Picture this, you’re at a holiday party where you only know the host. Everyone else is a stranger to you but that’s okay because your goal for 2025 is to meet new people.
Think about the top 5 questions you’d ask strangers at this party. Go ahead, list them out right now. Do any of them involve asking about their career? Did you know that’s like one of the first things we talk about with a complete stranger is what we do for work?
When we do this, we may or may not realize but we’re indirectly communicating that our jobs make up one of, if not the greatest value of our identity. To which we start down the path of figuring out what we each other “do” so that we can determine who has the better job, makes more money, and has more quote on quote status, so that in turn we establish who is more superior in the conversation.
This song and dance is inevitable. It happens to all of us. It’s learned behaviour and in a way it makes us feel safe.
Our guest today, Jess Janz, has also been the victim of being asked pointless and at times insensitive questions that restrict rather than foster meaningful connection. Jess is a writer, community facilitator, and the creator of Dinner With Strangers, an innovative event series that brings together people from diverse walks of life to share stories over a meal. Her work explores identity, connection, and what truly binds us as humans.
In this episode, we're discussing how to ask meaningful questions, what happens when we put work aside and truly put ourselves out there, and what a reciprocal and deep conversation can do for us all.
