#223 The Connection Skill That Builds Confidence with Dr. Tracy Brower Transcript

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPT… PLEASE FORGIVE THE TYPOS & GRAMMAR! xo-Lisa.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 0:52
Your child might be connected all day, but still struggling to build the kinds of relationships that actually move them forward. And that’s not just about friendships. Connection is how young people build confidence. It’s how they start to understand who they are, and it’s one of the biggest drivers in figuring out what comes after graduation. When that piece is missing, things can feel harder. Conversations stall out, and opportunities they don’t happen for your kid, your young person can start to feel stuck or floundering, or they’re falling behind, even if they look busy on the surface, I’m excited to bring Dr Tracy Brower into this conversation. She’s a sociologist who studies connection, happiness and the future of work, and her latest book critical connections. Well, it unpacks what’s really going on and what we can do about it to help support our young people. In this conversation, we’re talking about how to help your child confidently build meaningful, real world connections in ways that feel doable, not overwhelming to them. You’ll hear why connection plays such a critical role in identity and direction and simple ways that your child can start building confidence by engaging with others instead of staying on the sidelines. If your child’s unsure of themselves, hesitant to reach out to others, or struggling to figure out what comes next. This my friend, is for you. I’m Lisa Marco Robbins, and I want to welcome you to College and Career Clarity a flourish coaching production. Let’s dive right into a great conversation.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 2:32
Well, Dr Tracy Brower, welcome to the show. I love this book. Thank you so glad to be here. I and I, you know, I you talk to people of all ages, and I saw this on LinkedIn, and I’m like, Oh my gosh, we have got to bring this and because in the work that I do, I know that the connections we make for career development, Career Clarity, launching these kiddos into adulthood are crucial, and I’ve heard from many of my parents, my listeners, those in social media, like my kids on their phone all day, and they have real community. But you tell us in your research that you’re finding that we’re actually in a loneliness epidemic. Am I saying that?

Dr. Tracy Brower 3:19
Right? Yes, exactly 50% of people globally say they’re lonely. Incidents of depression anxiety are at record highs. But this is the thing that’s so relevant for younger generations and parents and educators, is the younger people are the more likely to say they’re lonely. The younger people are the more likely they are to say they don’t have enough friends, or they wish they had more friends. The younger people are, the more likely they are to say that they don’t feel confident about their social skills. I don’t know how to have a conversation, I don’t know how to mingle, I don’t know how to make eye contact, I don’t know how to shake hands. I don’t dare reach out and do what, you know, networking. And so I just think we’re at this moment where we need to really think about connections at all ages, but especially supporting our younger our younger people in our lives. So that

Lisa Marker-Robbins 4:10
research is showing everybody globally is more lonely right now, but when we as we go down and we get to Gen Z, Gen alpha, they’re lonelier than the older generations.

Dr. Tracy Brower 4:23
Yes, exactly, exactly. One of the groups that struggles the most is young men. 27% of young men say they don’t have a friend. I mean, at all, a friend at all like and so and we know friendship is so critical to our success and careers, to our access, success and networking, but also just for feeling seen, you know, learning how to interact with other people, feeling connected within our communities. It contributes to well being emotionally, cognitively, physically so being able to create those connections and then. Also the skill of maintaining and sustaining those connections are just critical at all levels, for all of us, but especially for younger people,

Lisa Marker-Robbins 5:09
you know. So you’re talking about, like the the critical need, the need for critical connections, huh? Wonder where you got that title. Look at that. Wow. That’s crazy. What’s at risk on the other side, if we don’t pay attention to this like it may be, particularly for our young people, but for all people, yeah.

Dr. Tracy Brower 5:29
I mean, the risks are really significant, both for individuals and teams and organizations. If we don’t feel a sense of belonging, we can lose a sense of identity, and we can just kind of feel unmoored. Our sense of identity comes from the groups that we’re part of, and our sense of identity comes from the people that we relate to and the people that we feel similar to, or who are, what are called referent groups, people who are our referent groups. And if we don’t have that strong sense of identity, we lose self esteem. We can lose a sense of direction. We are in a moment of such overwhelm today, in terms of social media, in terms of not feeling connected to our communities, in terms of feeling disconnected at school or at work. And so when we’re overwhelmed, and if we don’t have connections that give us a center of gravity that can play havoc with our well being and our mental health, physical health and cognitive health. So friendships give us that, and connections, more generally, give us that center of gravity, give us that sense of identity and give us that sense of direction, because where we’re going to go is so related to self awareness and where we are, which I know is one of the things you talk about, is that importance of self awareness.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 6:53
So it you just talked about when you were sharing there about, you know, it gives us our sense of identity, it gives us direction. And what I find is the 15 to 25 plus really like if I look at our community right now, it goes up to about 30 years old. So Gen Z now is moving into Gen Alpha. They’re actually trying to figure out their sense of identity and their sense of direction. So we’re helping set them up for a confident launch out of our own homes. And you and I as moms of similarly aged kids, we know that firsthand as moms, but also professionally. So can you talk to me about like, if somebody hears what you just shared, it goes, well, my kid doesn’t even know who they are really right now. How do, how can we use the connections that we’re building to actually establish that identity

