Chicago, Illinois, United States
Most organizations know connection is important, but they struggle with exactly what to do. Connection is a universal need but what it takes to connect changes constantly. Teams are disengaged in ways no survey can quite explain. I've seen leaders invest in culture, community, offsites, and all sorts of belonging initiatives, yet relationships still feel thin or transactional. People show up, but not fully. Trust seems scarce and retention problems appear without a clear cause. We've lost the skill of getting to know each other. I was deep in the weeds of this work, trying to make connection work back when it already started to feel broken. In the early 2010s, I was reimagining singles events and treating dating as a live experiment. I tested how environment, design, and social architecture shape connection, conversation, chemistry, and relationship potential. Way before "connection" was a workplace buzzword, I was watching how subtle shifts in space and language changed how people related to one another. That work became How To Date Humans, and I felt I'd opened a door to observe a broader cultural shift. Dating was one of the first places where our identities split into online and offline versions that had to align. People began relating like consumers, and those patterns migrated into work, leadership, friendships, and how teams interact every day. Many organizations sense this tension but don't know how to tackle it because these challenges sit between functions. They need environmental thinking that most teams were never built to manage. I help organizations answer two deceptively simple questions: Why should we get to know each other? And how will we actually do it? Connection doesn't happen accidentally. It's a skill stack needing intention, structure, and environments that make real relating possible across roles, hierarchies, and hybrid realities. I call this work Workplace Connection. My work has been featured on The Pivot Podcast, Offline with Jon Favreau, and The Prof G Podcast. I've been mentioned in the New York Times multiple times commenting on dating and work culture, and profiled in Vanity Fair. I speak internationally as a keynote speaker on modern relationships, workplace connection, and what dating culture reveals about how we work and relate today. I also work with organisations on bespoke Workplace Connection strategies, and join panel discussions and podcasts exploring culture, leadership, and human connection. If this conversation belongs on your stage, in your organization, or on your platform, let's talk.
How to Date Humans is a year-long project (Feb 2026–2027) asking a simple question: what happened to dating, and what would it take to bring it back? It's led by me — someone who spotted the warning signs early. In 2009, I started tracking what was shifting in how people meet, and I haven't stopped since. Across 15 years of research, reimagining singles events, a Vox Media podcast, unpacking the lives of modern midlife daters and work inside companies like Match.com and WeWork, I've been committed to the same thing: keeping the humanity in dating, even as everything around it was pulling in the other direction. Based in Chicago, the project unfolds in phases — starting with research and recalibration through salons, talks, and workshops that help people understand what shifted. Because the truth is, dating didn't just get harder. An entire system changed around us and nobody handed out a guide. Later phases introduce reimagined singles events — but the idea is that by then, participants have already started resetting how they think about connection. It's a multi-dimensional approach that tackles the problem from different angles: cultural, personal, structural. Chicago is the proving ground. One city, done well, as a model for what could travel. Currently seeking sponsors, venue partners, and advocates who want to help build this.
I work with a small number of select clients who already know something most dating advice ignores: midlife dating is a fundamentally different experience, and copy-pasting strategies meant for 30-somethings doesn't just fail — it makes you feel like you're failing. My practice is built on two years of dedicated research into the midlife dating landscape — what makes it different, what makes it harder, and what actually helps. My client base is split evenly between men and women, which gives me something rare: a constantly evolving, real-time understanding of what both sides are experiencing right now. Engagements start with a recalibration series — sessions designed to strip away the advice that was never meant for you and rebuild from what's actually true about dating at this stage of life. No long-term contracts. No indefinite dependency. The goal is to shift how you think, not keep you on a retainer. Because I lead How to Date Humans — a year-long research and events project embedded in dating culture — I'm never working from outdated playbooks. I'm in it, right now, tracking how people feel and how things are changing in real time. If you know in your gut that midlife dating is different and you're ready to approach it differently, I might be exactly the right coach for you.
In-house strategic event designer helping teams craft the moments and interactions (both on-screen and in-person) that matter today. Hold the icebreakers, let's formulate the right connection equation for your team, your objectives and the current moment. Please see Linkedin recos from people across Dropbox's product, design and engineering teams for whom I've designed and faciltated sessions and offsites!
A podcast about topics and insights for those dating "later" in life or between the ages of 45-59 (give or take a few years on either end:) We'll show you how later might be even better. You're not late, you're right on time. This work has also made me an expert in the lives, hopes and loose ends of those 45+. Www.thelaterdatertoday.com
Whether unraveling the complexities of dating apps or navigating the intricacies of office politics, I bring a unique perspective and today's conversation on the future of work. As a speaker, researcher and consultant, I empower individuals and organizations to rethink, reset and reimagine what it takes to build relationships today.