In this episode of The Rainmaking Podcast, host Scott Love speaks with Rachel DiAlto, professional speaker and author of Relatable, about how professionals can build authentic connections to strengthen business relationships and improve client engagement. Rachel shares insights from her research on relatability, explaining that human connection is the foundation of trust, loyalty, and long-term success in professional services. She emphasizes that being relatable isn’t about being liked by everyone—it’s about showing up as your most authentic self and fostering meaningful interactions that resonate with clients and colleagues.
Key topics include the Connect, Communicate, Inspire framework, which helps professionals establish real relationships through authenticity, effective communication, and the ability to inspire trust. Rachel discusses strategies such as curious listening, which goes beyond active listening by showing genuine interest in the other person’s perspective. She also highlights the role of self-awareness in professional growth, the importance of slowing down to reflect on interpersonal interactions, and how intentionality in networking can create more impactful business relationships. This episode provides actionable steps for professionals looking to enhance their presence, connect more effectively, and develop stronger business relationships that drive long-term success.
Visit: https://therainmakingpodcast.com/
--------------------------------------
Rachel Dealto is a communication and relatability expert, media personality, and speaker. She is the author of “relatable: How to Connect with Anyone Anywhere (Even if It Scares You)” (Simon & Schuster’s Tiller Press, Fall 2021).
Rachel has appeared as a relationship expert on Lifetime’s Married at First Sight and TLC’s Kate+Date. Rachel DeAlto maintains a law degree, a Master’s in psychology, and an influential social media presence.
In addition to her regular appearances, Rachel has also been featured on a multitude of media outlets including The TODAY Show, Access Hollywood Live, and Fox News. She has also given three TEDx talks including Being Authentic in a Filtered World which is featured on TED.com.
--------------------------------------
This show is sponsored by Leopard Solutions Legal Intelligence Suite of products, Firmscape, and Leopard BI. Push ahead of the pack with the power of Leopard. For a free demo, visit this link:
https://www.leopardsolutions.com/index.php/request-a-demo/
Links:
Order Rachel’s book here:
https://www.racheldealto.com/book
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
[00:00:00] You're listening to the Rain Making Podcast hosted by High Stinks Headhunter, author and
[00:00:19] professional speaker, Scott Love.
[00:00:24] This is Scott Love with Rachel directly on LinkedIn. I also put her speaker site on there as well as a link to her book, which I'd highly recommend that you order called Relatable. Now, this podcast, just like all podcast,
[00:01:42] is sponsored by Leopard Solutions, legal intelligence suite back when I was on a little show.
[00:03:00] I don't know if any of your listeners watch any sort of reality television, but I did
[00:03:04] have a stint in reality TV.
[00:03:06] I'd been doing TV for some time.
[00:03:07] Nice. how we can build that in our business. Sure, and that's really what I realize is that relatability is how we build business. It is how we connect with people. It's how we build those customer bases that are consistently loyal. It's how we build a relationship that even in spite of stressors or challenges or roadblocks along the way,
[00:04:21] which we all go through, right?
[00:04:22] There's not a single business out there
[00:04:24] that has a smooth start to finish
[00:04:25] in terms of the year. I think some people are so sick of it. And yet it really is, how can you be more authentic? How can you show up in a way that doesn't make people think, wow, they're pretending to be someone else or they're trying too hard. You know, this is really interesting because in the business world,
[00:05:40] it's all about the bottom line,
[00:05:41] but in professional services,
[00:05:43] especially somebody that's in a rain-making capacity,
[00:05:46] it's more than the bottom line.
[00:05:47] You gotta get the sale. I want to build the business But I feel like that's so short-sighted Because when you actually invest into long-term relationships with the people who can create that ROI for you But all of a sudden that bottom line is is a lot more padded than it was when you're just looking for that sale
[00:07:02] Yeah, that's interesting
[00:07:04] I think the big difference I'd seen
[00:08:02] that conversation and that's what relatability does. It elevates every conversation that you have with someone.
[00:08:05] Okay, good, good.
[00:08:06] So let me kind of go over the different,
[00:08:08] what did you call them, the building blocks,
[00:08:09] the connect, communicate and inspire, is that right?
[00:08:11] Sure, yes.
[00:08:12] Okay, so connect, how we show up and weigh, that's real.
[00:08:15] Let's kind of start with that one
[00:08:17] and I want to kind of go into that a little bit more.
