IAM1111- President Empowers Professionals to Build Relationships
Podcast Interview with Frank Agin
Frank Agin is president of AmSpirit Business Connection, an organization that empowers entrepreneurs, sales representatives, and professionals to become successful through networking.
He is also the host of the Networking Rx podcast, a weekly short-form podcast with insights and interviews related to better business relationships. And he narrates the Networking Rx Minute, a micro podcast with daily ideas and inspiration.
Finally, Frank is the author of several books, including Foundational Networking: Creating Know, Like & Trust For A Lifetime of Extraordinary Success.
- CEO Hack: PhraseExpress
- CEO Nugget: Find something you're passionate about and find something to volunteer
- CEO Defined: Ultimate leader
Website: https://www.frankagin.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankagin/
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Transcription
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00:18 – Intro
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.
00:46 – Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Frank Aagan of Am Spirit business connection. Frank, it's great to have you on the show.
00:55 – Frank Agin
Gresh, thank you for having me on. I'm looking forward to this.
00:59 – Gresham Harkless
Definitely super excited to have you on as well. Before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Frank so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Frank is president of AM Spirit Business Connection, an organization that empowers entrepreneurs, sales representatives, and professionals to become successful through networking. He is also the host of the Networking Rx podcast, a weekly short, firm podcast with insights and interviews related to better business relationships. He narrates the networking Rx Minute, a micro podcast with daily ideas and inspiration. Finally, Frank is the author of several books, books including Foundational Networking, creating no like interest for a lifetime of extraordinary success. Let me say, that since I met Frank, he's a wealth of knowledge and information in all different forms, shapes, and sizes. So super excited to have you on, Frank. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
[restrict paid=”true”]
01:45 – Frank Agin
I am. I am.
01:46 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Well, let's do it then. So, to kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit and hear a little bit more about how you got started, what I call your CEO story.
01:54 – Frank Agin
Yeah, I. I went to. I live in Columbus, Ohio. I went to the Ohio State Law University, law school, and MBA school. They have a joint degree program. I got those degrees at the same time. Kresh. I kind of grew up with the notion of doing well in school, getting lots of degrees, you'll chart your course in reality. I'm not saying that's not true. Certainly doing well in school and having degrees is important, but relationships are so much more important so anyway, I started my career in public accounting. I was a tax consultant with a big firm. It was a great job. It was great pay, great clients, great everything. I really didn't want to do taxes for the rest of my life. So, about six years in, I decided to leave and go out on my own. I tell people that a funny thing happened to me when I went into private practice. The funny thing was that nothing happened. I had no idea how to get clients. I think that's a lot of.
A lot of small business types struggle with really good plumbers, you know, can do all that stuff. But getting the clients is. That's the hard part. So I struggled for about four weeks or so, five weeks, and I had a conversation with an attorney friend, and I asked her what I needed to do to become successful. And she said you need to get into a leads group or tips club. Well, I had no idea what she was talking about, but through a series of introductions, she introduced me to an organization, that was based out of Pittsburgh. It's very similar to Be and I. For people who are familiar with b and I, many people are.
And I went to the first meeting, and it made total sense to me that you can lift up your whole world by helping other people. That was really the secret is, you know, helping other people and just trusting that it'll work out for you. So I really doubled down on that and had an opportunity at one point to essentially buy the organization out. It was about six years in, there was a long story to it, bought the organization out, decided I was going to stop the Praxal law, and really become a student of this networking thing. When I say student, I was going to really read up on it and learn. And. Every day there are things to learn. But that's, you know, that all was set in motion 25 years ago. So it's what I do. I help small business people connect with people, information, and opportunities that help them become more successful.
04:13 – Gresham Harkless
Nice. I definitely appreciate you sharing your story. I think that, as you were kind of saying, sometimes I even believe, obviously, education is important, and you get education in different ways, but sometimes even at those big name schools, so to speak, sometimes don't realize the biggest thing that you get is not the book knowledge necessarily. It's those connections to sometimes the people. So I love how that has translated through your life and how you've been able to kind of provide so much knowledge and information and connections and relationships for businesses that are great at what they do and be able to also get that business, which is insanely important.
