Networking Can Be a Beautiful Thing

"It was important to me to establish genuine relationships outside of work. Business becomes a byproduct of those relationships.”

That was one of the "tips" I provided during an interview for an article I was featured in for the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report's most recent issue, titled: "The Ultimate Guide to Networking in the Capital Region."

Below is my story that was featured in the article. However, I do recommend checking out the entire piece to hear from other professionals around the area on how they were able to achieve success through networking.

Eric Dexter claims he’s an introvert at heart, but his 10-year tenure in Baton Rouge has been defined by tireless networking. A graduate of Northwestern State University and a native of Alexandria, Dexter arrived in the Capital Region with few personal or professional contacts. His parents were both deceased by the time he was 19, leaving him without the familial influences that give many young professionals a leg up.

“The thing that I figured out when I first got here was that I needed to be in as many places as possible, so I just started using my before or after work hours to do that,” says Dexter. He sought out art openings, concerts and community events in addition to traditional business lunches, he says.

After a few years in Baton Rouge and a couple of job changes, Dexter landed a position at payroll firm ADP.

“That’s where the networking piece really took off,” he says. He joined a local chapter of Business Networking International, or BNI, a global networking organization in which small groups of business people who represent unique sectors meet weekly. Dexter ended up becoming president of his chapter.

He also joined Forum 35 and became heavily involved in its events. The organization hosts several annual fundraisers and community events, and it helps train young professionals for board service with local nonprofits. Dexter worked on several committees and then served on the organization’s board. He was elected president in 2014.

“It was important to me to establish genuine relationships outside of work,” Dexter says. “Business becomes a byproduct of those relationships.”

Dexter wasn’t just networking locally. He was also an early adapter of LinkedIn, making new virtual connections, joining issue-based discussion groups, offering commentary and reaching out to companies in his field. The relationships Dexter built on LinkedIn led to his next two positions, each with a different payroll software company.

By 2014, Dexter’s local networking helped him land a spot in the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s annual Baton Rouge Area Leadership Program. In the 38-member class, Dexter met Kahli Cohran, founder and president of Civil Solutions Consulting Group, an engineering consulting company. In February, Cohran hired Dexter to lead the company’s business development.

Dexter’s networking, particularly through Forum 35, also led to several nonprofit board appointments. He serves on the Baton Rouge Blues Foundation, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and is a founding member of Apex Collegiate Academy, a proposed charter school. He also serves on a sustainable transportation committee and the Complete Streets Citizens Advisory Committee for the City of Baton Rouge.

Dexter says he has scaled back on intentional networking and is at the point where he’s turning down board service.

“I’ve taken it from ‘get as many at-bats as possible’ to figuring out how to make what I do as impactful as possible, not just for me but for the other person I’m networking with,” he says.

Credit to Maggie Heyn Richardson for crafting the article and to Collin Richie for making me look way cooler than I normally would while sitting at my desk.