Episode Transcript

Jonaed Iqbal 0:00
How can I make their life easier in some capacity? For me, honestly, I appreciate people who leave out comments. You know, people who show up like that means a lot. Like, hey, you know, I helped you out, and you’re here helping me out, that means a lot. And it’s like that reciprocity.

Chris Villanueva 0:19
Welcome to the Let’s Eat, Grandma Career Warrior Podcast

Chris Villanueva 0:28
And welcome to the Let’s Eat, Grandma Career Warrior Podcast. Have you ever wondered how some people managed to climb the career ladder even without a college degree? Or how about build powerful networks that open doors to top companies like Amazon, Google and Tesla. Today, we’re diving into the secrets of networking success that anyone can use regardless of their educational background.

Chris Villanueva 0:49
We have a special guest who has cracked the code on building a world class network without a degree. His name is Jonaed Iqbal. Jonaed the founder of nodegree.com and the host of the nodegree podcast, where he interviews people without college degrees and has them share their stories that others can follow in their path.

Chris Villanueva 0:49
Jonaed is a career coach and professional resume writer who’s helped many, many candidates, hundreds of candidates, and he has over, oh my gosh, 300 recommendations at the bottom of his LinkedIn profile. Can’t even think of half of the people in my network that don’t even have five so that’s just incredible.

Chris Villanueva 1:25
Jonaed has helped his clients get jobs at interviews at places like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, meta, Spotify, Tesla, Tiktok, many, many more. He is committed to shattering the stigma that college is the only path to success. So let’s get ready to uncover some practical tips.

Chris Villanueva 1:43
We’ll ask about some real life stories here in a bit, because I believe that there’s so much power to storytelling and just hearing some individual anecdotes here, but I want you to feel like you can boost your career and learn some strategies that can help you stand out. So you’re not gonna wanna miss this episode. Without further ado, here’s 335, of the Career Warrior Podcast.

Jonaed Iqbal 2:06
Wow, that was such a good intro. Definitely one of the best intros I’ve ever gotten. So if you’re still listening past that intro, I’m so excited to share how to network without a college degree. And the reason I love talking about this topic is because oftentimes people say, Oh, I’m not going to college for the education, I’m going for the network, right? And that’s the common thing about the MBA, right?

Jonaed Iqbal 2:28
The MBA is like, Oh, I don’t care about the education, I care about the network. But here’s the reality, you’re paying 100,000 200,000 for that network. Think about it. You could build a network way cheaper and way quicker for the people that you want to network with.

Chris Villanueva 2:44
I love that. It’s a great intro. I’m sure you’ve spoken to the same sort of people Jonaed, but the folks who come to your resume servers and they say, Oh, I don’t have the degree. I don’t know how to show it in the resume, or they have this feeling of worry or anxiety that they don’t have the degree as that one thing to unlock the path to the success, but we’re here to tell them, right? That that’s not the only thing that’s going to move them forward. In fact, you’re telling us that no degree, no problem, right?

Jonaed Iqbal 3:12
Yep, definitely. And here’s the thing, if you have the work experience and you’ve done it, it’s not as important. Now, will you lose out on some opportunities? Yes, there’s some companies that are very close minded, some people that are very close minded, but there are plenty of people who actually focus on the experience. And the number one thing I tell people is you cannot focus on a negative you cannot focus on what you don’t have, because you can’t sell that.

Jonaed Iqbal 3:38
You have to focus on what you do have. And it doesn’t matter if you have a degree. Some people are like, Oh, what if this guy has this certification? What if this woman went to this school, or what if they worked at this company? It’s like, you can’t focus on this imaginary individual that has better qualifications than you, because we do that to ourselves, my competition and all that.

Jonaed Iqbal 3:58
What you have to do is, okay, here’s what I bring to the table. Here’s what I’ve done, here’s why you should choose me. When you think about other people and you think about what you don’t have, you’re taking power and strength away from what you do have, and by doing that, you don’t show up as the best version of yourself during the interview.

Chris Villanueva 4:17
I love that. That makes so much sense, and I thought it’d be a great opener to just to ask you here, if you wouldn’t mind sharing some stories, or just a story from personal experience of how the networking led to job opportunity, even without the degree.

Jonaed Iqbal 4:33
Yeah. So I work with so many people, and LinkedIn and Twitter are very underrated tools, and honestly, you can use any platform, because once you build relationships, and once people know your character and your skills, now they can give you intros. So a lot of time when you look at a LinkedIn profile, a lot of people don’t even scroll to the bottom right.

