These people turned introductions into opportunities of a lifetime

It takes a lot of chutzpah to walk up to television personality and Skinnygirl founder Bethenny Frankel, put a pair of sunglasses in her hands, and tell her, “These are for an oblong face.”

But that bold act paid off for Kari Dowiak, founder of sunglass brand Memorí  Eyewear, which specializes in sunglasses for petite and narrow faces. The result? Frankel posted a 47-second TikTok video recounting the exchange and showing off the sunnies, calling them “cute” and high quality. The video went viral, racking up more than 1.3 million views as of mid-April, and skyrocketing the company’s sales.

Of course, it wasn’t all happenstance. Dowiak had signed up for a networking event and noticed that Frankel was a late addition to the speaker lineup. The founder immediately went to work analyzing Frankel’s social media posts to find out more about her interests and figure out a strategy to get the sunglasses in front of her.

She refined and rehearsed her six-second pitch in advance—including noting that Frankel had called her face “oblong” in a post and adopting that language. Dowiak positioned herself at the location where speakers entered and exited the stage, ensuring she would have access to Frankel. It was a professional event, so approaching Frankel wasn’t “making it weird,” she says.

“You have to be aware of your environment. I would never have approached Bethenny if she was getting out of the Uber with her daughter,” Dowiak says. “But the situation was right.”

ASK to receive

Negotiation and leadership expert Linda Swindling says a research-based approach like Dowiak’s is essential if you want to turn a big introduction or chance meeting into an opportunity. She uses the acronym ASK to map out her action plan when sussing out the potential for a sale or collaboration.

First, comes awareness. You may be aware of the person or that they have a similar interest. Then, you seek greater understanding. That may require asking questions or doing research. Finally, the “know” phase is “know your next step,” once you’ve gathered your information, refined your pitch, and are ready to make the ask.

Natalie Dawson and her husband, Brandon, used a similar approach when they sought out entrepreneur and investor Grant Cardone to partner with him on a business opportunity. They purchased front-row tickets to a 35,000-person event at which Cardone was speaking. When they had the opportunity to meet him face-to-face, they came prepared, which Dawson says is a key step in turning intros into relationships and opportunities.

“We’d already done enough research to know what they were offering and what they weren’t offering, and we created a solution for an opportunity that they didn’t even know that they had,” she recalls. “We already had a track record. It wasn’t like we were asking him for a favor.”

Orchestrating networking introductions

With social media making many folks just a post away, some of these introductions don’t even need to be face-to-face. Tim Sharp found his next big opportunity on LinkedIn. He noticed Michael Browning, the founder and CEO of Unleashed Brands, pop up on his feed and was impressed by the entrepreneur’s energy and enthusiasm as well as the company’s Urban Air Adventure Parks, which are indoor adventure parks for children. He began interacting online, responding to some of Browning’s posts.

The engagement caught Browning’s attention, and he asked Sharp to get in touch with members of his management team. Sharp met with some of the company’s senior executives—and soon became one, being named vice president of operations in 2019. Within a few days, he was in Toronto, opening a new park. That year, the company opened 54 parks in 52 weeks. This year, Sharp was named brand president.  

Leveraging opportunity for the long-term

Natalie says asking Cardone to partner on business consultancy Cardone Ventures was just the first step. Their pitch made the business opportunity potentially lucrative for Cardone, offering a 50% partnership. In addition, she says, the couple “kept showing up.” In other words, they put in the time and effort consistently to make the business successful. Last year, the company’s gross revenue was $220 million. “But what’s more impressive is the thousands of business owners whose businesses have grown since working with us,” Natalie says. 

Sharp says that authenticity drove his relationship with Browning and his team from the start. “Sometimes, people get caught up in trying to sell themselves. The best way to find the right fit is—well, don’t sell yourself and listen to what the appeal is,” he says. “If it speaks to you, and you’re able to match that energy and that feeling, you’ll find that once-in-a-lifetime game changer on both sides.”

Playing the long game

And if you don’t? Swindling says that sometimes, an introduction or meeting is the first play in a long game. If you get a “no,” ask questions about why to get to the heart of that decision. It could be as simple as asking, “I heard you say no. Can you tell me about that?” You might find that getting to “yes” simply requires more information, adherence to a process, or some other “fixable” step. And, if not, it may be the start of a relationship where you build trust and interest and get to “yes” over time.

And while Dowiak doesn’t know what the future holds with Frankel, she is using the cash infusion from the sales uptick to invest in her business, negotiate better terms with her supplier, and even invest in some advertising, all of which will help make her business stronger.

“Before Bethenny, I never ran a single ad,” she says. “Now the kind of return on ad spend that we’re going to be able to get is so much higher because so many people have interacted.”

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