seeing your screen, I think I've already made up my mind.

Let me get that checkbook.

We don't take checks anymore, but we will take your credit card.

It is not me because I don't, I, you know, I'm not, I'm just a member.

So there's that,

But I do want to open your mind a little bit more because this is what you did is perfect.

What you did is look at that and crossed off who you didn't think was a fit, right?

But what you said earlier was that lawyers talk.

Right?

Lawyers know each other.

um If you're an attorney, you're in an environment where there are others.

You went to school with others.

You probably belong to an association with others.

You might even work in a big office with others.

So they know each other.

So while you're thinking to yourself, they're not a fit for me because they're in legal
and accounting, I think you said was the one that was not.

the estate planning attorney probably knows a...

you know, like somebody who's doing the things that you need.

I wrote down a few more defense attorneys, insurance adjusters, insurance investigators,
which I think are different because I know when I had a car accident, was actually

weather.

Well, technically it wasn't weather related.

It was water related.

I was on my way to a BNI meeting and it was winter time and I was coming down a slight

hill, not very big, the city had, uh they were doing construction in the road and they had
opened up a water main and so the water was pouring, actually this would probably be a

good case for you, it was a long time ago, but the water was streaming down the the spans
of four lanes and nobody knew, this is the mid-south for if you're listening outside the

area, it doesn't usually snow here and it doesn't usually freeze here.

But guess what on that day it was cold enough for ice and so it was black ice and they
were one after the other Coming down and all of a sudden they lost traction and I got

sandwiched between two people I know how to drive because I'm from the north in but nobody
can drive on ice but that the person I Navigated around the people in front of me that

were not doing what they needed to do and I and I went off the side But somebody from
behind

didn't know what to do and slammed into my car, pushed me into another car who had gone
off the side but not hit anything.

So now I became a pancake between two people.

And then another person, there was a police officer, somebody had already called the
police or whatever.

The police car shows up and then he's behind that person and another person spins out,
comes in, hits the police car and another car came.

I mean, it was ridiculous.

I got sandwiched between two, another car hit as I'm videoing.

what's happening to mine, because I want to be in court if I need to have evidence, I've
got it.

And another car spun, turned backwards and slammed into the another.

So my car got hit three different times because of an ice condition, which was the city's,
know, and I didn't have to pay for any of it because I was not at fault.

Actually, two different insurance companies ended up because there was two different cars.

But, you know, I digress and we're running long anyway, and I apologize for that.

rest because that sounds like the perfect case for me.

And first of all, I'm glad you're okay.

uh

I'm glad you're okay, but a lot of, uh, and just tell me to quit talking whenever, but
actually most of my work involves accidents like that, that are years old again, whoever

was involved in the crash, they probably remember it differently.

You, got, and some police reports are different.

That's another thing.

You know, you've got a County report or maybe, and then an ambulance report, they write
down weather conditions, but you know, they're different sometimes.

Everybody has a different memory.

But I'm glad you're okay, but that is that's the that is the type of stuff I deal with.

Yeah.

I also wrote down uh engineering firms, risk management consultants, uh transportation
companies because of just what I just said, right?

Is there, they're out on the road all the time.

uh Accident reconstruction experts because they're the ones like I had the adjuster came
and looked at the car.

I'm sure somebody went to the site and decided, you know, whose fault was this?

I'm sure there were multiples because there were different insurance companies involved.

uh Property damage uh consultants because I know people spin out into, you know, people's
businesses and all the things.

uh Construction litigation attorney.

So if I hit some of them.

yes, you're nailing it.

That's exactly right.

Engineers, I work with accident reconstruction engineers.

I won't say all the time, but certainly there have been several of those where, look, I'm
not an expert in accident reconstruction.

He's not, or she's not an expert meteorology.

Boom, we combine.

yes.

And then we're trying to solve the case objectively.

I don't care what I work for.

I'm going to be objective as possible.

So is any other expert witness.

Yeah, love that.

So if you could intentionally build five relationships from that ecosystem over the next
year, where would you focus?

I would focus on um

As far as individuals and type of what kind of work?