Jonaed Iqbal 4:58
They look at the type of posts you make. They. Look at the types of comments you make. They don’t necessarily close to the bottom. There was one of my workers. She did not have a college degree. I have a virtual events company. Before I started it, we used to hang out in this virtual event place where they’re like couches and all that stuff. You could click and it would just be a zoom call with a nice background.

Jonaed Iqbal 5:18
That’s what it would be nice and she would come in, she would come in on her phone, and then she finally got a laptop and she basically, kind of never had a computer, really, right? She would just use her phone.

Jonaed Iqbal 5:30
But as she got used to it, she learned the technology, she learned the stuff and then we hired her, and she ended up being a lead tech and then after she ended up being a community manager, started managing some discords, and again, she did not have the college degree, but what she did had was she had a willingness to learn.

Jonaed Iqbal 5:47
She asked the right questions, and she did the best, and she took feedback well so and prior to that, she just worked at a grocery store and just different types of odd jobs.

Chris Villanueva 5:59
I love that example. And I’m thinking of so many people, and like, even clients of ours, who have built up these amazing experiences. I mean, like, these 2025, year roles, and like, they’re currently like, CMO or, you know, Chief, whatever, and they still come, they’re still like, gosh, Chris, I don’t have the degree. Like, how should I get past that on my resume? Like, I aren’t thinking to be worried, but it’s like, think about what got you here so far. Think about all of these amazing talents and experiences and things like that. And that’s where it’s at there.

Jonaed Iqbal 6:29
I come across those stories all the time, like, I’m the moderator of this subreddit, and someone with 19 years of experience. He was an engineering manager, he had an associate. He’s like, hey, there are things shaken up at my company. I just want to be prepared. Am I going to have a shot? Can I get another manager role? Do I have to go back to school? And I’m like, What is going back to school? Like this engineering manager who’s worked for 19 years at different engineering companies?

Jonaed Iqbal 6:53
Well, I think it was the same company. What is he going to learn in the last two years of that’s going to be so relevant and so mind blowing, right? And but I come across so many people like some people say, hey, my friends, like a C suite at a startup.

Jonaed Iqbal 7:07
He doesn’t think he could get another job again, because he got lucky and got the college degree and I was like, Look, maybe you got lucky, but even if you get lucky, if you maintain a position and you do it, well, you must be doing a lot of things, right? And here’s how I push back on a lot of people who think that I asked them, What edge is a college kid that just graduated going to have over you, and that really helps them. And when people who are like, Hey, why should I hire someone without a degree for someone’s experience, I’m like, What advantage does someone with no experience coming out of college have over someone with 10 plus years who solves the problems that you want to do. And at the end of the day, you hire someone because they can do the job. Yeah, everything else is a bonus.

Chris Villanueva 7:47
For the record, I’m not here to rip on your degrees all like, that’s not the purpose of this episode. Definitely, I myself have a degree, but for me, I came out of college thinking I was hot shit. I was like, they learned that I did not know, and it’s the experience that propelled me and gave me everything that I have today. And, you know, the degree set a really good background, and I met some awesome people that helped build a network to start this company, yet at the same time, like, I look back in the last 1015, years, and it’s like, it’s the experience that that got me there, and every single thing that I have, all those opportunities that I have today. So that’s my stance. I feel like I have to share.

Jonaed Iqbal 8:27
And you know my stance too, like I’m the founder of nodegree.com so people expect me to be anti degree. No, I’m pro education, and I’m anti the cost. Because look there, if you’re getting a good price, you’re going to a good college. I’m a big fan of state schools. I’m a big fan of community colleges. I’m a big fan of people who are choosing degrees because they know exactly what they want to get out of it.

Jonaed Iqbal 8:49
I’m not a fan of or people who are charged 5060, 70k and they walk out with so much debt. You know, they’re walking out some the average student loan debt is like, I think somewhere in the a little about 30k but there are people who have 40, 5060, 7080, 100 plus, 200 plus. And I find it very predatory, because it’s not like the professors are getting the money, right.

Jonaed Iqbal 9:09
Yeah, money’s not going there. And it’s like, think about it. If you’re paying 200k for an education, you can literally go up to each professor as like, Hey, dude, can I pay you like, 2k to coach me privately, you can get the same education one on one. So it’s, it’s just the it’s really unfair how it’s done.

