Raghu got his first taste of business networking while working in management in the insurance industry where he was exposed to over 15 chambers of commerce.  After spending nearly 20 years working in corporate America, Raghu decided to open his own insurance agency business in 2018.  Raghu immediately started attending as many chamber networking events as possible and saw a trend where too many people cared more about getting referrals and instant gratification rather than building relationships and being a giver.  He realized that networking is a marathon and not a sprint and people should not be expecting instant returns on their time invested in networking.  It also taught him to focus on being a problem solver for people even if it had nothing to do with his occupation.  Before long, Raghu wanted to be known as a connector who happened to own an insurance agency instead of an insurance agent.  To learn more about the people he met, Raghu started organizing 20 meet-ups per month with business owners in his local networking community and met with over 1,000 people in 4 years.  As a result, Raghu was inspired to open Always Be Connecting to assist business owners in growing their networks in a more organic and sustainable way.