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Let's be honest. Most of us know relationships matter at work, but do we really understand

how to build the kind of trust,

influence, and connection that turns colleagues into collaborators and contacts into champions?

And that's where today's guest comes in. Andy Lapata is one of the world's leading experts

on strategic relationships. He's helped Fortune 500 companies, high growth entrepreneurs,

and professionals in every sector rethink how they build and leverage connection.

If you've ever felt like networking was performative or like you were doing all the right things but not building the right relationships, this episode is for you.

And what I love about this is that it allows you to be authentic and connect genuinely without feeling icky or manipulative

in the process. Because what Andy teaches isn't just about transactional networking. It's about trust,

vulnerability, and playing the long game. So Andy, you've worked with leaders all around the world

on the power of relationships, but I'd love to start with your story personally.

What pulled you into this space? Was it some defining moment that made you realize that this was your lane?

The defining moment was quitting my job, my safe corporate job, to become a freelance writer and my father asking me to come and

help with the new business he'd launched, which happened to be a business network back in 1999.

He launched it in 98.

So it wasn't any great epiphany.

I hadn't even heard the term networking at the time.

And it was really just to use different skills that I'd used in my 20s, which was cold calling,

to start getting local businesses involved in that network.

...