How Relationships Built My Career in Energy - And Why They'll Build Yours Too

By JP Warren | Founder, Connection Crüe & Crue Club

Founder of Crüe Club & Connection Crüe | Strategic Sales & Messaging Expert | Energy Industry Connector & Coach

JP Warren is a seasoned strategist and connector with nearly 20 years of experience in global operations, business development, and sales across the energy industry. He is the founder of Crüe Club, a premier, invitation-only roundtable series that has brought together over 1,500 E&P operators for strategic, solution-driven conversations across six markets including Houston, Midland, OKC, DFW, Austin, Denver, and Calgary. Crüe Club fosters intentional connection and trusted dialogue among senior decision-makers, creating space for authentic exchange on what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next.

In tandem, JP leads Connection Crüe, a training and consulting firm that helps companies differentiate their message, align their customer approach, and rise above the industry noise. From refining sales messaging to sharpening customer communication strategies, JP equips teams to move from transactional pitches to trust-based conversations that drive long-term value.

Whether in a boardroom, classroom, or Crüe Club roundtable, JP’s mission remains clear: help individuals and teams communicate with confidence, lead with authenticity, and build relationships that unlock opportunity.

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I want to be honest with you before I start.

Writing this brings out a bit of imposter syndrome. The quiet voice that says “who am I to tell anyone anything?” I still carry that. And if you're being honest, you probably do too. Research suggests roughly 8 in 10 people experience it, and it doesn't disappear as you climb. It often gets louder. So if everyone feels it, it isn't a signal you don't belong. It's a signal you're pushing into territory that matters. The question isn't whether you'll feel it. It's what you do next.

I've learned to reframe it. That voice isn't a stop sign. It's proof you care. And the way you talk to yourself directly shapes how you show up in rooms, in conversations, and in every challenge life puts in front of you.

So here we go.

The Problem Nobody Is Talking About

We live in the most hyper-connected era in human history. And yet, we are more disconnected than ever.

Think about what happened over the last several years. Remote work became the norm. Digital communication replaced hallway conversations. Transactional exchanges replaced real ones. LinkedIn became a pitch deck. Inboxes became noise machines.

The energy industry felt it hard, on both sides of the table.

Operators stopped showing up to events because they were tired of being sold to the second they walked in the room. Service companies kept pitching to the same small circle because that was the only access they had. New teams couldn't bid on acreage because they didn't know the deal was even out there, or couldn't get in the room. Operators were solving problems in isolation that someone three basins over had already cracked, at great cost to their time, budget, and sanity.

Meanwhile, people were changing jobs and realizing their network was thinner than they thought. The relationships they assumed were there had quietly evaporated because no one had tended to them.

This is what I kept seeing. And it's what eventually drove me to build Crue Club, an operator-led roundtable format built on one idea: get the right people in the room and get out of their way. We're now past 190 events, with 1,600 Operators, and 70% manager or above. I've watched deals get done, jobs get filled, and operational approaches get shared that saved companies real money, not because of a pitch deck, but because two people were sitting next to each other at dinner and actually talking.

Connection is not soft. It is the infrastructure of this industry.

You Can't Get in Front of Anyone — And Most People Are Making It Worse

Here's the hard truth: it is increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to get in front of your target audience.

Decision-makers screen calls. Inboxes are flooded. Gatekeepers exist for a reason. Everyone is busy, distracted, and skeptical.

And most people respond by pitching harder, faster, and louder.

That doesn't work anymore. It probably never did.

What works is trust. And trust is built before you ever mention what you do.

If you're a student, I know you need an internship. The person you're reaching out to knows it too. That's fine. But don't lead with it. Reach out to learn. Ask about their path. Ask what they wish they knew at your stage. Build the bridge first. People remember who made them feel valued, not who asked them for something.

If you're an operator, take a lunch with a vendor you aren't currently using. Not because you need something. Because you'll learn about new technology, hear what other operators in the basin are doing, and expand your perspective. The relationship you build today may be the call that matters most in year three.

If you're a service company, stop pitching in the first 30 seconds. I know you've been trained to lead with your value proposition. Unlearn it. The person across the table has heard forty versions of your opening before. What they haven't experienced is someone who actually showed up to listen. Stand out from the noise by not being the noise.

Rapport first. Trust second. Then, and only then, business.

The 85/15 Rule Nobody Taught You

Here's a stat I share in every seminar I deliver, and it never fails to create silence in the room:

Eighty-five percent of your career success comes from your soft skills, your power skills. The remaining 15 percent is technical ability.

Don't believe me? Ask yourself this: if you were a 10 out of 10 engineer but a 2 out of 10 communicator, where do you actually end up? How high do you genuinely climb?

It's not what you communicate. It's how you communicate.

Your tone carries more information than your words. The way you use curiosity, concern, and inflection tells people whether you're safe to trust, worth listening to, and someone they want to bring into their circle. Body language communicates before you open your mouth. These aren't soft skills. These are power skills. And they are trainable.

Spending time developing how you show up in a room, how you handle a difficult conversation, and how you listen with intent that will move your career further than drilling the best well or staying under AFE on consecutive projects.

The technical floor gets you hired. The human ceiling determines everything after.

Betting on Yourself Without Cheapening Your Purpose

In 2021, I stepped out on my own. Imposter syndrome showed up on day one. Most days it still does.

But here's what I've learned about building something in this industry:

When you start chasing money before purpose, people feel it. You start to get desperate. The energy shifts. Desperation is visible, even when you think you're hiding it. And it will cost you the very relationships you need most.

I started Crue Club because operators were being over-pitched and retreating from the industry's social fabric. I started Connection Crüe because I believed soft skills were the most underinvested area in energy professional development. I didn't start either of those to get rich. I started them because I saw a gap and believed I could help fill it.

When your north star is purpose — solving a real problem, making the industry better, serving the people in front of you, the trust follows. And the business follows trust.

Put purpose in front of profit. Not because profit doesn't matter. But because when your intentions are clear, people want to do business with you.

Key Lessons for Future Energy Leaders

1. Your network is your career infrastructure — tend to it before you need it.
2. Get in rooms where real conversations happen. Then listen more than you talk.
3. Build rapport before you pitch anything — every time, without exception.
4. 85% of your career is how you show up as a human being. Invest there.
5. Imposter syndrome doesn't mean stop. It means reframe. Then go.
6. Purpose before profit. The trust you build will outlast any short-term gain.

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