04:45 – Frank Agin
Yeah, no, it's. Relationships are everything. I was on a podcast this morning. We were talking about it, and I said, the reason we kind of lose track of that is they're so entwined in our life. Well, here's the analogy or the metaphor. A fish doesn't know it's in water because it's always in water. We're always dealing with relationships. We've had relationships with our moms since day one, and siblings and family members, and then friends. We've always had these relationships. We tend to forget how important they are. It's the water we swim in, and we don't see it. But when you step out of it and realize that, okay, that person's successful, not because of luck, not because they're smart, not because of anything other than the fact that they've gotten people to know them like them and trust them, and it just comes down to that. Once you know that, it just makes things so much easier. It's not. Well, it's simpler. You still have to put the work in to make that happen, but at least you know the types of things you need to be doing.
05:47 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, I like to say a lot of times it might be simple to understand. It's not necessarily easy to execute. But I think so many times, we don't realize. That's why I love how you said you're a student of networking and understanding that, because I think so many times we don't realize it's something that you can learn, you can get better at, you can improve. So that's why I love the wealth of information and knowledge that you provide. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more and hear a little bit more about that wealth of knowledge how you support your clients and what we can find more at the connections that you do.
06:16 – Frank Agin
Well, the amp spirit program is at this point, we've got 18 franchisees in eight different states. We create weekly meetings that are made up of entrepreneurs, sales reps, and professionals who come together to learn about each other and exchange referrals. It's a membership-based program. People pay to belong. I have members that have been around, joke about this, but I have members that have been around since the Bush administration, the first Bush administration, literally before Bill Clinton, they have been around. So it's a program that works. It's relatively inexpensive for people to become involved in, but they're. It's inexpensive because they're the ones who provide. They've got to do the work. They've got to do the work. It's like going to a dance, right? You just can't buy a ticket to the dance. You got to ask somebody to dance. You got to get out on the floor and dance. You got to do the things.
You're not going to enjoy yourself unless you're actively involved in the dance. It's the same thing with these organizations or any type of membership organization. If you want to get the most out of it, you have to be involved. So that's the big piece of what we do with respect to the organization. We're always looking to, we're expanding through franchising. So I'm always happy to talk to people about the franchise program and what that involves, you know, the investment, the time commitment. It's really geared for somebody to add to what they're already doing. All my franchisees do something else for a couple of hours in the morning, a couple of mornings a week. Not even that much. They're working on the program. The rest of the time they're designing websites or selling houses or being attorneys or financial advisors, you know, and that's the, you know, that's. That's where the money comes from. But it's really about half of what I end up doing, because the, you know, I have a podcast.
I try to get information out on networking and try to get people to understand, you know, how to build relationships. This morning I had an interview with a woman who was 40 years old, she was a vice admiral in the Coast Guard, 40 years in the Coast Guard. To talk to her about the relationships from the word go of getting into the Coast Guard Academy and then how to build relationships with superiors and subordinates all the way through, is fascinating. We just think of the military, or, uh, Coast Guard is military, more or less. But to think that, okay, you come in and you just follow orders, and everything's going to work out. It couldn't be farther from the truth. Again, it's the water we swim in. We don't know that these relationships are so vital to our existence.
08:58 – Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. Appreciate that. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. This could be for yourself personally or your business, or a combination of both, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?
09:09 – Frank Agin
You know, it's funny, I just. I just did something on LinkedIn. I just posted a video somebody did on Ted Talk, and they responded because I tagged them and, oh, you're amazing. You're amazing. My response is, I'm not amazing. Heart surgery is amazing. Sharing information on LinkedIn, just giving somebody a compliment, that's not amazing. But I see that maybe that's my secret sauce. You know, I go through the day and try and find ways of helping other people. I get on this call with you, you know, I'm taking notes. Okay. What are ways that I can help Gresh? I don't know. You know, let me think about it. I know you have a podcast and it needs to be promoted. Probably need guests, you know, so that's kind of rolling around in my mind. You're. I'm always looking for those things to try and help other people and just trust that it's going to come back to me. It doesn't work perfectly, but when it works, it works amazing.
