Each year for the last 8 years I’ve developed and published a “coffee list”—a list of people I would like to have coffee with in the New Year. I’ve found it to be a great way to meet new people—and a nice way to keep myself accountable throughout the year.

Last year, I had coffee with eight people on the 2023 list (and 45 people overall): Haley Thannum, Mary Vaughan, Stacey Kanihan, Alyssa Abilo, Andres (Andy) Ybarra, Natalie Albin (client at UST class last spring), Monica Gratzer (client at UST class last spring), and Stephanie Steineck

I missed out on: Kaylee Olson, Ryan Foster, Stephanie Johnson, Meg McDougall (although Meg’s going to speak at UST class this spring–yay!), Quinn Anderson (although we’ve been trading messages about getting together).

So, not bad in 2023. I met up with 8 of 13 people on the list, with 2 more in the works. I’ll take that!

For 2024, I’m tweaking my approach just a bit to fit more with my “purpose” goal of 2024. I’m hoping to meet with a number of people who will be very interesting to talk with when it comes to that conversation of purpose. Here’s the 2024 list:

* Wendy S. Wiesman (founder of the hugely successful Ready Set Pivot, Wendy will surely have opinions on the purpose discussion!)

* Kirsten J. Parker (someone I met during the pandemic whom I’ve been very much wanting to meet)

* Howie Chan (exact same as above; love Howie’s energy here on LinkedIn, too)

* Katie Tomsche (always looking to connect with Tommie grads, especially those who work in the food industry!)

* Melissa Fors Shackelford, MBA (pretty sure I’ve never had coffee with a Harvard grad–bucket list!)

* Jenna Soule (definitely one of the people I’m looking forward to meeting the most on this list; another person I believe I met during the pandemic online)

* Tiara Kesler (I was set to meet up with Tiara in 2023, but we got a little sidetracked)

* Kristen Peterson (we were all set to meet in 2023 until I had some issues on the homefront that derailed it; I definitely owe Kristen coffee!)

* Beth McGuire (been trying to connect with Beth for a while–2024 is the year! And, another Tommie!)

* Fey Grimm (another relatively new connection; I’ve been impressed by Fey’s posts here on LinkedIn)

* Kathy Arnold (would be fun to get outside the industry and talk HR/Employer Brand with UST’s head of HR)

* Matt Erickson (Rock Chalk Jayhawk will the key topic in this discussion, for sure!)

* Katie Brandt Conner, MPP (like many who work in social, Katie has an interesting background and one with a public policy angle; I’m curious to hear more about that)

* Jennifer Chenoweth, MBA, PCC (another Tommie! I’m also curious to talk career arcs with Jennifer and hear about her LinkedIn coaching practice)

* Colleen Kranz💡 (was very late to the game in discovering Colleen on LinkedIn, but LOVE her weekly e-newsletter and very curious to hear more about her journey to solo life from big corporate)