The Power of Referrals: Stefanie Robinson's Journey with BNI

Welcome to Hometown Jax, the podcast that dives into the stories of Jacksonville’s business owners, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. Hosted by Aaron Bacus, each episode uncovers the unique journeys, challenges, and victories of local professionals who shape the city’s economy and culture. Whether you’re a business owner, an aspiring entrepreneur, or someone who loves hearing inspiring success stories, this podcast is for you.

In this episode, we sit down with Stefanie Robinson, a powerhouse in Jacksonville’s business networking scene. As a Managing Director of BNI (Business Network International) and the founder of Flashes of Brilliance, Stefanie shares her incredible journey from corporate life to entrepreneurship. She reveals how she built a thriving network of professionals, the importance of structured networking, and how referrals can be the key to business growth. If you're looking for valuable insights on making connections that count, this is an episode you won’t want to miss!

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;14;29
Unknown
Where are your hosts, Aaron Backus and Jason Kindler? We like to sit down with our guests to hear their journey, their challenges, and how they impact the local community. So grab a seat. Tune in and let's get inspired by Jacksonville's everyday workforce. Welcome to Hometown Jacks.

00;00;14;29 - 00;00;29;26
Unknown
all right. I am super excited to have Stephanie Robinson on the podcast today. Thank you for coming. Stephanie. Come. You get the younger every time I see you. It's amazing. You're so sweet. I'm really glad you came to the office and I am so excited about this topic today.

00;00;29;29 - 00;00;56;06
Unknown
I you've been a member since 2005, managing director since 2015. And you also have your own business flashes of brilliance since 2010. So tell me what being I is. I treat me like I, you know, I started a group, but what is B and I what how do we relay that to the people out there. So Business Network International is all about building your business by referral okay.

00;00;56;11 - 00;01;15;22
Unknown
It's not for everyone. It's tough but we like to say it is network not net sit right. So it's having though a team of people in your back pocket always out there and looking for you. Okay so I was introduced to it 19 years ago. Wow. And basically I had just started a new business, not the one I'm in now, but another one in.

00;01;15;22 - 00;01;37;03
Unknown
A woman said to me, you need to find a BNI chapter. So I looked around, living in Saint Augustine, just finished my career at AT&T and said, well, I don't want to commute, but let me go check one out in Jacksonville. So I did, and it was right by the Avenues Mall and I was like, wow, this all happens before 9 a.m. because the meeting 730 to 9, right?

00;01;37;06 - 00;02;07;00
Unknown
And so I was like, I love this structure. Came from corporate, okay. Love the entrepreneur part because my parents were entrepreneurs and I was like, this is amazing. Went back called the managing director at the time, the owner of the region, and said, so where's the chapter in Saint Augustine? And she said, there isn't one. And I was like, so my option is drive to Jacksonville an hour and 15 minutes, like I just finished doing for, you know, the last ten years of my career.

00;02;07;00 - 00;02;30;05
Unknown
Right? And she was like, yeah. And I was like, no, not doing it. Yeah. And she was like, okay, help me start a chapter. And I was like, well, what is that? You know what do I do? Yeah. And she goes, well, you get some people together. So I will tell you, I was not I was the cheerleader, but I was not the person that said, okay, here's all the people, because I had just finished my career and basically I didn't know a lot of people in Saint Augustine got up every day.

00;02;30;09 - 00;02;57;06
Unknown
I grew up in Neptune Beach, drove to Jacksonville and never changed a lot of my buying habits when I married my husband and moved to Saint Augustine. So I was like, okay, so how do I do this? But I knew I needed doors open in Saint Augustine because I didn't know a lot of people what was interesting is what you just said about you came from the corporate structure of very structured, but you tried to mix it with the entrepreneurial world, and BNI is a perfect match for that.

00;02;57;06 - 00;03;20;01
Unknown
Yes, which is really cool to think about because anybody thinks that entrepreneurs, it's like all over the place right around. Yes, you need to structure to 95% of our members are entrepreneurs. Why? Because they don't want to work for anybody, right? So they don't like rules. They don't like regulations. Being I has policies. But when we show them what the policies mean and why it's important, they're like, okay, I get it now, right, right, right.

00;03;20;01 - 00;03;36;29
Unknown
And so I was like, yeah. So this structure I get out of this meeting, all this is done before 9 a.m.. I mean, I got friends that don't even roll out of bed before ten. Right. And I was like, this is this is crazy. I want to be one of those guys someday. No, I'm I'm up early, but I want to get into the meeting because that's so exciting.

00;03;36;29 - 00;03;59;04
Unknown
On how that works. But let's talk about the founder doctor Meissner. Is he still around? Oh, yeah. Okay. Visionary. Chief visionary. So where is he located now? Lives in Texas. Okay, okay. But basically when he started being in Southern California in 1985, had a family, lost his best client, and he's really sitting at his kitchen table and he thought, what am I going to do?

00;03;59;07 - 00;04;21;00
Unknown
And he had a pad of blue line paper, came up with the idea, thought, okay, people that aren't in conflict with each other, they're going to work together. And he got the 20 people together. So started being a Founders Circle chapter. It's still around in Southern California. And then in that first year, they, you know, other people came to him and said, well, I want what you have, that you filled my category, right?

00;04;21;03 - 00;04;40;28
Unknown
And he said, okay, so we'll start a chapter. That first year they started 20 chapters. Wow. And then he said, the internet happened and, you know, from there we're now in 77 countries worldwide. 77 countries will be in our conference. So we're getting ready to go to national conference. Do you have any idea how many chapters are like thousands?

00;04;41;08 - 00;05;01;19
Unknown
It's like a yeah, 100 and something thousand. Oh my gosh. It's just so it's one guy who started in California to solve his problem. And then it just ballooned after that. And that's and being I started when 1985. So we're so we just celebrated 40 years in January. Wow. And we will celebrate the national conference in the first week of April in Houston.

