Celebrating 300 Episodes – The Power of Relationships & Gratitude | RR300

Hello everyone. I can't believe I'm saying this,

but welcome to the 300th episode of relationships rule. I can't

We can't believe we've reached this milestone, and I'm so

grateful that you're all here. It started back in 2020 March 9,

was my first episode that aired, and it's been, it's been a fun

ride all all the way along. I don't know if I ever thought I'd

get this far, but it just kept going. And I don't think I've

missed an episode in that entire five years. That's, that's, it's

almost five years exactly. First I want to say thank you to

Michelle Abraham. She's the one who encouraged me right from the

beginning. She said, Janice, you can do this. This would be

really great for you. I know you would enjoy it. And I kind of

doubted her at first, but she kept pushing until I finally

made it happen with her help. And now the team at amplify you.

Brayden, Lexi Troy and my rock, Aaron, the person who produces

my podcast every week, they've been there for me all the way

along, and I thank them all immensely. I've had so many

amazing guests over the years. Initially, I was scrambling to

source My next guest each week, until eventually, podcast

agencies became a thing. Now there are so many podcasts and

people pitching guests every day, but that's a whole topic in

itself. I do, though, have some favorites that I want to

recognize as I've come to appreciate them for sending me

such amazing people and doing what they really what I think a

good podcast agency does well in particular, I'd like to shout,

shout out, first of all, to Diana Carter at interview valet,

who took the time to get to know me, and who even suggested, one

time that her boss should be on my podcast. Tom Schwab, and he

has been now twice. Tom. Tom is the ultimate in podcast

agencies. He knows what a good guest should be. He makes a good

one himself, and he's been there all the way along, and he knows

what it is to be in relationship with someone. So thank you, Tom

for giving me Diana and for being a wonderful guest as well.

Thanks to Noemi Barras, also from podcast connections, who

had to twist my arm to give a particular person a shot, and

she was right as usual, Noemi did send me this quote to share

today. Janice is a master at creating meaningful

conversations that truly connect her curiosity and warmth make

every guest feel valued, and her expertise in relationship

marketing shines through in every episode. Relationships

rule isn't just a podcast, it's a master class in building

authentic, lasting client connections. Thanks Noemi for

being one of the good guys. That means a lot to me, and I know I

can rely on you to vet your clients well and know who to

match them up with. Truly, Jenny Ortega holds a warm spot in my

heart also, who once sent me a potential guest, who not only

was an amazing guest on the show, but also became a client

of mine, proving what a great matchmaker she is. Scott Gretz

and I couldn't be more aligned, and here's what Scott said about

his experience, our shared values and mindset around the

importance of what of connection and serving others made working

with Janice seamless and inspiring, whether I was a guest

on her relationships rule podcast or she was on mine

referrals done right her passion for helping others build

authentic connections was evident. Thank you, Scott. A few

guests have sent congrats, and they really warmed my heart, and

I wanted to share a couple of them here for you. Sean, why not

a recent guest? Right after we finished recording, he said to

me, this was the most authentic interview I have ever had as a

guest. He said it felt natural and comfortable, and that meant

a lot, because that's exactly what I tried to have happen with

my guests. Candy motsek, a fellow podcaster, said, Janice,

you have such interesting guests. Thanks, candy, that's

the goal. And Jacob Hicks said, Janice has a real gift for

asking the right questions and creating a space where genuine,

valuable conversations can happen. If you're looking for a

podcast that dives deep into practical strategies while

keeping things relatable and fun. This is it much

appreciated, Jacob, I couldn't do without the listeners, of

course, and when guests become listeners too, that's pretty

special. Chad Hufford, an upcoming guest, listened to the

recent episode I did with Jacob Hicks, whom I just mentioned,

and discovered something that they had in common, and he

wanted me to connect him to Jacob. Now that's fun. So.

Chantal Cornelius, who has been on my podcast twice, sent

congrats and shared her favorite episode with me, episode 249,

with NJ Shelby. She says, I remember listening to it just

after I just after I'd been introduced to you. I listened,

picked up lots of tips, and thought I want to be on Janice's

podcast too. My favorite part of being on your podcast was seeing

the photo of you, and as a day, our mutual friend when you met

up so she could give you a copy of my book. And today, as a

result of coming on your latest session last week, I've been

updating my LinkedIn profile, and I even left you a

recommendation to say, thank you. What's so fun about that is

Chantal lives in England, and I was introduced to her as someone

that might like to be on my podcast. Last year, we did a

podcast episode, and she was delightful. And then she wrote a

new book. Then she reached out to me again, and I said, I would

love to have you back. I'd love to see the book. And she said,

Well, I'm actually going to this event in Costa Rica in December.

And I said, Oh, I know someone who's going to that. It was put

on by the Canadian Speakers Association. She took the book

to Costa Rica, gave it to my friend as a day who brought it

back to Vancouver for me, and which afforded me a time to

visit with Azadeh as well, who I'm trying to get on my podcast

also. And I got the book, and then I had a wonderful time

speaking with Chantal again. So I love how it goes around and

around, and how it also can involve other parts of my

business. This podcast has changed my perspective on so

many things. Sometimes I thought, why am I doing this? Is

it helping my business at all? I know it has taken me on a

wonderful journey of connection with so many amazing people. It

has helped me build relationships that I wouldn't

have otherwise had the opportunity to build it has

helped me spread the word about the power of connection, the

importance of nurturing relationships and the value of

curiosity. Relationships do matter, and it's still the core

message of my podcast and how it really I have to know that that

resonates with my guests as well, for them to really click

with me on the podcast, they are the foundation of success.

