Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections. An Interview with Nelson Brooks and Michael A Forman
Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable Connections, the podcast where relationships create opportunity and great conversations shape great businesses. I'm your host, Michael Forman. Today's episode is for every entrepreneur who ever wondered, do I have it all figured out before I start?
We'll talk about why building a successful business isn't about having the perfect plan, it's about taking action, building meaningful relationships, creating unforgettable experiences, and embracing the journey. And yes, we'll even dive into a few lessons from Shark Tank. I'd like to welcome to the podcast Nelson Brooks.
He's gonna tell us all about his Shark Tank days, but I'd like you to give us a little bit... Nelson, I'd like you to tell us a little bit, give me the CliffsNote version of how you got where you are today. Sure. Thanks Michael, appreciate you having me on. I'm Nelson Brooks, I'm the founder and chief cabana boy at Cabana Boys Events.
We are a party hosting and bartending company that covers 10 different markets across the country. We service many types of events, have done about 8,000 of them over the last six years. And I started the company in the middle of COVID which probably not the best time to start a hospitality company, but it worked out for me.
And over the last six years, I've really just built the company brick by brick, market by market, party by party. Fortunately, like you mentioned, I was able to go on Shark Tank earlier this year. That was a great experience, which we'll get into, but definitely to answer your question, how I got to where I was, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.
Being in a, a service business in the hospitality industry, it's not easy, right? Every business has its challenges of course, but for us specifically we're dealing with people's perception of our service and people showing up on time, and there's just a lot of variables with private events. It's definitely been a bumpy road, but I'm so grateful for where I'm at.
Being an entrepreneur is a lot of fun. That's where we're at today. Yeah. Being an entrepreneur is fun, yet it's very nerve-wracking as well. I was a I owned a pizzeria, restaurants a Ben & Jerry's ice cream store. I've been through it all. And what you say with people showing up or even showing up on time is a bit of a, a struggle.
But if you have the right people to help, you won't have a problem. Definitely. Okay. Yeah. I agree. You believe a business doesn't require a perfectly written business plan to succeed. How important are relationships compared to planning when building something from the ground up?
Yeah I still don't have a business plan which I, might be kinda risky to admit, but it's not something that I've ever really put in, put pen to paper. I have what we call a BHAG. Some people may have heard of that, a big, hairy, audacious goal. I actually was just kinda refreshing that for myself yesterday.
So I have a vision, I have a mission. I know what I want to accomplish, but getting into the nitty-gritty details of a business plan is just something I've never found the value in doing because, especially as a small business starting from scratch you can't predict the future, and you...
There's gonna be a lot of things that change, right? I think it was Mike Tyson says everybody has a plan until they get hit in the face, right? And that's what being an entrepreneur is all about. You can have a plan, but it's not gonna go a- according to plan. There will be curve balls and twists and turns to it.
For me, it was more so about action and really just taking that initiative and, going for it. I think that people can kinda get stuck in paralysis by analysis, and I definitely wanted to avoid that. Yeah, a- absolutely. I've found even with my brick-and-mortar businesses once you put pen to paper and make your business plan, it changes.
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And it... So the change is what are you gonna do? You gonna go back and rewrite it? No. You can have a, a, an outline where you want to go, but you're absolutely right. I never put much faith into putting it down on paper either. Yeah. Okay. Some entrepreneurs wait until everything is perfect before they launch.
Others start with conviction and learn as they go. Which approach creates stronger leaders and why?
It's I don't think either one is wrong. For me in my experience like I said at the top of the, the interview, like I created a hospitality in a time where every other hospitality company was laying people off or closing altogether. I did it in a different way, right? You think hospitality is like restaurants and hotels, and for us it's private events in their home, and so I had to g- get creative.
But the part of the reason that I was successful is I did form those relationships early on, and I had partners that either directly f- referred me business, I referred them business, or we did co-marketing together in some way. And I definitely would not be where I'm at today without those partner, early partnerships.