Dr. Tracy Brower 7:48
that’s really, really good one interestingly, just to precede that conversation and relate to our previous purpose and loneliness are connected. The more we have a sense of purpose, the less likely we are to feel lonely. And so connections also help us feel like like we’re with other people moving to a place that matters. So how do we use our connections to develop our identity? One of the things we can do is think about the the way that a other people make us feel and the way that we feel at our best when we’re with others. There’s beautiful research on relationships that a lot of times our liking of other people is less based on them and more based on how they make us feel about ourselves. So one of the ways we can think about identity as it relates to Connections is with whom am I at my best? Who brings out my best when I’m at my best? What is that like for me? I’m I get really intellectual, or I get really pensive, or I get really calm toward others, or I’m really good at energizing others, like, what are the attributes and the gifts and talents that tend to come out when I feel like I’m at my best? So that is often mirrored in our relationship. So that’s one way. Another way connections can be helpful in terms of identity is if we think about people we admire. You know, like, who are the people that represent how we want to be in the world, who are the people who inspire us, who motivate us, and how might that relate to who we are as well? And then I think a third way we can think about building our identity through connections is by thinking about who we want to be with. I just think this is a really interesting way to think about career. Our social dynamic is that we prefer homophily. Homophily is that we more automatically are attracted to people who look like us and sound like us and think like us. However, there is also research that if about 50% Of our network is different that brings us the best levels of happiness and well being, 50% who are similar, about 50% who are different from us. And one of the things that happens with profession is profession is a proxy for personality. This is not rocket science, but it’s really cool. Yeah, we tend to be attracted to professions based on what we do well. So if we’re attracted to an accounting profession, we tend to be around lots of people who are analytical. Or if we are attracted to a nursing profession, we tend to, you know, be around people who are sciency and love to help other people. So I think that’s another way we can think about our identity. Who are the people that we love to spend time with, and those might point toward what we will do best in the kinds of professions and the way we’re going to spend our time for a lifetime of work.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 10:53
Yeah, as you’re saying this, I’m getting, like, all excited over here. I’m like, Oh my gosh, so many things going through my mind, but it’s I agree with you, like we’re attracted to the people that are similar to us, and I even see what the business owners that I coach, because I have a small roster of small business owners when it comes to hiring. If we’re left to our own devices in a very small business, you got a lot of corporate experience that we will hire for likability, because there’s a social energy there, instead of going deeper for what, what does our organization really need? And that’s usually something different. And so what I see with the young people and our launch Career Clarity, course, because I’m pushing them, I’m like, we have got to get out into the real world to explore and validate and find opportunities, and they want to just talk to their uncle who does the whatever job, or family friend or their friend’s parent, instead of going out and talking to somebody different. And it it’s hard for them, because if you’re already lonely and you’re already isolated, takes a lot of confidence to start talking to people who are different, but yet they’re going to learn so much about like, what energizes them and things like that. So from a practical standpoint, can we talk about like, do you have? And I am still stuck on this 50% 50% I love it like, because I think about friends that I have. I think about work, people that I have. I think about when I hire for my own organization. I I actually want people that are very different. So how do we help this Gen Z, Gen alpha, get a little brave like the the anxiety that they feel from hitting a like or commenting on somebody else’s social or LinkedIn post is off the chart sometimes.

Dr. Tracy Brower 12:54
Wow, amazing. Yeah, I think it is about putting ourselves out there and kind of crossing that threshold and starting that flywheel. The more we do it, the better we’ll be at it. The more we do it, the better we’ll be at it right, like we’re going to build this muscle of relating, of reaching out, of having courage. And one of the things that I think is interesting is some of the networking courses teach reciprocity, never, never try to get if you can’t also give. And I was literally in a session this week, and we were talking, somebody raised the question, like, I don’t always have something to give. Like I’m early in my career, what

Lisa Marker-Robbins 13:37
am I going to say? You’ve got nothing to give, right?

