Malcolm Auld, the 401st person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is one of Australia’s great marketers.

When Mal was only 28, he became the youngest ever managing director of an Ogilvy & Mather office throughout the world. As a result, he got to meet the legendary David Ogilvy – whom employees regarded as Godlike – on several occasions. 

The first time Mal met God, at a global leadership meeting, Mal made what could’ve been a career-killing move. When other people were presenting, Mal kicked off his shoes; later, when Ogilvy suddenly called on Mal to give a presentation, he stood up and walked to the front of the room, completely forgetting that he was barefoot. To make matters worse, Ogilvy then noticed how young Mal was, and demanded to know his age. Mal told Ogilvy he’d give his speech and then answer the question. Stunned silence filled the room. Fortunately, though, Ogilvy burst out laughing.

Mal is also an email marketing pioneer: he was the first person to speak about email marketing at an Australian industry conference, he founded the country’s first email marketing agency and he sent the country’s first streaming email.

Mal has been involved with numerous agencies and start-ups over the years. These days, he works as a freelance writer, a marketing consultant and a university lecturer. Recently, he founded The Big Marketing Show, the world’s first ever online talk show for marketing.

If you’re interested in marketing and business, you’ll struggle to find better company than Mal. He’s a great storyteller and has a seemingly endless supply of yarns.