Scott MacGregor
Appearances
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I don't build a network. I build friendships. I build relationships. There's a huge difference. Networking to me is transactional. And I think as soon as you're transactional, things change. You know, if you need something to happen by a certain time, that's going to be like a drive-by friendship. It's probably not going to be sustainable.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Heather, I could not be more excited for this. I've been looking forward to it all day. You know, I absolutely love you to pieces and I hold you in the absolute highest regard. You are one of the best podcasters on the planet.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Yeah, I think the first thing to be able to create a great network is don't build a network. I don't build a network. I build friendships. I build relationships. There's a huge difference. Networking to me is transactional. And I think as soon as you're transactional, things change dramatically. So
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
You know, if you need something to happen by a certain time, I think that relationship is inherently going to be transactional. And I would call that that's going to be like a drive by friendship. It's probably not going to be sustainable. And. So I view things very differently. I view things as building a friendship, and I never think of monetizing a relationship.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I think that's the kiss of death. So I go into every relationship just saying, is this an interesting person that I would like to get to know? Because I have wound up in some pretty amazing spots in my life. And when I wind up in that spot or in that room or in that situation where I'm like, how the hell did I get here? When I reverse engineer it, it's never a straight line.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
It's this crazy circuitous path that takes me back to Okay, eight years ago, Heather Monaghan reached out to me to ask me a question, and I built this friendship that I had no idea you would be in my first book. Write the foreword to my second book that... Eight years later, I'd be on your podcast and all the other incredible things that happened.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I think if I looked at it as how am I going to monetize this relationship with Heather Monahan in the next 36 years, 90 days, we probably wouldn't be talking today. But most people, that's how they think about things. And I would say that screws everything up.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
um so there's so many things you have to do uh to build relationships and i think first most people think they're really good at building relationships because everybody has some friends or everybody gets something from social media but i would say in my opinion most people are not great at building relationships i just know Let's just use LinkedIn as an example.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
99% of people that connect with me either don't send me a message, or if they send me a message, it's a terrible message. Or if I connect with them, regardless of whether they do one or the other, they immediately start pitching me on something. That is the worst way you could possibly build a relationship.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So that's kind of one of my anecdotal, you know, pieces of evidence that I don't think most people are really good at building relationships and friendships. There's so many things that I could talk about when it comes to this subject, because I'm so passionate about it. I even think of the word friend differently.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Most people will not call somebody a friend unless they're ready to have a pajama party with them. This is my definition of a friend. If I know you and you know me, and we like each other, we're friends. Now that doesn't mean we're BFFs, but we're friends.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Yeah, you know, I grew up relatively poor in an affluent town. So I stuck out like a sore thumb because economically, you know, we were very, very different from everybody else. So, you know, as a kid, I was just trying to figure out the world and the world when you're a kid is the town you live in. Like, it really doesn't extend much beyond that.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So as soon as you put somebody in your mind, they're your friend, you start to treat things differently and things are no longer transactional and things are more about them than they are about you. So I think just refining your definition of what a friend is. I mean, I felt like you and I were friends very early on, like first conversation. I knew you. You knew me. I like you. You liked me.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And then, you know, so we went from probably. A situation where if somebody said, do you know Heather? I would say, yeah, I know Heather. To now, if somebody says, do you know Heather? I'm like, do I know Heather? I freaking love Heather Monahan. So it changes. There's a continuum of friendships. But I think having the mindset of viewing people as your friend changes the way you approach people.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Was it NYU?
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
A hundred percent. And then you showed up for me consistently. You know, when I talk about friendship with people, I always use you as an example because you are somebody who shows up at the most inopportune times. And whether it's right before a TED Talk to come to New York for a book launch party or whatever the case may be.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
My timing in asking you to do anything is always horrendous, but you always say yes, and you just show up for people. And that's so much of building really strong relationships is just showing up and knowing that You're going to be there. I remember years ago, my wife, Meg, who you know, who's going through a little bit of a situation.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And I sent you a text and literally I barely hit send and you called me. So you just demonstrate all the time what a true friend means. And it's just true friendships are an absolute blessing.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And and I was just trying to figure out why were my experiences so different from my peers? and so that spur i think really spawned kind of a lifelong curiosity so i thought it was because of my circumstances but i'm 57 now and i will tell you i'm as curious at 57 as i was when i was seven So part of my journey has just been that trying to satiate that curiosity.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I mean, I try to show up as often as possible, but I think showing up doesn't have to be really dramatic. Showing up is, you know, showing up and supporting people on social media. You know, showing up could be celebrating them and their achievements. So I love it when, you know, somebody knocks it out of the park because they just...