Dr. Tracy Brower 13:40
Right, right. So we talked about that, and like, one of the things that I think we can think about is people really love to help, and sometimes you asking is actually such a gift to them, because they say to themselves, wow, I would love to give my advice. You’re valuing me, and your give is actually valuing me for the advice that I’m going to give. So that’s one is for us to kind of get over the transactional nature of give, to get think about giving to the network more generally, if you like, if you comment you’re giving to the network in terms of that person that you’re engaging with online.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 14:20
That’s because that’s how the algorithm even works, right? Precisely that might benefit them. But I think to your point, I always say, because we teach six types of valid ways to validate career pathways that are aligned with you to see, like, what is of the things that align? What aligns the most? Like, what is that first step that you want to take into career, and as you’re going through this, I’m like, people want to talk with younger people. Do they love their job? They want to advocate for their line of work, for their company. Like that is a gift. And I’ve never really worded it like it’s a gift. It’s a. Superprosity piece, I just have always said, like, believe me, they want to, and the kids who do it anecdotally experience that. It is true. But I think that’s a great way to put it, like you are actually giving them something

Dr. Tracy Brower 15:13
exactly you are. And I think we can think about it generally too, like you don’t always have to have a give in a transaction, you can give more generally, to the world, to the network, to the system, and then you’ll have a chance to get as well. But the other thing is that people really love to help. We are wired for empathy. We’re wired for connection. And so you feel like you’re imposing, or you feel like you’re asking for someone’s time, and it’s a imposition or a sacrifice for them, but they actually really appreciate it. There was this young woman that came up to me after our session, and she was trying to figure out where she was going next. She was in her early 20s, like mid 20s, where am I going to go next? What am I going to do? And she got coaching to go do lots of networking and learn more about different fields. She did 120 networking conversations, and she got one rejection. One 119 people out of 120 were like, yes, I’d be glad to talk to you. So she just said, okay,

Lisa Marker-Robbins 16:20
they’re like, I know that’s amazing. I need everybody to hear that again. She approached 120 people for a networking connection. Like, hey, can we have coffee? Can we jump on Zoom for 20 minutes? I want to hear about your job or your journey or whatever. And one person said, No, that’s

Dr. Tracy Brower 16:41
exactly right. That right

Lisa Marker-Robbins 16:42
incentivize all of us, young and old alike.

Dr. Tracy Brower 16:46
I know, I know, and it’s such a I mean, so people like to do it. They want to help. We’re wired that way. We’re wired for critical connections, and those people become long term connections, right? Like you’re building you’re not only building your network, but you’re building those relationships, and so they might reach out to you later. The thing I like to think about with networking is that you’ve got to build it before you need it. And so when you need it, you really need it, something happens, and you really need to reach out. So if you’ve kind of done that networking almost like as a maintenance, almost like an ongoing that helps you in the future. And I think we’re also thinking about networking with a mindset of learning and curiosity. Your mindset isn’t what are you going to give me? What do you what am I going to get? Like are you going to give me a job? Your mindset is learning and understanding their journey and and empathizing and being curious. And when you show up with kind of that mindset, people are so happy to help and introduce you and share the opportunity that they hear about. So all of that to say it’s an investment, more than a cost, and it’s an investment that requires courage, but you’ll get better and better at it, you know.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 18:04
Another thing I see with the kids is we think about this that, you know, I like the all of the things that you’re sharing, and I want to layer on top of it, you know, besides, like, 120 asks, and she got one No, and I love so much, I’m gonna just stick with that for a while. But I also think, you know you’re talking about like this, you got to be able to give something to get something. We need to reframe that. But a lot of times I see the kids are like, I’m not that interesting yet, or I don’t have any accolades. Or why would they want to talk to me? And I want to remind kids all the time, and I don’t know if you’ve got anything that this relates to your research or your work, but we, if we focus on the other person being interested, instead of feeling the pressure to be interesting, make it about them, ask the good questions like that, takes a pressure off yourself as well. Yes, 100%

Dr. Tracy Brower 18:58
and there is academic and sociological research on this. This is really fun.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 19:03
This is why I knew I’m, like, you know, you’re a researcher with lots of sociology background, like, I knew you’d have something.

