This is not a typical “coffee with a stranger” interview, in any way. It is a story that will warm your heart, inspire you to be a better person, and remind you of the fragility of life. This is the story of a coffee that never was. It’s the story of a bigger than life […]

The Place: Lola Savannah The Cup: Brett selected an iced, soy, decaf mocha and I too went the decaf route, choosing a lovely iced passion fruit tea. Background: Brett is one of the strangers on my wish list, and a few months back I was at an event and saw Brett standing by a wall listening to […]

The Place: Cherrywood Coffee The Cup: Straight up coffee for both Tom and myself. Background: Taking the gold medal for most strangers referred to the project…Cup 5, Steve Harper!  OK, there is no contest but if there were, Steve would be at the top of the podium and we’d be singing the Star Spangled Ripple. Steve sent an […]

The Place: Cafe Medici The Cup: An iced coffee for both Molly and myself. Special guest, Luke, enjoyed a bottle of juice and because his teeth are on their way in, he skipped the scone and opted instead for a red, rubber spatula. Background: That darn Steve Harper, Cup 5 was up to it again. When he […]

The Place: Mozart’s Coffee The Cup: Regular old coffee for both Heather and myself. Background: One of the greatest connecters in Austin is Steve Harper – who I affectionately refer to as Cup 5. He’s so great at connecting people, he wrote a book on the subject (The Ripple Effect: Maximizing the Power of Relationships for Life & […]

The Place: Dominican Joe’s Coffee The Cup: Nicole ordered an iced coffee and it sounded so yummy, I ordered one as well. Background: Nicole and I were introduced by Cup 39, Patti DeNucci via email, suggesting we’d enjoy meeting one another. Nicole shared with me that she’d recently met Patti when one of her sales managers […]

The Place: Jessica’s Airstream The Cup: For me, a delightful French Press coffee, pressed by Jessica herself, while Jessica enjoyed a nice cup of hot tea {Because she’s smart and doesn’t drink caffeine in the afternoon}. She also put out some yummy, homemade vegan mini-muffins and cookies. Such special touches! Background: Cup 35, Bill Jennings […]

 The Place: The Upper Crust The Cup: Straight-up coffee for both of us. Background: I got an email from Cup 17, Thom Singer introducing Patti and I – suggesting we meet for coffee. You bet! Thom knows that, much like The Fight Club, the first rule in coffee with a stranger is, you don’t talk […]

The Place: Fair Bean Coffee The Cup: Serena told me she always tries something new when she stops here so for our meeting, she selected “The Weirdo”.  Seems appropriate. What is “The Weirdo”? An iced white chocolate mocha with lime.  Yep, lime.  I can think of few places lime isn’t a welcome addition. Lime is […]

The Place: Austin Java The Cup: Even though we both agreed we’d already had enough coffee for one day, it didn’t stop us from having just a little more. Straight up coffee for both Danny and myself. Background: Danny and I were seated next to one another at the Austin Business Journal Face2Face networking breakfast […]