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
wrote a great book or did a great TED talk or accomplished a milestone event, like I want to be the one bragging for them. Even something as simple as an introduction, like when I introduce two people to each other and one of the keys to introductions is they have to be mutually beneficial. When you make mutually beneficial introductions, It's a golden opportunity to be that person's hype person.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So I'm not going to say, Heather, meet Bob. Bob, meet Heather. I'm going to say, Heather, meet Bob. And then I'm going to tell you why Bob is amazing. And then I'm going to tell Bob, hey, Bob, meet Heather. And then I'm going to tell Bob why you're amazing. So it's just a great opportunity that a lot of people just... They miss those opportunities to celebrate the people that care for them.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So showing up doesn't have to mean jumping on a plane and flying cross country. It could be something as simple as that.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
It's huge. So I'm a big fan of handwritten notes and I'm a big fan of doing video birthday wishes and just random stuff. I think one of the concepts that I think a lot about is I always want to be one of one. So let's just take birthdays, for example. I guarantee that you get.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
a gazillion LinkedIn happy birthdays and you probably get, you know, a whole bunch of text and you get a whole bunch of this. But the number of video happy birthdays that you get is probably a very small number. So I think in anything that you do, you always want to think like, how can I be one of one? How can I show up where I'm the only person
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And I recognized early on in life that I was an outlier. I didn't call it that, but I knew very early on as a kid, I knew I thought differently about things than my peers. But when you're a kid and you think differently about stuff, Heather, you just think you're weird. Like, I wasn't celebrating it.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
that's doing this and sometimes it's not one thing but it's the accumulation of multiple things that you do that you become the only person in the world who's doing this for that person and when you do that when you're one of one you stand out i mean just think of it from a social media standpoint If I like a post of yours, I'm one of several thousand people that liked it.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
If I comment, I'm now one of maybe a couple hundred. If I share it, now I'm part of just a very, very small number. So you just have to always be thinking of that concept. Like, how can I show up for this person so that I'm one of one and that I stand out and that they know that I care about them?
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I'm like, there's something wrong with me because I do not think the way that everyone else thinks. And then later on in life, especially when I got into business, I was hitting levels of success that my peers were not. And I really stepped back and I'm like, why is this happening for me? I wasn't more connected. I didn't have more money. I wasn't better looking.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I do a couple different things. So one is I use my phone as my CRM. So all of the things that are important to me, I have in my phone. So significant others, kids, pets, addresses, cell phone numbers, birthdays, anniversaries, hobbies. It's all on my phone. The reason why it's in my phone and it's not in Salesforce is I always have my phone.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And if I'm on a Zoom call like this, I can go on my phone, which is right here, and I can look up and I can say, you know, hey, I hope Dylan had a great basketball practice today. you know, you got an opportunity to do that. So part of it is maintaining those relationships is I have all the data, all the important things in one spot that happens to be my phone.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And then with high impact relationships, I have a method, I have a strategy to maintain those. I call it my who's your Oprah list. So it's my list of people who are the most impactful and have the most access because I truly believe that the more access you have, the more opportunity you have to do good things in the world. And I use Oprah as the example.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Like if anyone's phone rings anywhere in the world, they look down, they go, oh, it's Oprah Winfrey. They're taking that call. And so Oprah has tremendous access. So Gayle King is Oprah's best friend. So I know Gayle King when she was a local TV anchor here in Connecticut.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I didn't have anything that I saw as a distinct advantage, but I pretty quickly realized that That by being a contrarian, by always, when everyone was going left, I just intuitively wanted to go right. And by taking that path less traveled, that's where the pot of gold is in life. So I have leaned into that heavily, always in my career, but even more so now as an entrepreneur.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And Gayle King's ability back then to do things was nothing in comparison to what her ability to do things is now as Oprah's best friend. So access gives you opportunity. And when you have a list of those people and you look at it every day, you can think, what can I do to pour into these people so that I can further this relationship. So I'm very intentional about building those relationships.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Well, I guess I am doing a lot, but it's organized and it's structured. There's actually a process to doing it.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Yeah, I mean, it goes on and on. Planned random texts are one of my favorite things to do. So, for instance, like, I'm going to wish you a happy birthday on August 14th every single year, but I would rather send you a message September 14th because you're probably not going to get anywhere near the volume. So... planning those things out is something I do. Or I believe in being in the moment.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