Like I formed a pretty strong partner ecosystem at the beginning, which definitely was that jumping off point or the launching pad for us early on. It's the type of thing where you need... if you create a, a business in a vacuum, like you don't know how, where it could go, right?
You don't have partners or hopefully you have customers, you have to pay the bills. But those partner relationships are definitely very helpful. Yeah. You need... you can't really have yes-men around you. You need somebody with different points of view- Definitely ... so you can actually see outside your bubble and say okay this may not work, but it may.
Let me hear everything you got." Yeah. And you as the owner would have to make that decision. But you don't get anywhere by having, six guys around you and saying, "That's great." "That's great, Nelson. That's a great idea. Oh do, do that again, Nelson." Yeah. So it goes beyond.
Definitely. You've cr- What was that? Was that a doorbell? What was that? Sorry about that. I'll make sure that's off. There we go. You've built a career around creating unforgettable moments. Do you think the most successful people intentionally create memorable experiences rather than simply memorable products?
Short answer is yes. When you think about the, the shining example is Apple, right? Apple's not really a product company. They make products, but they are more about convenience and ease of use and changing the way that people interact with technology, right? Yes, and they've done that through this and the computer that I'm on right now and, several other things in this room.
But it's more about the experience that is, they provide. There's been plenty of copycats or, people who try to make a phone similar to an iPhone. IPhones, in the US at least, is by far the most popular phone , and it's because it's, the experience of using it is so much better, I would think, for, at least in my opinion, than any other.
And so those entrepreneurs that are creating memorable experiences are definitely more successful in my opinion than those making memorable products, right? A product can be great, but if nobody remembers how they felt when using it a week later or a year later, it's pretty, gonna be pretty short-lived.
Yeah. It's true. You... I go across the country and I speak about networking, communication and everything like that, and I always try to bring out the feeling that everybody will get. That, "Oh, I g- I gotta remember that," or "Did you hear what he said? Because I have to write that down."
No, if I give give away a product, they'll say, "Oh, that's nice," and they'll put it in a drawer and they'll forget about it. Yeah. But the memory of what I'm doing, that, that goes a long way. When people back when people look back on their careers, do you think they'll remember the milestones that they've achieved or people whose lives they've impacted along the way?
Yeah. I think about this a lot. I have goals, right? And a lot of them are money-related, make X number of dollars or hit this revenue target. And it's good to have goals for sure. But when you think about it, let's say that your goal is hitting a million dollars in revenue, okay? You hit it, now what?
And that, that's, y- you need to continue to move the ball forward and raise the standard of course, but you hit your goal and then what? I think it's more important to take a look back, and for us it's how many thousands of people that we've helped celebrate a great time or the memories that they're making.
And when they have a bachelorette party, how much longer after the bachelorette party they're talking about the time they had with the CabanaBoyz. That to me is much more important than the dollars, that are in my QuickBooks , right? It's the, every time I get a five-star review about- Us being the highlight of their weekend or how great our team was.
That, the money's important 'cause it is a business, but it's more about the experiences, the memories that we create. Everybody's different though. A lot of people can be, they can work in a job or start a company where they don't really care as much about that customer experience and its memories, and that's, doesn't make them a bad person or anything.
They just have different motivations. But for me it's more about the experience that we're creating and if you provide a great customer experience, the dollars will follow, right? It may take some time but they definitely will follow. Good. Good. Networking is often viewed as expanding your opportunities.
Have you found the greatest opportunities usually come from serving people well before asking for anything in return? This is one that I honestly I struggle with a little bit. And it's when-- For part of our business, we do a lot of bachelorette parties, which are usually once in a lifetime type of events, right?
People usually don't have multiple bachelorette parties. And so that means that we are oftentimes a one-time purchase versus, groceries or a, an iPhone you might buy every week or every year or every couple years. And for us it's more once in a lifetime. And I've struggled to build like community around that, where I'm like offering people value before asking for something.
