Pollen Count: 1
I made a night for women to hang out.
You know when you’re hanging out with a friend and you tell a story about another friend and you say “she’s awesome, you’d get on great” and then your friend says “Yeah I’d love to meet her!” and then…that just never happens?
I noticed that a lot recently, and also, more and more women friends of mine lamenting that they want more community, want to meet new people, but not in the way that requires a name badge and having to feel a bit cringe. I went to a design conference in New York last month and my favourite part was the lunch break, where five of us decided to grab something at The Odeon. I sat there looking at the table where my Brooklyn neighbour was sitting next to my client who’s based in the Bay Area, who’s sitting next to my old work mate, who was chatting with one of my business partners from LA. “This has been one of best Friday’s I’ve had in a long time” one of them said.
For a while I kept thinking someone should do something about that. Someone needs to make this a more common occurence. And then I remembered…I am someone.
Even though I worked in design and branding for nearly twenty years, and I’ve produced many an event for other folk, creating something of my own has always scared me, thoughts like - what if no one came, or worse, what if only two people came? Or, even more grandiose, who did I think I was to try and build community?
What dawned on me, painfully slowly, was that I, like many of us, am in a transitionary period at the moment. I’ve also come to realise that when things feel uncertain, new people help. Different perspectives, different journeys, different ways of being in the middle of something. I wanted more of that. I wanted to ask women about their journeys, how they’re feeling, what they've learnt, what they're still learning.
So I made a night up. I called it Pollen. Something about nourishing, cross-pollination, busy bees doing their thing. And the fact that pollen only does anything when it finds somewhere to land.
The first one is Tuesday 23rd June at Dear Friend Books in Brooklyn (a beautiful space to support). Come, have a drink, look at some books and chat. Then, we’ll have a short fireside chat with Danni Mynard, Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker (WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn, Tik Tok, Boom, Hate Thy Neighbour). We’ll chat about her journey and things she’s learnt and are still learning. Then just some time to have a drink and chat and chill.
There’s one rule though: leave having spoken to someone you didn’t know when you walked in.
Tickets are $20, which goes to Dear Friend Books and keeping this night going. I’d love to do this every month, bring in more people, grow it into something. But honestly, if this first one happens and a few people leave with a new connection, I’ll be happy.
Come. Tuesday 23rd. Brooklyn is nice in June.