Relationships are the foundation of success in business and

beyond, and I'd like to share one special story about

relationships and why they matter in the context of my

podcast, I had always thought Bob Berg would be a wonderful

guest to have on my podcast. Bob is a Hall of Fame keynote

speaker on referrals, relationship building and

genuine influence, and a mentor of mine from afar. His

international bestseller book, The Go Giver, which dates back

to, I think, 2007 2008 in which it he advocates shifting our

focus from getting to giving and constantly providing immense

value to others. And that book is one of my favorites. I didn't

know how I was going to reach him, to invite him, because I

didn't know him personally. And then one day, one of my podcast

guests, Mark given who had become a friend, mentioned him

in a conversation we had. He said he knew him. I asked if he

would introduce us, and he said, of course, the rest is history.

Bob Berg was my guest on episode 221, and lived up to my

expectations, even to the follow up piece, even to how he

promoted my

episode on his LinkedIn feed and sent me thank you for him being

a guest. It was so thoughtful and meant such a lot to me.

Since this podcast is all about relationships, I do want to

share three powerful rules with you that I've seen make the

biggest difference in business success. These come from my own

experiences, my amazing guests, and the lessons I've learned

along the way. So here goes rule number one, Curiosity is your

superpower. People love to be seen and heard. Genuine

curiosity builds deeper connections, ask thoughtful

questions and really listen. If you are a regular on my

listening to my podcast, you know that I ask a lot of guests

what their belief is about curiosity. Is it innate, or is

it learned? It often catches them off guard, and the results

seem actually almost like the results you get when flipping a

coin 100 times. It usually comes out 50% heads and 50% tails.

It's the same with innate and learned curiosity, although some

people think it's both. So I guess that does skew the the

statistics a little bit. I do find that my innate curiosity

has been my superpower for being a podcast host. I general,

genuinely want to know more about my guest, and I know

sometimes that takes me off track, but I go where my

curiosity takes me, and that has made for some really great

conversations, and I thank all my guests for cooperating. Rule

number two, relationships require nurturing, staying in

touch consistently. Matters. Don't just connect. When you

need something small, thoughtful gestures like a handwritten note

card or a phone call or check in message can make a big impact.

In fact, it can come back in ways you wouldn't expect, like

this thing that just happened to me. I saw a LinkedIn post a

couple of months ago from a friend of mine that had a

picture of two of my online friends and business colleagues,

Sarah and Bryn, whom I have never met in person, we have

been on each other's podcasts, and we speak very often. Brynn

is also a colleague in LinkedIn masterminding, whom I admire and

adore, and they were meeting for the first time in person, Sarah

and Bryn. I so wanted to be there too, and I was so jealous

that I couldn't be so I took the image and I put it on a greeting

card to send each of them with a personal note that would be a

photo memory for them. Because, of course, most of our photos

live in our phones or on our LinkedIn news feed and never get

anywhere else, so that maybe they would put them in their

office or even on their fridge, and then I let it go. I sent it

off. Then last week, I was listening to a podcast that

Sarah did, interviewing Bryn and lo and behold, if I didn't hear

them talk about the cards I sent them in discussion about content

for social and how that piece of content, that picture of the two

of them, was brynn's favorite content that she had done

recently that was such fun and so surprise and such a surprise.

Rule number three, give before you expect to receive. Build

relationships by offering value. First introduction, support,

insights. The best business opportunities often come from

generosity and trust, not transactions. For example, I

have on several occasions, helped prospects revamp their

LinkedIn profiles before they bought anything from me.

Sometimes it's just an insight that I get a intuition piece

that comes to me that I want to do this for this person, because

I know it's the right time to do it. I want to give value. I want

to show they can trust show them they can trust me. And it almost

always pays off with referrals or future business. Now it's

important to come to know that it comes from the heart with no

hidden agenda and definitely no expectations. It just is one of

those things, the law of reciprocity happens. So these

are the three rules that have shaped my business, my

relationships and even this podcast, every guest I've had on

relationships rule has reinforced these ideas in some

way, and I hope they resonate with you too. I recently went to

see some of my podcast stats and milestones, and I thought it'd

be kind of fun to share before I end this episode. Over a period

of I think one month, I had 5200 unique listeners, 15,000 plus

downloads, and over 1000 downloads in that last 90 days.

I guess this is proof that relationship based business

strategies resonate with people and meaningful conversations

matter. I do remember Michelle Abraham, whom I mentioned at the

beginning, saying to me, don't worry about the downloads, don't

worry about the number of people that are following your podcast.

Just focus on what you want to share with people, and the rest

will follow. And I think she's right, because the audience that

you have are your people, and I do appreciate that. Do

appreciate all of you so much. I guess people want to know what's

next for the podcast, and I have to say, I think I'm just going

to do more of the same unless I hear otherwise. So I do invite

you to share what you love and what you'd like to hear more of

in future episodes. I want to thank the people who

participated when I asked for your input for my 300th episode,

and watch your mailbox in the next little while for some

reward for doing that. And I would love it anytime you hear

podcast episodes you like, please leave a. View, share the

episode, or and, or send a message to me about what that

podcast has meant to you. I love all of that and appreciate it

all, so I guess let's raise our glasses and I'll toast to the

next 300 episodes of relationships rule and remember

to stay connected and be remembered.