How to Connect to What Makes YOU a Subject Expert in Your Industry

I had the beautiful privilege last week to connect with my friend and fellow entrepreneur Andrew Lopez. Andrew and I met when I was a guest on his video show Elevated Networking, and later connected in person when he decided to make The Netherlands his home for a few months in 2021.

The sole mission of Andrew’s business, Elevated Shorts, is to simply capture, repurpose, and showcase pure human expression. Video, Andrew is happy to tell anyone who will listen, is truly one of the best ways to fully express yourself to the ones you're looking to connect with, collaborate with, and ultimately work with! True expression leads to true connection.

What crazy person comes up with the idea to travel halfway across the world in the middle of a pandemic?

Me, I guess. I mean, I never thought that I would. I think it was inspired by all the amazing people I was interviewing for my LinkedIn Show Reinvention Daily. At the end of 2020, the show was going strong. My friend Mari in Denmark was starting Reinvention Europe, and Quincy was starting Reinvention Africa. I had all these amazing connections virtually. True genuine people who were following the show and getting involved, sharing their stories. It just really opened my mind to the world. Of course, these were crazy times, but it really opened my mind. I thought how cool it would be to actually physically go and be in these places, to see the culture and to see things with my eyeballs.

I have always been interested in considering perspective, especially in the last couple of years. I vividly remember the Disney Pixar movie Ratatouille, where towards the end the food critic asks the rat and Linguini to present their best perspective. That line really hit with me and always stayed with me because perspective is everything.

I'm a boy from Southern California. I know what it's like to be a California guy. I’ve been that for almost 30 years of my life. But I didn't know what it was to be me somewhere else. And I always wondered: can I be myself somewhere else? Or am I myself because of where I'm from? Is that my identity? Like as a human? Am I me through geography, or will I change if I go somewhere else? Is my mindset going to change? Is my appearance going to change? I was fascinated by that. Inspired by hearing all these stories and experiences in my show, I just did it. I decided to expand my perspective.

You know, it's funny to look back and think there are the people who I've met along the way, who are now so near and dear to my heart. Even though I wasn’t able to meet up with everyone, it was pretty locked down. There are people in the Netherlands that I got really close with virtually that I never physically met. After a few months, I wanted more and I felt like I had failed because I hadn’t managed to do everything I wanted to do. But when I look back, the journey was within.

It's crazy that I had to fly halfway across the world to refind Andrew Lopez and realign with myself, to go back to the ground floor with myself. Sometimes that's what happens. I couldn't do that here in Southern California. I couldn't do that somewhere here, in the familiarity of the United States. I had to put myself in a position where I really had to introspect and question my perspective as I walked through Veluwe national park every day.

How do you feel you changed through these experiences?

We're always on this journey through life, figuring out who we really are and what our values or perspectives are. And then we are introduced to so many other people, whether virtually across the world or just in your own neighbourhood, and they make us. That's what it was for me. I had built my identity in my hometown for so long. My parents had divorced and we moved a lot between Northern and Southern California. So I've always been very accepting of change, like physical change or geographical change. So, although I was travelling internationally, and it was halfway across the world, that aspect of it was it was pretty easy on the mindset. I'm used to going somewhere else, meeting new friends, and doing new things. I am comfortable adding those aspects to my identity.

But being in the UK and the Netherlands, I couldn't fully do that, because again, everything was locked down and there were so many more regulations because of COVID. Since I wasn’t able to look for new perspectives outwardly, I had to do it all inwardly, which was very powerful! It's still one of the greatest things I've ever done in my entire life, but it was tough. It was scary. I dealt with some deep things indeed, sitting alone in that little Airbnb. I think it's almost the best medicine just to look at yourself in the mirror. Take a dose of yourself, that's what it was. It was a daily dose of myself for 10 months. And I got to a point where I just didn’t know if I could hang out with myself, at least not in that deep way. That’s when I decided to go home.