10:07 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah. I truly appreciate that. It's so funny, like, as we were talking about the whole networking piece, where it may not necessarily be rocket science, but so few people do, and I hear that a lot in different industries around customer service. Like, we know what good customer service is, but everybody doesn't do it. So, like you said, and being able to kind of understand or even take the time and create the space to understand what somebody else might consider to be a win, and you try to execute on that. It's few and far between. So I definitely think it is awesome and amazing. So I will use those words that you said came through you on LinkedIn as well.
10:37 – Frank Agin
Well, thank you. Yeah. Thank you.
10:39 – Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
10:52 – Frank Agin
Wow. You know, there's a lot of things. There's a lot of things I tell people. There's a lot of weird things about Frank Egan. Just different things. You know, I fast every day for 16 hours. You know, I take cold showers. Just little things like that. Little things I pick up over the years. But this year, this one, it's called Frase Express. We all have these. You're a podcast, you're. You're emailing people. It's the same thing over and over. It might be a. From a menu of different things, and it's tiresome to retype those things, and it's a pain to go and go find the document, cut and paste. What Fraser Express allows you to do is basically allow them, load them into the app, and then you can just go and hit a button or just put a code in and it'll shoot them out. It has saved me. Well, the app keeps track. I think it saved me almost 400 or, excuse me, 40 hours so far this year. That's a lot of time of, you know, having. Okay, where's that document now? So, yeah, Frase Express was. That was referred to me by a coach friend of mine up in Toronto, Canada. He. I got to show you this. This is really cool. Like, wow, that is cool.
12:04 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So, this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It could be around networking, or it might be something. If you were to hop into a time machine, you would tell your younger.
12:16 – Frank Agin
Business self, yeah, you know, I get this question a lot when I'm on podcasts, you know, or when I get out and do talks, you know, what? You know, what's the one thing I could be doing to get myself better networked? My response is consistently this, find something that you're passionate about and find something to volunteer. Get yourself out in the community. You know, we as humans are hardwired. We. Let me back up. We as humans grew up in clans or tribes of about 150. When I say growing up, the human race. For thousands and thousands of years, that was us. Except for maybe the last 5000 years. We started to get more civilized, and more organized. But it was a tough life.
You had to contribute in those settings, and if you didn't, they wanted you out. So most people did. So we as humans are hardwired to look and see the people who are contributing to the world. So when you commit yourself to an organization or some sort of cause, people notice, even the people, certainly people in the organization, but people outside the organization, you'll certainly feel great about it, doing it, especially if it's something that's near and dear to your heart, whether it's youth, sports, or homelessness or human trafficking. I mean, the list goes on. There's so much out there, and those organizations could use the help, but it really elevates your presence. People, you don't even have to, you know, you don't have to tell people what you do. They will find out what's. What's that gresh about, you know? LinkedIn is beautiful because they can look it up and they'll be able to figure it all out.
13:54 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, truly appreciate that. Now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're open to different, quote-unquote, CEO's on this show. So, Frank, what does being a CEO mean to you?
14:07 – Frank Agin
Well, you're being a CEO, in my mind, is just really, you're the ultimate leader. I mean, you're, you know, you're heading up and you're leading an organization. You don't necessarily have to have employees because a lot of people out there don't have employees. I have some I don't have, but there are still people who look to me for guidance.
14:27 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Frank, truly appreciate that. Of course, appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and of course, how best they can get a hold of you, listen to your podcast, get a copy of your books and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.
14:43 – Frank Agin
You know, I, years ago I created a website and it's kind of all things. Frank Egan, it's frankagen.com dot. You can find my podcasts. They're called networking Rx. I've got a 1 minute daily and I have a short-form podcast that comes out three or four times a week. All my books are listed there. You can get a hold of me. Bye. Absolutely. If your thing is LinkedIn, great. If it's Facebook, great. If it's Twitter, great. All my connections are on there. My emails are on there. That's the best place to, you know, certainly connect with me. If there's a way I can help, reach out and, you know, certainly try to help, certainly listen to people. Certainly interested. If people would like to learn more about our franchise program and spirit business connections, that would be great too.