Yeah, I would do engineering like there's engineers that are part of hurricane damage uh
that are that are saying should this house have stood up and 105 mile per hour winds was

an engineered enough, right?

But the engineer doesn't know about meteorology and I do see that in this business and I'm
sure maybe I've crossed my line.

but you have to remain in your lane.

go ahead.

I have an example of that.

Actually, we have a local member who parked his his all of his business stuff, trucks,
equipment, etc.

under one of those um overhang situations.

That's not a garage, but it's meant to be like an open garage, essentially.

So it's open, you know, front and back.

And but it's got a roof on it.

And that collapsed in one of the recent storms that we had.

So that put him.

put him out of business, is because he can't afford, I don't know what his insurance was,
but he can't afford to have all that stuff replaced tomorrow.

um And the insurance takes a minute, and that was a weather-related scenario that I didn't
think of until just now that I could probably connect you to.

That would be great.

But he dropped out of BNI because his renewal was up and he was like, you know what, I
don't even know when I can get my business back up and running.

So I can't afford it.

I don't know how much I'm going have to spend.

So I can't afford to do this and not have a business and all the things.

it was a bad consequence altogether, the perfect bad storm of things.

So go ahead, keep going.

Just give me one more due to time.

Just give me one more you think would be a fit.

Okay.

Okay.

So um were any of those people in your chapter?

Uh, I dealt with?

No, no, they weren't.

But, but they, one of them referred me, um, or no, it wasn't my chapter.

was the speed networking that, that I got referred to an attorney in New York, for a slip
and fall case, a personal injury case.

Again, I'm on both sides, plaintiff and defense.

It's, you know, um, but, but I did, I did get a case out of that, um, from that speed
networking referral.

Yeah, so it sounds like your business isn't a horizontal networking business so much as it
is a vertical networking business, Is we need to look outside and up, you know, different,

BNI provides that structure and there are other ways to do that if you're not in BNI that
you don't have to be.

But you're paying for that structure of people who, know, the givers gain of it, want to
help other people and get referrals and give referrals and so forth.

Would you agree that that's, you're more of a vertical than a, you know, kind of people in
the room are not going to be, you know, you need the people in the room because you said,

I need HVAC, I need whatever, when things go wrong, but the people in the room are not
necessarily connected directly to the people that you need.

Yes, in fact, I feel like I'm being coached and I love it.

Because yes, I haven't thought of that, but you're right.

It's more of a vertical.

I really like that's why you do what you do.

Because I didn't think of that.

yeah, it is more vertical now that I think about it.

And do feel like other people might be misdiagnosing how they need to work the system also
in their networking?

Yes, I do because I can, I can tell you that, I can speak from experience because I did
not even know that verticality, you know, as a business that if you don't like, were

talking about strategy, right?

and, so I like to learn something new every day.

I've learned a lot today about being on this podcast.

so, and YouTube show and wherever it's being broadcast.

Yes.

yeah, think vertically.

I'm thinking vertically right now when we get done.

I have a lot of work to do.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, and it's not uncommon, like I said, is everybody, know, we come in wherever we are,
it doesn't have to be BNI, it can be a chamber event, you belong to a chamber, you know,

whatever chamber you belong to, you go there for the same reason, is I'm hoping to bump
into someone that would be my client, right?

This is my husband and I, I have a little lab strategy, lab networking lab that is, I put
him through it because, you

his approach.

he never thought about it, just like you said, is I walk, I go into an event, I hope to
meet somebody who's my client, and then I call it a day because I do or I don't.

Maybe I got one and that's great.

um But if you walk into your membership, whatever it's in, with a strategy and how you
work it, and is my business a vertical or horizontal, then you're much more likely to be

successful in building those relationships that you're looking for that are going to grow
your

business and then obviously you help support other people.

So would you say this conversation has changed the way you're thinking about it now?

100%.

It absolutely has.

And my mind's going like crazy.

mean, you, you know, if you are vertical like that, uh, and somebody refers you up, you've
got to follow up, uh, on, on that.

And I remember my BNI chapter one, one other thing that I don't know why I thought of this
as you were saying that, but, um, you know, answer your phone.

I mean, so many people don't answer their phone or leave it somewhere.