00;05;01;19 - 00;05;27;24
Unknown
Wow. That is just an amazing success story. I get to think after 40 years, doesn't matter where you go. So you can go to Dubai, you can go to Africa, you can go to Saint Augustine, Florida, and everybody runs the same 20 point agenda. Wow, wow. What a what an incredible story. Well, we're going to explain how this group works because I think that's super important.

00;05;27;24 - 00;05;48;14
Unknown
So tell me about how you form a group and how it works. And passing the referrals and all that good stuff takes. One person calls us and says, I'd like to start a chapter, and then I work with them, and we now have a director of marketing. They work with them. And so the goal is to get to 17 people to charter the chapter.

00;05;48;22 - 00;06;09;10
Unknown
Now, if their categories open, then, you know, we find a, chapter for them to visit. Since Covid, we have three options. We have online chapters, we have hybrids. So first chapter, first meeting the month in person and the rest is online of the best of both worlds. Yeah. And then we have our original the way it was designed, which is in person every week.

00;06;09;10 - 00;06;30;20
Unknown
Okay. So you you have gone full virtual if they choose to in the chapter. Yeah. So you know when when Covid hit I mean we were told online and so we you know, that is one thing I will say about being in Northeast Florida. We went all full force and said, okay, I had no leadership. Teams pull back on me and they said, tell me what to do.

00;06;30;20 - 00;06;49;03
Unknown
It's a lot of us didn't even know what zoom was. Yeah, right. Yeah. And so we just jumped online, said, okay, we'll do this. And that year we still our numbers were way high. And, 2024 by Northeast Florida ended number one in the United States. Well, I hundred and 87 I know you're always getting awards for that.

00;06;49;03 - 00;07;08;05
Unknown
I was I was talking to one of my coworkers about that. So the makeup of the chapter is there. So there's one person for every category so that there could be multiple categories you like, you talked about earlier. There's chapters with 100 members in there. So what is the category. So there's one lone officer. There's one real estate agent.

00;07;08;05 - 00;07;35;16
Unknown
There's a Hvac like is that so. Normally our chapters start with what we call the firm CRM Financial Advisor insurance which now means personal means insurance Medicare specialist health insurance under 65. And, you know, commercial insurance, residential real estate and then mortgage. And those are the categories that are pretty much filled in every chapter. So a lot of those are the ones that come to us and say, I want to start a chapter.

00;07;35;18 - 00;07;52;23
Unknown
And then after that it's everything, because those are the hardest spots to get in, because everybody that's the most and everybody understands in those industries that you really have to build your business by referral. So if you if I get a mortgage from you, unless I'm an investor, I'm probably not getting any more mortgage from you for a while.

00;07;52;23 - 00;08;13;26
Unknown
Right. But I got to keep meeting new people. So how how is that? That's having a group of people that you meet with every week, getting to know you and trusting you and then introducing them to the people that they know. So if you figure an average chapter's 20 members, and then you figure most people know at least 250 people, you do the math.

00;08;13;26 - 00;08;41;12
Unknown
But those are the options of how many people you have now exponentially opened your network to in order to grow your business. What I loved about it when I was in it, and I did start a chapter, with some other folks, is it just puts you in a whole different group of networking versus in my mortgage world, we're always networking with realtors and builders, and this just put you into a whole nother set of people that you would have never met before.

00;08;41;13 - 00;08;57;17
Unknown
Well, and it really comes down to who do people know, right. Give you an example. Yesterday I was at around one of our round tables, and this gentleman, this member says to me, you're not going to believe it. I finally got the I he's been in by nine years, okay. And he and he always he pretty much pretty much asked for the same opening.

00;08;57;17 - 00;09;16;13
Unknown
Yeah. It's got promotional products and he says, I got it. I go, where'd you get this? And he goes, I finally got that referral I was looking for. And I said, that's awesome. I said, who introduced you? He goes, a member of my chapter. Her husband works for the company. He made the introduction and he goes, I've gotten two orders so far.

00;09;16;15 - 00;09;37;00
Unknown
And her category is very, very different from his. You would never think the two would introduce each other, right? But it's who do you know trusting the person, seeing them every week, getting to know them. And then we have people, you know, that join B and I and that say, you know, I'm so busy that I can't get out there in network, but these are my people, right?

00;09;37;01 - 00;09;52;10
Unknown
And I want people that are going to trust, that are going to treat my clients the way I want them to be. You know, when you were in B and, you know, you needed a pressure washer, you needed this, you needed a dentist. All of these categories were pretty much in your back pocket in your chapter. They're not in your chapter.

00;09;52;10 - 00;10;13;18
Unknown
They're in the region. Right? You've gotten to know them through different ways. We have round tables. We now have you can discount blow you away. We now have 1067 members. Wow. In North Florida in north and by northeast Florida. So in 2024 or 2014 when I met you, yeah, we probably had, I don't know, 300. And so my gosh, well that's a testament to you.

00;10;13;19 - 00;10;33;26
Unknown
You're you're leading the charge on that. I think it's really cool to go now. We've described what a chapter looks like. It's got different categories. Just visualize this kind of a circle with different categories on it. And every week you have a meeting okay. And it's not a willy nilly. Oh come on I can it is. You're required to be there.

00;10;33;26 - 00;10;51;12
Unknown
So let's talk about the requirement for attendance. And what do you do if you can't attend. So we do have a substitute program. But obviously the members want to see the members. Right. So it truly is a time on your calendar like this is my set time. So if somebody said, you know, Aaron, can you meet with me?

00;10;51;17 - 00;11;10;04
Unknown
I can, but I have a standing appointment on Wednesday at this time. And you have to see that there's times that you work on your business and in your business. So when you're at your chapter meeting, you're working in your business, right? Because you're getting to know people. They're going to introduce you to other people they know. So in that 90 minute meeting, you follow the 20 point agenda.

