Thinking About Podcast
Thinking About podcast is your digital equivalent to late night chats with good friends that keep you thinking. Join host Kirsti McNabney as we have deep, meaningful conversations with interesting people to help level up our lives, offer actionable outcomes and keep us thinking for days to come. Expect to hear from entrepreneurs, coaches, thought leaders, health and wellness experts and more! Every week, we cover things all the things that keep women thinking – including connections with others, building a business, friendship, mental health, wellness, boundaries, relationships, growing up, skincare, and more. No topic is off-limits and you're at a table with friends. We've saved you a seat and poured you a cup – welcome to the deep conversations that keep us growing. Subscribe to hear new episodes every Tuesday.
Thinking About Podcast
She's Had Dinner with Over 1,000 Strangers — Here's What She Learned, with Jess Janz
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There are certain people you meet and you just think, “I want everyone to know this person exists." Jess Janz is one of those people. She's an author, community facilitator, and the founder of Dinner with Strangers, a concept she started in her friend's hair studio in 2017 with one simple rule: no work talk. Since then, she's hosted over 60 dinners and connected more than a thousand people!
She also has a book coming out July 14th called The Table Where We Meet, and if the poems she shares on Instagram are any indication, it's going to be the kind of book you press into the hands of every person you love.
In this episode, we're talking about:
- How Dinner with Strangers started with crock pot meals, no tickets, and a hypothesis about what happens when strangers can't talk about work
- The reasons behind the "no work talk" rule
- What over 1,000 dinners have taught Jess about human connection
- The questions that never fail to get people connecting
- What it really feels like to hold space for a room full of strangers, and the adrenaline crash that comes after
- Rethinking small talk ("lighthearted" doesn't have to mean "shallow")
- What writing The Table Where We Meet revealed to Jess about art, witnessing, and why we need each other
- One small thing you can do today if you're craving more real connection in your life
Let's Connect
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review and sharing it with someone who could use a little more mindfulness in their life. Your support helps Thinking About reach more listeners and grow our community of thoughtful, intentional individuals.
Continue the conversation with me on IG / Tiktok @thinkingaboutpodcast and @kirstimcnabney. Follow along on Substack for more conversations on the things that keep us thinking.
Connect with Jess Janz
Follow Jess on Instagram: @jessjanz and @withstrangersco Pre-order The Table Where We Meet Subscribe to her Substack