Ali Scarlett is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and business networking expert. He first gained national attention for his business book on networking The Clever Connector and his message, “I believe information is a form of power. To empower myself and others so we can achieve independence, I use helpful information as the pathway to achieving more — by applying and sharing all of the wisdom I acquire as a lifelong student of personal and professional development.”
Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?
Well, that depends on what you mean by “where you are”.
I’m more than one thing. I’m a son, I’m a friend and I do my best to be a good mentee for the people that
I’m grateful have taken me under their wing and shown me the ropes.
But, as far as how I became a bestselling author, there was a point and time in 2020 when I was really concerned that, if something were to happen to me, all of the things that I knew about how to overcome some of life’s greatest challenges would all go down the drain. And, I wanted to find a way to leave something behind that would help people avoid the pain that I experienced at my lowest point in life. So, I decided to write a book.
Throughout the process, I had in the back of my mind this thought that I wanted to create something that I could leave behind for my son (if I had one) to help him navigate and survive the world without his dad. And, that meant creating a book that could teach him how to reach his goals without needing a whole bunch of money to do it.
And, long story short, that led to the production of a book on networking. When you don’t have the money to reach your goals, you can always make connections in order to bridge that gap between you and your goals. And, my book teaches you how to do that.
I’m grateful that enough people enjoyed and got value from the book to where it became a bestseller. I really feel like it’s more about the mission than anything else though.
I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way?
Homelessness, an abusive parent, going into debt a few times, and a couple of other things that are too personal to share right now.
But, I don’t think that anyone’s life is “normal”. I don’t even know what a “normal” life would look like. I think that we all get pressure from life and it’s our choice whether or not that pressure grinds us into dust or molds into a diamond.
And, the more pressure we get, the brighter the diamond we get to become.
Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition?
I specialize in business and professional networking. Recently, I started refining what I teach to focus on helping business owners apply business networking to growing their businesses specifically.
As far as my competition, I’m fortunate that I’m in a space where my competition is pretty good. When you come across a website that claims to teach networking and you feel those “sleazy” vibes that you get from salesy, slimy networkers, you have a knee-jerk reaction to run the other way. So, the “bad” competitors—the competitors who aren’t very good—don’t last very long. And, I don’t really see my good competitors as competitors. I’d love to collaborate with some of the other experts out there who are teaching what I teach because I think that could be great for spreading my message and helping others.
My only real competition, at least the way I see it, are the people who are selling networking programs that are teaching garbage information. Those are the people I want to beat out of the market because I really don’t like when people are trying to learn so they can get their life together and someone comes along and ruins it for them.
Those are the people who give networking a bad name.
What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life?
Always go for it and do your best, no matter the situation. Study your mistakes. Learn from your mistakes. Then, use what you learned to make your best even better and go for it again.
There’s no real secret to success. And, if there was one, that would be it.
Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you?
Health, wealth, love and happiness.
And, if we were to take that a step further, it would be health, wealth, love and happiness supported by faith.
What’s next for you?
I’ll be launching a brand new project helping new or aspiring businesspeople use networking to start or grow their businesses.
And, I’m really excited to share what I have in store with that.
Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more?
If you want to, send me a direct message on Instagram. You can also reach out to me on my website, but it’ll be a little harder to reach me there because I get tons of emails.
You can also get a free chapter of The Clever Connector at thecleverconnector.com.
