Michele Gennoe, the 279th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has an inspiring approach to life.

After 20 years in North Sydney, Michele is preparing to move – to her, the world is her playground and with technology changes, she can now work anywhere, anytime.

Michele doesn’t know if her new home will be in another city or a regional location or even another country. But what she does know is that if we don’t embrace change and expose ourselves to new experiences, we age prematurely.

Michele’s life has been a case study in taking action and adventure.

She was born at home in London, moved to Perth as a four-year-old, became the first person in her family to go to university, moved to Melbourne in her early twenties, took a round-the-world trip, lived in London, taught English in Chile and then, two decades ago, moved to North Sydney.

This has been the longest Michele has lived in one place – but she expects to be gone by the end of the year.

During her career, Michele has held a series of high-powered corporate roles, including as a CEO, CIO and COO. Over the past 15 years, she’s worked as a digital transformation consultant, mindset consultant and host of the Mindset Michele TV Show. She is an expert in helping businesses manage transformation and executives undergo mindset shifts, to move from surviving to thriving. 

Clearly, Michele practises what she preaches.

Most people stick to the same path for their entire life, because that’s safe and easy. They talk about trying exciting new things – in the future. Michele, though, realises that if we don’t do those things now, the time may never come. 

Her superpower is being willing to leap from the plane without a parachute, confident she’ll build herself one on the way down.