I have it by my side as much as I can and answer.

phone, could be a client.

Yes, for sure.

And we're running over, but I don't want to, if you've got it, if you can hang with me,
everyone, you included John for a little bit more.

want to go into your Clifton strengths because you've said so many things along the way
that will play out in your strengths.

uh your top five are number one is belief.

You have certain core values that are unchanging.

These values provide direction and a strong sense of purpose.

Number two is analytical.

You search for reasons and causes.

You have the ability to think about

all of the factors that might affect a situation.

Number three is focus.

You can take a direction, follow through and make the corrections necessary to stay on
track.

You prioritize then act.

Your number four is achiever.

You work hard and possess a great deal of stamina.

You take immense satisfaction in being busy and productive and your number five is
arranger.

You are both organized and flexible.

You enjoy figuring out how to align people and resources

to get the best results.

So when you got your results back, what were your thoughts?

My thoughts were that I was really happy about it because, uh I mean, for me, uh it all
starts with my faith and my beliefs.

That's just the way that it is.

And without that, I just don't think I would, well, I wouldn't have direction and I don't
think I would be successful.

Faith first for me, that just is what, that's what works.

that's purpose and the faith, that's number one with me.

Okay, so what really

excited to see that.

didn't know what I was going to get.

I didn't know how bad it might be.

It's not supposed to be bad.

It's supposed to tell you what you're great at, what your natural gifts are.

uh So what stood out to me was that you are heavily concentrated in the executing domain.

So belief, focus, achiever, and arranger are all about getting things done.

Did that resonate with you?

It does resonate with me because if you don't do that, then you know, you have let my
client down.

um So I'm happy to see that.

You have to, your client is.

Number one, mean, you know, when we're talking about business here, well, faith and
purpose, you know, serving the client, the customer is always right.

Unless the customer asks me to compromise my ethics, then the customer's not right.

know, service, you got to serve your customers.

You got to serve your clients and work hard for them.

the belief comes in there too is those core values of I'm not going to compromise my
expert opinion for what your outcome is, what you want your outcome to be is important

because that's number one for you is I'm going to give you what the facts are, so speaking
of facts, two, analytical.

um So how much of forecasting and expert witnessing um work is really about finding the
patterns and separating facts from assumptions?

you

everything.

And it's funny because I don't forecast as much.

People will ask me, what's the weather going to be in Memphis this weekend?

I'm like, I have no clue.

I'm looking at Oregon and what happened at 2021 in this freezing rain event.

So it's really hindcasting now.

I still look at models and stuff, of course.

And I have to keep all my seals and certifications.

But yeah, yeah, hindcasting.

Never thought of me doing that.

All right, and you what I don't see, and it's very likely to be because of some of the
things you've said here today, very likely to be in maybe your top 10 or somewhere close

by.

I don't see any relationship building or influencing themes in your top 10.

um And you said earlier, you love networking and building relationships, so it was
curious, I think because of how your brain is wired, because that's the profession

work in is all about, you know, focusing on the facts and what's happening and so forth.

um Do you think that some professionals struggle in networking because, not because
they're not capable, but because they're trying to maybe network in ways that don't fit

how they're naturally wired?

Absolutely.

mean, look, it's not, I'm not wired to sit behind a computer all day, but that's the work
that I'm doing.

And I forget, you know, I forget you've got to have that balance.

Like you said, chamber, whatever works for you.

Right?

um And so I need to, what I think I've learned today on this podcast is I need, and I love
dealing and working with people, but so much of my

is data and analytics, know, and behind the desk and whatever.

um But yes, yeah, I couldn't agree more and it's made me think.

Yeah, when you have high achievers, they're working all the time.

That's one of the points of an achiever is we, you know, I have high achiever also working
every day.

There's always something to do, something that needs accomplished um and getting to the
top, being the best all kind of tend to fall under those things.

You also have a ranger, you know, which is a lot of the things that you're doing today is
you're in court, you're, you know, looking at the weather patterns, you're trying to grow

your business.

So you're, you know,

I like to think of those as the maestros.

