The Transformative Power Of A Single Invitation | Kat Vellos | TEDxSanRafaelWomen

We are facing a loneliness epidemic. Here's how to create more meaningful connections and deeper friendships that go beyond small talk. Learn how to expand your world and attract opportunities beyond your wildest dreams. Kat Vellos is a trusted expert on the power of cultivating meaningful connections. She’s an experience designer, facilitator, and coach. She’s the author of We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships which was called “marvelous” by BookLife and which Kirkus Reviews compared to the work of Norman Vincent Peale and Cicero. Since its release in January 2020, it’s been helping adults around the world heal from disconnection and loneliness. Her follow-up workbook, Connected from Afar, helps adults strengthen existing friendships from a distance.
Kat has twenty years’ experience creating communities where people find belonging and authentic connection. A veteran facilitator, she founded Better than Small Talk and Bay Area Black Designers which was profiled by Forbes. A seasoned researcher, designer and program manager, she’s worked for Slack, Pandora, and multiple corporate and nonprofit organizations. Her current coaching and facilitation work focuses on social and emotional wellness.
Her experience with facilitation and interpersonal dynamics runs deep. Over the last twenty years Kat has created, run, and mentored a variety of communities focused on everything from spoken word poetry to photography to digital design to authentic connection and friendship. She’s the creator and facilitator of Better than Small Talk, an immersive experience of authenticity and connection that’s been held in Seattle, Oakland, and Berkeley.
She has been a facilitator for Partners for Youth Empowerment, The Power of Hope, Young Women Empowered, and Reel Grrls. Learn more at www.weshouldgettogether.com This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@healthonyourterms]

What an incredibly inspirational talk! From one introvert to another, the question at the end gave me chills, and I will definitely be journaling on this. "If you could only express your hopes, dreams and values in the form of invitations, what kind of invitations would you offer this world?
"

[@velloseraptor]

So glad you resonated with my talk, Jayne! And I hope that reminder sticks with you and inspires many more wonderful connections, conversations and transformations in your life and the lives of the people you care about.

[@LindaBrandtmph]

Inspiring and powerful. I'm so glad to have Kat Vellos' community building stories in my head.

[@velloseraptor]

Thanks for watching, Linda! I'm so happy to hear that these stories resonated with you. I hope they continue to inspire and blossom into community-building opportunities in your life too. :)

[@playmeo-group-games]

Thank you Kat. I heard the power of invitation, intention & courage in this presentation, and again this morning in your sharing with the Right Company. Thank you for your inspiring example.

[@stevegoldberg327]

Such a fantastic talk! I love hearing your stories of taking initiatives and being bold; totally inspiring. As a fellow introvert it super resonated.

[@velloseraptor]

Thanks so much, fellow-introvert Steve! I'm so happy to hear that you liked my talk. Thank you for sharing your stories with the world too, and for inspiring me to keep going with sharing mine. I hope to help folks see that things that seem bold often start from a really small and simple place, then grow from there. That's how it's usually been for me, anyway! :)

[@koncertkrazi]

Kat is so inspiring with her creativity and drive to start all of these support systems!

[@velloseraptor]

Thank you so much for your kind words! 🤗

[@CindyMBell]

This was a beautiful talk on the power of invitations. It especially resonated with me that you don’t even have to be an extravert to make them work for you.

[@velloseraptor]

Thanks Cindy! I love hearing what parts resonated with you. And yes, I totally believe that introverts have a secret super power when it comes to bringing intention to the act of connection. 🙌🏾

[@eight_joy]

This talk touched me. I recently moved away from “home” to a new country and making friends or reconnecting with the ones from my past lives have been so hard but also joyful. I’m also taking a sabbatical from my work like Kat did, and her courageous acts of simple and beautiful invitations inspired me. I don’t know what my seed is yet, but I’m energized to play with it. Thank you! 🌹

[@giacomodigrigoli1210]

Absolutely brilliant talk! And so incredibly timely, post pandemic!!

[@velloseraptor]

Thanks Giacomo! And I, too, hope it helps folks approach this next phase of life with purpose, intention, and creativity. Let's go! 🙌🏾

[@lizotteson2086]

Every good relationship starts with the simple act of inviting someone into conversation, companionship, cooperation. Great talk, Kat!

[@courtneykaplan]

Amazing reminder that reaching out and asking is the path to more of what we truly want to build in our lives. We have the potential!

[@stevenmichaelcrane2557]

Fantastic!

[@jamienease6024]

Such a powerful and inspiring message! I love how Kat describes the simplicity and impact of simply reaching out and creating spaces for authentic connection. Thank you, Kat, for this much needed work ❤️

[@jourdankeith8215]

I am already happy

[@velloseraptor]

🤗💕