DOVETAIL CONNECTION EVENT: Time to Say Goodbye

After 16 years and 192 monthly meetings, I need to tell you something that's breaking my heart and filling it with gratitude at the same time.

Dovetail is sunsetting. 💔❤️

📅 Two meetings remain:

• November 12th

• December 10th

It was October 2008. The Great Recession. My outplacement clients didn't just want jobs - they wanted to stay connected with their peers who'd landed. So we started meeting at Alioto's on the third Wednesday of every month. Before Zoom existed. Before "networking" became code for "what can you do for me?"

We built something different. A community forged in the fire of hard times - creating "dovetail" joints so strong they've held for 16 years. 🫱🏻🫲🏾

The stories that still make me cry:

→ When a member asked me "Where would you park your car if you had to sleep in it?" Within 10 MINUTES he had 5 offers of places to stay. No one knew him personally. But they knew that fear. 🏠

→ Gas cards slipped quietly to me to give to those who needed fuel for interviews. Grocery cards for prescriptions. Given with dignity, received with gratitude 🚗

→ One member organizing a free bowling afternoon just to lift spirits 🎳

→ People returning YEARS after landing jobs just to pay it forward

Every conversation started with "How can I help you?"

These weren't networking connections. These were lifelines. The kind where 25-50 people show up month after month, year after year, because these people become YOUR people.

But here's what else Dovetail gave us: JOY. 🎉

Because job search is a grind. It's soul-crushing. It's rejection after rejection. But walking into Alioto's? That was different. We laughed. We celebrated the small wins. We made the unbearable bearable.

Oscar Wilde said it best: "Life is too important to be taken seriously."

And we lived that. Every. Single. Month. 😊

I need to say this: I am successful in my outplacement career because of Dovetail. You opened doors. You lifted people up. You helped me through my hard times too.

You are my peeps, my team, my tribe, my friends.

We live in a world of digital connections now. But nothing - NOTHING - replaces looking someone in the eye when they're at their lowest and saying "I've got you."

Join us for these final two gatherings. 🕯️

Let's celebrate what we built together when human connection was our only technology.

Because after 22,000 hours of coaching, I can tell you this truth:

In the darkest times, the people who can still make you laugh are the ones who save your life.

See you at Alioto's. One more time. 💪

A plea for your support:

Alioto's has hosted us for 16 years. They have never charged us for hosting. They add staff to ensure our party is served.

Please return the favor by purchasing a beverage and tipping the staff. Please make a contribution to the pizza fund if you partake. I've been picking up muchof the bill and tips every month and appreciate your help.