Dr. Tracy Brower 19:10
Yes, totally. And I love your language about being interesting is about being interested. And so this is the, this is the experiment. They asked people to go to a party, and so they had this party and mixing and mingling, and they studied who was talking, who was talking, you know, little, who was talking more, who was talking most. And as people left the party, they asked other they asked them, who was the most interesting person at the party. And the the trend was that the less people talked, the more interesting they were perceived to be. It was the best listeners. It was the most curious people. It was the people who were present for others. It was the people who created the opportunity for others to talk who were the. Most Interesting. So I think we can reframe that. I mean, you come to a networking conversation with great questions and emergent questions, because something comes up and you’re curious about that. That makes you interesting. So you don’t have to be ready to be a performer. You don’t have to be ready to, you know, kind of light the conversation on fire. You’re going to light it on fire by being present and curious.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 20:23
I love that. I also think another thing that we talk about is you don’t have to make the connection. Does not always, even in a work setting, does not always have to be about something professional, right? True, like you both are. My husband and I love the outdoors. We love to hike, we love to kayak. We take vacations that are very outdoor oriented. And it could be, like, I could be at a work thing, and the synergy might come from, oh, you also just, you know, hiked this or went to this area, or tell me about it, like, I think that takes some pressure off as well.

Dr. Tracy Brower 20:58
Wait absolutely and talk about that in the book, how do you have a conversation? What do you talk about?

Lisa Marker-Robbins 21:04
Okay, let’s go into that. Yeah. How do you have a conversation?

Dr. Tracy Brower 21:09
Yeah. I mean, I think what you’re doing is you’re asking, you’re you’re setting the stage. You’re talking about, hey, I so appreciate your time. And here’s what I’d like to talk about together. If you’re at a party, you’re clearly not going to be doing that, right, if you’re just mixing and mingling. But I think we can start easy. You know, we ask questions about people. We ask questions about their hobbies or their interests. We say, gosh, you know, do you have any vacations coming up and in the and as we learn more about similarities, we can ask more questions about those kinds of things. And then those can also guide us, like we learn that somebody’s super adventurous, or we learn that they love to travel, or we learn that they especially love, you know, time with their grandchildren or their children or their niece or their nephew, those common points of similarity, that common ground, makes a really big difference. And then I think we’re, you know, we’re asked, we can certainly ask about profession, and we can certainly ask about, gosh, you know, what got you here. The thing to know about how we build relationships is that we tend to build slowly. So you share something about yourself, and then I share something about myself, and then you share and I share, but the pattern of social dynamics suggests that we share more and more detail. We share more and more transparently, and so part of what we’re doing in those conversations is we’re kind of reading the room. We’re kind of reading how much people want to share so that we can build and be mirroring in terms of the level of transparency, the level of openness, the level of trust that we build. And I think that too, like we can also think about kind of sharing as they’re sharing and and mirroring in terms of not just we’re not just wanting to be interviewers. Oh, well, tell me about this, and tell me about that and tell me about the other thing, we can also share something from our own experience. Oh, you have a vacation plan there? Oh, my gosh, we were in a similar place, you know, last year that sharing and building the other thing, there is some very interesting research that when people are in conversation and change topics more frequently. They are perceived to be more interesting as well and more engaging. So, so you want to kind of keep the conversation moving in terms of the kinds of questions that you might be ready to ask.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 23:36
So you’re kind of almost as you were saying that I’m like, thinking about like matching energy, as far as just layering right, it’s learning how to read the social cues of what that looks like. And we’ve got to, we’ve got to build self awareness. That’s so true. Always the starting point. You know, when the work that at least we’re doing, one of the things that you mentioned in the book was the role of faculty, staff, adults. Let’s talk about that because, you know, I call them kids, but they’re 15 up to 30 that I’m working with. Let’s talk about that in terms of them, and in terms of how we can support that and why it’s critical.

