Steve Hui, the 179th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has a nickname to die for – the Points Whisperer. It all happened through a mix of intelligence, diligence and luck. A decade ago, Steve was a corporate accountant who did a lot of international travel as part of his [...]
Meeting Josh Favaloro was a reminder of the importance of building networks and putting yourself out there. Josh, the 178th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is lucky to have a great job with a great company – but he’s made his own luck. When Josh was in high school, [...]
Tony Johns, the 177th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is charming, street smart and a great reader of people. It makes sense once you know Tony’s background – he owns Inner Sydney Investigations and has been a private investigator for more than 40 years. Tony fell into the industry [...]
Does your company want to win more business through bids and tenders? If so, James Noel Smith is your guy. James, the 176th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is an expert in helping companies bid for contracts worth tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. James’s role as [...]
When she was in her twenties, Jess Richards took a job with a company she’d never heard of, Flight Centre, as a short-term measure to support herself while she looked for a real job. Jess, the 175th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, ended up staying in her temp job [...]
Imagine you were a woman and you had to roam, unprotected, around a maximum security prison. Lois Dillon, the 174th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has visited many prisons as part of her work with the Prisoners Aid Association of NSW. Lois was a vomiting wreck before her first [...]
While other people’s lives were falling apart this time last year, Nikki Tiedeman’s was coming together in an odd sort of way. Nikki, the 173rd person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, had recently had a baby, returned from a holiday just before the borders slammed shut and moved from hectic [...]
I was shocked when I discovered Alex Sanderson was only 22 years old. Alex, the 172nd person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, carries himself with such assurance and single-mindedness that he seems much older. Maybe it’s because Alex had to grow up quickly – he lived with an abusive father [...]
Helping hurting people is what Sonya Cavanough does for a living. Sonya, the 171st person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is a counsellor who helps people overcome pain and trauma. Many of her clients feel isolated. They need to talk to her because there's nobody else – maybe their partner [...]
Alyce Kliese, the 170th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has a sharp intellect – but I suspect that's not the main reason she's such a good lawyer. More importantly, Alyce is a great communicator. In person, Alyce is charming: she smiles often and is an excellent conversationalist. When dealing [...]
