Back in 2016, Jess Weiss quit her job, with a vague sense of what role she wanted to do next, but without knowing exactly what it was or how she’d get it. The next day, Jess discovered the answer to both those questions at a business event. Jess, the 169th person I've met on my quest [...]
Most people who look at spreadsheets see a jumble of numbers. But Frank Choy sees stories. Frank, the 168th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is a virtual CFO. Businesses call him in when they can’t understand their finances. Frank does more than put the numbers in order. He uses [...]
Nina Beilby, the 167th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, does more than take people’s photos for a living. She also, inadvertently, taps into people’s insecurities and the stories they tell about themselves. Posing for a portrait can be a confronting experience, because if our physical flaws are exposed, what [...]
Have you ever felt you’re in the wrong career? That you belong in a different job … but you’re just not sure what it is? If so, you should speak to Jo Green, the 166th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. Jo is a career change coach: she helps people [...]
One of the great things about my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers in five years is that I regularly get exposed to brilliant people I wouldn’t otherwise meet. Take Tom Hitchcock, my 158th lunch companion, who I met last month. During our lunch, I discovered Tom has superb sales skills, which is a major [...]
One of the lessons I've learned on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers is the power of networks. This lesson was reinforced during my lunch with Dominic Rolfe, the 165th person I've met. A few years ago, one of Dom's friends invited him along to a monthly wine club. At the wine club, Dom [...]
Athena Chintis, the 164th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers in five years, is a human resources leader. In other words, she navigates the complex world of workplace relations and human behaviour for a living. It was fitting we met on International Women’s Day, because part of Athena’s role is [...]
Liam Power, the 163rd person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, experienced a life-changing moment when he was 16. A family friend, who was visiting from America, and who was a magician, showed off some tricks. Liam was dazzled by his charm and skill. So he decided to learn magic. Six [...]
Paul Menzies QC is one of Australia's leading barristers, so I expected him to be imposing. But Paul, the 162nd person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is softly-spoken. Paul says that can be a disadvantage in the courtroom, because, sometimes, judges can’t hear what he's saying. Nevertheless, Paul has built [...]
Imagine you were a young nurse and you had to go, on your own, into strangers’ homes to deliver inoculations and change bandages. You’d be nervous, wouldn’t you? Catharine Nixon, the 161st person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, certainly was. But she’d grown so sick of the temporary assignments she’d [...]