15:32 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Frank, we will definitely have the links and information in the show notes as well, too, so that everybody can follow up with you. But I appreciate you for, you know, sharing that gift that you have, you know, with everybody. I think so many times when we have a gift, we forget that we're not supposed to hoard it and hold on to it, but we're supposed to give it out. So I love the podcast, books, the franchise, all the awesome things that you're doing to kind of help support, you know, professionals and business owners and CEO's and entrepreneurs. So thank you so much, my friend. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
15:59 – Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
00:18 - Intro
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.
00:46 - Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Frank Aagan of Am Spirit business connection. Frank, it's great to have you on the show.
00:55 - Frank Agin
Gresh, thank you for having me on. I'm looking forward to this.
00:59 - Gresham Harkless
Definitely super excited to have you on as well. Before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Frank so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Frank is president of AM Spirit Business Connection, an organization that empowers entrepreneurs, sales representatives, and professionals to become successful through networking. He is also the host of the Networking Rx podcast, a weekly short, firm podcast with insights and interviews related to better business relationships. He narrates the networking Rx Minute, a micro podcast with daily ideas and inspiration. Finally, Frank is the author of several books, books including Foundational Networking, creating no like interest for a lifetime of extraordinary success. Let me say, that since I met Frank, he's a wealth of knowledge and information in all different forms, shapes, and sizes. So super excited to have you on, Frank. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
01:45 - Frank Agin
I am. I am.
01:46 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Well, let's do it then. So, to kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit and hear a little bit more about how you got started, what I call your CEO story.
01:54 - Frank Agin
Yeah, I. I went to. I live in Columbus, Ohio. I went to the Ohio State Law University, law school, and MBA school. They have a joint degree program. I got those degrees at the same time. Kresh. I kind of grew up with the notion of doing well in school, getting lots of degrees, you'll chart your course in reality. I'm not saying that's not true. Certainly doing well in school and having degrees is important, but relationships are so much more important so anyway, I started my career in public accounting. I was a tax consultant with a big firm. It was a great job. It was great pay, great clients, great everything. I really didn't want to do taxes for the rest of my life. So, about six years in, I decided to leave and go out on my own. I tell people that a funny thing happened to me when I went into private practice. The funny thing was that nothing happened. I had no idea how to get clients. I think that's a lot of.
A lot of small business types struggle with really good plumbers, you know, can do all that stuff. But getting the clients is. That's the hard part. So I struggled for about four weeks or so, five weeks, and I had a conversation with an attorney friend, and I asked her what I needed to do to become successful. And she said you need to get into a leads group or tips club. Well, I had no idea what she was talking about, but through a series of introductions, she introduced me to an organization, that was based out of Pittsburgh. It's very similar to Be and I. For people who are familiar with b and I, many people are.
And I went to the first meeting, and it made total sense to me that you can lift up your whole world by helping other people. That was really the secret is, you know, helping other people and just trusting that it'll work out for you. So I really doubled down on that and had an opportunity at one point to essentially buy the organization out. It was about six years in, there was a long story to it, bought the organization out, decided I was going to stop the Praxal law, and really become a student of this networking thing. When I say student, I was going to really read up on it and learn. And. Every day there are things to learn. But that's, you know, that all was set in motion 25 years ago. So it's what I do. I help small business people connect with people, information, and opportunities that help them become more successful.
04:13 - Gresham Harkless
Nice. I definitely appreciate you sharing your story. I think that, as you were kind of saying, sometimes I even believe, obviously, education is important, and you get education in different ways, but sometimes even at those big name schools, so to speak, sometimes don't realize the biggest thing that you get is not the book knowledge necessarily. It's those connections to sometimes the people. So I love how that has translated through your life and how you've been able to kind of provide so much knowledge and information and connections and relationships for businesses that are great at what they do and be able to also get that business, which is insanely important.
04:45 - Frank Agin
Yeah, no, it's. Relationships are everything. I was on a podcast this morning. We were talking about it, and I said, the reason we kind of lose track of that is they're so entwined in our life. Well, here's the analogy or the metaphor. A fish doesn't know it's in water because it's always in water. We're always dealing with relationships. We've had relationships with our moms since day one, and siblings and family members, and then friends. We've always had these relationships. We tend to forget how important they are. It's the water we swim in, and we don't see it. But when you step out of it and realize that, okay, that person's successful, not because of luck, not because they're smart, not because of anything other than the fact that they've gotten people to know them like them and trust them, and it just comes down to that. Once you know that, it just makes things so much easier. It's not. Well, it's simpler. You still have to put the work in to make that happen, but at least you know the types of things you need to be doing.