00;11;10;06 - 00;11;29;09
Unknown
You'll see referrals pass money generated. You have an opportunity to do a one minute about your business. And then there's two featured speakers each week. So that rotates out amongst the members. But it's, you know, again, having people that in your back pocket when your client needs something, you want that to be a great experience for them, right?

00;11;29;09 - 00;11;49;12
Unknown
Your reputation's on the line when you pass a referral. And so being able to have people in your back pocket that will treat your clients the way you want them treated makes you look like gold. Absolutely. And I think it's kind of a weird mix of professionalism and peer pressure because literally you're you're meeting with the people every day.

00;11;49;12 - 00;12;11;10
Unknown
So the your job that you're doing or heard you refer directly reflects on you. So it's that perfect synergy of really doing really good business. After that, you know, I watch people, friends that of course they know I'm in B9 and I can hook them up. But, you know, a storm's approaching and people are concerned and it's like, I watch my being.

00;12;11;10 - 00;12;28;12
Unknown
I'm members. They all have roofers in the chapters. They have people that could help them with screen enclosures. I mean, there's not that panic mode of who would I call, right? We have those people, right? Right. And so that's what you see. You have you have been I members like to use me and I member for sure. Well absolutely.

00;12;28;12 - 00;12;46;22
Unknown
And and we'll get into the tracking too. But let's go back a little bit to the attendance. So your attendance is tracked. And you're required to be there or you're required to have a substitute. And over a period of time, if that's not happening, you may be dismissed from the group. That's kind of out. We do have an attendance policy.

00;12;46;22 - 00;13;03;21
Unknown
Yeah. We say, you know, your three absences in a six month period of time, say, for I woke up today and I have the flu, right? I have a nail on my tire. Right. But most people, you know, they're going on vacation, spring break. Yeah. Everybody's got substitutes, right? B and I members are happy to sub for somebody else or a client.

00;13;03;21 - 00;13;27;28
Unknown
Right. And they're happy to do that because they, it's the givers gain. So they, get that sub in return. It's all tracked. So you get kind of a, there's kind of a point system, right. Kind of is I, we do have a tracking system. Yeah. If you ask me, what's one thing that sets being apart from other network organizations, it's going to be the fact that as a business owner, you can track referrals, you can track money generated.

00;13;27;28 - 00;13;46;25
Unknown
So when you look back and you say, well, I'm going to spend an hour and a half of this meeting, is it worth my time? Yes, because you can track it. Such a good point because your normal networking is showing up to an event, talking to many people as you can not remember and who you talked to, getting some business cards, following up and it really doesn't.

00;13;46;25 - 00;14;03;07
Unknown
Materials, not network is very important, don't get me wrong. But it's loose. It's not track. That's the value of being I. It's very track. So I wanted to go back to what you said in the meeting. So when you come to the meeting you need to come prepared. So that's talk about talk about that one minute. What does that mean.

00;14;03;12 - 00;14;20;23
Unknown
So first of all the meeting start on time. So you definitely want to get there early especially for our larger chapters. And you'll be signed in at the front desk with the visitor host. You'll be taken around to meet members in your contacts years. People that are working with the same type of clients that you are, but you're not in competition.

00;14;21;02 - 00;14;37;27
Unknown
We wear lanyards so that you can look at the color of the lanyard compared to your contact sphere, and then you're going to be in a 90 minute meeting. You're going to have the opportunity to do a one minute or 30s about your business. And again, meeting in zone time starts on time. So you know exactly what's going to happen.

00;14;38;00 - 00;14;57;15
Unknown
There's really no surprises. And eyes. Well, it's so regimented. And you said that every chapter around the world does it kind of like the Catholic Church I guess. Right. Same thing. Same thing to expect. But what I remember so vividly is there's a timer, right? Yeah. There's no, person that's standing up going two minutes, three minutes.

00;14;57;15 - 00;15;16;11
Unknown
Like, no, no, no, no, that doesn't work like that. Right. They'll eventually the president will stand up. Yes, yes. Because we're times. So we have to keep it, you know. Well we we all know that person that just never stops. So we got to we got to ended at that. But what's really important about is that you're getting a chance to stand up and tell about your business.

00;15;16;11 - 00;15;36;09
Unknown
So, and I know you have some tips and pointers on how that works, but you, you want to get right to the point. What can you do that may be different every week, right? Yes. And the funny thing is, sometimes people will say, there's no way I could do that. There's no way I could stand up in front of, I mean, our largest chapter is 105 members, right?

00;15;36;11 - 00;15;53;01
Unknown
So quick story. We had a gentleman in the chapter. I was in the very beginning and he's like, you know, I went I was a visitor host. I go and I said, this is for you, Tom. This is for you. You're amazing as a salesperson. I can't do it. I go, what do you mean you can't do this?

00;15;53;03 - 00;16;10;09
Unknown
This is this is so you. Right? He goes, I cannot stand up in front of these people. Right? And I was like, why not? And he goes, I get nervous. He goes, I will all all through the whole meeting until they call on me, I will be nervous, I want to throw up. And I was like, all right, we'll fix that.

00;16;10;11 - 00;16;26;23
Unknown
He goes okay if you can fix it I'm all in. So I went to the president and I said, listen, he's going to join. But here's what you're going to have to do. You're gonna have to call on him first because he can't he can't concentrate on anything. And this is some people, they're so nervous. And I said, be you and I will get you through that.

00;16;26;23 - 00;16;45;04
Unknown
You know, you get to talk about your business. So she said, okay, I can do this. I said, okay, here's what here's the plan. I'm gonna call any first every week. And he's like, oh, the members are going to know you're doing that. And she goes, no, they won't even they will not even pay attention. Right, right. So every week she would stand up and she goes, okay, we're time for our weekly presentation.

00;16;45;04 - 00;17;02;29
Unknown
Tom, kick us off. Tom would go and after a while we had to put the buzzer on him because he got so, so good at it, you know, but so nervous. And now you can't stop him from talking. Right. So, you know, there's a lot of people that join for different. Yes. It's all about growing your business. I mean we are laser focused.

