"I love walking into a room where I don't know anyone," said Mike Lanzing, the 150th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. Most people would shudder at the thought of having to make conversation with all those strangers. But Mike is such a warm, social person that he delights in [...]
Here’s a fun fact about May Chang, the 149th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. May has been in the same book club for two decades. Every six weeks or so, one of the ladies (they’re all ladies) hosts the other members of the club. The host not only provides [...]
What would you do if everything was taken from you? That happened to Stella Gianotto, the 147th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. Stella lost her marriage, her business (her husband was her business partner), her home and most of her possessions. She also lost her identity, because without those [...]
Damon McDonald, the 146th person I've met on my journey to have lunch with 500 strangers, corrected me during our lunch. He doesn't have a mission, as I'd just suggested; he has an obsession. Damon's obsession is to help children appreciate their vast potential and understand the hero's journey they're on. He's finished writing an illustrated [...]
Franky Gunawan, the 145th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has a regret. He wishes he’d been more sociable during the early years of his career, when he was working for a big company and had lots of colleagues. Franky, who’s an introvert, deliberately limited his circle – he had [...]
I’m in the process of having lunch with 500 strangers in five years – which is why some people are surprised to hear I maintain contact with the people I meet. “How do you keep in touch with so many people?” is a common question. “A combination of emails, texts, phone calls, social media interactions and [...]
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 [...]
Linda Lee, the 143rd person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, got knocked down – but she’s gotten up again. Linda suffered a brain tumour, which initially threatened her life, and then, after she recovered, left her with an impaired memory. That memory problem made it hard for Linda to communicate, [...]
Annie Chan, the 142nd person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is on a journey of self-improvement and self-discovery. Annie wants to become a better communicator, build a better network and gain a better understanding of herself. So how’s she going about it? By having lunch with strangers. Annie is in [...]
Ricardo Gutierrez, the 141st person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has an admirable philosophy: focus on the solution, not the problem. Ricardo has really had to embrace that mindset in 2020, because his business, Bedssi, has been put in hibernation mode by coronavirus. Bedssi is an online portal that matches [...]