When I see something good, when I see something that I want to celebrate, I don't wait because I'm going to forget. I do it immediately. So that's why you've been the recipient, unfortunately, of some of this. You get the me at 5 a.m. on my treadmill. I've got bedhead. I got bags under my eyes. Thank God. I'm sure I'm not smelling great. That's not an issue.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
But if I'm thinking about somebody in those moments because I'm maybe seeing something that they accomplished on social media, I'm going to send a message. I don't care what I look like. And those things are really appreciated. And then... You know, I love to gift things. I'm a big gift giver.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And I think sometimes people get paralyzed about gifts because they think you have to spend a lot of money. And in some cases, you should. Like, if you're going to do something, make it best of class. But it could be something that's just thoughtful. So, for instance... Brandi Chastain is a good friend of mine. So Brandi is a two-time World Cup champ, two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
She's in the soccer hall of fame. And you can't get anyone who's more into soccer. So I was in the post office one day and I saw these U.S. National Women's Soccer stamps. So I bought a bunch of stamps and I bought stationery and I sent it to Brandi. So
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
You know, the stamps and the stationery didn't cost me very much money, but the thoughtfulness behind it and now her ability every time she sends a friend a note using that stationery and using those stamps, she's probably going to think, oh, you know, my friend Scott sent this to me. So my good friend, the late John Rulon, who is devastating that he passed away.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
If anyone ever wants to read a great book, read his book Giftology. He always said, it's not the thought that counts. It's the thoughtful thought that counts. And I think there's a lot of power in that.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So there's a scale of asks and the way I think of it, it's like the scales of justice. So every time I do something for somebody, every time I engage in their social media, send them handwritten notes and the video or whatever, I'm kind of putting something on my side of the of the ledger. And eventually that scale tips like this
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And most of the time, you never have to ask for anything because at that point, the person is like, what can I do for you? Most people, I call them ask holes. So they are asking for stuff so early in a relationship. It's like they just met somebody. And they're like, can I pick your brain? Can you be on my podcast? Can you do this? Can you do that? It's like you haven't earned that yet.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
You don't have enough chits on your side of the scale to ask. So I only ask for things when I think the scale is in proportionally balanced in my favor. And at that point, I will ask for something like, Heather, will you write the foreword to my book? If it's not, I'm never going to do it.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
But most of the time, I don't even have to ask because people will come to me and say, you know, what can I do to help you out? Because, you know, I've done things for them.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Yeah. So the first business I started, I was a chief revenue officer. Sound familiar? Like somebody I know. And, you know, we had had massive success. We grew a company from about five people to nearly 300 and had double digit growth every single year for 17 straight years.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
That's so true. I will say there are times when you have to shoot your shot and you just have to go for it, but I think you have to be cognizant of the fact that that is going to be probably a transactional relationship. And it's going to be just a drive-by friendship.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
But if you have something, you want somebody desperately to be on your podcast or something like that, then there are times when you're just going to shoot your shot. But I view building true relationships as having no timeline. So I think the other important thing is never keep score. So do not keep score, meaning I did this, I did this, I did this, I didn't get anything back.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Number one, it will drive you nuts. And number two, you'll lose sight of the fact that you're actually playing a game that has no scoreboard and it has no clock. So that's the way I view relationships. There's no timeline. I don't care if it takes six days, six weeks, or six years to build that friendship. And sometimes that friendship is just a friendly friendship.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And other times it is a friendship like you and I have, which is a ride or die, like Heather needs me to bury a body while we're in the shovel.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I think it's a group of not like-minded people, but like-hearted people. So it's... I mean, it's called the Outlier Project. It's not the, like, we all think the same project. So everybody thinks a little bit differently, but I think everybody in the community loves that. Like, they're looking for...
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
divergent thoughts, and they're looking to grow and learn by people that don't think or look like them. So that's a big key. I think just the structure of the Outlier Project is a little bit different in that everything we do is live and interactive. So if I bring you on as a top advisor, if we've done legend series with you and author spotlights with you in the past,
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I want people to be able to interact with you. So I think that's an important distinction. I love podcasts, yours is one of my favorites, but podcasts are not interactive. It's a different experience when you get to ask Heather Monahan, what do you do when you're about to go on stage in front of 100,000 people in Saudi Arabia and get that feedback and have those conversations?