Dr. Tracy Brower 24:20
Yeah, I really like to think about this in terms of emotional labor, which I think is just such a helpful concept. Our emotional labor like we show up every day and we have things to do. We have our, you know, our tasks that we get done and we check the boxes and we get all the tasks done, but we also show up with labor that is emotional, and partly that is our own self awareness about ourselves. I’ve got all the things going on, but I’ve got to show up, take a deep breath and be present for others. That’s part of emotional labor. The other part of emotional labor is being vigilant toward others. How are they doing? You know, how do they How’s their energy? How do they. Team, and then being ready to be a resource. I always say we don’t have to be we don’t all have to be social workers. But if we can be present, if we can ask a question, if we can make resources available, presence and accessibility are two of the number one things that leaders, adults, guidance. You know people who are providing guidance, parents can do to generate trust and to generate credibility as well. Presence and accessibility, somebody who’s present, somebody who sets down their device, somebody who’s paying attention, somebody’s who’s asking questions. Accessibility, you’re not distracted, you’re present, I feel like I can ask you a question. I heard the most incredible story there was this young woman at college, and she was just really struggling and not feeling connected to everybody. But every morning she showed up in the cafeteria and she got scrambled eggs, and the one person who was paying tons of attention to her was this woman on the line who scooped the scrambled eggs. And this this young college student later said she attributed her mental well being to this woman that was scooping eggs, because this is the woman who would say, how you doing today? And you know, like she would feel seen by this woman on the line scooping eggs. I just I always get choked up when I talk about it, because it’s like every person has this role to play in terms of our health and well being. So when we help people to feel seen, when we check in, when we ask questions, and when we have kind of that consistent presence, that accessibility that makes a huge difference.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 26:48
At that story reminds me of my assistant, Kayla. She her brother passed maybe about a year ago or so, and I mean young 20s, and his ashes were actually being delivered to her home, and the care with which the postal carrier brought them to her home, and she was busy out back with her kids, and he wasn’t willing to leave the package because he there was something on it that You know indicated what it was, and she was like, I felt so seen and cared for in that moment. And I share that story to say, like, whether, whatever role you’re in right now, if you’re the young person figuring it out, if you’re the postal carrier, the lady on the line scooping the scrambled eggs, if you’re the professor, if you’re whatever you are, there’s an opportunity to just do it well and be connected.

Dr. Tracy Brower 27:48
Yes, exactly. I think I had the most wonderful thing happen. It was amazing. I got this call from someone, and he said, Oh, gee, I’m having this conference. Would you be willing to speak at my conference like, Oh, absolutely. So this gentleman, I had not talked to him in 15 years. We worked together 15 years ago at a company, and I didn’t know him well. We barely interacted. But, you know, we’d see each other in the in the hall, pass each other. We, you know, run into each other at the coffee bar when we were both standing in line at the, you know, coffee bar in our workplace. But it’s that reminder that, number one, everything counts. And number two, we will remember those interactions. And of course, we’ll make mistake, like, the everything counts. Comment can feel like pressure, right? Like, Oh my gosh. We’ve got to be perfect all the time. No, but if we show up and kind of do our best in relationships all the time, it will really matter. There will be this residual effect, this delivery driver will have made a difference that actually is really sticky, right?

Lisa Marker-Robbins 28:59
People remember, maybe like, not how you because we we leave a conversation, we can go like, I could have said that better, or I could have done this better, right? But people remember how you make them feel exactly what you said in that moment. And I do like, I want to add something to your that example of the guy who you hadn’t even talked to him for 15 years, right? Because I don’t want young people leaving this conversation going like, oh, I have to stay connected to these every person you know. I’m doing these informational interviews, and I might learn about that job, or do a job shadow with somebody and go like, ooh, not for me. Like, not every connection is going to last forever. And even some of them that last a long time. You didn’t have to nurture that all the time, but yet, you probably kept in touch on LinkedIn. You because we talked about building our professional network, right? And LinkedIn is the place where I mean, that’s really how we met. If our listeners don’t know Tracy and I do not know each other, I. This is our first conversation. She posted a very insightful post on LinkedIn a couple of months ago, and I commented on it, and I knew her book was coming out, and I’m like, What a great topic. And we just had talked a little bit on LinkedIn, and then I said, Well, let’s talk about this on the show. I mean, I think how we’ve engaged is a perfect example of this.

Dr. Tracy Brower 30:24
It is, it is. And the other thing that I think is relevant to your listeners, you may talk about this as well, but the power of weak ties is really good stuff. So you think about your network in concentric circles. You get your two or three closest and then five and 10 and etc. But statistically, new opportunities come from weak ties, which are the furthest out part of that concentric circle. And the reason for that is that, by definition, the people we know less well who are connected to the connections to the connections that we have, the people we know less well by definition, have access to information that we do not have access to, nor do our closer connections have access because we tend to function within kind of information loops. And so it’s those weak ties who can suggest the new opportunity, or who we talk to and gosh, happen to learn about something new, and you’re absolutely right. We don’t have to keep like, you know, maintaining connections with 1000 people would be impossible, but if we just kind of stay connected, maybe we’re liking, maybe we’re sharing, maybe we’re online together, or maybe we reconnect after a few years, those can be very powerful, because those weak ties can be kind of the doorways to new opportunities. For sure, there’s

