Wendy Lloyd Curley, the 312th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, became so good at networking that she decided to do it professionally. Back in 2005, after building a successful career in the telecommunications industry, Wendy happily accepted a redundancy, knowing that she wanted a change but having no idea [...]
Simone Daher, the 311th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, feels blessed she gets to serve others and do work that makes a meaningful difference. Simone is the CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Sydney, which provides accommodation for sick and injured children, and their families, who have to travel [...]
Hannah Watts, the 310th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, works for a not-for-profit organisation that does vital work. Plumtree Children's Services provides therapies and support for young children who have a disability or developmental delay, and their families. One of the ways Plumtree helps children is by visiting them [...]
Anna Bashkirova, the 309th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, was so perturbed by how little she knew about human behaviour that she embarked on what proved to be a life-changing quest. Anna spent four years soaking up information. The more she learned, the more gaps she realised needed to [...]
Kath Harris, the 308th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is guided by two core values. The first is freedom. Kath values autonomy and the opportunity to live her life in a way that aligns with her personality and strengths. That partly explains why she founded her own business, Kath [...]
Steve Tolen, the 307th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, wasn’t expecting a corporate boxing program to change his life. Steve signed up for the Corporate Fighter program two years ago, after putting on weight during the pandemic. Three months later, when he stepped into the ring for his graduation [...]
Tom Doran, the 306th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is a bloody good bloke and a very impressive one too. Tom exudes energy, he’s quick to smile and he’s got a very positive spirit. So he made me feel comfortable from the moment I met him. Tom is also [...]
As I was having lunch with Jack Sim, he pulled out his phone to show me a countdown app, which revealed he had just over 5,000 days left to live. When the countdown ends, Jack will be 80 years old – which is about the average lifespan of a male Singaporean. Jack, the 305th person I've [...]
Over the past three-and-a-half years, as I’ve pursued my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, I’ve discovered the world’s most valuable skill – being good with people. That’s why I was intrigued when I discovered that Sam Lee, my 304th lunch date, teaches people skills for a living. When he was younger, Sam was socially [...]
Sometimes, we can become so accustomed to the path we're on that we forget how different things might have been if we'd made just one different choice years earlier. Jean-Claude Camelin, the 303rd person I've met on my quest to have 500 lunches, has found himself at several crossroads during his life. Growing up, JC worked [...]