Chris Villanueva 9:27
It’s predatory. You’re right, that’s a good word. Yeah, I think, like my wife, she’s still man, it’s TMI here, but we’re here, here to be open and conversational. But you know, my wife got these crazy mean calls from debt collectors saying, like, you gotta pay. You gotta pay, just like the school would pass it on to these debt collection agencies. And it’s just like, there’s that is what we don’t realize that we find ourselves in in the beginning when we’re about to sign up for the college, we’re all excited about it, and then it’s just like, you’re, you’re left with that sometimes at the end, and it’s really, it’s. Because it’s hurtful, yeah.

Jonaed Iqbal 10:01
And a lot of times when you have like this 80k in debt, you think, Oh, if I get 100k job, I’ll be able to pay it off, like, two, three years. And it’s like, no, if you get 100k job after taxes, maybe, let’s say you get 70k so you’re hitting a little about 5k a month. But a lot of times these jobs are in cities that you have to pay decent rent in.

Jonaed Iqbal 10:19
So now you’re paying rent, you’re paying all these bills. So let’s say your expenses are 4k a month, right? That’s 48k even if you’re super cheap, you can save 20 to 30k maybe 40k a year. But that’s if you’re super cheap, if you’re not super cheap, and you’re having to pay these things, it can take several years. And you know, there are people who are taking 1020, 30 plus years to kind of paying off. So I’m just all about there are many forms of learning. Learning is more accessible than ever. Just figure out that which path is right for you.

Chris Villanueva 10:51
True. Thank you. So let’s talk about how to build a world class network. I love your approach to networking. I think that’s one of the best things to focus on for this episode here. So what are some key strategies that people can think about and how to build a world class network, even if they don’t have the degree.

Jonaed Iqbal 11:08
So one thing I would say is, if you’re in a city, meetups. Before this podcast episode, I went to a meetup and I met some people. I actually met one of my friends that I know already, and I know him from LinkedIn, and I see him on regular meetups, and I went to the meetup because he told me about it. And then follow up too many people don’t understand.

Jonaed Iqbal 11:28
The fortune is actually, in the follow up, you’ll meet three, four or five people, but the only ones that matter are the ones I actually follow up with, or the ones that actually hit me up. I would say, use online that different platforms, like, I’ve met people through Twitter, I’ve met people through LinkedIn, I met people through Tiktok and all that. But let’s do LinkedIn, because it’s a professional network, and let’s do that.

Jonaed Iqbal 11:48
So when I started on LinkedIn, this is five and a half years ago, I used to do 100 comments a day, and now these comments weren’t, like, amazing. Thanks, cool. And I would say I would refrain away from the AI comments, because your goal is to build relationships.

Chris Villanueva 12:04
Right? Yes, from using AI to create comments is what you’re saying.

Jonaed Iqbal 12:08
Yeah, don’t use AI. Look, maybe you need an idea, maybe grammar checker and all that. But use your own voice, because when you network and when they meet you, if you sound totally different, and you’re not saying in a world where rocket mode, monkey and stuff in person, people are gonna be confused.

Jonaed Iqbal 12:24
So I used to do 100 comments a day. I did it for months and months. That thing has still benefited me to this day, people still assume I do 100 comments a day. So even if I do 20 comments a day now, it still has that impact, like yo genea, does that guy that comment? Yeah.

Jonaed Iqbal 12:41
Now what happens is some people will comment back, right when I start creating content, some people comment back. And people like, Yo, this is tonight, and your headline goes across. So your my headline says, nodegree.com, your thing says the, Let’s Eat Grandma. I’m like, What’s What is this eating? Grandma? I gotta go check this guy out. He has a good personality, but he’s eating grandma’s What is this?

Jonaed Iqbal 13:01
So you want to leave comments. So if you’re a product manager, you’re whatever put have good headline, then people will view your profile, people will check you out. And people will be like, Hey, Chris, what are you up to? I like your podcast and use this. And then let’s say you listen to Chris’s podcast. So be like, Hey, Chris, I’m a big fan of your show.

Jonaed Iqbal 13:18
I really love. And then now it’s like, wow, thanks. Like, when people message me into like, wow. Like, I’m like, Oh my God, you listen to like, I got, I have over 300,000 downloads, but I’m like, still, every person, every note is, is special. So it’s like, those type of things. And you keep doing it, then you start getting on calls, and then you ask for intros to other people, like, hey, you know what? I’m trying to break.

