On the latest “Total Financial Safer Money Hour” on KHTS AM-1220, Santa Clarita financial advisor Arif Halaby, a Certified Estate Planner, was joined by Orange County entrepreneur and author Jeff Kleid to discuss his new book, “Networking with the Cards You are Dealt.”

As CEO of 10&10 Real Estate Services, Inc. and managing partner of J&J Coastal Lending, Kleid wrote his book from the strategic perspective of a poker game to help his readers find the right business network for them based on the unique set of cards they are dealt in life.

Halaby: One of the things that we’re talking about is the networking part of things, but … from a poker player’s standpoint. That’s really your background, at least from the point of view of this book. You’re not a professional poker player, you’ve been in the financial industry for 20-plus years, but this book came from a perspective of poker. Why?

Kleid: It actually came from a perspective of Texas Hold’em specifically within poker, because of the strategies… If you understand Texas Hold’em, and even if you don’t, the way Texas Hold’em is played is, you can have the weakest cards and you can still win the game, because the minute you get dealt the two cards, that’s your strategy. You have to figure out, ‘What am I going to do with these two cards?’ If they’re the lowest hand, you don’t necessarily want to go out, and in life, you can’t just go out. So I decided to take my personal passion, which is poker, and (say) we’re going to strategically play a networking game and figure out which table to sit at.

Related: ‘Total Financial Safer Money Hour’ On KHTS: The ‘Golden Rules’ Of Lending Money

Halaby: So give me the foundation of your inspiration on this book; there has to be a reason that kind of triggered this off.

Kleid: Over the last two and a half years, I started a new business in residential lending with a partner who I happened to meet six-plus years ago in a networking group… I started going to doing what I used to do: You get dressed up, you go to events, you start talking about what you do, you talk about your products. The next thing you know, I’m finding myself dealing with a different group of people than I dealt with before… I’m dealing with the world of real estate, with realtors, and I couldn’t figure out how to engage, because I’m one of 50 lenders sitting in a room at a broker preview trying to figure out how to do it. I’m (thinking), I know how to help these guys grow their business, I know how to help them do whatever.

At the same time, in all my networking groups, it seemed like every coffee or every breakfast or every lunch turned into, ‘Hey Jeff, how did you build that? Hey Jeff, how did you do that?’ So I started giving presentations even within my own thing. And all of a sudden I said, I’m going to write a book…

At the end of the day (the book) is all about, somebody needs to figure out how to get into a room, and what I will tell you is great about the book … (is) that it’s my life and how I built my businesses through networking and it’s both how to get to the next level like you and I would love to do; at the same time, it’s how to get to a level like someone who’s a veteran or someone who’s right out of the military. So that inspired me more as I was writing.

Halaby: So you have a deck of cards, 52 cards. They’re just your standard, everyday cards, of course: a king of diamonds, ten of spades, etc. But they also have words on there, if you will, characteristic traits. I’ll give you one: the two of clubs. It says ‘Shy, Asocial,’ and then there’s a question written in blue. It says, ‘How can you reach out to people in a way that is comfortable for you?’ So tell me what I do with this.

Kleid: Depending on where you are in your life, you kind of know what traits you are… With shy and asocial, you’re sitting there and you’re going, ‘Okay, I’m shy and asocial, but I have to get into the work space; I have to go meet clients; I have to go do sales; or I have to get a job; whatever it is. So I’m going to take my time, I’m going to be who I am, but I’m going to take it one bite at a time.’

So there’s a thought empowerment on the card that says you can still be shy. It’s okay to be a little cautious and to be a little concerned, but you have to do it so (you) take one step at a time. It may be as simple as if you’re shy and asocial and you love people, but you don’t really want to be out; maybe you like the internet, so communicate through LinkedIn or communicate by email. So it shows you how to be yourself but at the same time engage in the right environment.

To listen to the full podcast of this episode of “Total Financial Safer Money Hour,” click here.

Total Financial Solutions offers assistance with preparing for retirement and financial planning in Santa Clarita and the surrounding valleys. Santa Clarita financial advisor Arif M. Halaby, a Certified Estate Planner, and Total Financial Solutions staff work with people of all ages, helping them protect, grow and preserve their assets through an individualized approach. Halaby is also the host of “Total Financial Safer Money Hour” on KHTS AM-1220. Launched in 2004, the show offers listeners from Santa Clarita financial planning tips and guidance for dealing with today’s ever-changing financial needs.  

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