Smelly Lunch Stories: ‘I started to realise that I’m not all that different’

November 4, 2024 9:20

Being “different” should be a superpower, not a barrier that hinders one’s progress in a career, industry leaders explained at a panel event.

At the inaugural Smelly Lunch Stories event at Kyiv Social in Sydney last Thursday, the industry gathered to listen to co-founder, An Le, WPP’s ANZ president, Rose Herceg, and Pedestrian.TV and Linkby co-founder, Chris Wirasinha, share their stories and experiences of being “different” in the industry.

Smelly Lunch Stories, launched last month, champions people from culturally diverse backgrounds, with hopes to increase the number of ethnically-diverse executives and managers in the marketing, media, and advertising industry.

It was founded by BWS’ An Le, It’s Friday’s Michelle Miroforidis, Mediahub’s Linda Fagerlund, and Dentsu Creative’s Graham Alvarez-Jarratt, and hopes to create change in the industry, making it one where people from diverse backgrounds can belong and build careers as future leaders.

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Lauren McNamara

Lauren McNamara is a freelance journalist. She previously spent three years at Mumbrella, most recently as the associate editor. She left her staff role in August 2025.