Jonaed Iqbal 13:39
I’m trying to learn more about this. Yeah, do you have anybody who would, who you should intro me to? And you keep doing that, and that’s how you do it online. I can also share how you do it in person.

Chris Villanueva 13:49
Yeah, let’s, let’s go to in person one second. But I just have to echo and just the brilliance behind LinkedIn and how much opportunity there is there?

Chris Villanueva 13:57
Yes, headlines are so important, because sometimes it’s your picture, and their headline is the only thing that they see. And that could spark that curiosity to get people into that. And second, I just want to say, like, the commenting on someone’s material, on someone’s content, is way more powerful than, let’s say, just blanking, shooting out a bunch of soliciting connection requests. And I get those all the time, like, just like, hey, I’m here.

Chris Villanueva 14:22
I see that you have this, and I’m like, it comes across as, like, I want to sell you something immediately, but a comment from the value forward, the value first approach that you’re you’re laying out just makes so much more sense to me.

Jonaed Iqbal 14:33
Yeah. And you know, it’s crazy that I have 44,000 followers, but I’m still friends with the first 2000 that first 2000 Yeah, I’m friends with them. Like one of them taught me how to write resumes. He taught me how to increase prices. And I’ve stayed at their houses. Like when I go to Canada, I can meet these people.

Jonaed Iqbal 14:53
They’ve met me on this side of the world. And so that first 2000 will just help you in so many ways. And what I say is. Thoughtful comments show that you read your post, leave something, leave a different perspective, further add on, and then you never know. Sometimes it’s not even the poster.

Jonaed Iqbal 15:09
Someone else reads that comment and they like it, right? Yeah? And keep doing that, and you’re gonna say it pays dividends, yeah, years down, like I’ve met people on Twitter. I’ve met people way bigger than me, and it’s just interesting because it just all started through comments.

Chris Villanueva 15:24
We just had Maya Grossman on the last podcast.

Jonaed Iqbal 15:26
I know her. See, I know her from LinkedIn. We hopped on a call years ago.

Chris Villanueva 15:30
Case in point, and like she was, we’re talking about the same thing. It’s like, LinkedIn, how to build a connection. And she her approach was really interesting. It’s like, think very carefully about the people who are in the position that you want to be in, like, maybe it’s like, one or two steps ahead of you, and reach out again. You’re not selling something.

Chris Villanueva 15:49
You’re not asking for a job. That’s really important, not in the very first message to ask for a job, but to ask for advice. You know, conversational advice on how they’ve gotten their position, wondering if you have anything to add to that, or other approaches for reaching out cold.

Jonaed Iqbal 16:06
Yeah. So here’s what I’ll say, don’t ask a question that takes a long time to answer. So for example, just because a question you asked is very simple, it has complex answers. So if you’re going to ask for advice, ask for specific advice, be like, Hey, how’d you become a product manager in payments?

Jonaed Iqbal 16:26
What thing did you do versus how did you become product manager? Then it’s like an hour long story. Like, yo, I did Yes, I did that. So what I would say is, and also, before that, search them up, look at their posts, look at their blogs, see if they’ve been on any podcast listen to them. So then when you ask, you don’t ask the same questions that I get asked all day long.

Chris Villanueva 16:46
Truth.

Jonaed Iqbal 16:47
Right? And then the other thing I want to say is, you the reason you don’t ask for a job, because if someone asked me for a job, I’m not, like, Yes, I’m this job store, and I’ve been sitting on this job for three months. I didn’t know who to get. Thank you so much. So here is this job.

Jonaed Iqbal 17:08
That’s not it. The fact is, when I get a job, I’m gonna go to my network. I may be like, Hey, Chris, do you know anyone who’s looking for for this, right? But, like, I know someone who’s hiring for that. So the fact is, you need to build relationships with people, so that when they get jobs, they think of you. And that’s why you need to be very specific about what you’re looking for, and you need to be targeted, and you need to be engaged. And I would say, depending on who you reach out to, if you’re reaching out to someone like me, engage with me a few times.

Jonaed Iqbal 17:34
Then reach out if you’re engaging with someone who has like, you know, maybe one to 5000 followers. Hey, few comments, you’re good. If you’re engaging with someone who’s like, 100k you’re gonna need to build more relationships. Their inboxes are crazy, because they’re getting so much in sales that they’re gonna be like, Look, I’m really busy. Like, and same thing, if someone just newly interacts with me, I’ll be like, Hey, are you looking for free or free advice or something? I’d be like, free advice.

