I’m a morning person who loves everything about this time of day. What if I told you that I owe about 95% of the career opportunities I’ve been awarded to simply having coffee with someone. If I were to count, I’ve probably had close to a thousand coffee dates throughout my career so far. That might sound tedious, exhausting or even like a waste of time for many. Well, it’s been the most beneficial use of my time.
If you want to connect with anyone especially someone who is extremely busy, the morning is the best time of day to do so. Why? For the most part, the stress of the day hasn’t kicked in yet, your planned meeting is less likely to be rescheduled and if something doesn’t go so well for either party, you have a way out in the form of another meeting. Yes, it works much like a date.
I’ve used my coffee chats as a way to meet someone new or connect with someone I already have a relationship with. I am a natural communicator and love learning about others. It started with my love of reading as a child that grew into a passion for storytelling and eventually a career in journalism and marketing. My natural curiosity and inner producer have served me well especially at the start of my career. It was via coffee as an intern that a guest referred me to a position I got as a producer in NYC before I graduated college.
Since then my natural affinity for learning and helping others has translated into many career opportunities that I didn’t have to go looking for necessarily. See like many of you, I’ve sent many resumes to amazing companies for amazing jobs that have likely gone into a black hole never to see the light of day. It was via the connections I made that I acquired the majority of experiences I have today.
So, get started by picking someone at your company whom you have an interest in learning from or helping. Send them an email introducing yourself and what your interest is and schedule a 30-minute morning chat over coffee, tea or whatever you drink. Start connecting!
If you have a question or are interested in learning more, connect with me.
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