Therese Oneill, the 87th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is a force of nature.

Therese is full of personality and utterly unafraid to be different.

When Therese held her 50th birthday, the guests got a shock when they found out the party was doubling as a wedding. After proposing to her long-term partner, Therese felt the best place to get married was during her birthday celebrations.

Therese grew up in Brisbane, moved to Sydney in her twenties … and then had stints in Cairns, Townsville and Adelaide, before moving to Melbourne where she now lives.

In 2008, Therese founded Mentorvision, which provided mentoring services to mortgage brokers. Over the next decade, Therese worked 90-hour weeks as she mentored brokers all over Australia and built a formidable reputation in the industry.

Therese exited the business in 2018; the following year, she started a business consultancy, SOAR with Therese ONeill, which teaches brokers how to grow their business.

Back when Therese was a broker, her first client told her he planned to become a marriage celebrant. Years later, when Therese got married on her birthday, guess who officiated?