They're kind of organizing all those different things and bringing them all together as
one.

uh Looking back, do you see a connection between what your strengths are and the
networking challenges you might have had?

Yes, I do see that for sure.

And like you're saying, I've never thought about horizontally and vertically.

I never really understood what that meant until today.

But when we get off, I'm still going to do some research on that.

Yeah.

So yes, to answer your question, absolutely.

Well, and I think it's an important point for the listeners is if you're whether you're in
a business that is in the room horizontally makes sense for you know, there's some that

just make you know, the the firm we call finance insurance real estate mortgage, they're
already doing business with each other.

That's a natural fit.

But other people that need to look at that horizontal and really I'm going to argue that's
a lot of people.

It's really everybody because once you kind of work with your chapter, that's the end of
you know, you need more business.

So, you know, looking horizontal.

uh or vertically rather, is what we should all be doing.

So, you know, what your strategy is is going to matter for what your success is.

All right, we're going to do a really quick quick fire, really quick quick fire, and then
we'll call it a day here.

So um just short answers to these questions.

So most challenging weather event to forecast?

Uh, snow in the mid south.

No, I was just going to say, mean, snow in the mid south is, as I would say, my heart is
hurricane.

Uh, that's for me anyway, easier to forecast, uh, than a snow event in the mid south.

from the North, one of the questions I was going to ask, I took it up and I'm going ask it
now anyway, because you brought that up, is why do the store shelves empty every time

there's a snow event potentially coming our way?

There's no bread, no milk.

I'm from the North, where we're like, oh, OK, you know, we're just back to business.

It is amazing to me.

Somebody can mention flurries and then all the bread and milk is gone.

And then somebody thought we had a relationship with a supermarket in town here.

Like we got some kickback if I mentioned snow.

That's not true.

I don't know.

Bread and milk, I'm not sure.

I don't have an answer for you on that one.

I don't even eat bread much.

networking opportunity we need to talk about later.

All right.

Most important networking skill?

of?

I would say confidence and belief in yourself.

ah You know, I mean, if you don't believe in yourself and you don't have confidence in
yourself, who is going to believe in you?

Respect yourself also.

Perfect.

And best business advice you've ever received?

to, to, that the client is always right.

And again, my father-in-law is the epitome of business success.

Uh, and that's what he is ingrained in me.

Alright, finish the sentence, the future belongs to people who...

who stay true to their core, oh their mission, their purpose.

uh And like you said, there's no, and I did say working harder, oh it is working smarter,
oh but you have to work hard to work smart, if that makes sense, to learn how to be more

efficient and work smarter.

or hire a coach.

Sorry, plug.

All right.

So you spent your career forecasting the weather.

If you were forecasting the next five years for your business, what do you see coming?

I see a lot of challenges coming.

I see a lot more need for what I do because people are just now understanding.

think some of the people are just now understanding what I do and the value I can provide.

Look, let me give you some numbers real quick.

I know we're running long, but.

If you've got a case that's billions of dollars, right?

um And it could go one way or the other because a forensic meteorologist is involved.

I said billions with a B.

The ROI is going to pay off.

If you don't have that and you don't have that expert, then you might have lost a billion
dollar case.

Yeah, crazy.

Well, this was such a fascinating conversation, John.

Thank you so much for being here.

Oh, thank you for having me.

Awesome.

All right, and you know, one of the things I've loved about this conversation is how it
really highlights a reality that I see all the time in coaching is not every business

should not work the same way.

Some businesses thrive through broad relationship building.

Others require a much more intentional strategy built around a specific ecosystem.

So if you've ever felt like a unicorn in BNI or your business em and you've struggled
to...

you know, explain what you do or you go to networking events and you're the one that's
standing in the corner not knowing who to talk to or what you should be getting out of

this, then I have, I am in development for the strategic networking lab.

So it's designed to really help professionals identify the right networking strategy for
their business, their strengths and their goals.

And if you are listening, don't forget to A, subscribe if you have not.

um Be like, comment, all the things that help our algorithm go a little farther and then
share it in your chapter or with a business owner who you think might find it interesting.

um And don't forget to give yourself a CEU if you are a BNI member and we'll see you next
time on The Perfect 100.