A few months ago, my life changed after reading Kaley Chu's wonderful book, 100 Lunches With Strangers. Inspired by Kaley, I decided to have lunch with 500 strangers in five years – with Kaley being my first. As I was having lunch with my 10th stranger, Ram Sundaram, I learned three delightful facts: Ram had also [...]
“What’s your plan?” That was the question I was asked soon after meeting Paul Harper, the ninth person I met as part of my project to have lunch with 500 strangers. I wasn’t sure how to answer. The two of us hit it off, which is why our conversation went so deep so fast. It’s not [...]
Jimmy Pan impresses you the moment you meet him. He’s athletic, he’s confident, he’s engaging. Yet he turns out to be even more impressive as you get to know him. Jimmy was the eighth person I met as part of my project to have lunch with 500 strangers. Jimmy works as a premium client manager for [...]
Brendan Rogers is a gun. He’s smart, insightful, empathetic. It makes sense when you know what Brendan does for a living – he’s a leadership and team performance coach with BR Consulting. Brendan was the seventh person I’ve met as part of my project to have lunch with 500 strangers in five years. We spent two [...]
I’ve set myself the goal of having lunch with 500 strangers. Part of the reason is that I want to be inspired by the people I meet – which is what happened when I met Andrew Third for lunch number 6. After 13 years in IT, Andrew wanted a change. So, in 2017, he opened Be [...]
I was astonished to discover that Elias Francis is only 24. He’s so smart, driven and ambitious that I thought he had to be in his thirties. Elias was the fifth person I’ve met as part of my #500lunches project. By 2025, his plan is to transition from his banking job in Sydney to a human rights [...]
I had lunch with a stranger today – and it was the most fascinating 90 minutes I’ve experienced all year. Lara Wentworth is an expert in NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) and has a deep knowledge of human behaviour. I’m having lunches with 500 strangers in five years. Lara was my fourth lunch. And I learned so much [...]
One of the reasons I’m having lunch with 500 strangers is because I want to improve my interpersonal skills. So my third lunch companion, Gordana Bailey, turned out to be a perfect choice. Gordana is a BDM for Allianz Australia, and manages 3,000 mortgage brokers, which means a large part of her role involves networking and [...]
Martin Stark has a dream – he’s going to organise the first World Gay Boxing Championships. Boxers from all over the world will travel to Sydney for the event, which will be held in either 2021 or 2022. Think for a moment about the sheer scale of Martin’s goal. He has no funding, no boxing connections [...]
One down, 499 to go. August 27 was the start of my #500lunches adventure, and I’ve got a feeling my life will never be the same. I woke up at 5am, got the train to the airport, flew to Melbourne, took the bus to the city, met a stranger for lunch, returned to the airport, flew to [...]
