How We Connected

The most creative artists in America right now aren’t in galleries. They’re in your neighborhood. How We Connected is a front-row seat to the social artists rebuilding human connection. Hear inspiring stories about roller skating crews, bad art clubs, jousting societies, city saunters, Georgian dinner parties, catch-playing challenges, midnight runners, and picnic societies. Hosted by Charlotte Massey and Aaron Hurst, co-founders of the US Chamber of Connection. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How We Connected is a society podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 37 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts How We Connected, a society show with 37 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #37

  Float and Flow: Micky Wolf, Co-Founder, Seam

  Aug 18, 202640 minS1

  At a Seam retreat, even the meditation is a relay. Whoever's leading snaps their fingers three times and someone else takes over. Nobody holds the mic for long. That's the point. It's how a murder mystery game about birders became a campfire musical by the second night. It's also how another gathering produced a seven song musical about a fight over the center of a cinnamon roll. Micky Wolf co-founded Seam, a values based community rooted in Baltimore. It now has people all over the country. He's been rehearsing his whole life. In high school he was Prime Minister of Parliament at Winston Churchill High School and led an attempt to break the world record for the longest chain of shoes. The record was 24,962. They collected 17,000 and donated every pair. Micky's retreats run on something they call lended trust. You don't need to know everyone. Just one person who vouches for the rest. Aim for roughly half familiar faces then balance what Micky calls float and flow: enough of a plan for the weekend but enough drift to let a musical break out. Meanwhile, Charlotte reports back from her husband's rave on top of a mountain, where you could see a forest fire burning. Aaron returns from Provence ready to start a Friday night dinner tradition of his own. 00:00 Intro 01:42 Catching Up: Mountaintop Raves, Provence, and Chamber News 07:54 Meet Micky Wolf: Origin Story 11:05 Vulnerability, Adult Sleepovers, and Spirituality Exposed 14:02 What Seam Is: Values-Based Community 16:40 Inside a Retreat: Float and Flow 22:28 The Money: Pricing, Access, and Who Says Yes 27:12 How to Get Fiscal Sponsorship 29:36 Micky's Vision for Baltimore 31:20 Debrief: Sleepovers, Shabbat, and a Break from Tech --- The most creative artists in America right now aren’t in galleries. They’re in your neighborhood. How We Connected is a front-row seat to the social artists rebuilding human connection. Hear inspiring stories about roller skating crews, bad art clubs, jousting societies, city saunters, Georgian dinner parties, catch-playing challenges, midnight runners, and picnic societies. Hosted by Charlotte Massey and Aaron Hurst, co-founders of the US Chamber of Connection. Aaron Hurst is the co-founder of the US Chamber of Connection. He’s a longtime entrepreneur focused on purpose and community. He founded Imperative and the Taproot Foundation and wrote The Purpose Economy . Charlotte Massey is the co-founder of the US Chamber of Connection and leads community programs nationally. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and former organizer and founder, she works at the intersection of civic life and entrepreneurship. Connect with Us www.chamberofconnection.org Micky Wolf, Co-Founder, Seam Micky has been bringing people together since he was a ring bearer at age three. As Prime Minister of Parliament at Winston Churchill High School, he led an attempt on the world record for the longest chain of shoes, collecting 17,000 pairs and donating every one. He's the co-founder of Seam, a values based community rooted in Baltimore that hosts retreats and gatherings built on co-creation, from relay meditations to campfire musicals. His day job is CEO of Dent Education, a Baltimore nonprofit running paid innovation programs where young people launch ventures and careers. He also co-founded the Baltimore Youth Innovation Coalition. His rule for any gathering: enough flow to carry the weekend, enough float to let a musical break out. Learn more:  https://www.denteducation.org Heylo www.heylo.com Heylo is a community-management platform built for real-world groups of every kind, giving leaders a clean, branded home base to run events, manage members, communicate clearly, and handle payments without friction. It brings scheduling, RSVPs, waivers, announcements, topic-based chats, and membership tools into one place so clubs, teams, and interest groups can stay organized and connected without the noise of traditional social platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  Episode #36