00;17;03;06 - 00;17;25;06
Unknown
You know, that is one thing that sets being apart from other networking organizations. You know, you can join the chamber, which is fabulous. We have chamber reps that look into why you can join a nonprofit because that's where your heart strings are. But in BNI is laser focused, like this is what you do. We see you as the professional in the industry that you're in, and that's where we're going to pass referrals to.

00;17;25;08 - 00;17;42;16
Unknown
And I remember that. Then that's one thing that attracted it to me. There wasn't a lot of, oh, well, we're going to do this fundraiser on this. It's like, no, no, no, this is business. We're doing business hour and a half every day. You have speakers that come in and talk about their business, but it's an hour and 30 minutes.

00;17;42;19 - 00;18;01;19
Unknown
You know, start and end. Exactly. So you can go off with your day. And that's very strict. So let's talk about you mentioned a lot of times about how we track the money. So kind of tell me a little bit I don't remember exactly of like I get happy and I connect so much. Know we had we had the app you didn't have you can have the app and yeah it slips.

00;18;01;19 - 00;18;17;12
Unknown
Okay. Well back in the day, we started with the app. So okay, so I'm not that old Stephanie. Come on. Back in the day we had, slips and we had to write it down. But now we have an app and everything, and that's the thing, you know, if you want to go back and track how much. So everybody's putting in referrals.

00;18;17;12 - 00;18;33;01
Unknown
If you were passing me a referral, you and we were in Vienna together, you would put it in the app. I would get it in email saying, oh, Aaron's got a referral for me. You know, I'd contact you and say, hey, how you know, tell me about the client. And then we track it right there. We track how much money is generated.

00;18;33;19 - 00;18;50;03
Unknown
Where are we in the referral process? Because sometimes it can take a while, especially with, like, with, with loans. And, so for the business owner to be able to go back at the end of the month, three months time of renewal, what, you know, how did it work for me? And so we are the only one that has a tracking system, right?

00;18;50;04 - 00;19;11;04
Unknown
So like when you talk about the specific dollar amount like I do loans. So I would assign okay, maybe every loans were $3,000 or whatever it is. And you're consistent with that versus someone that's doing the Hvac. You know, every appointment's worth $100 or whatever it is. And then that's kind of how the money's tabulated. So commission based is different, okay.

00;19;11;08 - 00;19;27;22
Unknown
Because, you know, there's a percentage real estate's different because there's a percentage to the broker. So every industry we have kind of a guideline to kind of help the person, okay. For someone like the roofer I mean, if I was getting a new roof and the bill was 15 grand, I would have 15,000 worth of close business, right?

00;19;27;23 - 00;19;48;04
Unknown
You're my name right? And obviously, I mean, amazing part is we had the most million dollar, givers this past year at conference in November than we've ever had. Wow. And we have one that did 8 million. That means he passed 8 million and closed business to members throughout the year. What? I'm curious, what profession was that person?

00;19;48;04 - 00;20;08;06
Unknown
And so what happened was, another member stood up, asked for a very specific referral. He was able to make that connection for them. And it's the referral that just keeps on giving. And now it's about 3 or 4 people deep. So tier one referral would be I'm going to pass your referral because I want to redo my mortgage.

00;20;08;19 - 00;20;26;01
Unknown
Tier two would be I'm going to introduce you to my friend. She wants a pool, she's going to refi some things. And then my friend had such a great experience with you. Now she's going to introduce you to somebody you no longer your envy. And I, the more the tears go out. And so, you know, again, it just keeps going.

00;20;26;01 - 00;20;51;00
Unknown
I had a, I had a chiropractor one year that told me goes I'm about 12 deep. Wow. By asking my front desk to ask who referred you who any. And he said we made it a game. And we kept tracking, tracking, tracking. And he goes when it got 12 D because I knew B and I was working well, you bring up so many things in my mind because now I remember that how that tier system works and that you literally have businesses.

00;20;51;00 - 00;21;10;27
Unknown
You said the chiropractor like it's in their business plan, all of their employees, everybody like they know about B and I and they know to ask where that leads. So yeah. And even those you know, for instance, we have Salt Life restaurant and in a chapter right. And their servers, if somebody says I'm in B and I, they're kind of trained to go, okay, I'll let Rob know.

00;21;11;04 - 00;21;29;08
Unknown
And you know, they, they keep track of that close business. Yeah. That was cool I so you do have to remember that many people have gotten in the habit now people change their whole business how you know, they'll they'll say, I went to a roundtable. Now I'm going to run an agenda. My sales meetings, you know, just the tips that they learn on business.

00;21;29;08 - 00;21;45;03
Unknown
I mean, going back to after I have a meisner, you know, the founder, he says, you know, we go to college and we get our degrees for our professions, but nobody really tells us how to network. How? I got my license. Great. I hung my shingle out. I'm good. Now what? How do I get them in the door?

00;21;45;03 - 00;22;02;20
Unknown
How do I, you know, go out there and really meet people and make those connections with people? Yeah. And the weekly commitment is really, I think has a lot to do with it, because when I think about some of my best friends, you spend 90 minutes every week with your best friend. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm married.

00;22;02;20 - 00;22;27;29
Unknown
I'm not sure. It's not that what I'm saying. Anything else? Yes, I understand the concept. Time. You know, face to face, belly to belly. That's where you really get the relationship. It. And it needs to be nurtured. And that's what being I does. You know, going back to the tracking, the referrals are required, right? I mean, you need to pass a business that's part of your monthly obligation or I can't remember as quarter of a tracking system, you know, called the power of one.

00;22;27;29 - 00;22;49;05
Unknown
So, you know, the concept is you're really working towards one referral a week doing one, 1 to 1. So meeting outside the chapter, meeting 30 minutes about your business, 30 minutes about my business. So we feel comfortable referring business. One chapter education unit. So we have podcast webinars. Our executive director Tim Roberts, he has his own podcast, The Power of One.

