Our Story

Mike and Natalie met one magical night in 2012...

Aw, 2012. Remember 2012? No face masks... Family and friend gatherings... A different time....

During this time, Natalie had just finished her master's degree and was in her beginning years of teaching in NYC. Mike was building his career with Amplify.

Natalie was living in Harlem and Mike was in Greenpoint. Both were 26 years old.

That summer, Natalie's friend Daniela, invited her to a barbecue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, but not just any barbecue.

This event was called "Chaos Cooking," and the idea behind it was to meet new people. The party was thrown by Mike's roommate, Brad. You would bring something to cook, but cook it at on-site at the party. The idea is that as you are cooking around all these new people, passing around cooking utensils and sharing ovens and grills, the cooking would serve as an ice-breaker to meet new people.

So, on July 3rd, 2012, Daniela and Natalie arrived at the time the Facebook event said it was going to start--and were the only people there. They had commuted from Harlem to Greenpoint, on three different trains, and walked into an almost empty apartment.

Trying to break the ice, they introduced themselves to Mike and all his roommates. Regardless, Natalie and Daniela helped themselves to some beer and headed up to the rooftop to get the party started.

They were so early, in fact, that Mike still had to take a shower before the party started. After showering, Mike put on a blue t-shirt and headed upstairs to the rooftop.

People began to arrive, and the friend who began Chaos Cooking, named Joe Che, approached Natalie. He said, "Tell me who you like, I've introduced tons of couples, even people who've gotten married. Point them out."

Natalie said, "ok, I like that guy in the blue shirt."

Joe Che looked at Natalie in a confused way, and confirmed, "That guy in the blue shirt?"

"Yes! The guy in the blue shirt!" Natalie said.

A few minutes later, Joe Che started introducing Natalie to a guy in a blue shirt. It was certainly not Mike, but Joe was quite smooth, introducing the two of them in a very casual way. But he had no idea it was the wrong guy....

While all of this was going on...Daniela ran up to Mike Dronne. "Hey, you're not gonna believe what's going on..." she said, "my friend said she liked you to Joe...and now he's introducing her to the wrong guy in a blue shirt..."

Mike swooped in and introduced himself right away. They began talking all night.

Now, later that night, Mike ended up in the hospital and needed stitches! But for that story, well, that's gonna have to be told in person.