I hosted a meetup to celebrate a podcast

My recap of The Tim Ferriss Show 10th anniversary fan meetup in Charlotte, NC

Apr 26, 2024

Before Andrew Huberman, before Lex Fridman, before Serial and before Conan O’Brien, there was Tim Ferriss.

If you listen to podcasts at all, then you’ve come across The Tim Ferriss Show—one of the longest running, and arguably one of the most popular podcasts around.

As a long time Tim Ferriss fan, I’ve written about how his books—primarily The 4-Hour Workweek—impacted my life.

To say that T4HW was a catalyst to me ultimately starting my own content agency is an understatement.

It introduced me to the concept of work delegation by way of virtual assistants and using software for remote operations, and also gave me the belief that I could launch a successful remote content agency.

Content entrepreneur | Agency Founder & CEO | Bestselling author Featured in Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Bankrate, Cheddar TV, HuffPost | Join more than 2,500 people who follow Shindy’s unconventional lifestyle, travel, and career advice:

So when I heard about fan meetups happening worldwide to celebrate Tim and commemorate his podcast’s 10th anniversary, I was in.

It was also a no-brainer for me to step up as the host for the local event in Charlotte, NC, where I split my time between Miami. No host = no event.

My only duties were selecting a good venue, and on the day of, setting ice breakers and managing the flow of conversation depending on group size.

Our group was an intimate one, so it facilitated open sharing and discussion about the most impactful podcast guests, as well as life takeaways learned from Tim, which we’ve at one point or another implemented in our daily lives.

Here’s a recap of the Tim Ferriss Show 10th anniversary fan meetup in Charlotte, NC

Our meetup, which was promoted by the in-person community platform River, took place at Bart’s Mart, a bar/watering hole/live music venue/with outdoor seating that doesn’t take itself seriously and is filled with fun pop culture references.

Tim Ferriss takeaways and favorite podcast guests

We agreed one of the most best aspects of being a listener was the exposure to an eccentric and eclectic mix of minds and experts.

While the show started out very much on topics related to investing, technology, marketing, and startups, over the years the guests have included experts on business development, lifestyle design, delegation, healthy living, healthy relationships, “drugs,” mental health, cognitive development, fitness, and productivity.

Here were notable podcast guests mentioned among the group:

Kevin Rose: The first guest on the show also continues to be a frequent guest including on Tim’s 10th anniversary show, and has discussed everything from VC investing to ketamine therapy

Esther Perel: Relationship and couples therapist, sex expert, and author of Mating in Captivity and The State of Affairs, who challenges the belief that affairs destroy marriages; instead they may open up a next chapter of coupledom, depending on how the couple chooses to react

Joshua Waitzkin: Tim’s second podcast guest and repeat guest, child prodigy and chessmaster and inspiration for the movie “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” he shares cognitive hacks to learning faster and challenging everyday thought processes

Jerry Colonna: This executive leadership coach encourages people to check themselves by asking the following work culture questions:

How am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want?
What needs to be said that isn’t being said?
What’s being said that I’m not hearing?
What am I saying that’s not being heard?

Sebastian Junger: Author of Tribe, and who prompted our lively group discussion on the topic of “co-sleeping” across cultures.

After, I realized it was my first time really meeting people in Charlotte with the big picture like-mindedness that I both crave and encountered while working in New York City during the tech and fintech boom years, primarily between 2012 to 2018.

It reminded me of a recent Base dinner I joined in Miami, where I was surrounded by accomplished thinkers and creators.

There were intimate prompts like, “If given an opportunity to communicate with an alien, would you?” and the only caveat was that you couldn’t discuss your business title or what you did for a living.

That paved the way for unbiased and open conversations, and I realized, just like I’ve never regretted going running at the end of a run, that I’ve also never regretted making an effort for real, intimate human connection in salon-like environments.

When was the last time you joined strangers and made new friends over convivial, enlightening conversation?

Until next time,
Shindy
On Instagram + TikTok

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