00;22;49;07 - 00;23;09;17
Unknown
And then Ivan has Barry's podcast. And then, so the and then the attendance. So I wanted to hit back on the 1 to 1. So that was a big thing. So you need to have so many 1 to 1. So a 1 to 1 is meeting outside of the chapter for an hour both of you, 30 minutes your business and 30 minutes to the other person's business.

00;23;09;17 - 00;23;28;29
Unknown
We recommend one a week so you get to know. But I mean most members will do more than one a week, so it might be one in their chapter, one outside the chapter. Somebody they met at roundtables, a new member comes into your chapter because now who does that? New connections for me. Right? Right. But yeah, I mean, one the ones are the lifeblood.

00;23;28;29 - 00;23;51;01
Unknown
If you see chapters that do a lot of one to ones, you're going to see high referrals. High referrals mean high close business, which is what you do anyway when you network, whether you're in BNI or not. That's why BNI is such a beautiful thing because it it lays out the roadmap. You know what I mean? Follow this system, do what you and you will make connections and you will get business.

00;23;51;01 - 00;24;10;18
Unknown
I say it's like the gym. So if you bought the membership at the gym and you keep going to McDonald's, guess what? Results aren't going to be what you're looking for, right? But the trainer has a plan for you, right? The DNI has a plan for you to build your business. So if you do the things at B and I says to do, you're going to be successful, you don't have to reinvent the wheel.

00;24;10;18 - 00;24;29;06
Unknown
You don't have to think about it. Just do the things you're supposed to do. Which again goes back to those entrepreneurs. They don't always like to be told what to do, but every single one of them will follow the B and AI system because they see it works. Yes. And I wanted to go back to the point to is every meeting a sheet is passed out that shows all of the results of the chapter.

00;24;29;13 - 00;24;49;29
Unknown
So Farms report. Yep. So they have a roster. They show their their what their activity was the week before for the month. I mean, last year we did 79.9 million and closed business. Well this year we're so our B and I years October 1st to September 30th. So since October 1st the region right now is sitting at about 44 million.

00;24;49;29 - 00;25;11;24
Unknown
Wow. Our goal is 85 million with a stretch goal of 100 million. Wow. So you know I'm looking at 85 million for our by year. And then January 1st to December 30th 31st could we hit the 1 million mark, which is our challenge. Yeah. But we had a chapter last year. One chapter did 18 million. Wow. And you don't you don't accomplish what you don't track.

00;25;11;25 - 00;25;34;17
Unknown
It's just that simple. I mean, that's a business concept all the way from we don't, you know, the, the dirty word in BNI is lead. So we don't pass leads, we pass referrals. So really if I pass in you a referral, they are waiting for your call. I've kind of qualified it for you. I've understood that, that they have a need for a mortgage and that you're going to be able to help them, and I put my stamp of approval on you.

00;25;34;17 - 00;25;51;16
Unknown
So that's going to kind of give you what I call the red carpet going in. And I'm like, this is the guy to use. And here's why. So we train our members like credibility statement like how long you've been in your industry, what sets you apart, why you're passionate about what you do? I mean, I think passion wins out every single year.

00;25;51;16 - 00;26;09;15
Unknown
On what you made a really good point, though. It's not just handing a referral is the person giving the referral is required to set up the person like they already know everything about them before the other person even calls. So I mean, how amazing is that? I mean, that's incredible. So that is so far away from a lead.

00;26;09;15 - 00;26;24;03
Unknown
It's almost like referring one of your best friend just helps. Like, hey, this is my best friend from high school. Let me tell you a little bit about her. And so when you go in there it's like, gosh, I can't believe you and Margie, you've known each other since high school, right? And you're like one of us, right.

00;26;24;03 - 00;26;47;06
Unknown
Because I've set you up to for success. Yeah. So that's, that's recapped the circle because I want to visualize it. So you join a group, there's one person with each profession in the group. It can grow to as large as the professions allow. And the people pass the business within the group. That is the core principle is like, hey, I need a mortgage, I'm going here, I need a roofer, I'm going to my group.

00;26;47;08 - 00;27;06;25
Unknown
I will say this we're not a buyer's club. I mean, people come in with refer, you know, they have relationships. Their spouse could be, of course, something like that. But the key thing is the weekly commitment to each other is over time, those buying habits change. I mean, I've watched people go from we all. I always say we all have a bank, right?

00;27;06;28 - 00;27;23;02
Unknown
But do you know your banker? Do you actually have their phone number and their name? No. And see if there's a banker in a chapter. I guarantee a lot of people switched. I mean, this had to happen to me 12 years ago. We were having all those storms. And I said to my husband, okay, what do we do if something happens with the house?

00;27;23;02 - 00;27;39;24
Unknown
What do we do? And he goes, well, you know, the papers are in the important paper file. And I'm like, I know that, but it's an 800 number. And I, I know what 800 numbers are, right? I go and I'm in a chapter with an insurance person and everybody has her phone number and everybody's raving about it goes, well then switch.

00;27;39;26 - 00;28;15;14
Unknown
Been with her ever since. Because, you know, there's a face, there's a there's a phone number. I'm going to see this person. That's that commitment and there's credibility and reliability on the other end. So everybody in a chapter one profession past business earn, trust and respect and track it all. I can't emphasize enough the tracking mechanism, the sheet that you hand out, the app, you can pull up exactly where you stand, the standards, like if you get to I mean, there's there's processes in place if the member isn't meeting the standards over a period of time, well, that member may be evaluated.

00;28;15;14 - 00;28;35;04
Unknown
And depending on their spot, well, not just it could be very valuable. Like there could be a line of people for the spot, like you said, you talked about those core members. Isn't there? A lot of times people on a waiting list are just there, and that's how we start chapters, because, you know, they can't. Usually someone that's calling us is saying, I can't get in a chapter.