Jonaed Iqbal 17:55
Go to a podcast, paid advice. Here’s how it worked. However, if someone has interacted with me for some time and they’re supporting me, I’ll be like, cool. I’m more than happy to hop on an intro call and answer some initial questions within reason. So it’s all about you have to think about who you’re going for and the value need to bring and open yourself in their shoes like art is their inbox. Crazy.

Jonaed Iqbal 18:15
How much time like the other day last week, I spent three hours answering comments from my post and the comments I missed for like, the last two to three weeks, and then, like, that’s how long it takes. You know, these things take time.

Chris Villanueva 18:30
Yeah, it absolutely does take time. It’s not something you can have like a quick hack or, you know, people are tempted to just use AI, which AI is the most lovely tool ever. I use it every day, but not to build those human connections and relationships. So you put in the time, you put in the effort.

Chris Villanueva 18:46
That’s an inspiration for me, man. So that’s awesome. One thing I’ll echo on before asking you about in person. Yeah, I love the fact that you said we’re not job. Can’t just hand out jobs. I’m not Chris jobs. I’m not a I’m not a job Jonaed, but I had this one person who reached out to me for an informational interview, which basically is the concept we’re talking about, which is, you solicit advice.

Chris Villanueva 19:10
It’s not anything else, but the person just, she was a really smart young lady. She just asked me the question like, do you know anyone who I should talk to? It’s like a really simple question at the very end of the 30 minute conversation, and just a light bulb went off in my head.

Chris Villanueva 19:26
I put her in touch with the person who I knew in my own community, and eventually that led to her getting contract work with that person who gladly hired her. So you are right. Just being open minded, not so like, Oh, this is the person that’s gonna get me the job. No, just like, Who else do you have? Like, is there anyone else who you recommend I can speak to so.

Jonaed Iqbal 19:45
And one piece, you know what? I’ll save this piece after the in person.

Chris Villanueva 19:50
Okay, okay, well, I’ll remember that so I could make sure you hit it. But let’s talk about in person, though. Because, okay, I think LinkedIn is genius. Some people have an inversion to online. Some. Times I do, it can stress me out. It seems like you don’t have that problem. Jonaed, yeah, but what about the people who just want to truly use in person networking as their their go to.

Jonaed Iqbal 20:10
And here’s the thing, I think you should always use both, because I use online to meet people in person, I use in person to connect them online. So just realize that you have to use both, and if you’re not using both, you’re gonna hurt yourself, because you meet people maybe once every few months year. But I can interact with you all the time.

Jonaed Iqbal 20:29
I can interact with you multiple times, so that when you meet up, it happens and look, we meet, we’re gonna we’re gonna meet up next week. That’s the funny thing. We’re gonna meet up next week, but it’s because of something online. So I would say you have to leverage both, and you have to tie it together, because networking is like this web where you have to connect with us.

Chris Villanueva 20:44
I just have a quick anecdote, like, I hated online, and it’s sometimes it gives me stress and stuff. But back when I was in, like, the dating world, I was like, I’m never gonna freaking get in one of these stupid apps, because I’m so it’s you get lost in the mess. But I met my wife on Tinder, and I hated it with a passion.

Chris Villanueva 21:02
I was like, I’m never gonna get on this stupid app ever again. But it’s funny, because I knew her before, like, just through my high school, which is, again, it’s that in person, but it’s the online to your point, that, you know, brought us together. And it’s like, oh, I have that connection.

Chris Villanueva 21:17
We have the same teachers, blah, blah, blah. But, you know, bringing in some of the dating analogy too, because there’s so many commonalities there. But, bro, I hated online. It was like the the thing that stressed me out so much until I realized it. That’s what brought me, like, one of the best things in my life.

Jonaed Iqbal 21:33
Here’s what I’ll tell people. I know why you hate online. We hate the traditional thing that Tinder is used for. So you hate what it’s marketed as, but just realize that even within all apps, there are corners that act differently. There are people who use gender in a way that you don’t hate it, just like how you use it.

Jonaed Iqbal 21:50
So I tell people to approach it like, Yes, I hate the general concept, but here’s how I will use it. Because the beauty is, you can use it however you want. So now let’s go in person. So people say they go to get an MBA for the network, right? And let’s say you’re like, you got a cheap MBA ADK.

