My mother is a founding member of BNI North Harbour and has been part of her chapter for three and a half years. She introduced me to BNI by inviting me to her chapter as a visitor when I was with the Navy so I could experience BNI’s structured networking firsthand.
With my five years with the navy, I was a combat system specialist and then an anti-submarine aircraft controller. I controlled helicopters from the ship and any fixed-wing aircraft. I was on Canterbury when we went to Hawaii, Australia, coastal Asia and Africa. It was an incredible experience but I knew I wanted to go further with my education and in business. I started studying accounting at university and eventually moved on from the navy into the financial industry.
I began subbing for my mother at her chapter. With the referrals, and knowledge I gained about other businesses, it was a clear choice to join a local chapter as a member myself.
How it all started
Mum, Deborah Nesti, is a chartered accountant running her own business Nesti & Associates Limited and is a top referrer in her chapter BNI North Harbour. She has had so much success with BNI that she suggested I come along to a meeting to learn a bit about structured networking. I enjoyed the experience and when I got a job as an Assistant Broker at CreditOne I asked my boss about joining a local chapter. I had referrals already from my visits to BNI North Harbour so my boss could see how beneficial the organisation could be. Eventually I joined BNI Business Hub and with the business coming in my boss is even considering joining a chapter now.
Growing my business relationships
I love how everyone around the table at a BNI meeting is your salesperson. I’m 24, so BNI is an organisation that allows me to build my skills and develop as a businessperson. We have other young businesspeople in our chapter and its great to see the next generation New Zealand businesspeople coming through.
I’ve been in BNI for almost a year now and it’s paid for itself and then some. I’m still getting the hang of public speaking but I can see my skills in this area improving. I especially enjoy learning about other businesses during the 10 minute presentations and developing stronger relationships with other businesses through the one to ones. I wholeheartedly recommend BNI to other young businesspeople out there who want to build their business relationships and strengthen their networks.
I’ve also noticed a few similarities between the Navy and BNI:
- TEAMWORK. At BNI individual businesspeople work together to achieve a common goal – similar in the Navy, working to achieve a specific outcome.
- STICKING TO A SCHEDULE. If you are even a minute late in the Navy, there is remediation. While BNI has no “punishments” as such, timing is still important as well as structure.
- STRUCTURE. When I first joined BNI I was pleasantly surprised by how structured it was. We keep everything timely in our meetings. This is like the Navy and leads to greater efficiency and more referrals.
Sam Nobilo and some fellow chapter members of BNI Business Hub
Samuel Nobilo member of BNI Business Hub and Assistant Broker at CreditOne
