Rose Said, the 187th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has led a remarkable life. Now 92, Rose grew up in Port Said, Egypt, in a house just a stone’s throw from the Suez Canal. Rose was 10 when World War II broke out. During those grim years, Royal Navy [...]
Two things jumped out to me when I met John Elder, the 186th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. First, I quickly discovered that John has great people skills. He's warm, attentive and genuinely interested in listening to the other person. Second, John also has a broad range of business [...]
Every now and then, somebody will explain something to you in such powerfully simple terms, it will reframe the way you think about a particular issue. That happened to me while I was chatting with Claude Robinson, the 185th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. As Claude said, the government can [...]
Robyn Monro Miller follows her heart rather than the money when making career decisions. Robyn, the 184th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, throws herself into roles she believes in, but can’t work for organisations that don’t align with her values. Robyn is currently president of the International Play Association, [...]
Depending on when in the past three decades you’d met Ray Dib, you might’ve thought he worked in insurance, finance, hospitality, rugby league or some other industry. But Ray, the 183rd person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, explained his diverse and successful career to me in different terms: “I’m in [...]
When work is getting stressful or life is getting hard, Raymond Basha has a wonderful way to unwind. He sings. Ray, the 182nd person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is an accomplished tenor. When Ray was a teenager, he auditioned with Opera Australia, and thought about pursuing a professional singing [...]
Mark Bragg, the 181st person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is a performance and leadership coach who knows what it’s like to be a flawed leader. In a past life, Mark was head coach of the Townsville Suns basketball team. At one point, the team was performing poorly, and Mark [...]
My first lunch, in August 2019, was the start of an incredible adventure. Since then, I’ve met another 179 strangers, built a powerful network and learned some valuable life lessons. With every lunch, more people have heard of my journey and started following my progress – which is why I got asked to speak at the [...]
Kerrie Phipps, the 180th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is the perfect example of the heights you can reach when you step out of your comfort zone. Kerrie has published four books, including DO Talk to Strangers, and is about to release a fifth – How to Talk to [...]
One of the reasons I decided to have lunch with 500 strangers in five years was because I sensed it would open up opportunities for me – even if I had no idea what they’d be. I’ve just enjoyed an opportunity I never would’ve predicted – the chance to share my story with the inmates of [...]
