Sorry for missing last week’s email, I had COVID and will publish an extra newsletter this Wednesday instead 🚀

In 2019, I had a cheeky Nando’s with Ali Abdaal.

Now it might sound extreme, but that dinner genuinely changed the trajectory of my life. Today’s newsletter is all about the power of serendipity.

Let’s dig in.

💭 Thought of the week

You can engineer serendipity by taking actions that will increase the likelihood of chance encounters happening.

A Cheeky Nando’s With Ali Abdaal

In 2019, I was working at the University of Cambridge as a temp in their social media team.

They basically hired me because I was fresh out of uni and would “probably know a thing or two about social media".

One of my colleagues mentioned Ali’s name in passing:

“He’s not only got a business AND a YouTube channel, but he’s just launched a podcast! How does this guy find the time?”

I always listened to podcasts on my commute, so I turned around and asked who he was talking about.

I google 'Ali Abdaal' and come across Ali's website.

At the bottom, Ali had an open offer for meeting new people. If you were ever in Cambridge and wanted to meet up he'd buy you a coffee.

I remember thinking, "Who is this guy... on top of having so much on outside of training to be a doctor, he has the free time to meet with strangers?"

I was drowning in my first full-time job and barely had a social life with friends, let alone having time for people on the internet!

The next day, we met up for a Nando’s in Cambridge and bonded over Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek and the power of building in public.

Ali could tell I loved content marketing.

My enthusiasm led to working first on his LinkedIn profile to, over the course of 3 years, managing his entire content strategy.

Ali focused on YouTube, and as the 4th hire in his business, I grew Ali's audience from 20,000 followers across platforms to 800,000.

He had no LinkedIn, Twitter or TikTok... it was my responsibility to obsess about each platform and to figure it out.

Today, Ali is an author, speaker and a world-class teacher. He's known all over the world and has one of the best personal brands in the UK.

I've learned so much from Ali (enough for another newsletter) but I want to focus here on the power of serendipity.

You might not see it immediately, but all of the seeds you're planting will eventually grow into opportunities.

I don't know why I even emailed Ali that day... yet it's been the starting point of so many incredible things that have happened to me.

Put yourself out there to be found. Create that post.

Send that message… it might just change your life.