  A Gathering, Not a Meeting: Sandra Slater, Leader, Cool Block

  Aug 11, 202647 minS1

  When Sandra Slater knocks on your door, she has a script. “Hi, I'm Sandra, and I live across the street.” She points to her house so you know she's a neighbor, not a stranger selling something. Then the invitation: come to my home for a gathering, not a meeting, so we can get to know each other better. More than half the people she invites say yes, partly because everyone secretly wants to see inside the house across the street. Sandra is Aaron Hurst's aunt and in many ways the inspiration for the US Chamber of Connection. Her Cool Block program set out to help neighbors cut their carbon footprints. She learned that leading with the planet is a nonstarter. What people are actually hungry for is each other. There's someone sleeping 10 feet from your head that you've never met. So connection became the way in, and when COVID hit, her blocks already had masks and supplies and knew who had a generator and who was a doctor. There's a surprise, though. The topic people can't stop talking about isn't carbon. It's trash. Show neighbors the three bins and what goes where and they'll happily debate it all evening. Meanwhile, Charlotte returns from trekking Mont Blanc with fresh lessons on hosting, and Aaron reports back from being the awkward plus one at a pickleball party. 00:00 Intro 02:32 Charlotte's Mont Blanc Trek 06:25 Guest Introduction: Sandra Slater 14:15 Sandra's Origin Story 15:07 People for the American Way 17:28 Environmental Awakening 18:28 The Cool Block Challenge 23:25 How to Run a Cool Block 30:45 Scale and Impact 32:32 The Cost of Community Building 34:28 Obstacles and Politics 36:06 Palo Alto Forward and Housing Advocacy 42:00 Reflection --- The most creative artists in America right now aren’t in galleries. They’re in your neighborhood. How We Connected is a front-row seat to the social artists rebuilding human connection. Hear inspiring stories about roller skating crews, bad art clubs, jousting societies, city saunters, Georgian dinner parties, catch-playing challenges, midnight runners, and picnic societies. Hosted by Charlotte Massey and Aaron Hurst, co-founders of the US Chamber of Connection. Aaron Hurst is the co-founder of the US Chamber of Connection. He’s a longtime entrepreneur focused on purpose and community. He founded Imperative and the Taproot Foundation and wrote The Purpose Economy . Charlotte Massey is the co-founder of the US Chamber of Connection and leads community programs nationally. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and former organizer and founder, she works at the intersection of civic life and entrepreneurship. Connect with Us www.chamberofconnection.org Sandra Slater, Northern California Director, Cool City Challenge Sandra has spent more than 30 years turning environmental conviction into neighborhood action. She began her career at the United Nations Environment Programme and worked closely with Norman Lear to help found People for the American Way. She later built her own design firm focused on green building. Her Palo Alto home, designed as a showcase for sustainable living, has welcomed 4,000 visitors on tours. As leader of the Cool Block program, she helped neighbors across Palo Alto and beyond cut their carbon footprints by first getting to know each other. She's also a co-founder of Palo Alto Forward, a grassroots group advocating for more housing and better transit. Her real specialty is the knock on the door. Learn more: coolblock.org/cool-city-challenge Heylo www.heylo.com Heylo is a community-management platform built for real-world groups of every kind, giving leaders a clean, branded home base to run events, manage members, communicate clearly, and handle payments without friction. It brings scheduling, RSVPs, waivers, announcements, topic-based chats, and membership tools into one place so clubs, teams, and interest groups can stay organized and connected without the noise of traditional social platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  Episode #35

