A cold email that still gives me goosebumps....

Have you ever had a single connection completely rewire your future? 

Sometimes, the most transformative relationships in our lives come from the most unexpected places—and they don't always start with a person.

Here's how a book, a cold email, and a decade of patience created a full-circle moment that still gives me goosebumps.

The Spark

Picture this: I'm a wide-eyed college freshman, hungry to make my mark but unsure how. When my admissions counselor asked me a simple question—"What do you love?"—I blurted out "sports and business." Little did I know that bridging these two passions would set off a chain reaction that would shape my entire career.

The Blueprint

Enter my mom and a book that would change everything: The Power of Who by Bob Beaudine. Think of it as a master key that unlocked doors I didn't even know existed. It wasn't just about networking—it was about authentic connection-building, something that would later become the backbone of my work at Arcbound.

The Action

Armed with Bob's principles, I did something that probably seemed crazy at the time: I created a list of 100+ sports organizations and started cold emailing. It was like throwing bottles into the ocean, each one carrying a message of determination and hope. And guess what? Some of them actually came back with treasure—three internship offers, to be exact.

The Full Circle

Fast forward to 2023. I'm having a casual conversation with Sean Magennis, someone I'd cold-reached out to early in the pandemic to learn how to build a better client services organization. Without knowing any of the backstory and any prompting, Sean introduces me to none other than Bob Beaudine himself—the author whose book had set my entire journey in motion a decade earlier.

My two-hour conversation with Bob felt like one of those movie moments where all the puzzle pieces suddenly clicked into place. As Steve Jobs famously said, you can't connect the dots looking forward, but when you look back, the pattern becomes crystal clear.

The Lesson

Here's what I've learned: The most powerful connections often aren't the ones we strategically plan—they're the ones that emerge organically when we stay true to ourselves and remain open to possibility. Sometimes it's a book that falls into your lap at just the right moment. Other times it's a cold email that turns into a life-changing relationship. The key is recognizing these moments when they appear and having the courage to act on them.

Your Turn

I'd love to hear your story: What's the most unexpected connection that completely changed your professional trajectory? Maybe it was a random conversation at a coffee shop, a LinkedIn message that led to your dream job, or like me, a book that rewired your thinking.

Share your story in the comments, or better yet, reach out to me directly. The best conversations often start with a simple story shared between two people who understand the power of unexpected connections.

Remember, you never know which connection will be the one that changes everything—but you have to be open to discovering it.

Want to dive deeper into understanding how building meaningful connections enables a brand to come to life? Let's talk :)

P.S. next week’s newsletter is going to be a long form banger. 
Titled “You Can Have a Soul without a Conscience” 
Stay tuned for more!