00;28;35;07 - 00;28;56;06
Unknown
And so, yes, so there is that expectation. I would say that you're going to come in and do what you say you're going to do. And really going back to our philosophy of givers gain, I don't think there could be anybody that can stay in DNI if they're not a giver. I know in our region it wouldn't stay because there's just too many people that want to help each other.

00;28;56;09 - 00;29;16;24
Unknown
And so if you're going to be stingy about it, it'll show up eventually. And the membership committee is going to be looking at that. Exactly. Givers gain is the motto being I, and it's simply means you only get what you give. Give first and then expect later. Yeah, I mean, there's some industries, you know, mortgage for instance. Okay, I got to get to know you, right?

00;29;16;24 - 00;29;35;02
Unknown
I'm going to be honest with you and tell you all my finances where I stand versus the the pressure washer. I'm just going to give him a check and he's going to pressure wash my driveway. Right. So that's easy peasy, right? I have a need for spring springtime. There's pollen everywhere but in some industries. And there has to be a need, right?

00;29;35;03 - 00;29;53;28
Unknown
Not everybody's just going to go out and get a mortgage. But that's where when it does happen, you can believe all the people in the chapter have your back. And so when you think of a numbers game in certain professions, and that's why they are very sought after. And B and I like I just get through the one that comes to my mind is a AC tech.

00;29;53;28 - 00;30;15;21
Unknown
I remember whenever they got in the chapter, they literally were overwhelmed with business that they had to almost kind of redo their business to accommodate the business they're getting from that. Amazing. Don't you want somebody like that in your back pocket? Is July 4th, house is 100 degrees. Yes. Nobody's return your phone call. But that being I remember, they're going to return your phone call, right?

00;30;15;22 - 00;30;41;09
Unknown
Right. What strikes me is interesting, Stephanie, is, you know, we're in a world of technology. It keeps going at a rapid pace. But man, this still the basics of networking. And what Barry has done it. It's not. It's just the it's it's belly to belly networking. You know. So one of our core values is traditions and innovation. So we stand hard on our keeping our traditions but innovation.

00;30;41;09 - 00;31;06;10
Unknown
So we are introducing like AI. And there's a lot of things that Tim Roberts, our executive director, is exploring to keep our region up to date on all of that. But there's still that core value of, yeah, you know, the way it was designed 40 years ago. Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's it's it's just amazing. I love to see core concepts of really the human condition that that persevere through time.

00;31;06;16 - 00;31;28;10
Unknown
So if I wanted to go to a meeting, I don't know anything about me. And I just saw this podcast, what do I do? How do I figure out where to go and who to call? They should contact me. My number is 904 5407617. They can email me. You can go to our local website by NFL.com. You know, tell you a little bit about me and I, my information's up there.

00;31;28;10 - 00;31;50;25
Unknown
Then we'll look for a chapter. Like what area of town are you looking for? Most of our chapters are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays. And where is your category open? Because it'd be a waste of time to visit a chapter where your category. Unless you want to see what it's about, unless like. I mean, I know when I visited my first chapter, my category was up, like I'm like, oh my gosh, I need to find one or I need to start one, right?

00;31;50;25 - 00;32;15;27
Unknown
Yeah. So we have in those situations they go to observe a chapter meeting and then we talk about. So again where do you want to meet. Who do you want to hook up with? Finding those five core people if you're starting a chapter is essential is you know, when you started your. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. How do you have a lot of chapters that are in the process of being started right now, or is that always just kind of a revolving?

00;32;16;05 - 00;32;37;05
Unknown
It's always revolving. But we have about five we have right now Deltona, Palm Coast, Saint Augustine, Mandarin area. And, we're looking into Fernandina, eventually a lake city to have with our sister Rica over there. Okay. So you're going to put some miles on that car years, right? I know, but see, now that we have zoom, we start some chapters.

00;32;37;05 - 00;32;59;03
Unknown
That's true, that's true. Yeah. That's true. What are some common misconceptions about BNI? Because I know some things I'd always heard in the years, but, like, tell me what comes to your mind as, I guess, misconceptions or drawbacks? Not really drawbacks, but what people say about being I. I'll be absent one time and be kicked out. That's not true, right?

00;32;59;26 - 00;33;18;18
Unknown
They're very strict. Which is true. Again, it's not for every it's a higher level of networking, but it's doing business through people. So it's not just two people. Now I have an opportunity to do it through all these people. And who do they know? Right. And that's what drew me to it 20 years ago. I always got a kick out of because there is costs involved.

00;33;18;18 - 00;33;38;18
Unknown
You have to pay for the charge of the dues. And I always got a kick out of people saying that was a drawback. Like, I don't even know what the cost are, but like everything you just explained is worth a lot of money and it's it's a minimal cost to do that. So all new members get a new member kit, all paid by Eboni.

00;33;38;18 - 00;33;57;18
Unknown
So chapters have no expenses other than their venue. That's what they really have expense on. It's the venue. The rest is supply by being, so venue being a thing. So they all pick on where they're going to meet, like some meet in a restaurant before it opens or a conference call or, you know, whatever the case, like what are some places that people meet?

00;33;57;18 - 00;34;16;04
Unknown
So once we find a venue, we kind of overload them, right? Right. So the Salem Center, yeah, we have three chapters that meet there. Okay. We have several that meet at restaurants. Like you said, we have, some that meet it being, the pop and box has a couple of chapters that meet there again before they are they all in the morning or there's, there's some in the midday.

00;34;16;04 - 00;34;34;06
Unknown
We have one lunchtime chat, one left and one still lunch time, 1130, the one that meets at the Rod and Gun Club in Saint Augustine. Yeah, well I think mid is is very hard because we know how life gets it. It is. But the people that started that chapter. So it's interesting. The roof roofer is one of them that started the chapter.