Because at the end of the day I wanna get that booking, right? I want that, that reservation to be placed where, for their party. And so how do you really build that community and add value to them without asking for the sale? That's honestly something I, I still struggle with. But depending on your industry, there are ways to do it, and you can't always be asking them to book or to buy or to check out.
People's attention spans are really limited. Everybody is asking them to book and buy and check out. And if you're slowly building that community and adding value without asking for a sale subconsciously, I think that's more effective. So something I need to work on transparently, but some people do a really great job at it.
Yes. Someti- something that I work on constantly is I educate and I teach people about networking and communication. Within the networking arena I always have them give value first. I always have them give something like, "Oh look what you're giving me." W- why are you doing this? Because you have to build that relationship.
You talked about starting in, in the pandemic, and prior to the pandemic, networking was really transactional. I have a widget, you have $3. Give me the $3, I give you the widget, and I build my customer list, and we're done. But post-tran- post pandemic, it became more relational.
Yeah. And that's where you had to give a little before you got a little. Yeah, I'm a part of an entrepreneur group, and one of their kinda, I don't know if it's part of their company values or what, but one of their statements they say is everybody needs to have a go-giver mentality. Not a go-getter- Bob Burg
go-giver. Bob Burg wrote the book- Okay ... Go-Giver. Oh, there you go. And, I didn't know it was that, but- Yep. Bob B- as a matter of fact, I had him on one, on, on a podcast of mine. Oh, nice. And you have to go with what's called a servant's heart. Yep. Yeah. You have to look to serve, look to give before you receive.
Yep. Yeah, it's a great way to be, a great characteristic of somebody, especially an entrepreneur. It is. It is. Okay, you've talked about Shark Tank. Beyond the investment and the pitch, what lessons about trust, communication, and human behavior do you think entrepreneurs often miss?
Directly from my Shark Tank experience? Okay. Either way. Is that what you're asking, or just in general? In general. Yeah. Yeah, I think, Human, I'll start with the human behavior one. I think that people what we talked about already, people want experiences, especially Gen Z and younger people.
They're more willing to spend on things that create memories versus physical items. Luxury goods and alcohol and, those sorts of things are falling because they're not quite as popular with the younger demographic, whereas younger people are spending on trips and events and things like that, which definitely helps our business, by the way.
But as far as trust goes, that's something that I do wanna pat myself on the back. If you look at our company just at a quick glance, it's oh, you send guys to a party to help them celebrate. It's like, okay that, that's sounds like it could be just a, couple guys in, frat guys in college just making this kind of random business, and I've done...
I feel like I've done a really good job at building trust with our audience, whether it be on Shark Tank and getting that credibility or, obviously being backed by Kendra Scott, an investor, or it's all the Google reviews online. People want to buy from companies that stand for something and that have a track record.
If, you're spending five, $600 with this company, and there's no reviews, and there's no press, and there's not... You're not really able to find much about them it's gonna be a lot harder for you to get that sale. Those trust metrics are important for sure. And also just learning about your customer and what they're interested in so you can shape your offer to those, those interests and behaviors.
We keep going back to Shark Tank. Yeah. What, what product did you have on Shark Tank? So it was my service, the Cabana Boy's party hosting and bartending. It was not a physical product, which was pretty unique for Shark Tank. Most of Shark Tank's pitches are products. There's not a lot of experiences or services that are on there.
And to me I think I got a deal because people saw the value, specifically Kendra Scott saw the value in that. She understood the importance of creating a fun experience for your customer and creating those, helping them create those memories, and that's why she invested. Products, they're important, but there's a lot of them out there
But it's more about creating those memories for people. Good. Good. Every entrepreneur hears the word no. What separates the people who allow rejection to define them from those who use it to refine them? Yeah. That's... I feel like entrepreneurs, the, the best ones are the ones who are resilient, and they're gritty, and they use those nos as fuel to the fire.
