It's a Small World (City) After All

I have the gift of gab. If we’ve spoken before, you know this.

For me, there’s something so natural about connecting with folks and drawing out obscure connections.

Most of my career was developed in the sport of lacrosse — a micro-niche of incredibly passionate and chatty people connected by two degrees or less.

When lacrosse people find each other in the wild, they quickly find the shortest path to how they’re connected.

Central Ohioans and coffee lovers have that need to find personal connection in common too.

This winter I signed up for the Columbus Chamber Holiday Gift Exchange. A Secret Santa of sorts where different business reps draw a name to exchange a gift with another Chamber member.

My name was pulled by Monica Dominic of PSI, an IT-focused staffing firm near the airport.

I wanted to support the local roasters and receive something to enjoy with my coworkers. So, my wishlist was simple: local coffee.

The number one item? Black Kahawa’s Dark Roast.

Black Kahawa was one of the first clients I landed since joining Conspire and has been a perfect partner since. I show them love anytime I can. Coffee isn’t just a schtick at Conspire, but a real way to break the ice and connect with people through a shared experience.

When I got to the restaurant to meet Monica and receive my gift, she prefaced the exchange by letting me know she isn’t a coffee drinker and had ultimately ignored what I had on my list because she didn’t know the territory.

Great. What did I just hand her? A small bag of collaboration coffee we created with Black Kahawa. (Oh well, I wasn’t supposed to bring anything in the first place… )

Monica goes on to tell me the first thing that popped into her mind was to stop by Pure Roots in Westerville. If she could trust anyone to pick out good, local coffee it was the shop owner, Nicole Harrison.

When tasked, Nicole suggested their last bag of Black Kahawa’s Dark Roast as the ultimate choice.

Imagine my face after hearing that my list was never really looked at, she knew nothing about coffee, and Monica had just walked into a shop and left with the exact thing I asked for. The very same coffee brand I just shared with her as a small token for meeting with me.

But the ever-shrinking world doesn’t stop there.

Black Kahawa spawned from Doug Buckley’s time as a missionary in Tanzania, where he learned the ins and outs of coffee.

Tanzania. A smaller country in East Africa that’s extremely hard to get to and rarely focused on.

Guess who else was a missionary in Tanzania? Monica.

Immediately I had to get out of the way and connect the two of them. Both were over the moon to learn about the other.

The best part of the entire exchange, and probably the holiday season, was linking two people in the same community that have a passion for an often overlooked nation on the other side of the planet through a happenstance connection.

Doug’s Black Kahawa brand was built on purpose. When that happens, the world you want to connect your business with becomes a lot smaller and your core values shine a lot brighter.

Go have that cup of coffee and share a little more about yourself. Your world might just get a little more cozy.