00;34;34;08 - 00;34;50;24
Unknown
And everybody go how do you do that goes it's perfect. I get my cruise off in the morning, I have the lunchtime area to then do my meeting. I'm back in the office before they come back. So it's all about timing. Sure. And then for some people in that chapter, the original founding members, it was getting their kids off to school.

00;34;50;24 - 00;35;10;01
Unknown
Yeah. So the times do vary. We have the majority is 730 to 9 in the morning. Then we have 8 to 930. I have a couple that are 830 to 10 and then the 1130 to 1 okay okay. Never found the afternoon works. Yeah. No too much stuff going on. How do you maintain the integrity of the BNI chapters?

00;35;10;01 - 00;35;28;10
Unknown
Like, because we didn't really go into the interview process. I mean, there's a strict process they go through before they let somebody in the chapter, right? Yeah, they follow the question. So every chapter has a different interview process. I mean, it's the same interview process, some interview twice, just because the membership committee consists of four people and a vice president.

00;35;28;10 - 00;35;48;19
Unknown
So five people make the decision larger chapters have more on the membership committee, but they're making the decision for everybody in that chapter. And the chapter has to trust the membership committee. Right. And so they take it very seriously. Well, you have training. That's amazing. For all of our leadership positions. There's, you know, usually 12 to 14 people in leadership in the chapter.

00;35;48;19 - 00;36;09;10
Unknown
Okay. Everything from the visitor host, the greet the people, all the way to the closers, to the membership committee, to the education coordinator. Which brings up an amazing point, because I love when organizations have lots of micro jobs. So everybody for the most part has a responsibility. And it's not all on the president to do or the vice president.

00;36;09;10 - 00;36;28;17
Unknown
It's like there's you just said there's 15 things to do in a chapter. Yeah. So if a chapter is run, well, then the leadership team, the president runs the meeting. Vice president, membership committee, oversee the applications. Secretary, treasurer. They were to hat so they're collecting the money for the membership committee for for the membership, sending it to the office.

00;36;28;23 - 00;36;47;11
Unknown
They also keep the speaker rotation education coordinator because we do believe education's big and we believe in how to have good networking skills. So that's a three minute spot. The education coordinator mentor coordinator Be and I can be kind of a lot. When you first join, people might be saying, oh my gosh, how would I know how to do all this?

00;36;47;11 - 00;37;09;17
Unknown
Right? We have a mentor program that takes you through six weeks of mentoring them. So holding their hand, I say it's kind of like the first grade teacher helping you get acclimated it. And then we have the growth coordinator that helps with growth as far as socials and, you know, could be focusing on one category that's open that could help numerous members and they'll do an inviting, scenario for that.

00;37;09;23 - 00;37;31;11
Unknown
So when you come into a meeting, it's like a wedding. I'm thinking in my head, it's so orchestrated down to the the who's doing what? Like, you don't even know if you haven't been to one. But there's so many different operations going in the back. Very smooth. And then when you're a visitor, boy, they're they're on top of you because they especially if you're a category that they want, they want you in the, in the group.

00;37;31;11 - 00;37;52;26
Unknown
Right. I think people would see the value of it. Yeah. They say, you know, you're visiting a chapter, you're going to see a very well oiled machine. There's a reason we're number 1 in 2024. We really take to heart the way BNI says to do it. There's 187 franchises. Tim owns three franchises. And, we're number one.

00;37;53;02 - 00;38;13;09
Unknown
So the key to success is to do what you say. You know, follow the buy system. That's it. If you follow the vice system, it will be successful. And it's a very good system. And sometimes that's the class on the self-employed. But you know us, you know, we're entrepreneurial, both of us. But when you see results and it sparks your eye like, okay, well, maybe I need to follow that system, right?

00;38;13;09 - 00;38;34;17
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. So not only to be and I you actually have another business that you do you function. Are you in a specific group or are you just everywhere? I, I can't be in a chapter more managing too much stuff. We have 33 chapters to manage. But started out just like any other member and still run my business the same way.

00;38;34;22 - 00;38;58;09
Unknown
I would say 95% of my business is BNI. Wow. And it truly is. You know, just getting out there, getting to know the members. We just had one of our largest referrals passed. It was from, financial advisor. Okay. And, you know, he's in a part of your chapter. The client was in, Gainesville, and, she inherited a huge coin collection, which is part of what we do.

00;38;58;09 - 00;39;18;26
Unknown
We buy gold, diamonds, coins. Your business now flashes of brilliance. Right? Okay. She's in brilliance. And so he introduced this. My husband, who's the coin expert on the, between the two of us, went down, met the client, and, they they were lost, like, they they got to put the father in assisted living, 10,000 a month.

00;39;18;29 - 00;39;38;03
Unknown
And they, they're, you know, selling the house. They're doing everything. And so John came on site and helped with the coin collection. First they had to find the going collection because they were hoarders. The start there I'm sure. Yeah. But we were able to help them with that. And we delivered the check of over 110,000 last week.

00;39;38;03 - 00;40;02;01
Unknown
Wow, wow. How is it like, how do you know how to look at coins and figure out how much they're worth? So he's been that's an amazing thing. So coins are totally different than jewelry. I'm more on the jewelry side. Okay. I grew up with a mother that loved jewelry, and my stepfather had loved watches. But on his side, he just grew up, you know, and, collecting coins forever.

00;40;02;01 - 00;40;24;14
Unknown
But what kind of coins? Like everything. Half dollars, gold coins, silver dollars. You know, not so much foreign coins, but coins are different because they are numeric numismatic values and the date on them, condition of the coin, which they were getting very strict on that. And then, you know, some coins that certain dates have more copper in them, have more silver in them.

00;40;24;15 - 00;40;43;03
Unknown
Wow. So there's a lot to the coins now. Is he certified your husband and this? Since they have a certification, it's more knowledge. Yeah, for sure. But you on the jewelry side, I did notice you had some designations, right? I do have some designations. You know, I grew up all around jewelry, so, you know, if it's bling, it's me.