I still have the adventure in me. I still want to go back and see things, but I've learned now to be more present. I had a lot of expectations living there. I wanted to stay longer, get a three-year visa and stay and just ride out the lockdowns and the loneliness and isolation I had started to feel. But sometimes, when you force things or you really put an expectation on it, it doesn't bode well or it doesn't happen. So, I think I now live life with so much less expectation. In American culture, we have a lot of expectations, we have a lot of excesses. I went back home to Southern California thinking: do I need all these things, all these milestones or am I happy just knowing who I am?

I feel like there's been a weight lifted off my shoulders. And it's just because, again, perspective. I’ve learnt to take things day by day, taking things as they are and not building the expectation. The European mindset, at least what I gathered as a Southern California boy, is that people live more freely, more free-minded. People do not seem as limited by the expectation they put on themselves. We all have expectations, but what I took away is that they don’t have to weigh you down. Now, having been home for almost six months, I find myself just thinking a lot more simple, more practical and pragmatic. I think that’s the Dutch in me now.

So, in short, I changed who I was, I found who I was, I changed my mind and I really stripped away a lot of expectations. I really stripped away a lot of things that I thought SHOULD have been.

Do you feel that taking in different perspectives helps you stay flexible in your business, too?

Whether you're from Southern California, from Amsterdam or somewhere in Eastern Europe, we all have different perspectives and upbringings. But the one commonality that I really recognise is that we're all trying to express ourselves. We're all trying to share and be understood. I think that's what all of us want, to be understood.

You know, Southern California is very diverse. I mean, you have people from all over the world that live here. You think of places like Santa Monica or downtown Los Angeles or San Diego, or where I live in Orange County, there are a lot of different cultures. But in some ways, we're all experiencing something similar. We're all enjoying the weather together. We're all embracing this fast-paced lifestyle that you see in the movies and on Instagram. We're all living kind of the same way. But then when you remove yourself and you go somewhere else, and you see the Dutch way of doing things or the British way of doing things, you realise the experience is different, but there's still a way to do things. Especially when you travel by yourself. You can't go to a foreign country and just be yourself. You have to adapt and understand what goes on there. I didn't want to be the loud obnoxious American. But as I was saying, it's like we're all together doing this here in Southern California. Everyone has different goals and stuff but I mean from the societal lifestyle perspective. Same thing with The Hague, very diverse, but there's a flow, a way of life and a way of how things go. This observation made me realise that as humans we have more in common than we may think. And, from a business standpoint, that, no matter what we do, we're all seeking to be understood.

People don't always have to agree with us and it might come off that way. But I think we JUST want to be understood even if we have a different perspective or a different opinion. It's the understanding that’s important. I realised that through my travels, but also through meeting people virtually from all over the world. We're all seeking to be understood.

I've pivoted a bunch of times in my business, but I’ve still stayed true to what I love doing: capturing human expression. It might have been a video landing page or a show, or repurposed content. The vessel has changed but the core principle hasn't. When I look back on all the different changes and pivots, I'm proud of myself for staying true to that. Capturing and showcasing human expression. That's where I hit the hammer, I KNOW that I can capture and showcase human expression through video.

What do you mean by hitting the hammer?

It’s from a short story that my dear friend and mentor, Bruce Braviroff told me. He's in his late 60s, and when I got home, he got me involved in a new project within his network. I was nervous about it because I’d never done anything like it before. My inner saboteur was saying: you don't know what you’re doing, you’ll be the youngest person in the room. I think we’ve all heard those kinds of voices. Bruce wasn’t having it, he just told me: “You know where to hit the hammer.”

The story that he told—and I'm sure there are different versions of this—is that there was this man, who owned a yacht. It was moored in the harbour and it wouldn't start up. The guy is below deck trying desperately to fix the engine, but it wouldn't start up. A passer-by sees what’s going on and yells out: “Hey, I can fix that. It'll cost you $10,000.” The guy on the yacht knows he needs the help. So, he says: “Okay, that's fine. Come by tomorrow.” So, the mechanic comes down the next day, and he has a hammer. He goes below deck and he just looks at the engine. Then, he rears back and he hits the hammer in this one spot and the engine comes to life and the yacht starts up. It's the first time that it started in months, and the owner is amazed! But then he asks the mechanic: “You're gonna charge me $10,000 for that? All you did was hit it with a hammer!” And the mechanic simply just answers: “Yeah, but I knew WHERE to hit the hammer.”