Lisa Marker-Robbins 31:46
research that I share also that is job opportunities don’t typically come from your if we think about LinkedIn, your first connection. So you first, but the guy that you spoke at his conference, he would be my second and then a third would be, like, I have no connection somebody. And you know, six degrees from Kevin Bacon, right? Like, we’re all pretty connected these days. But there is career employability research that says your best opportunity to land a job comes from an introduction to a what would be your second level through your first and so you’re not asking your first for the job. You’re just saying, like, here’s what I’m looking for. And one of my former students so that, I mean, she graduated high school back in the teens, which seems so long ago now, and she’s already out in the world working. She literally reached out to me two days ago and she said, I like my job. I still want to work in like, it’s food science industry, basically, which I mean, what do I have to do with food science? Absolutely nothing. I know very little about it, right? I know the type of wiring that could set somebody up, the degrees, all the the things, but I don’t have tons of influence there to get her what she’s looking for, right? And so she reached out, and she said, I’m looking for my next move. I want to stay in this industry. She gave me her reasons why she’s looking for her next opportunity. And I haven’t talked to this former student in our course for, you know, I don’t know, probably three or four years now, she’s launched. She’s out there on her own. She’s adulting. And she said, you know, do you have any Do you have anybody? So now I’m going through my LinkedIn, and she told me what geographical region she wants to be in. And top of mind, I’m like, Oh, here’s some of those companies in that industry. So I look through my LinkedIn, and now I will make an introduction via LinkedIn, just to say, like, Hey, I thought you guys might want to connect. You’re both in this industry, right?

Dr. Tracy Brower 33:56
Yes, I love that. I love that. I just wrote an article that I published on Forbes, and the research on the number of people who say they got their job because of a personal contact is like 80% so that’s that’s really important to know as well. We absolutely can get the job cold if we didn’t know anybody, because there are lots of ways that we’re building relationships through that process. But if we have that first or second or even third level connection that can help connect us, one of the really interesting social dynamics, one of the one of the ways that we influence and are influenced by others is because of that connection. So we’re we influence others with things like confidence and competence and curiosity. There’s like about six or seven key elements, but one of the key elements is what I think of as the collective when somebody recommends someone to us, it seems like a no brainer, but it’s actually it’s. Actually part of the way that we think and the way that we understand and trust the community, that we believe that people are more trustworthy when others also trust them, and that’s a deep instinctual pattern in terms of, you know, the way we used to move across the move across the landscape, and, you know, keep each other safe and, you know, find food for our families. So it’s deeply seated. And that opportunity to make a connection and then be able to use that reference, that connection, to find the job, actually is very statistically validated and correlated with success.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 35:36
That’s so good. Well, Tracy, oh my gosh, you gave us so many great nuggets from the book, and there’s so much more in here. I was so excited about it. I was one of your pre orders before it ever came out. I got so excited when it arrived. So we will link to it in the show notes for anybody who’s interested in buying their own copy of critical connections. And I just thank you for just giving us a gift of research based things that can help make us more confident and show us the importance of building these connections. This has been fantastic.

Dr. Tracy Brower 36:10
Thank you. Thanks for the conversation. So appreciate it.

Lisa Marker-Robbins 36:19
If this conversation got you thinking about how much connection really matters, not just for friendships, but for your child’s confidence, direction and future opportunities. You’re not alone. One of the biggest places that I personally see young people hesitate is putting themselves out there, professionally, reaching out, starting conversations, knowing what to say and how to even say it. That’s one of the reasons we created our free LinkedIn profile builder, it walks your young person step by step through how to set it up professionally online, communicate who they are and begin making the kinds of connections that will actually open the doors. You can grab that at flourish coaching, CO, com, forward slash LinkedIn. We’ll also link it in the show notes, along with Tracy’s book and resources. You’ve got to get her book. Here’s the truth. Your child doesn’t just need more information. They need to take action and start building connection. That’s one of the key pieces that begins to move them forward. And if our podcast has been helpful to you, I want to ask you a small favor, take just a moment to rate and review the show when you do, snap a quick screenshot before you hit submit, that’s key, and send it my way email, DM me on social anywhere. I’ve got a gift for you to support your journey and to let you know that you’re helping us reach other people who are also navigating this important launch stage, okay, my friends, be well.