In his twenties, Nick Gray was successful by most standards. He was helping his father grow Flight Display Systems — a company that built in-flight entertainment technology for private jets. But behind the business growth was isolation.
“I worked 80 or 90 hours a week,” he recalls. “No friends, no dates, no social life. I looked around one day and realized, this can’t be it.”

So, he did something radical.
He moved to New York City, not for a job, but for connection.
He wanted to rebuild himself — to learn how to meet people, create friendships, and feel alive again.

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Learning the Science of Gathering

When he first started, he wasn’t a “natural connector.” He remembers the first night he talked to a stranger at a bar and wasn’t rejected: “I came home that night on fire — like I’d unlocked a superpower.”

That superpower became hosting.
Nick started organizing small get-togethers — two-hour cocktail parties with structure, name tags, and icebreakers. Over time, he noticed a pattern: people left his events feeling transformed. They met new friends. They stayed connected. His simple format worked — every time.