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So whether it's you or Leila Ali or Rudy Ruediger or Jesse Itzler or whoever, those are kind of cool experiences. So we're trying to really create something that accomplishes two things. Number one is help people develop really unique relationships with a very eclectic group of people and help people to have learning and development opportunities in an extremely unique way.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And so through that, I was drinking from a fire hose every single day and we were hiring people like crazy and especially like 08, 09. The economy sucked, but we were hiring people like crazy. So every recruiter and their brother was calling me supposedly going to provide us with exceptional talent. And I will tell you that my experience as a sales leader for 17 years dealing with recruiters
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And I think we've accomplished both of those things. And that probably is attributed to all the growth that we've had.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Yeah, so I think people crave in real life. People, you know, they want to be together. Like this Sunday, I'll be in Atlanta for an event for Culture City with Dominique Wilkins and a bunch of other outliers. I think that's a really important component. We try to do things that are really fun, whether that's skating in Rockefeller Center or, you
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
In a few weeks, we'll be in San Jose, California to go to a soccer game with Brandi Chastain. She owns a pro women's soccer team called Bay FC, so we'll tailgate with her before the game, which is going to be a cool experience for people that have maybe only seen her on TV in the past. We do humanity expeditions.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So we go to Nicaragua every year and we help rebuild schools on a mountain in a town called Matagalpa. We just do a lot of really cool, unique things. And that's been a big, big component of the Outlier Project. It doesn't have to be a soccer game, though, with Brandi Chastain. It could be, you know, we were just in Charlotte. We played mini golf in Charlotte. And, you know, we had a blast.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
We went bowling. in atlanta on not that long ago and and just had a fantastic time just being together so in real life stuff is another big component of the experience that we want people to have for anyone listening that is interested in becoming a part of your community where do they go and how do they become part of outlier project Yeah, it's very simple.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
They go to the outlierproject.live and joining. There is no application. If you want to join, you literally just join. It takes about 20 seconds, and it's as simple as that. Fortunately, I think because of the people we have in the community, we really have had no issues with... with that. And I've had two people that I've had to ask to leave in the two and a half years that we've been running it.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So pretty good track record. So there's no need for an application. So people want to join. If people resonate with being an outlier, wanting to show up differently, wanting to take the path less traveled, knowing that that's easier when you're surrounded by 750 people who think that way, it's a really fun experience.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So unlike you, I have not cracked the code on Instagram. So you can find me on Instagram and you'll see pictures of my wife and probably not much more than that. But if you really want to get a hold of me, contact me on LinkedIn. I think the key is please send me a personal message. Just so I know why you want to be connected. And that's the place to go.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
That's definitely my social media platform of choice. So LinkedIn is definitely the way to get a hold of me.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Thank you for being my friend, Heather. Most importantly, it means the world to me. Our friendship is something that I absolutely cherish. So thank you for being a friend and thanks for having me on. You too. You mean the world to me.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
i thought it was the most backwards uh industry the most antiquated industry i had ever seen in my life and i thought i could build a better mousetrap i thought i could build a different mousetrap so i started a company 10 years ago called something new and that company won eight consecutive american business awards for innovation which the record was three prior to that
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And we literally built a different mousetrap. So everything that I had seen that drove me nuts as a CRO, we just did the opposite. And sometimes that's how easy it is. It's just what are the things that drive you crazy about, you know, a certain industry or vendors that you may work with and just do the opposite and you'll probably meet with success.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And that's exactly what happened, you know, at Something New.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So I started the community because I had all these relationships that I had built for decades with super interesting people. And I thought, well, wouldn't it be cool if I could bring these people in to talk to a community, but do it in a different way, in a live and interactive format? And so that was kind of the beginning of starting a community. And then again, access to these amazing people.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And some of them, you know, are billion dollar CEOs or famous musicians or chefs or Navy SEALs or pro athletes, Olympians, et cetera, bestselling authors.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I knew I had an opportunity to leverage that again and decided to start a magazine called Outlier Magazine where I could celebrate the people that I admire the most in the world, which are people that are unafraid to show up differently and unafraid to travel down that path that is less traveled. Despite the fact that they know it's going to be dark, it's going to be scary.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
