Upcoming lunches
A table waiting for you
Book now
One long lunch a month, in a beautiful room, with a short talk worth staying for. Here's what's coming up across our six regions.
Friday 28 September
Northern Beaches Lunch
North Avalon Upstairs Bar
A skyline table, a three-course menu and a short talk on building brands people actually trust.
Reserve your seat
Friday 12 March
Sydney Inner West Lunch
West Petersham Hotel
A skyline table, a three-course menu and a short talk on building brands people actually trust.
Reserve your seat
Friday16 October
Eastern Suburbs Lunch
The Bondi Hotel
A skyline table, a three-course menu and a short talk on building brands people actually trust.
Reserve your seat
Friday 28 September
Northern Beaches Lunch
North Avalon Upstairs Bar
A skyline table, a three-course menu and a short talk on building brands people actually trust.
Reserve your seat
Friday 12 March
Sydney Inner West Lunch
West Petersham Hotel
A skyline table, a three-course menu and a short talk on building brands people actually trust.
Reserve your seat
Friday16 October
Eastern Suburbs Lunch
The Bondi Hotel
A skyline table, a three-course menu and a short talk on building brands people actually trust.
Reserve your seat
packages
Choose your level
Every package is flexible, tell us what you’re trying to achieve and we’ll shape it around you.
Table Partner
$1,500
Per lunch
A single event partnership in the region of your choice.
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Brand logo on event collateral
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One seat at the table
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Verbal acknowledgement on the day
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Attendee list summary
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Branded assets at the table
Regional Partner
$4,000
Per lunch
Own one specific region across a full year of lunches.
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Everything in Table Partner
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Named partner for all lunches
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Two minute brand narrative at event
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Logo on website and newsletter
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One seat at every lunch
National Partner
Let's talk
Bespoke
Full presence across all six regions and every event.
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Everything in Regional Partner
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Presence at all seven regions
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Co-branded Female Focus series
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Content collaboration in the journal
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Priority speaker nominations
about us
A community built one lunch at a time.
We bring together founders, entrepreneurs and leaders for  lunch in beautiful venues run by a community lead who lives locally and has a welcoming vibe.
sponsors
Our recent sponsors
Each event showcases gifts from businesses or business people who live in the local area. See below all of our Supporting Businesses
Sponsor
Morgan Shaw Advisory
Whether you are looking to acquire a business or scale an existing one, you’ll need the right support to guide you.
Visit Website
Sponsor
Shona Faure Photography
Capturing timeless moments that will forever be etched in your memories. Stunning photos that uniquely narrate your story.
Visit Website
Sponsor
Bespoken
We skip the marketing fluff and vanity media to focus on work that delivers results. Bespoken, an integrated marketing agency.
Visit Website
recent speakers
Learn from inspiring leaders
Every lunch features a short, honest talk from someone who’s built something worth listening to. No slide decks. No sales pitches.
Michelle Guthrie
CEO · ABC
The best partnerships in my career didn't start in meeting rooms. They started over a shared meal, The best partnerships in my career didn't start in meeting rooms.
Tracy Hall
Author · Who the hell is Hamish
The best partnerships in my career didn't start in meeting rooms. They started over a shared meal, The best partnerships in my career didn't start in meeting rooms.
Tim Duggan
Founder · Inner West
The best partnerships in my career didn't start in meeting rooms. They started over a shared meal,
our people
Meet the Team
These are the people who host, curate and quietly connect the rooms across all six of our regions.
Jules Dormand
Founder
Friday Lunch Club is the passion creation of Julie Dormand. Jules has worked for a couple of decades running creative agencies in Publicis Groupe and Capgemini. Known for creating highly engaged workplaces and with a passion for improving employee experience, she now runs her own Employee Experience Consultancy, Dormand: The Culture Creator. A key industry contributor, her leadership has been acknowledged with the coveted AC&E Jon Clark Outstanding Contribution Award and Mumbrella Industry Leader of the Year 2019. She is also Chair of the Ellipsis Advisory Board, and a Management Course facilitator and a mentor through her business as well as The Marketing Academy and Mentor Walks. Jules brings a mix of business mind and an authentic, empathetic nature.
Renee Kraus
Strategic Advisor
Renee’s career breadth as a strategic marketer in professional services spanning multiple industries, has fuelled her belief that we’re more similar than we are different. Renee’s passionate about applying universal ‘must haves’ that drive performance, resulting in her ability to deliver transformational change across some of the most successful global and local brands including Westpac, Citibank, Telstra, Optus, and Bupa. She currently works as Director of Marketing for the Sonova Group.
