When he was in his twenties, Richard Kuipers, a Dutchman, came to Sydney for a holiday … and never left.

Almost five decades later, Richard, the 144th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has turned himself into an Aussie success story.

Richard is the founder of Two Men and a Truck, the biggest home removals company in Australia, which has 80 trucks and does 500 removals per week.

Richard got into the removals game by accident. One day, he drove his van to a furniture store, to pick up a bookcase his wife had bought. The owner then asked Richard to make some deliveries for him. Then he offered Richard more work. And then more work. And then other clients came along. Until, eventually, Richard realised he had a removals business.

These days, Richard works as a brand ambassador for Two Men and a Truck. One of his three daughters is the CEO (with another daughter also working in the business).

Having lunch with Richard was a gift in its own right, but he was kind enough to give me a physical present – a copy of his autobiography, Outside The Box, which was released last month. I’m looking forward to reading it over the Christmas holidays.