when Joey Gonzalez When he walked into a class at Barry’s Camp at age 26, he thought he was just signing up for a good workout. He loved it so much that he became a coach. Ten years later, in 2015, he became the company’s CEO. His suggestion is Generation Z And younger Millennials who want to expand their careers at a similar pace? Start sending cold emails.
He will know. Last year, the self-made millionaire transitioned to executive chairman of the upscale boutique fitness brand. Despite his busy schedule, González still found time to read unsolicited messages sent to him by ambitious young people, and he even found his successor this way.
“I have and will dedicate most of my Fridays to anyone who wants to have a conversation around careers, even random people online. LinkedInwho reached out to me,” Gonzalez exclusively told wealth.
“I’ll set aside a day to help meet with an MBA student who has questions about my career and how I got here. Or a trainer who works somewhere and wants to open their own place.”
Gonzalez believes that even if you don’t plan to leave your current company, reaching out and building relationships can be invaluable in getting promoted.
“Look around and notice what qualities are present in the people around you who have grown with your company? What do you see? Ask them: can i have a cup of coffee? “
Rather than finding your cold outreach annoying, Gonzalez insists that most bosses want to help the next generation of workers learn the ropes and climb the ladder. If anything, he said, confidently raising your arms to ask for help is a green flag.
“People are generally very nice and willing to help, and you have a lot to learn, especially from other people in the same company, who will appreciate that you have this kind of ambition and dialogue.”
Job seekers: Here’s how to make your cold emails (or LinkedIn DMs) stand out
When Gonzalez said a leader wanted to help, he wasn’t just paying lip service—he was actually promoting someone to a senior position after a cold email.
“It’s funny because my current CEO cold-heartedly emailed me. That’s how I hired him as my first CFO, then president, and now CEO,” recalled the 47-year-old chairman and father of two. “You never know. You should always take that risk.”
What makes a cold email stand out? enthusiasm.
“What really resonated with me was his passion for the brand,” Gonzalez said. He added that young people should pay attention to the brands they already wear and consume, their hobbies and try to align their careers with these hobbies.
“If you’re sending a cold email to someone and you can’t be passionate about the product or service or whatever, it’s not going to be a compelling email,” he explains. “But if you send someone an email that says: ‘Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I worked at Barrie for a year and it changed my life. Here’s my resume and maybe you can give me something someday’ — that goes a long way.”
Take boutique gym CFO and CEO JJ Gantt, for example. That’s exactly why he caught Gonzalez’s attention: “He was ready for change and a great brand evangelist. Most of the executive team are customers and fans first.”
It’s a win-win for young people. The worst case scenario is that you’re still in the same position, so you have nothing to lose.
“Be genuine,” Gonzalez advises. “I truly believe that honesty can get you anywhere.”
“It’s a system that never fails because if you send an email and express your feelings honestly and the recipient thinks it’s corny, then that’s not the job for you. And that’s not the right person for whom you should be working.”
Figma’s billionaire CEO Dylan Field, self-made Skims entrepreneur Emma Grede and Nespresso boss say cold emails are the secret to success
Gonzalez’s story is not a one-off oddity. Many high-profile executives across industries admit that their big break came from a cold email, cold letter, or cold phone call.
For example, you may have heard of British entrepreneur Emma Grede because she co-runs Skims, a $4 billion shapewear company, with Kim Kardashian. She has also invested in other brands with her family, such as cleaning products company Safely and Kylie Jenner’s clothing line Khy.
But what you might not know is that the growing empire can be traced back to a phone call she gave Kris Jenner in 2015 that changed everything.
“I had an idea and formed a partnership in my head,” the self-made millionaire told reporters. wealth in a Exclusive interview. “The difference between me and everyone else is that I made the call, I went to the meeting, I made it happen.”
Grad had never run a fashion business before and had never worked with the Kardashian-Jenners, but she wasn’t waiting for the stars to align. She picked up the phone, pitched “Good American Denim” to “momager” and the rest is history.
Likewise, when Figma’s billionaire CEO Dylan Field, a 19-year-old millennial co-founder, wants to put his design tools into practice Sends cold emails to his tech “heroes” Invite them out for coffee. He also opened up the inboxes of fellow former interns, as well as colleagues from LinkedIn, Flipboard, and O’Reilly Media, and it worked.
Nespresso UK CEO Anna Lundstrom stepped into the notoriously difficult luxury industry with a cold email to her boss at LVMH. He immediately offered her an internship, and she subsequently spent 5 years of her career at Louis Vuitton and other companies. Chaneland Gucci.
This story was originally published on wealth network