My first cup of coffee happened in 2013, during my deathly dissertation. It was disgusting and the sink drank the rest.
Only to be picked up again in June 2016 – Pepper was being built and I needed more hours and less sleep (*insert mug emoji*)
With British summertime being limited to 3 – 6 good weeks of okay sunshine, I figured an iced coffee would be the most suitable selection to ease myself in. A few experiments with blends, soy milk and syrups later, I made friends with a medium iced caramel latte, which turned into a whirlwind summer romance.
So that’s my coffee story and I’ve found that almost everyone has one. So much so, that when it came to networking, the number one tip I received was “Ask your idols if you can treat them to a coffee. When they can, they will”. And it made sense, you know, coffee is a connector and when asked I almost always say yes.
Melissa, a fashion blogger, interior designer, dentist dodger (sorry Mel) and most importantly, a good friend of mine, is not so easily convinced. Just yesterday, she went on a half-joking/half-f’ing-serious Yeezy rant about NOT wanting to meet for coffees because hot drinks are not life and invoices are!
She seriously got me thinking. Do we ‘metro’ our free time (giving it out for free, here, there and everywhere) to fulfil the fashion stereotype of loving a good chat and great cold-brew? I don’t know, it’s an open question and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
For now, what I can personally vouch for are the following points, take them in and let your friends know too:
- Why do you ‘actually’ want to meet?
Is your question easy enough to be answered via a good old email, if yes, let it live there and not in a coffee shop.
- If you then ‘offer’ to take someone out for a coffee, the bill is on you!
This happened to me, I lost concentration for 5 minutes thinking about millennial and manners.
- Location-wise, who is this convenient for? HINT: The answer shouldn’t be you…
Stay safe and ask if they’d like to meet around the office or if they have a local favourite.
- Arrive early and secure a table
Depending on the time of day/location, coffee shops become very busy as freelancers claim spots for the entire day (trust me, I’m one of them). Anticipate this and stay a step ahead, standing is ONLY for queues and concerts.
- Know your drink order beforehand
It’s not a good idea to stumble over the menu in front of your fashion crush. If all else fails, stick with water.
- What are you wearing?
Coffee is casual but remember it’s still a meeting and first impressions definitely count. Think about who they work for and how you can incorporate that into your look.
- Follow up
It’s actually super cool that they carved out some time for you, a bouquet of flowers is probably too much but a little thanks goes a long way.
Let me know how it goes! x