I know where to hit the hammer when it comes to capturing human expression. It's that simple. That inspired me, not just as validation of my expertise, but also in how I approach my work. When creating videos with people I know we don't have to tell the whole story, we need to focus on where they hit the hammer. We all know where to hit the hammer in our own way, and that's where we become valuable. Other people might not see it at first, but when we stay true to ourselves and what we do best, we can really create something amazing.

So, I may work with a couple of clients this way, and a couple of clients that way, it might look on the outside like I'm doing multiple things. But to me, it's the same. It's capturing a recording, and repurposing it, whether it's to put on a website, post to your social media feed or put on a YouTube channel. It's all just the capturing and showcasing of human expression. Where I hit the hammer is highlighting people as a subject expert in their industry.

I think that's why I haven't feared all the changes and pivots. If you had asked me that a year ago, I would have felt I was changing way too much. People would think I was too all over the place. There must be something wrong with me. But that's been the shift coming home, and the opportunities that have been presented to me, I finally realise it's all the same thing.

I pressed play on a new series today for a nonprofit. I interview people twice a week about how they have been impacted. So here I am again, starting a show. This one is focused on an unfamiliar cause, but it's still the same avenue. So that's where I realised I can work with nonprofits, authors or coaches, you name it. Because I can always find that common point again, of capturing and showcasing pure expression. So now I feel comfortable changing or pivoting if I stay in that lane.

We all know where to hit the hammer in our own specific field, we just have to have the confidence to recognise it in ourselves. Lead with what we do best. We're all talented, and we all have many skills, but at the end of the day, if we do what we do best, we'll be the happiest and we can make the most impact. That's the goal!

How can people start telling their audiences about where they hit the hammer?

From Elevated Shorts’ standpoint, I would ask every entrepreneur I interviewed two questions. Who are you looking to connect with? And, what's the conversation you want to start? I didn't have to know anyone's favourite colour. I didn't have to know anyone's anything. I didn't even have to know where they lived, as long as they answered those two questions on the show. Or even if they weren't being recorded, but they just messaged me back: “Oh, I'm looking to connect with business owners in XYZ and I'm looking to start a conversation about X.” That was all the information I needed to start a relationship or to start a business partnership. It's understanding the intention. I knew people's intentions by who they were looking to connect with, and the conversation they wanted to start and that was enough for me to trust or just guide where I went. Some relationships obviously really blossomed while others fizzled out.

I think it all goes back to being understood again. I felt I understood people through those two answers. Although the show has been shelved, for now, I still ask people those same questions. It's so simple, but it's also a question that no one asks in our culture. It's always what's your name? What do you do? We always want to know what someone does for a living. It's just it's how it always is. I met a new friend today. Oh, what was their name? Her name was Jennifer. That's awesome. What do they do? Oh, they're a real estate agent. We can now understand Jennifer a little, but it’s very surface level. This tends to be how we know people, by their name and their job title.

Had I asked Jennifer who she is looking to connect with and what the conversation is she wants to start with people? I would have found out that her realtor business is very data-driven. She looks to connect with property developers in Orange County who are looking to flip properties and want to talk about making the largest profit margins on their projects. Suddenly, we have a much greater understanding of who Jennifer is. And if we’re at a networking event or on LinkedIn, we have a much better idea of which of our connections may be interested in knowing more about Jennifer. I think we can all ask and answer these questions, either in our content or as we have conversations with people online or in-person.

Where can people connect with you and answer your two questions?

You can connect with me on LinkedIn or just send me an email at andrew@elevatedshorts.com.