Notable business speaker to lead workshops for students, community 

A notable speaker, podcast host, entrepreneur, and contributor to national publications will be in Pittsburg on Wednesday and Thursday to present a workshop, “Five Tips for Networking Success: The Coffee Lunch Coffee Approach,” twice: once to the community and once to students on campus. 

On Thursday, Alana Muller, author of the book, Coffee Lunch Coffee: A Practical Field Guide for Master Networking, will have lunch at noon with the Kelce Student Leadership Council, and will lead a workshop at 3:30 p.m. for a select group of business students, including four sections of MGT 210, Kelce RSOs, and graduate assistants. 

“My hope is that we can make this an annual or semester-based networking event for Kelce students, especially for students enrolled in Business Professionalism,” said Chelsey Decker, director of graduate business programs in KCOB and coordinator of the event. 

Decker’s students are reading Muller’s book this semester, which inspired the idea to invite her to Pittsburg for two days of networking luncheons and workshops.  

Dacia Clark, assistant director of the Small Business Development Center at Block22 downtown “has been a tremendous help in prepping for the community event,” Decker said. 

That event will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in The Foundry Conference Room at Block22, 402 N. Broadway, and will be open to the public. Registration is $10, with refreshments and childcare provided. To register, email Clark. 

Muller

About Muller: 

Through workshops, her book, and a companion blog CoffeeLunchCoffee.com, Muller has helped thousands of people formulate a strategic mindset around networking while creating a game plan to get out there and connect.  

She is the host of Enterprise.ing podcast, writes weekly for Bizwomen.com, has been a contributor to Forbes.com, The Huffington Post, CNBC and other publications, and she was twice featured as a TEDxOverland Park speaker.  

Muller also is the former President of Kauffman FastTrac, a global provider of training to aspiring and established entrepreneurs. Additionally, she spent several years as an executive with Sprint. 

She earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago, where she was the recipient of the Mike and Karen Herman Fellowship for Women in Entrepreneurship, and an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Smith College.  

Actively engaged in her community, she serves on several corporate and volunteer boards, including the board of directors for Enterprise Bank, ISCTE International Business School in Lisbon, Portugal, and is the immediate past president of the Kansas Chapter of International Women’s Forum.  

In 2019, she was recognized as the NextGen Leader by JCRB|AJC, was named the 2017 Instructor of the Year by the Turner School of Construction Management, was chosen as a 2013 NextGen Leader by the Kansas City Business Journal, and was named a 2012 Influential Woman by KC Business magazine.