  Waiting in Line: Aaron Altabet, Founder, Chumstock

  Aug 5, 202636 minS1

  When you arrive at Chumstock, Aaron Altabet hands you a sardine tin. On it is your name, and inside are business cards shaped like fish. They’re simple: your name, personal phone number and email address. There are 14 cards: you get a stack of salmon and one orca. It’s based on how many friendships Aaron thinks you can build during the four-day weekend. You have to choose. The salmon can be traded but you have to save the orca for the one person you’d be sorry to lose touch with. Chumstock is Aaron’s answer to a climate conference: four days, three nights at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Labs. At the conference are 120 startup founders, funders, operators, and researchers. It’s an unconference, so there’s just one 10-minute speech on opening night. There’s something surprising though: Aaron surveyed everyone after Chumstock and found that the number one place people met was in line. All Aaron’s careful planning came down to people waiting for food or for the ferry, or sometimes for the trivia to start. That and a culture where it’s ok to go up to someone and say hi. Aaron also gets deep into his social math: why six is the largest table you can have to maintain a conversation and why you owe your friends a note at least once a year. Hosts Aaron and Charlotte wonder how to build lines into their own conference! 00:00 Introduction 02:29 Two Aarons, One Podcast 04:59 Becoming a Connector 06:35 The Origin of Chum Stock 09:28 Shelf-Stable Friendships 13:21 Social Media vs. Real Connection 15:54 What Chum Stock Actually Is 19:22 The Sardine Tin Business Cards 23:58 The Social Math of Group Size 25:48 The Surprising Power of Waiting in Line 30:16 Wrap-Up and What's Next --- The most creative artists in America right now aren’t in galleries. They’re in your neighborhood. How We Connected is a front-row seat to the social artists rebuilding human connection. Hear inspiring stories about roller skating crews, bad art clubs, jousting societies, city saunters, Georgian dinner parties, catch-playing challenges, midnight runners, and picnic societies. Hosted by Charlotte Massey and Aaron Hurst, co-founders of the US Chamber of Connection. Aaron Hurst , Co-Founder of the US Chamber of Connection, is a longtime entrepreneur focused on purpose and community. He founded Imperative and the Taproot Foundation and wrote The Purpose Economy . Charlotte Massey , Co-Founder of the US Chamber of Connection, leads community programs nationally. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and former organizer and founder, she works at the intersection of civic life and entrepreneurship. Connect with Us www.chamberofconnection.org Aaron Altabet, Chumstock www.chumstock.com Aaron is the founder of Chumstock, a four day unconference for people working on climate that he hosts at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Labs in the San Juan Islands. He came to it sideways. He rowed crew and took a dual degree in biology and history at the University of Puget Sound, spent four years teaching science and running wilderness trips in Maine, earned a master's at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and recruited scientists for biotech before an MBA at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business pulled him toward climate and venture capital. He built Chumstock after watching two friends throw big multi-day gatherings and realizing he could do it too. He's 33, based in Seattle, and he sends a lot of holiday cards, most of them late. Heylo www.heylo.com Heylo is a community-management platform built for real-world groups of every kind, giving leaders a clean, branded home base to run events, manage members, communicate clearly, and handle payments without friction. It brings scheduling, RSVPs, waivers, announcements, topic-based chats, and membership tools into one place so clubs, teams, and interest groups can stay organized and connected without the noise of traditional social platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  Episode #34

  The Third Vault: Chip Conley, Co-Founder, MEA

  Jul 28, 202630 minS1

  Aaron's in France for his sister's 50th birthday, so this one was recorded ahead of time. Before the interview, he and Charlotte get into why life transitions are at the center of the Chamber's work. Transitions are when people are most at risk of drifting into isolation. They're also when people are most willing to build new relationships.  This week’s guest is Chip Conley, who founded MEA. Chip was a shy kid who preferred his imaginary friends to real ones and now calls himself a mixologist of people. After 24 years running a boutique hotel company and four years as Airbnb's head of global hospitality and strategy, he co-founded MEA, the world's first midlife wisdom school. MEA has drawn more than 9,000 people from 60 countries. He walks through the three vaults of communication: the head, which holds the facts of your life, the heart, which holds your stories, and the gut, which holds what's unfiltered and unplanned. Chip calls this his Roto-Rooter for the soul. 00:00 Introduction 04:03 Meet Chip Conley 05:22 Chip's Roots in Connection 07:41 Inside the Modern Elder Academy 11:01 The Three Vaults of Communication 17:05 Connection, Community, and Boundaries 26:40 Reflections and Closing Thoughts 29:33 Wrapping Up --- How We Connected explores the conversations that power communities across the United States. Aaron Hurst and Charlotte Massey share what they’re building at the US Chamber of Connection and speak with leaders whose work strengthens local connection. Episodes offer human stories, practical insights, and ideas you can use in your own community. Aaron Hurst , Co-Founder of the US Chamber of Connection, is a longtime entrepreneur focused on purpose and community. He founded Imperative and the Taproot Foundation and wrote The Purpose Economy . Charlotte Massey , Co-Founder of the US Chamber of Connection, leads community programs nationally. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and former organizer and founder, she works at the intersection of civic life and entrepreneurship. Connect with Us www.chamberofconnection.org Chip Conley, MEA www.meawisdom.com Chip is a co-founder of MEA, the world's first midlife wisdom school, with campuses in Baja California Sur and on a 2,600-acre regenerative horse ranch outside Santa Fe. He founded Joie de Vivre Hospitality at 26 and spent 24 years building it into the second-largest boutique hotel operator in the United States. He later joined Airbnb as head of global hospitality and strategy, where the founders called him their modern elder, someone as curious as he is wise. He's a New York Times bestselling author, has given three TED talks, and writes a daily blog called Wisdom Well. He was a founding board member of Burning Man, serves on the board of the Esalen Institute, and spent nearly a decade on the board of Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. Heylo www.heylo.com Heylo is a community-management platform built for real-world groups of every kind, giving leaders a clean, branded home base to run events, manage members, communicate clearly, and handle payments without friction. It brings scheduling, RSVPs, waivers, announcements, topic-based chats, and membership tools into one place so clubs, teams, and interest groups can stay organized and connected without the noise of traditional social platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  Episode #33

