About Nick Bendel

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So far Nick Bendel has created 459 blog entries.

Thinking bigger thoughts, dreaming bigger dreams

By |2020-12-10T21:43:35+11:00December 9th, 2019|Categories: Lunches|

When Adelaide royalty tell you they’re visiting Sydney for work and they’d like to meet, you don’t turn down the invitation. That was how I found myself hanging out with Santo Arabia, the 37th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. You know how sometimes you just hit it off with [...]

Sailing the seven seas

By |2020-12-10T21:43:36+11:00November 29th, 2019|Categories: Lunches|

Captain Nadeesh Gulawita, the 36th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has had an action-packed life. When he was 29, Nadeesh became the youngest sea captain in Sri Lanka, just 11 years after starting his maritime career. His first job was a 12-month assignment as a junior cadet officer on [...]

The man who’s building a big, beautiful cathedral

By |2020-12-10T21:43:46+11:00November 26th, 2019|Categories: Lunches|

Cullen Haynes, the 35th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, must be the busiest person in Sydney. He wakes up at 3.30am. He reads. He exercises. He arrives at the office just after 7am. He spends his days rushing from meeting to meeting (our lunch was his fourth appointment of [...]

Telling stories, winning hearts

By |2020-12-10T21:43:46+11:00November 19th, 2019|Categories: Lunches|

What you see is what you get with Danny Doff, the 33rd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. I liked Danny the moment I met him. He’s a classic people person – warm, down to earth and a great conversationalist. It’s a good skill to have, because Danny is a [...]

A big thinker with a voracious appetite for learning

By |2020-12-10T21:43:47+11:00November 18th, 2019|Categories: Lunches|

My brain hurt at the end of my lunch with Chris Collingwood – but in a very good way. Chris was the 32nd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. Chris teaches NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), which dominated our lunch conversation. NLP is a discipline that involves detecting patterns of behaviour and [...]

Put your dancing shoes on, people

By |2020-12-10T21:43:47+11:00November 15th, 2019|Categories: Lunches|

I love people who have the courage and vision to pursue a big dream. That’s what so impressed me about Candace Cybert, the 31st person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. Candace had a successful career, but it was ultimately unfulfilling. So she left her safe corporate job to build a [...]

How to live the life you love

By |2020-12-10T21:43:47+11:00November 12th, 2019|Categories: Lunches|

Ever heard of the concept of a ‘life by design’? Many people stumble into careers and routines that they endure rather than enjoy. But with a life by design, you consciously choose to do those things that make you happy. Enter Todd Liubinskas, the 30th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 [...]

The surprising secret of how to succeed with video

By |2020-12-10T21:43:47+11:00November 11th, 2019|Categories: Lunches|

When you have lunch with a video expert like Chris Schwager, it makes sense to pump him for video production tips. Chris, the 29th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, told me the surprising secret of how to succeed with video. Production has surprisingly little to do with it, he [...]

What a brilliant bit of networking

By |2020-12-10T21:43:48+11:00November 10th, 2019|Categories: Lunches|

Let me share a quick anecdote that is both a cute story and a great bit of networking advice. On Friday, I had lunch with the wonderful Sree Sathish, the 28th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. When we met, Sree handed me a drawing (see photo above). As you [...]

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