IRL

IRL

A log of some IRL projects I’ve built over the years

You Are a Global Citizen

I wrote a book with Hachette UK, then I took it on tour to 6 cities.

Somewhere between moving countries and learning languages, I noticed the first thing anyone knew about me was that I was American. “Where are you from?” “The US.” Then an image would form in their head, flattering or not, and they’d have an opinion made up about me. Either way, it wasn't really me. The same way all of our nationalities have a way of grouping millions of people and melting them into one. But I could've just as easily been born halfway across the world, quoting Amélie instead of Mean Girls, eating shakshuka instead of peanut butter toast, or looking up to Princess Diana instead of Oprah. It bothered me that something I had no say in got to define me first, so… I started choosing. Curating my own identity. Not as an American living in France or as a now Europeanized American who has spent the past ten years in Paris, but as the secret third option. The one that’s way more interesting anyway. The one that comes after all these nationality labels and doesn’t need to choose just one. This is the book that came out of that idea.

Global Citizen IRL

I built out a daylong life direction workshop, then took it on tour to 9 cities.

I organized a daylong workshop tour around North America to help people get clear on what they want out of life. Total, there were 14 sessions and 214 guests.
Most showed up with a vague feeling that something needed to change and left with a birds-eye view of their entire life on paper.
It ended up being my favorite part of the year, so I turned the day into Life Direction, my self-paced workshop.

French class, in person

I rented a studio in Paris and ran my own French summer school.

Thousands of people have taken my online French course, so I figured it was time to rent a studio in the 11th arrondissement and open a summer language school. Students from Detroit to Kraków flew in and joined me for six week-long classes, from beginner to advanced. We covered all the typical French grammar stuff, but also how to flirt, how to throw hands, and all the other things your French teacher would have gotten fired for.
Most importantly, rosé was provided. Watch here.

The Destination Is You

I hosted an evening with Pullman Hotels Paris and presented on why we travel at all.

So you flew 13 hours to Google “matcha latte” and “thrift store,” as if that's not exactly what you did last Thursday back home. Travel used to be about exploration. Now, we’ve traded the charm for convenience: we land in Barcelona and keep bingeing the same Netflix show, play the same Spotify playlist, and ask ChatGPT to plan every second of our spontaneous trip, right down to the secret, local rooftop bar, full of everyone else who did the same. Do we even go anywhere anymore? Or do we just bring home with us?
And that was just the first topic. Pullman Paris Montparnasse invited me to host an evening with 60 guests on why we travel, what we're actually looking for, and whether travel is still about being there, or just looking like we are. Then, rooftop drinks, of course. Watch the talk here.