Jonaed Iqbal 22:05
Now what I’ll say is one of the best pieces of networking advice is find one person say, hey, I really like what you’re doing. I’m really trying to grow in my career. Would you be open to meeting up for dinner next week? It’s on me. And look, this is something that you could do, like a $50 let’s say $100 because things are expensive. So $100 you do that once a week, you’re spending 5200 in a year. You do that for four years. You’re still only spending 20k I guarantee you, you’ll get better than a 20k ROI from that.

Chris Villanueva 22:37
Love that. How come I’ve never heard that before in my life? Like just a dinner, just a dinner once a week, and it’s exponentially cheaper, yeah, than the degree there. Yeah.

Jonaed Iqbal 22:46
You know why you haven’t heard it? Because they don’t teach that. They tell you, come to our MBA and then come meet the people. But this way, like, look, I’m busy. But if someone’s cool and they tell me, like, Hey, I’m trying to break into product. I’m a founder who’s looking to XYZ, the dinner’s on me, you know, whatever restaurant like, you know. And if you have a budget, just be like, hey, you know, I have a budget of $100 you know, just because most you know, you don’t want someone wreck up.

Jonaed Iqbal 23:11
You’re built at 500 right? But this is a great way that you can meet a lot of people, yeah, and just follow up. And the ones you really connect with it just you start off so differently because I meet so many people, network, they don’t follow up, and I’m busy, and it’s like, Yo, I’m not trying to do all this. But if something’s like, offer me dinner 100% now look, you have to be a little mindful if you’re a woman, and you have to be mindful of safety reasons.

Jonaed Iqbal 23:33
So if you don’t feel comfortable and all that at any point, feel free to pull out, but use this get intros and friend from that dinner. Just be like, Hey, do you know anybody else who I could be talked to dinners on me. I’d really appreciate it. And how you want to connect this, the one piece that you have to connect this, sure, is networking is not about yourself, it’s about others.

Jonaed Iqbal 23:53
Yes, we do it for ourself, but you have to do it for others. What I have found is the more I give, the more I receive truth. However, you have to give within reason. It’s kind of give, give, give, and you have to get Now, if I gave everyone $1,000 in networking, I’d be phenomenal in networking, right? Everybody would love me this and that. I’m just gonna run out of money by next week, right now.

Jonaed Iqbal 24:20
However, if you’re like, Yo, I can get you Bill Gates, I can get you Mark Zuckerberg, I can get you Michael Phelps on your podcast, right? These are all people without degrees who have done very well for themselves. I mean, Michael Jordan has a degree, but, like, Michael Jordan, are all sourcing it, yeah, hey, but, like, hey, but you just got to pay $1,000 because you got to go to the conference and but you know, if you go in, I know the guy can hook you up. I would pay $1,000 for that, right?

Jonaed Iqbal 24:47
So there are some opportunities and some things that are worth 1000 like, right? You’re going to a conference, you have to pay tickets. But that is worth that ticket price, whatever it is, however, we have limited time and resources. We can’t just go giving out money. Just going to every conference here and there. We have lives to live now, to get around that, you have to find something that you can give that’s low cost to you, but high value to someone else. And oftentimes that’s information.

Jonaed Iqbal 25:14
The right information to the right person at the right time is worth a lot of money. And oftentimes it only takes a message. It only takes maybe five to 10 minutes, and that goes a long way. So I’ll give an example. So one of my clients, he worked at a car dealership. I said, when you network, tell people, Hey, I used to work at a car dealership. If you’re ever buying a car, let me know. I’ll help you negotiate. I’ll tell you how to go through the process. Yeah, when I bought a car, I called him.

Jonaed Iqbal 25:38
He was like, All right, this is exactly what you do. Say you’re gonna put down a deposit. If they tried this, just say no, no, no, and get it done like that, and then meet them. And it worked. I got my car, but in that time frame, he’s saving people 1000s of dollars. He’s saving them hours of headache. So you gotta think about what things do you know a lot about? It could be gardening, yeah, it could be this software. It could be that you know a lot about podcasts.

Jonaed Iqbal 26:00
Like, I know a lot about cameras. I know a lot about microphones. I know a lot about podcasts. I’ll share that info. So, yeah, think about things that you have so much knowledge in share that. Like, for example, another one of my clients got a perfect score on the SAT. So he’s a young kid, so I told him tell parents, like, hey, as he’s networking, just be like, Hey, I got a perfect score on my S A T.

