Page 34 of Anatomy of a Meet Cute
“Welcome to the Anjo Group. How may I help you?”
The voice of an exquisitely dressed person interrupted Sam’s thoughts. Before Sam could pull herself together, Grant appeared by her side and said, “Hello. We are here from SF Central Hospital to meet with Ms.Azevedo.”
“Ah yes. Welcome! Duesa is so excited to hear your pitch. I’m Sherilynn, she/they pronouns. Which of you is Sam?” Sherilynn said all this in one fast-moving stream of consciousness that felt both friendly and somewhat intimidating all at once.
“I am,” Sam said as a wave of nervous energy washed over her. Extending her hand, she said, “Nice to meet you. Dr.Samantha Holbrook. I use she/her pronouns, and I’m a research fellow at SF Central specializing in obstetrics and—”
“Dr.Grant Gao. I use he/him pronouns. But I think ‘Grant’ and ‘Sam’ are fine. No need to keep the ‘Doctor’ in front of our names today,” Grant cut in, saving Sam from embarrassing herself with her nervous spiel.
“So nice to finally have a face to put to the name, Sam.” Sherilynn extended her hand without missing a beat. Turning to shake Grant’s hand, she said, “Let me grab you two some coffees and tell Duesa you’re here. Hold on just a minute.”
Before Sam could really register what was happening, Sherilynn disappeared behind a frosted-glass wall. Sam turned to look at Grant, who eyed her with humor.
“You gonna calm down, or should I be prepared for you to treat everyone like a new patient?”
“Don’t make fun. I’m on nervous autopilot.”
“I can tell.” Grant laughed.
“Not comforting,” Sam said, wondering where that relaxing elevator presence of his had run off to. Searching for a way to change the subject, she asked under her breath, “Do you drink coffee?”
“If we didn’t, does it matter? She seemed pretty intent on us having one,” Grant said, shrugging as he looked down at his watch.
“True,” Sam said.
“All right, Duesa is ready for you two, if you will just follow me,” Sherilynn said, popping their head around the edge of the glass wall and causing both of them to jump. She shook what appeared to be two small milk cartons at them, then disappeared back around the wall without another word.
The hallway was lined with the sort of white carpet that looked like whoever worked there never fumbled their coffee while they rushed to get into the office on time. Reaching the end of the hall, Sherilynn expertly shifted the milk cartons and opened the door. Sam blinked. Duesa’s office was all chrome, white, glass, and clean lines. It felt like the intimidating laboratory that the bad guy had on a TV show.
Sam was just starting to wonder what she had gotten herself into when Sherilynn set the coffees down and said, “Please make yourself comfortable.” Before Sam and Grant could even be seated, she was gone, having closed the door with a gentle click.
“I don’t think comfortable is possible,” Sam said, eyeing the chrome-and-glass chair dubiously as Grant came around to sit.
“I don’t think coffee is possible,” Grant said, giving the carton a sniff. Wrinkling his nose, he took a sip and winced. “Woof.”
Sam dropped into the surprisingly sturdy chair and picked up her carton, then took a sip. The process of forcing herself to swallow was almost painful, and she put her drink down. “Whatever is in there may have once been coffee, but—”
“Hello, welcome to Anjo!” Sam and Grant whipped their heads around to face the door right as it flew open, revealing who the internet said was Duesa Azevedo, number seven onForbes’s list of “Top 50 Female Dealmakers.” And whileForbesmight have gotten her résumé right, what it failed to accurately convey was that Duesa Azevedo was a ball of electricity in human form. Clad in white pants and the sort of bright-green blouse that made Sam wonder exactly what color she was wearing, Duesa had fawn-colored skin, a dusting of freckles, and thick, tight red curls that screamedI use products that cost more than you make in a month.
“Thank you for having us,” Grant said, standing and extending a hand, prompting Sam to do the same.
“Of course, of course,” Duesa said, shaking both of their hands and gesturing for them to sit again. “So how do you like the coffee?”
Grant looked down at the carton in front of him, and Sam could see his brain looking for a way to be nice without having to lie. That was going to be hard for him. Perhaps it was better for her to redirect the question.
“I’ve never had coffee in a carton before.”
“It’s unique,” Grant added. Sam wanted to punch him in the arm. Sayingit’s uniquein this case was very clearly not a compliment.
Duesa’s laugh floated around them. “It’s okay. You can say it tastes terrible. I didn’t invest in the company because of the taste of their coffee; I invested in it for the technology. The carton is self-heating. Youopen the spout, and it heats up. The possibilities on that one ...” Duesa shook her head, then redirected her focus. Pointing to the cartons, she said, “I’ve asked Sherilynn to get you a real cup of coffee, but that carton. It’s gonna make us a lot of money, which I will then be giving to people like you!”
“Thank you,” Sam said, hating the note of hesitance in her voice. She wasn’t sure how she’d thought this conversation would go, but it definitely wasn’t like this.
“So I have to say, my partners and I loved your proposal. What I want to do today is get a sense of whoyoutwo are. It’s clear you understand the technicalities of the thing you are trying to build, but I like to say that I’m not investing in the idea; I am investing in the founder. So who are you? Why this project?”
Sam looked at Grant, who nodded at her, suggesting she should start. Likely so he could try to figure out why this felt more like a venture capital funding round than a foundation interview.
Taking a calming breath, Sam said, “Well, this started because I was talking to a patient who had missed a few appointments. She mentioned that she had a client at her salon who is a doula that encouraged her to go to the doctor to have her blood pressure checked. From there I started thinking about traditional and cultural ways of knowing, birthing, and medicine. For many communities—particularly lower income and communities of color—traditionally, a doula would have been who cared for parents pre- and postbirth. Modern medicine in the United States tends to shun this, but increasingly we are seeing wealthy white women hiring doulas or birthing coaches to work in conjunction with their doctors.
