The intention of Dinner With Strangers is to skip the small talk and create space for storytelling, conversation, and learning from each other. To do so, the format for the night looks like this: 

Mix and mingle time - question prompts on cards are provided to help get past initial nerves and get the conversation started! 

Sit-down dinner with guided conversation - each dinner has a theme. Jess will guide the group through a few questions where everyone is invited to share a response. The intention of this is to give everyone the opportunity to share, for every voice to be heard, and for the group to witness 12 different walks of life that may or may not be similar to their own. 

After-dinner connecting - Once we’ve all heard from each other and dug in deeper, this is your chance to follow up with someone who inspired you, ask each other questions, float around the room, go down a conversational rabbit hole, share more of your story. Debrief what you’ve learned, and then take home what inspired you. :)

Sure! We’ve had a few pairs of friends or acquaintances attend a ticket together (some people come with people they’ve met recently or coworkers/ gym friends that they want to get to know better, and we love that!)

98% of guests attend DWS alone, and since showing up as equals with an equal amount of investment and an equal amount of vulnerability is what makes Dinner With Strangers so magical, we ask that you keep it to one emotional support buddy :)

Jess calls Toronto home, so you can bank on a monthly dinner in the city year-round.

Dinner With Strangers visits Brooklyn and Vancouver often, with new cities added all the time (tldr: this depends on Jess’ work and travel schedule). Want Jess to come to your city to host an event? Send her a message!

Listen, Jess thinks she has the coolest job of all-time. However, we’re serious about this one rule! No work talk!

Even if our jobs are incredibly fulfilling and a huge part of our identity, we’re so much more than our jobs. Additionally, whether we like to admit it or not, we tend to make judgments - both positive and negative - based on what we do for work. And lastly, talking about work is a comfort zone for most people and generally keeps things in the safe (read: not vulnerable) zone of conversation, and Dinner With Strangers is all about getting past the surface and sharing a part of our deeper selves.

Here it is, the hill that Jess will die on. Sorry/ you’re welcome. You’re going to love it. :)