05:47 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, I like to say a lot of times it might be simple to understand. It's not necessarily easy to execute. But I think so many times, we don't realize. That's why I love how you said you're a student of networking and understanding that, because I think so many times we don't realize it's something that you can learn, you can get better at, you can improve. So that's why I love the wealth of information and knowledge that you provide. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more and hear a little bit more about that wealth of knowledge how you support your clients and what we can find more at the connections that you do.
06:16 - Frank Agin
Well, the amp spirit program is at this point, we've got 18 franchisees in eight different states. We create weekly meetings that are made up of entrepreneurs, sales reps, and professionals who come together to learn about each other and exchange referrals. It's a membership-based program. People pay to belong. I have members that have been around, joke about this, but I have members that have been around since the Bush administration, the first Bush administration, literally before Bill Clinton, they have been around. So it's a program that works. It's relatively inexpensive for people to become involved in, but they're. It's inexpensive because they're the ones who provide. They've got to do the work. They've got to do the work. It's like going to a dance, right? You just can't buy a ticket to the dance. You got to ask somebody to dance. You got to get out on the floor and dance. You got to do the things.
You're not going to enjoy yourself unless you're actively involved in the dance. It's the same thing with these organizations or any type of membership organization. If you want to get the most out of it, you have to be involved. So that's the big piece of what we do with respect to the organization. We're always looking to, we're expanding through franchising. So I'm always happy to talk to people about the franchise program and what that involves, you know, the investment, the time commitment. It's really geared for somebody to add to what they're already doing. All my franchisees do something else for a couple of hours in the morning, a couple of mornings a week. Not even that much. They're working on the program. The rest of the time they're designing websites or selling houses or being attorneys or financial advisors, you know, and that's the, you know, that's. That's where the money comes from. But it's really about half of what I end up doing, because the, you know, I have a podcast.
I try to get information out on networking and try to get people to understand, you know, how to build relationships. This morning I had an interview with a woman who was 40 years old, she was a vice admiral in the Coast Guard, 40 years in the Coast Guard. To talk to her about the relationships from the word go of getting into the Coast Guard Academy and then how to build relationships with superiors and subordinates all the way through, is fascinating. We just think of the military, or, uh, Coast Guard is military, more or less. But to think that, okay, you come in and you just follow orders, and everything's going to work out. It couldn't be farther from the truth. Again, it's the water we swim in. We don't know that these relationships are so vital to our existence.
08:58 - Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. Appreciate that. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. This could be for yourself personally or your business, or a combination of both, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?
09:09 - Frank Agin
You know, it's funny, I just. I just did something on LinkedIn. I just posted a video somebody did on Ted Talk, and they responded because I tagged them and, oh, you're amazing. You're amazing. My response is, I'm not amazing. Heart surgery is amazing. Sharing information on LinkedIn, just giving somebody a compliment, that's not amazing. But I see that maybe that's my secret sauce. You know, I go through the day and try and find ways of helping other people. I get on this call with you, you know, I'm taking notes. Okay. What are ways that I can help Gresh? I don't know. You know, let me think about it. I know you have a podcast and it needs to be promoted. Probably need guests, you know, so that's kind of rolling around in my mind. You're. I'm always looking for those things to try and help other people and just trust that it's going to come back to me. It doesn't work perfectly, but when it works, it works amazing.
10:07 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah. I truly appreciate that. It's so funny, like, as we were talking about the whole networking piece, where it may not necessarily be rocket science, but so few people do, and I hear that a lot in different industries around customer service. Like, we know what good customer service is, but everybody doesn't do it. So, like you said, and being able to kind of understand or even take the time and create the space to understand what somebody else might consider to be a win, and you try to execute on that. It's few and far between. So I definitely think it is awesome and amazing. So I will use those words that you said came through you on LinkedIn as well.