[00:08:19] Let's say we have somebody that's listening to this
[00:08:22] that is going to be going to a conference
[00:08:25] where there are prospects,
[00:08:27] let's say it's an attorney that's off to go meet Remember, if I set that intention, I'm going in as my best self. I'm going in as my most confident self, my most authentic self, because I want to show up in a way that draws people in versus shuts them out because I'm pretending. And so I would say if someone's going into one of those conferences, you know, set that intention. I'm going to be me and I'm going to be the best version of me and I'm going to be the
[00:09:41] most confident version of me.
[00:09:43] And I'm going to walk into those rooms I kind of, I get asking people the question I've heard it asked of me before, where do you get your energy being in a group of people or being alone? And for me, it's kind of yes, both. It depends. You know, sometimes I'll go to a conference and I can turn it on when I have a goal, but then I want to come home and hang out with my wife and my little girl.
[00:11:02] My wife is a potter and my little girl likes to do Lego dioramas and I'm an artist.
[00:11:06] I'll paint with watercolors or oils see the different sides of you based on the
[00:12:20] relationship.
[00:12:21] It's all contingent upon the level of relationship that you have.
[00:12:25] Right, right, right. I'll bet yes, connect with me on LinkedIn. So let's, so yes and no and maybe. So I think it's all, it's all context. And I think it's important when, you know, you're always thinking about the relationship and you're thinking about what is in a lot of different contexts, I always think about what is the we, meaning what is the relationship goal of this,
[00:13:41] whatever this connection is.
[00:13:43] And so if I'm talking to a client, you're asking about,
[00:13:45] do I share mistakes?
[00:13:46] Well, what is the goal of sharing that mistake? other areas of their business life where they don't have enough self-awareness. They don't have enough of being able to admit. I did make a mistake here. I want to improve that. So I think a lot of it has to do with that inner confidence that people have. Let me ask you this. When you talk about the other, did you call it a pillar with Connect, Communicate and Inspires? How you call them? Yes, pillars, Blueprint. I have a variety of descriptors.
[00:15:05] Good. Well, tell me more about this conversation. And so that's where I see a lot of challenges come up. But it's it's where we have so much power of saying, maybe it's just not now, you know, or maybe I need to shift or or I need to give them a minute and be adaptable enough to have better
[00:16:24] conversations. paying attention to the actions in our lives. And what happens is, is that people don't realize how on autopilot we all are. How queer you just press up and just go through our days and we have no awareness of what my emotions are, what their emotions are, how I'm reacting, what I'm saying, and then give people that time.
[00:17:40] And it really is slowing down,
[00:17:42] which I know is probably hard for some people to hear like,
[00:17:45] I have things to do, I have never been able to have a morning practice. I have four children and I've been working for myself for the last 10 years. So I don't have that one day. I think I could have one. But if you do have the ability to have a morning practice for you, force yourself 15 minutes
[00:19:01] in the morning to write in that journal, 15 minutes to just take a walk, I believe in this deep level of empathy and understanding that can articulate what the goal is that really kind of loops in and harnesses everybody's own self-motivation into aligning it with the team's goal. But I thought what you said about identifying the emotion. How do you think you would advise professionals to really identify emotions as they go through their day? What do you think? Or when
[00:20:21] they're having that quiet moment? Yeah, I, it's having a really good day until I talk to Bob. And then I went down a spiral so understanding like, there are, I don't, I always use Bob, poor Bob. He's always like my example name poor Bob, but we all have those people that like, that stir us the wrong way.
[00:21:41] And so we want to make sure that, you know,
[00:21:42] we're very aware of that
[00:21:44] because the more awareness you have,
[00:21:45] the more you can control it.
[00:21:46] This is great Rachel.
[00:21:48] You've given us some really good ideas. I think it's so essential if people want because self-awareness people are hiring for self-awareness now Yeah, it is a key personality traits. So if you know that you don't have it It's like how can you start to really slow down and take that beat to start to be just very aware of what's going on around you Yeah, interesting and then what's interesting? I mean one thought I had I went to the Naval Academy in the 1980s
[00:23:03] Things were pretty different back then in terms of how you lead organizations Everything else kind of falls into place. That's great, Rachel. That's really good advice. Thank you for being on the show today. Before we go, tell us about your offerings. I'm going to put a link for your book on the show notes. Everybody listening, make sure you go there and check it out. What would be the things that you'd like for our listeners to know about you and the things that you can do to help them? Yeah. Well, I'm Rachel Dielto everywhere.
[00:24:20] I'm a speaker, I'm a consultant.
[00:24:22] I think the one thing that could be really helpful is I have a framework.
[00:24:25] It's called the Me You We Approach to Conflict.