Mission: Making meaningful connections easier.

Founder: Richard Lee-Thai

What is Excuses to Connect?

Founded by Richard Lee-Thai, Excuses to Connect is a brand and business focused on building connections through one-on-one coaching, podcasting, public speaking, and merchandise. This concept is encapsulated in his TEDx talk titled How to Find Excuses to Connect.

As a Connection Coach, he supports individuals and organizations with building their social confidence and fostering communities where everyone feels like they belong.

The Problem

Have you ever wanted to connect with someone, but you stopped yourself?

Maybe it was a stranger you wanted to approach, or someone you already knew, but wanted to connect with on a deeper level. Often time, we stop ourselves because of some fear. We’re afraid that they might reject us, or that we don’t what to say, or that we’re bothering them. Whatever the reason is, we have a whole internal dialogue and psych ourselves out. We decide that we can’t do it, and we just stick with what feels more familiar and comfortable.

How many opportunities might we be missing out on?

We never know how any connection might transform our lives. Ultimately, we all want to be seen and heard. We want to be accepted or our authentic selves and feel a deep sense of belonging in a community. We can daydream all we want, but the thing is, all of this starts with an interaction. Nothing will change unless there are active steps taken to make connections. So, how can we make it easier to connect with others?

The Solution

Find excuses to connect. We can actively create the conditions that make meaningful connections easier. It’s about finding common ground and designing the interaction in a way where it’s more likely to go well. There are many examples of this concept, both small and large. Most importantly, once we adopt a mindset of finding excuses to connect, we will start to generate our own creative solutions for different contexts.