Jonaed Iqbal 26:20
Whenever your kids are studying for the SAT, I can at least guide them and tell them study.

Chris Villanueva 26:23
It’s not even bragging. It’s helping. It’s like, adding value that way. Like, yeah, awesome.

Jonaed Iqbal 26:28
And then simple ones, like, I’ll tell people, Hey, if you’re ever in New York City, like, if you need help, if you need restaurant recommendations, hit me up. Hey, if you’re ever in New York City need help using the subway. Like, hit me up. Like, text me. And the funny thing is, it’s like, they don’t even use me for that.

Jonaed Iqbal 26:43
They’ll just hit me up and say, I’m in New York City. Like, let’s do something. So, yeah, think about this. Like, New York City is a competitive city, but my connections, like, remember me when they come in. So if you’re in these big cities and all that, like, you’d be surprised that. Like, like, I went to Bentonville, Arkansas, and I met one of my friends and he he took me to a great restaurant and all that. Because it’s like, Yes, I can go on TripAdvisor, I can go on Reddit, find these things, but I’d rather ask someone local that I know.

Chris Villanueva 27:07
Yeah, and I have to say, y’all, I mean, Jonaed practices what he preaches. Because the very first, like, when I was meeting with him for the the introduction for this, he, like, we just started spouting about podcast advice, and he started going back and forth, and, like, he had so many gems and words of wisdom on how to boost your podcast and production and all that kind of stuff. And this was like the first, like 10 minutes. So, man, you practice what you preach, which is really awesome about sharing things and helping other people lift their fellow community up. So that’s what we’re about.

Jonaed Iqbal 27:39
Nah, look, I like sharing info, because at the end of the day, if I lift you up, your podcast is better. You know, you have me on as a guest when you’re bigger, and it’s just like a win, win, and then I have you on the guest, but it’s all about, like a rising tide lifts all boats.

Chris Villanueva 27:53
Yeah, and that mentality that you said about, just like it’s about the other person. I think that’s great. Two follow up questions to this. The first follow up question is about the follow up. You said the fortunes in the follow up. So for one, what recommendations do you have about how to follow up after a networking event or situation? The second question I’ll ask is about common mistakes people are making when it comes to networking. But let’s, let’s hear first about the follow up.

Jonaed Iqbal 28:19
So you have to think about the context in which you met them and how you would follow up if they gave you advice. Use that advice. So oftentimes, like, I’ll recommend books to people. The people who follow up like, Hey, I bought, you know, picture of them with the book, hey, I bought the book, you know, looking forward to reading. And then they follow up again, saying, like, Hey, here’s what I learned from the book. Thank you so much. I really appreciate this. Do you have any other recommendations? People help those who help themselves.

Jonaed Iqbal 28:44
The thing about careers is, I don’t mind helping you up the mountain. I just don’t want to have you on my back. And that’s what it is that you have to do your work, yeah, to do the things, and then follow up, like, think about, how can I help them, how can I make their life easier in some capacity? For me, honestly, I appreciate people who leave out comments, you know, people who show up like that means a lot.

Jonaed Iqbal 29:10
Like, hey, you know, I helped you out, and you’re here helping me out, that means a lot, and it’s like that reciprocity. So think about how you can make their life easier in any capacity, and that’s why you have to have conversations, and you have to focus on building relationships.

Chris Villanueva 29:26
Yeah, and no AI follow ups there, not like, follow up with this person and just give some generic thing. It’s like, yeah, what was the connection you had during that conversation? What did you talk about? What was the thing that really resonated? It takes really, real work to kind of think about what those things are and to reflect. So.

Jonaed Iqbal 29:43
Yeah, for example, I had someone reach out to me today. He said, Hey, how are you doing? And you know, I’m like, Look, honestly, it’s not easy. Like, it’s tough, like you have a business and stuff, it’s it’s not easy. Like, out here with a million Tiktok followers, rating in money, like, I’m working seven days a week.

Jonaed Iqbal 30:00
Right? I’m doing everything I can to grow the business. He’s like, hey, you know what you should, you know, work like, you know, work less. Focus on your health. And I was like, Look, trust me, I want to be at the gym for like, four or five hours every day. That would be the dream. But, you know, sometimes it’s like, look, we have limited time and resources, and it’s like, we have to make those sacrifices, even though we don’t want to, right? Yeah, there’s only limited time in a day, and then when I went through his activity, he never engaged with any my stuff in six months.