You will hear, if you listen to- A lot of podcasts talk about this, where they have an entrepreneur on and that entrepreneur pitched to a bunch of different, venture capital firms, and they heard no 84 times. But at the 85th one, they said yes, and now they're this, $20 billion company or whatever.
Entrepreneurs are a different breed in that sense that most people will- would have stopped at no number two, three, four, or five, right? They wouldn't have made it to 84. But when you have that conviction and you believe what you're building will make an impact on the world, like, no amount of nos is- are gonna, stop you.
I think that's... I'm very, blessed to be a part of that community where I don't like to hear no. Nobody really does. But every time I have, it's like, "Okay, how do I turn it into a yes?" Maybe not with that person who is saying no, but how do I take it, change my offer, change what I'm doing, circumvent that no and eventually achieve what I'm trying to achieve?
Great. Okay. If someone wants to build both a successful company and a meaningful life, how should they define success before they ever define profit? That's gon- that's gonna be a different answer for everybody, right? I think you really have to look internally at what you feel like is successful.
This is something actually I've gone through an evolution of in the last couple years. I have a daughter, she just turned one a couple months ago, and I've always, been a very been a, a go-getter. Like I, I always want to succeed and make a lot of money and, do big things. And since I had my daughter, I'm like, "Is that always the most important thing?"
And to me, like I'm already successful because I have this beautiful child in my life, right? And I have a great wife. I have a stepson as well who's amazing. And the monetary reward and hitting these revenue targets, I still want them, right? It's still a goal of mine, but I just feel like I am not quite as like bloodthirsty and do it at all costs as I once was because, I've already made it in some way, and so everybody's different though. Like some people don't want kids, some people do want all that money, and again, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just about being able to define what your success metrics are and working very hard to achieve them, even if that means, creating a passive income so you can spend all your time with your kids.
Like that's a great goal. Or if you don't want kids, like making a million dollars or whatever the, the, the monetary goal is, like you just have to be able to be self-aware enough and know what your motivations are Yeah I think the answer is more how old you are- Yeah, definitely
and where in life with your family you are. That work-life balance always comes into it. Yeah. But when I was younger, I would work 16, 18 hours a day to get that money, to get that paycheck, to get that goal. And as I started to have children, I realized that spending the time with my boys and my wife was more important than- Yeah
those goals. So I actually dialed it back. I became a Little League coach, a, a football coach. I was all that. I was there for them dur- while they were growing up, and then I went back into it, so I needed that, that time. Yeah. No, that's- ... that's definitely true, for sure. And, same with me.
Like, when I was 22, fresh out of college, 23, I was working my tail off. Still am working very hard, but like you said, just working long hours, and all I was spending my money on was going out to the bar on the weekend, but now it's like I've got, we're about to buy a house, and, we've got, kids' expenses and sports and family trips.
And there's just different motivations for... you're finding your why, right? And your why definitely evolves as you mature and grow. Ab- absolutely. I... my wife and I were just talking about that if my kids played baseball during the summer, right? And the summer leagues and the all-stars and everything else like that, and if they didn't play that, w- that, that's costing like $5,000 a summer.
So we'd get a new furniture for the house, every su- every year. Yeah. But, things w- things were different. Things changed and we w- thought more about the children than for our own wellbeing. Okay, so let's bring this podcast full circle. Imagine you're mentoring a young e- entrepreneur who's obsessed with creating and scaling a business.
What's the one lesson about relationships and leadership you want them to learn about before they ever make their first million?
You can't do it on your own. Whatever that means to that individual and that business is unique to them. Whether that means finding a great partner in life, wife or husband, whether that means finding a great co-founder or, other partners in your business, whether that means finding a great investor, whether that means finding great partners or mentors to, contribute to your business.
There's a lot of different ways you can build relationships in your life. But if you're out there trying to be a lone wolf and trying to do it by yourself, you will not get as far as you could without a good community around you. Not that you will-- it's impossible to be successful by yourself, but those connections that you make allow you to get so much further because you can delegate work, you can get capital, you can test ideas, you can measure things that...