Louise Rathbone
Community Lead: Inner West
Louise Rathbone is a strategic marketing leader with 20 years of experience spanning a range of industries including Aviation, Retail, Entertainment and Finance. Having started her career in London, Louise has spent the last decade in Australia working both agency and client-side for some of the Australia’s most iconic brands including Tabcorp, Westpac and Qantas. Louise has a passion for driving business impact and has delivered strong commercial results through her steadfast focus on customer-centricity, her unwavering belief in the power of collaboration and her dedication to building high-performance teams. Louise thrives on a fast-paced environment and believes that being curious through continuous learning is the passport to the future.
Jamie Gilbert-Smith
Community Lead: Gold Coast
As Trade Marketing Director at Nine Jamie leads the whole of trade media across all platforms. He has over two decades of marketing experience in London and Australia. Prior to his current role he has helped brands achieve omni-channel full funnel working at Head of Partnerships at Hogarth and MD of M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment. He has helped some of Australia’s biggest brands thrive across all elements of the media mix.
Anita Zanesco
Community Lead: Eastern Suburbs
For more than 25 years, Anita has been immersed in the world of advertising and marketing communications, collaborating with courageous brands and talented creative minds along the way. Her decade in consultancy at TrinityP3 shaped her philosophy on partnership helping marketing teams find agency relationships that work not just on paper, but culturally, creatively, and strategically. Beyond her commercial experience, Anita is a Certified Organisational Coach and Personal Trainer. She believes that mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing are inseparable when it comes to unlocking human performance and joy whether in the workplace or beyond.
Elise Hunter
Community Lead: Brisbane
Elise is a strategic marketing leader with more than a decade of experience within the ANZ SaaS landscape. As Chief Marketing Officer at PeopleBench, Elise drives international growth for the EdTech organisation across the K-12 sector in Australia and the United States. Prior to joining PeopleBench, Elise served as Director of Marketing at the DMA UK, the United Kingdom’s largest trade association for marketers, championing a customer-first approach to marketing through the power of data and insight. Elise’s philosophy is anchored in data-driven strategy, innovative technology, and brand integrity. She is passionate about scaling high-impact marketing, enabling business transformation, and building teams that thrive in fast-paced, future-focused environments.
Sue Kim
Community Lead: Sydney CBD
Sue is an experienced digital and CX transformation leader who founded NEON Digital, working with leading brands to solve for their data and technology blockers resulting in real business outcomes and revenue growth. She has over 17 years of commercial and digital experience including, Deloitte Digital and various tech firms. Sue provides support to businesses that require focus on their CX, data and infrastructure capabilities and brings deep technology expertise.
Elodie Myers
Community Lead: Eastern Suburbs
Elodie is a strategy and insights leader with two decades experience, having held Director roles at Fiftyfive5 (Accenture Song) and Hall & Partners (Omnicom). She has led complex, high-stakes programs for some of Australia’s most iconic brands – including Woolworths, McDonald’s, Mastercard and Amazon – across three continents, working in London, Singapore and Sydney. A natural problem-solver, Elodie has never stayed in one lane – spanning FMCG, retail, financial services, tech, government and beyond. She holds a GAICD qualification, co-chairs Women in Big Data Australia, mentors professionals and judges the Effie Awards. Variety, it turns out, is not just a preference, it’s a professional habit. As a proud Frenchwoman, Elodie has always believed that the best conversations happen around a table, preferably with good food and a decent glass of wine. Discovering The Friday Lunch Club felt less like finding a networking event and more like finding her people.
I've walked away from every lunch with someone I genuinely wanted to see again. That never happened at networking events and this text.
It feels less like a networking group and more like a monthly catch-up with people who happen to be brilliant at what they do. And this as well.
Two of my biggest clients came from Friday Lunch Club. But more importantly, I've made real friends.
journal
Ideas worth sharing
BECOME A SPONSOR
Put your brand at the table
Discover how partnering with The Friday Lunch Club can put your brand in front of an engaged community of business leaders, founders and senior executives—and create genuine opportunities to build relationships and grow your business.
Explore sponsorship opportunities, benefits and packages.
Our Sponsors
Proudly supported by.
A quietly excellent group of Australian businesses who help make every lunch possible.
FOR WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Meet. Connect. Grow.
Female Focus brings women together through engaging events designed to create genuine connections, meaningful conversations and opportunities to grow. Discover upcoming events and find out how you can be part of the community.
Discover upcoming events and learn more about Female Focus.
get in touch
Come and have lunch with us
Whether you’d like a seat at the table, want to bring the club to your city or are curious about sponsorship — we’d love to hear from you.
Talk to the team
We answer every message personally, usually within a couple of days.
- info@thefridaylunchclub.com.au
- 0414 519 710
- Sydney's Northern Beaches
where we lunch
- Sydney Northern Beaches
- Sydney Eastern Suburbs
- Sydney North Shore
- Sydney CBD
- Sydney Inner West
- Gold Coast
- Brisbane