Choose Your Fellow: Andrew Herold

Meet Andrew Herold, 2022 VFC and RBC Fellow. He is currently working as a Growth Hacker at Kaitongo, an AI-based sales engagement platform that provides industry focused, actionable client and market insights.

What does being a connector mean to you?

Being socially aware of how the world is moving, and how globalization continues to expand and provide us opportunities to communicate with people across the world. Being able to conduct business across the world.

So as human beings, the ones that actually conduct this business. Businesses need to be able to be socially aware, and socially proactive and have social strategies built into every aspect of the business so that we know that we’re treading within the call as well as the moral manner, and as a connector.

What are things that you engage with that keep you inspired and motivated?

Realizing the passion of other people being in the right atmosphere, getting the right energy, and being able to understand that the world outside, is out of your control.

And that it opens up infinite opportunities to grow personally, and professionally. Being a connector ultimately is being able to see each aspect. So for me, it’s really the importance of being able to understand, appreciate and tailor your mindset and perception of people and the world, so you can better interact with others different than yourself. 

What’s one piece of advice you would leave for someone trying to step into becoming a connector?

Lose the fact that we have to expand our relationships, and in doing so we have to get comfortable, being uncomfortable. I always point out that relationships stand much farther than just human-to-human interaction.

Whether that’d be personally or professionally, it spans the pace of our relationship with ourselves,  and our relationship with the materialistic world.  

Our values are their own identities. Relationship spans anything that you yourself would interact with.

So how do connectors thrive in entrepreneurship?

Being a connector is a skill that everyone can attain. It’s all about taking calculated risks, knowing that if indeed, you’re in the right environment, on the right team, and the right company,  you should be able to step into the unknown and feel safe. 

Ultimately those that have owned the skills took time to understand how to socialize with people. They’re important because connectors can lead the conversation, and they can allow the conversation to have dynamic elements. As well as, really getting the best out of every single person, and ensuring that each individual leaves leave the table feeling like their voice was heard and that they had an element that is valued.