Or I guess, test and measure things that you maybe thought were the best idea, but there's no market demand for it. Those relationships definitely will help you out significantly Nelson, this was great. You're a great guest. Thank you. I have to tell you really, you got me thinking about when I first began and having the business up through now.
I'm 64 now. My kids are grown and children and everything else. I still have the mindset of business, but- Yeah ... it really makes you think. Nelson, if somebody wants to contact you, either to be mentored by you or to hire you- Yeah ... what's the best way for them to get ahold of you? Yeah, so if you're, if you are an entrepreneur and in the, kind of the events and hospitality space, I do have a consulting arm of my brand.
It's nelsonbrooksconsulting.com. So I can work with you on a, short-term engagement. If you are looking to hire a bartender for an upcoming event you can find us at cocktail-crew.com. We do any type of event, whether that be a wedding, holiday party, b- bachelorette, corporate event. Or if you are doing a bachelorette party, partyhostboys.com.
We operate in 10 different markets across the country, and we'd love to help you celebrate. Great. Here's the biggest takeaway. Successful businesses aren't built on perfect plans. They're built on meaningful relationships, courageous action, and moments people never forget. If you enjoyed this episode, like, follow, and subscribe to Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections for more conversations on networking, communication, leadership, and business growth.
And if episode, if this episode inspired you, share it with an entrepreneur who's waiting for the perfect time to get started. If you're looking for a keynote speaker or executive communication coach to help your team build stronger relationships and turn conversations into business opportunities, visit michaelaforman.com.
So until next time, remember, your greatest opportunity isn't waiting for a perfect plan. It's waiting for you to take the first step and build relationships that make the journey worthwhile. Nelson, thank you again. You're a great guest. Thank you, Michael. Appreciate that.
Hello. I would like to welcome you to the Fusion Alliance Business Expo II. That's right, we're having another networking expo. Now, this one is gonna be even better than the first one in March. This one is October 22nd, held at Ifon Restaurant and Event Center, 6000 Medlock Bridge Parkway, Georgia. Now, this is your chance.
This is your chance to showcase your business, connect with the community, and gain unmatched exposure. This event is designed to highlight your thriving business, and is a must-attend gathering for most local leaders and entrepreneurs. So now, what's, what is there gonna be? First of all, it's free admission to the public, so come one, come all.
There's gonna be a large audience to see your business. You're gonna gain new customers, build your brand, and establish strategic partnerships. So whether you're looking to gain new customers, build your brand, or establish strategic partnerships, Business Expo II is the place to be. Don't miss your chance to be part of this exclusive annual showcase of Johns Creek's best businesses.
Remember, it's October 22nd, remember that, October 22nd, between the hours of 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM. The location, 6000 Medlock Bridge Parkway, Johns Creek. You can go to the website, and it's www.fusionalliance.info, F-U-S-I-O-N-A-L-L-I-A-N-C-E.info. You can get all of it there. You can be a vendor, you can be a sponsor, or if you want, you can just come on and enjoy it.
So come on down, everyone else is gonna be there, and just enjoy yourself.
📍 That's a wrap, folks. A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such incredible insights today. And of course, a big shout-out to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending your time with us. If you're interested in my digital courses, being coached, or having me come and talk to your company, just go to MichaelAForman.com and fill out the request form.
Remember, networking isn't about being perfect. It's about being present. So take what you've learned today, get out there, and make some meaningful connections. If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who could use a little networking inspiration.
Let's keep the conversation going. You can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website, michaelaforman.com/podcast
Michael is a business networking expert specializing in enhancing professionals' networking and communication skills to drive profitability. As a leading authority in this field, he is highly sought after for his dynamic presentations and workshops. His extensive experience has consistently led to significant improvements in corporate profitability by empowering individuals and organizations to connect more effectively and efficiently.
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