They're not going to have a lot of company. They're going to probably trip and fall and skin their knees. Those are the people I want to celebrate. And I'm now able to do that through the community. But I'm also able to do it through the magazine.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
We're about two and a half years into the community. We have about 750 members in 35 countries, and we're five issues in on the magazine, and we have 30,000 subscribers, which I wasn't expecting that kind of growth. But I think people are really... They're thirsting for not only a digital magazine, but also a physical magazine. So we are both a physical magazine and a digital.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And I think people love to read about outliers. I think people love to hear the stories of those brave people who buck the system and are rebels or black sheep or mavericks. So those are the people I like to celebrate.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So when I started my company, Something New, 10 years ago, giving back to me was super important. But I had a huge problem. And the huge problem was I'm a total control freak. So I did not want to take any VC money because I didn't want anybody to tell me what to do.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So I'm like, how am I going to give back when I'm literally bootstrapping this business and I'm pouring every penny that I'm making back into the business? So I sat back and I'm like, well, what are my assets? And my assets were not a gigantic bank account that I could write checks to these organizations that I cared about.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And I realized very quickly that my assets were all these unbelievable friends that I had. So I thought, okay. What if I asked my friends to write a chapter of gratitude for a life lesson learned? I'll put it in a book and I'll give 100% of the proceeds to charity. So the first book that I wrote was called Standing O. And Dick Vermeule, who's in the Football Hall of Fame, wrote the forward.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And Tiki Barber, who's an all-time great from the New York Giants, wrote the cover quote. And then... Friends of mine from Jesse Itzler to Heather Monahan wrote chapters of gratitude, beautiful chapters of gratitude. And it worked. We sold a bunch of books. We raised a bunch of money for a couple of nonprofits that I was really passionate about. And we gave them a lot of exposure.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And so I thought, okay, this formula works. So I did it again with a book called Standing O Encore. And Another friend of mine stepped up, Heather Monaghan. I don't know if you know her, but she wrote the forward to standing encore. Jesse Itzler wrote the cover quote. And so we've done that four times. Fifth book will come out this year.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
So I think it was a cool way to give people exposure to some of these unique friends that I have and hear their stories of gratitude for a life lesson learned. So maybe it was a little bit.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
of a peek into their life that they normally wouldn't get the thing that it didn't satisfy was it's not it wasn't interactive and that's really what pushed it into the community where in the community people now get to ask the heathers and the dick for meals and the jesse's questions and that's a different experience so yeah the standing o series has been
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Just a really fun way to give back in kind of a unique aspect. So I've loved it.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I have always lived into the answers. You know, you talk about messy action a lot, and I believe in that so much. And, you know, I call it living into the answers. I think too many people, they have to figure out what the end of the game looks like in every step along the way. And that's not really how it works, especially as an entrepreneur.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Like, there are so many things that are going to come at you from left field. You have to be prepared to kind of go into uncharted waters and live into the answers. I mean, you have to have some idea of where you're going, but you don't have to have it all mapped out. So I'm very, very comfortable figuring it out as I go.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
Live into the answers just means you don't have to have the answer right now. You live into that answer. So as you progress through, whether it's a business or whatever it is that you're trying to build or a relationship, You're just living into the answers. So as you're accumulating more data, you're making the adjustments and you're bobbing and weaving and making new decisions.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
It's just inconceivable to me that you're going to know all that stuff up front. So you really have to live into the answers all the time. But most people get stuck because it's scary to do that.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I totally do. You know, it's the reason why I left. I worked at a Fortune 500 company and I had a ton of success. I was the youngest national account manager in the history of the company. And the company at that time was... I don't know, 80, 90 years old, but I left because I would have an idea. I was young. I was in my twenties and I'd have these ideas. I'd be so enthusiastic.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
I'd bring it to my manager. They'd be like, oh, my God, that's a great idea. They would take it to their boss. Great idea. And then nothing would ever happen. Because we were kind of like the Titanic. We could see the iceberg and we're like, holy shit, we are too big and too slow and probably too dumb to course correct. And we're just going to smash into that iceberg. And to me...
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
That was like, oh, my God, I cannot live that life like that will drive me absolutely insane. I need to live into the answers and I need to be quick and I need to be able to pivot. And if I see the iceberg, I've got to figure out a way, you know, to get around it. I couldn't live in that environment. So I said that that's it.
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
#514 Why the Best Networkers Don’t “Network” (And What They Do Instead) with Scott MacGregor, Founder of the Outlier Project
And that's when I went to the startup where we really lived kind of that living into the answer life.