How one woman's social courage changed my life forever
Another person's social courage ended up transforming my life.
In 2018, Kaley Chu had lunch with 100 strangers. Not because she was outgoing or had excellent people skills, but because she suffered from social anxiety and wanted to become a better communicator.
Those first lunches required enormous social courage because Kaley felt anxious and insecure. But by the end of the project, she'd developed excellent social skills, built a great
network and become a wonderful connector of people.
Then, despite speaking English as a second language and having no professional writing experience, she found the courage to publish a book about her journey.
How 100 lunches inspired another 500
I discovered the book shortly after it was released and was so inspired that I decided to steal
her idea, but with one small twist – I'd have lunch with 500 strangers instead of 100.
That required a lot of social courage on my part, because I was a lifelong introvert with mediocre social skills who preferred spending time alone.
My very first lunch, in August 2019, was with Kaley. My 500th lunch took place in August 2025. And a few months ago, I published my own book, The 500 Lunches Effect.
Having lunch with 500 strangers was the most rewarding thing I've ever done. It transformed my social skills, strengthened my mindset and helped me build an extraordinary network. That's why, whenever I catch up with Kaley – as we did recently – I thank her for changing my life forever.
The ripple effect of social courage
And there's a bigger lesson here. Kaley's social courage didn't just transform her own life. It inspired me to become more socially courageous, which ended up transforming mine.
That's the wonderful thing about social courage. When you push through discomfort and take action, you never know who else you might inspire – or how far the effects might reach.