  Friendship Journeys: Shasta Nelson's Global Adventures

  Jul 21, 202634 minS1

  Aaron and Charlotte recorded this one early, since Charlotte's about to be off the grid and overseas. She's heading out to host a Women Who Explore trek on the Tour du Mont Blanc, hiking the circuit around Mont Blanc through France, Italy, and Switzerland with a group of women she's never met. There's a guide on the ground handling the trails, which leaves Charlotte in charge of what she calls the vibes: making sure everyone bonds, feels looked after, and comes home with the kind of friendships that outlast the trip. This week’s guest is Shasta Nelson, the Chamber of Connection’s Chief Friendship Officer and the author of Frientimacy and The Business of Friendship. Shasta traces her path from a childhood shaped by her parents' divorce to a first career as a pastor building community to launching one of the first friendship-matching sites, all of it feeding her work on what makes people bond.  Since 2013 she's hosted 20 international trips, starting with a begrudging group trip to Cuba that drew 200 responses and turned her into a self-described scientist in the friendship lab. She shares the recipe she's refined over a decade: ground rules like you don't have to be friends with everyone, but you do have to be friendly; two prep calls before anyone boards a plane; and an owner's manual prompt where each traveler names the one thing that'd help the group support them better.  00:00 Introducing Shasta Nelson, Chief Friendship Officer 04:09 Welcome Shasta 05:20 Origin Story: From Divorce to Friendship Expert 07:23 Charlotte's Trip Details 08:57 How Shasta's Group Trips Began 14:06 Managing Group Dynamics 16:26 Lasting Bonds, Repeat Travelers and Reunions 19:17 Gender Dynamics in Group Travel 26:03 Planning Trips: Strangers vs. Friends 28:42 Why Group Travel Builds Deeper Connections 31:35 Aaron's Dream Trip: Biking Italy --- How We Connected explores the conversations that power communities across the United States. Aaron Hurst and Charlotte Massey share what they’re building at the US Chamber of Connection and speak with leaders whose work strengthens local connection. Episodes offer human stories, practical insights, and ideas you can use in your own community. Aaron Hurst , Co-Founder of the US Chamber of Connection, is a longtime entrepreneur focused on purpose and community. He founded Imperative and the Taproot Foundation and wrote The Purpose Economy . Charlotte Massey , Co-Founder of the US Chamber of Connection, leads community programs nationally. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and former organizer and founder, she works at the intersection of civic life and entrepreneurship. Connect with Us www.chamberofconnection.org Shasta Nelson www.shastanelson.com Shasta is a keynote speaker, one of the country's leading experts on friendship and belonging, and the Chamber's Chief Friendship Officer. A former pastor with a Master of Divinity, she launched GirlFriendCircles in 2008 as one of the first friendship matching platforms in the US, and she's since studied more than 10,000 friendships through surveys, interviews, and lived experience. She's the author of three books, including Frientimacy and The Business of Friendship, and her framework of positivity, consistency, and vulnerability has reached millions through two TEDx talks. Her work has shaped connection at companies like Google and LinkedIn and been featured from Harvard Business Review to The New York Times. Each year she also hosts international friendship trips around the world. Heylo www.heylo.com Heylo is a community-management platform built for real-world groups of every kind, giving leaders a clean, branded home base to run events, manage members, communicate clearly, and handle payments without friction. It brings scheduling, RSVPs, waivers, announcements, topic-based chats, and membership tools into one place so clubs, teams, and interest groups can stay organized and connected without the noise of traditional social platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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