Friends from Georgia in SF

Two years ago, I went wine tasting in Georgia (the country 🇬🇪, not the state!) and ended up spending the afternoon with three incredible women I hadn’t met until the night before.

Let’s back up.

For those of you who know, I usually spend my summers in Milan (hey-o!) and pop in and out of new countries while I’m in the neighborhood. (Francesca and Sarah I promise I'm coming back soon!)

Ruiz was living his best life in Armenia at the time, and since I was nearby on a long weekend visit to him, I figured I’d hop up to Tbilisi to see what all the wine fuss was about. (If you ask me and Malebo, it’s slightly overhyped.)

Since I was traveling alone, I booked myself to the brim with Airbnb experiences. I love them as a solo traveler—I meet incredible people, try new things, and inevitably push myself a little outside my comfort zone.

After a very lengthy (and that’s the kindest way to put it) city tour of Tbilisi, Rasha, Malebo, and I were already thick as thieves. The next day, I mentioned I was heading to wine country, and they should come along.

Being the women of the world that they are, they said YES. And off we went in our little bus. Rasha brought Didem along for the ride.

The day was one of those travel moments where the conversation flows easily, and you think, this is special—even if you assume it will just live in your memories.

Fast forward to last week.

Didem now lives in the U.S., and we reconnected on LinkedIn. Over brunch (and some of the best pancakes in the city), she told me she’ll be spending more time in San Francisco building her VC firm.

And just like that, I have a new thought partner in the very real ups and downs of running a small consultancy.

If you’ve heard me talk about job searching before, you already know what’s coming next. Yes, I’m going to say it again: ✨ Community is working for you even when nothing looks like it’s happening.

🤝🏽 The conversation you have today.

🤝🏽 The person you stay loosely in touch with.

🤝🏽 The connection that resurfaces years later.

Most opportunities don’t come from cold applications. They come from people—relationships that compound quietly over time.

If you’re job searching right now, don’t just focus on submitting applications.

Stay connected. Be curious about people. Invest in community.

You never know which conversation turns into something meaningful later.