10:37 - Frank Agin
Well, thank you. Yeah. Thank you.
10:39 - Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
10:52 - Frank Agin
Wow. You know, there's a lot of things. There's a lot of things I tell people. There's a lot of weird things about Frank Egan. Just different things. You know, I fast every day for 16 hours. You know, I take cold showers. Just little things like that. Little things I pick up over the years. But this year, this one, it's called Frase Express. We all have these. You're a podcast, you're. You're emailing people. It's the same thing over and over. It might be a. From a menu of different things, and it's tiresome to retype those things, and it's a pain to go and go find the document, cut and paste. What Fraser Express allows you to do is basically allow them, load them into the app, and then you can just go and hit a button or just put a code in and it'll shoot them out. It has saved me. Well, the app keeps track. I think it saved me almost 400 or, excuse me, 40 hours so far this year. That's a lot of time of, you know, having. Okay, where's that document now? So, yeah, Frase Express was. That was referred to me by a coach friend of mine up in Toronto, Canada. He. I got to show you this. This is really cool. Like, wow, that is cool.
12:04 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So, this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It could be around networking, or it might be something. If you were to hop into a time machine, you would tell your younger.
12:16 - Frank Agin
Business self, yeah, you know, I get this question a lot when I'm on podcasts, you know, or when I get out and do talks, you know, what? You know, what's the one thing I could be doing to get myself better networked? My response is consistently this, find something that you're passionate about and find something to volunteer. Get yourself out in the community. You know, we as humans are hardwired. We. Let me back up. We as humans grew up in clans or tribes of about 150. When I say growing up, the human race. For thousands and thousands of years, that was us. Except for maybe the last 5000 years. We started to get more civilized, and more organized. But it was a tough life.
You had to contribute in those settings, and if you didn't, they wanted you out. So most people did. So we as humans are hardwired to look and see the people who are contributing to the world. So when you commit yourself to an organization or some sort of cause, people notice, even the people, certainly people in the organization, but people outside the organization, you'll certainly feel great about it, doing it, especially if it's something that's near and dear to your heart, whether it's youth, sports, or homelessness or human trafficking. I mean, the list goes on. There's so much out there, and those organizations could use the help, but it really elevates your presence. People, you don't even have to, you know, you don't have to tell people what you do. They will find out what's. What's that gresh about, you know? LinkedIn is beautiful because they can look it up and they'll be able to figure it all out.
13:54 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, truly appreciate that. Now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're open to different, quote-unquote, CEO's on this show. So, Frank, what does being a CEO mean to you?
14:07 - Frank Agin
Well, you're being a CEO, in my mind, is just really, you're the ultimate leader. I mean, you're, you know, you're heading up and you're leading an organization. You don't necessarily have to have employees because a lot of people out there don't have employees. I have some I don't have, but there are still people who look to me for guidance.
14:27 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Frank, truly appreciate that. Of course, appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and of course, how best they can get a hold of you, listen to your podcast, get a copy of your books and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.
14:43 - Frank Agin
You know, I, years ago I created a website and it's kind of all things. Frank Egan, it's frankagen.com dot. You can find my podcasts. They're called networking Rx. I've got a 1 minute daily and I have a short-form podcast that comes out three or four times a week. All my books are listed there. You can get a hold of me. Bye. Absolutely. If your thing is LinkedIn, great. If it's Facebook, great. If it's Twitter, great. All my connections are on there. My emails are on there. That's the best place to, you know, certainly connect with me. If there's a way I can help, reach out and, you know, certainly try to help, certainly listen to people. Certainly interested. If people would like to learn more about our franchise program and spirit business connections, that would be great too.
15:32 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Frank, we will definitely have the links and information in the show notes as well, too, so that everybody can follow up with you. But I appreciate you for, you know, sharing that gift that you have, you know, with everybody. I think so many times when we have a gift, we forget that we're not supposed to hoard it and hold on to it, but we're supposed to give it out. So I love the podcast, books, the franchise, all the awesome things that you're doing to kind of help support, you know, professionals and business owners and CEO's and entrepreneurs. So thank you so much, my friend. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
15:59 - Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
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