00;40;43;13 - 00;41;00;12
Unknown
You know, my mother had a saying that, if you have under seven pieces on, you're under duress. Okay. Wow. Okay, okay. And you pick out your jewelry first, then what you're going to wear. Right. So. So you were you grew up knowing what's what. My husband had it pretty easy because I inherited quite a lot of jewelry.

00;41;00;12 - 00;41;16;22
Unknown
Yeah, well, you got them. You got them off the hook there. So literally, I could lay down a necklace, and in a couple minutes, you could tell if it was real, which was how he would weigh it. I mean, there's 14 K, 18 K, depending on that goes. By the way, gold is the highest it's ever been right now.

00;41;16;22 - 00;41;34;09
Unknown
Right. And keeps climbing. But, you know, I do gold parties, I do independent appointments. But what makes us different is we're mobile, so we go to the client, we don't have overhead, so we're able to pay out more to the client. I mean, we do gold parties. You know, I just did a gold party at an.

00;41;34;11 - 00;41;53;22
Unknown
What's a gold party? You know, a lady, being a referral. Yeah. Refers his mother in law. Okay, okay. She gathers her neighbors up, puts it out there like, hey, I'm having this and stuff your drawers. Basically get rid of stuff you're no longer wearing. Most of these ladies were 65 and over in a community. Don't dress for work anymore.

00;41;53;25 - 00;42;13;17
Unknown
Had stuff laying in drawers broke, some things broken, some things not, but not wearing them. And they all said, yeah, I'd like some extra cash. Interesting. And so they bring it and we pay our cash. Wow. Literally on the spot. On the spot. Wow, wow. That's interesting. And you can just have that talent to know. Exactly. Do I come up.

00;42;13;18 - 00;42;30;12
Unknown
She had a she had a schedule for us from. Do you ever get one though. And you're like that's fake. Sorry. Oh yeah. And now it's now you have to really be good with coins because they have fake coins, right? They have to have we had to buy a certain machine to be able to show you the dimensions of the coin.

00;42;30;14 - 00;42;49;05
Unknown
Yeah, that's. And she's almost gotten taken a couple of times. We have a good rule now that when the diamond looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true. Yeah. Right. So the fakes are kind of hard, are getting harder to spot. Yeah. And of course, now lab created diamonds have come in and so you really have to know your stuff and you know really get certification on them.

00;42;49;08 - 00;43;07;25
Unknown
So I imagine being I is a perfect fit for your business. It really is. Expand your referrals. And people think it because that's kind of a niche business is your competition is the the jewelry stores right. Like pawn shop kind of thing or what. Yeah. Okay. But we're not that person on the street with, you know, we buy gold, right?

00;43;08;01 - 00;43;27;26
Unknown
So it can't. Because going back to how bad I works, that somebody trusted, like that woman trusted the financial advisor to have John come and look at what they had. And there was no questions like, she she didn't. She said, well, if this is who you say to use, this is who we're using, right? And we have that on several occasions.

00;43;27;26 - 00;43;45;04
Unknown
And that that's super interesting. People inherit things and they don't you know, we do free estimates too. So I mean, free will come and look at it for you because they inherit things. They don't know if it's real or not. You know, or if someone's had dementia. Yeah. They'll throw all the jewelry together and you don't know what's real, what isn't right.

00;43;45;18 - 00;44;09;25
Unknown
So would you come and help with with that? Wow. I can just visualize you being in New York and somebody trying to sell you a watch. Like you picked the wrong person here. I know exactly what I'm doing. Well, that's super interesting about your business, and I. I'm I'm so excited to talk about being I. Because I really think a lot of I still is popular is being is I still think there's so many more people that could hear about it.

00;44;09;25 - 00;44;30;00
Unknown
And I just have to visualize to the to the audience, walking into one of these meetings will blow you away. I know it did for me. I still get goosebumps about it because you just you can't even believe something like this exists, because most people think that networking is just going chatting, and it really doesn't result in anything.

00;44;30;01 - 00;44;48;22
Unknown
Yeah, I say to my, our members like invite people because again, you're not inviting them to join. You're inviting them for the experience of the meeting. Let them decide for themselves whether they want to join it or not. We kind of sometimes you get a little lazy, I think, and think, oh, everybody knows about the, you know, but then I get calls all the time and I'll say, okay, so, so what chapters have you visited?

00;44;48;22 - 00;45;10;08
Unknown
I've never been before. I just heard about it. And so it's still out there. I mean, again, I always I walk out of a meeting, still dazzled sometimes. Think of all that happened before 9 a.m., and some people are just now getting started. So if you are in a business that needs referrals and maybe you get paid commission, maybe you own your own business.

00;45;10;08 - 00;45;30;17
Unknown
However, the case is it's your job to generate business. You got to check out and I absolutely the website Stephanie gave you, I can attest to it. I was in it for several years. It gave me a sphere much wider than I would have ever gotten on on where I was. And I still text you all the time for referrals online.

00;45;30;23 - 00;45;48;17
Unknown
It's funny when you start chapters. So the first chapter I was in, which is almost 20 years ago, there's myself and another woman, she's still in BNI and you always have that connection. I mean, you have the connections with the guys that you started that chapter with. That doesn't go away because you built that together. Right? Right. And you're there together every single week.

00;45;48;19 - 00;46;05;08
Unknown
Absolutely. Relationships matter. And being eyes about that track networking. I can endorse it enough for Stephanie. This is awesome. Thank you for spending the time. I know the people are going to love this. I can't wait till the episode comes out. And thank you very much. It's been awesome.

00;46;05;08 - 00;46;19;14
Unknown
The Hometown Jack's podcast is recorded and produced by First Coast Mortgage Funding. Located in the heart of Jacksonville. Do you want to be our next guest? Visit our website at Hometown Jack's podcast.com. We can't wait to hear your story.