Max Garcia, the 372nd person I've met in my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, rose to the highest enlisted rank in the United States Marine Corps during his 24-year military career. Max ran a battalion of 1200 marines, which meant he not only had to manage down with the marines under his command but [...]
Children's author Susanne Gervay, the 371st person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, feels deep empathy with the experiences and challenges faced by our youth. Being a tween or teen can be hard, Susanne says. The typical child expends much energy trying to establish their identity and figure out their place [...]
Jen Webster, the 370th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, says she’s become less judgemental since starting work as a drug and alcohol counsellor with Odyssey House last year. The vast majority of her clients have mental health challenges, she says, and many have experienced horrific traumas at some point [...]
Brad Younger, the 369th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is in the process of establishing Australia's first space launch company. Brad has taken a small step towards his big goal – last year, he launched a small rocket 4,000 feet into the air, as part of a certification flight [...]
Jane Caro, the 368th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has a message for all the women and another one for all the men. Women don’t need to be thinner or prettier to be good enough, she says. They just need to believe they’re good enough. Men don’t need to [...]
‘Care less and do more’ would be a good way to sum up the philosophy of Stephanie Nguyen, the 367th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. Steph has accomplished an enormous amount in her 28 years, including co-founding a student association, being named in the Top 100 Women in Construction [...]
Sally Hetherington, the 366th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has already made herself redundant once and plans to do so for a second time. Sally is a former staff member of Human and Hope Association, a Cambodian not-for-profit organisation that provides education, vocational training and community support. Sally believes [...]
Venkat Krishnan, the 365th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has a superb memory. Not because he's smarter than everyone else but because, years ago, he took a training course with one of the world's greatest memory athletes. Almost immediately, thanks to the techniques he learned, Venkat experienced a massive [...]
Candice Van Doosselaere, the 364th person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is a citizen of the world. She was born in Mexico to Belgian parents, spent much of her childhood in America, finished her schooling in Belgium, did some of her university studies in Italy, and, later, worked in China [...]
Late last year, Rachel Launders, the 363rd person I've met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, was invited by the University of Sydney to address graduating students. Rachel shared three life lessons with the students, one of which was to do things that make you uncomfortable. In a nice piece of timing, I [...]
