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    Rob Lawless

    Keynote speaker, Founder of Robs10KFriend, LLC

    My name is Rob Lawless. I am a 32-year-old originally from Norristown, PA, and I love getting to know new people.

    In May 2013, I graduated with highest honors from Penn State University, earning a Finance degree along with minors in Accounting and Entrepreneurship. Following my graduation, I started my professional journey as a Business Analyst in Strategy & Operations at Deloitte Consulting. Although it was my dream job at that time, I decided to make a typical Millennial move after about a year and a half – I accepted a significant pay cut and left behind the Powerpoint presentations and spreadsheets to join RJMetrics, a laid-back, $24 million venture-funded company.

    At RJMetrics, my role was a sales representative, which involved cold emailing people daily and requesting a 30-minute phone call to discuss our product offering.

    I started this project to see if I could meet with people to chat for an hour for absolutely no reason and held my first meeting on November 11, 2015. I was rejected way less, the responses were all positive and encouraging, and I’ve met amazing people with incredible backgrounds who would all consider themselves normal.

    Then on Monday, June 20, 2016, RJMetrics was acquired by a larger company, which didn’t require my position, so I dove in full-time on my endeavor to meet 10,000 different people for an hour each.

    Since embarking on this journey, I've connected with over 5,400 individuals from more than 90 countries worldwide. I've traveled across the nation six times and have been featured in various prominent media outlets, including Ryan Seacrest's nationally syndicated radio show "On Air with Ryan Seacrest," the Canadian national morning show "Your Morning," and the TODAY Show with Hoda and Jenna! I even made an appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show alongside Jane Lynch and Jo Koy (watch below), with an audience comprising about 100 friends from the project – an incredible experience!

    I'm passionate about adventure and potential – throughout the past seven years, I've found that this project embodies both aspects. I am extremely satisfied with its progress so far and eagerly look forward to giving it my all to see where the future takes me!

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