The secret sauce

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Last week, I took a poll on Instagram to gauge your interest on this week’s topic. Between jealousy and the best advice I’ve ever gotten, the latter won. If you voted for jealousy, good news: I’ll address that next week anyway because it’s one of my favorite things to talk about.

There’s a chance this won’t be the first time you’ve heard this, and if that’s the case, I hope it still serves as some inspiration for the week.

My freshman year of college, I signed up for a one-time seminar with John Idol, the CEO of Michael Kors. During the Q&A, I wanted to know the greatest piece of advice he’d ever received that he still used to that day. His answer became the best piece of advice I’ve ever received that I still use to this day.

It’s almost offensively simple: “Never be afraid to talk to anyone.” It was the key to his rise, he said. He cold-emailed, he walked up to executives to introduce himself…he never thought of anyone “higher” than himself because at the end of the day, he said, we’re all people.

His advice laid the foundation for how I’ve approached my career. I’m a serial cold-emailer. I’ve been doing it as long as I can remember, and the truth is that the worst someone can do is ignore me or say no. If you’re worried about rejection, this is how I think about it: if I send 100 emails and only two people respond, that’s still two more contacts that I had before I sent those emails. (It’s also important not to neglect the follow-up.)

People will open doors if you ask. The summer before my senior year of college, I emailed Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist, to tell her I would be in Poland and that I’d love to meet her for coffee. She responded, and after some back-and-forth, sent this:

“I am at my country house, which is about a half hour drive from Bydgoszcz. you would be welcome for tea, but it would be quite a trip to get here from Poznan if you don't have a car, you would need to take a train and then a taxi.”

I was aware she was probably trying to deter me. But I had no shame (lol) so I took a train and then a taxi. Applebaum’s husband, Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s former foreign minister and basically Polish royalty, opened the door in his slippers and offered to make me tea. It was a wild experience for a small-town kid.

I tell that story to say this: Applebaum owed me nothing. I was a college student with no connections. She was one ‘yes’ out of many emails that went unanswered. (Also, a fun full-circle moment: she ended up being my college graduation speaker.)

I love connecting with new people, so I still cold email and ask for introductions all the time. I also really love getting emails and DMs, as I’ve mentioned before. I respond to all of them (minus the weird ones).

And in that vein, I asked last week, “What’s making you happy lately?” In lieu of sharing an article or podcast this week, I thought it’d be fun to share some of the responses I got as we keep building up this community.

Here’s a challenge for the week: send someone you don’t know an email! I’ll do the same. Let me know how it goes — or just let me know what you thought of today’s newsletter — by either replying to this email or sending me a note on IG. Oh, and I’m also on threads now! I have loved reading and responding to your messages (it’s the highlight of my week), so please keep ‘em coming!