Parkville & Deakin University Melbourne

MELBOURNE EVENTS - Parkville & Deakin Uni

The last events for 2025 was for staff at Parkville College & for the staff planning day at Deakin University.

I arrived in Melbourne  to hold my Keynotes on the Tuesday evening & got my usual accommodation in Werribee. I stay in Werribee when speaking in Melbourne because it’s easy accom and close to my favourite cafe, Notorious Cafe. They make a strong Batch Brew coffee which I love, so enjoy spending my mornings there before speaking at events.

I woke early on the Wednesday morning to get to Notorious to read my Bible, have that Batchy, catch up on some emails and then had a drive out to Warrnambool to speak at Deakin university.  They have campuses all over Vic, and all the staff were getting together for a day of connection.. that’s where I came in :-)

It was almost a 3 hour drive out there, and arriving, I ran into organiser, Melinda. We had a good chat as we entered the theatre room where everyone else was still in a session. Eliza, a teacher I met a couple months ago when she invited me to speak with her student leaders. That day was a special one!

She was surprised to see me. She heard a “Luke” was speaking but didn’t know it was me. I was surprised she didn’t know because I thought she was the one who passed my name on. Either way, it was a fun surprise for both of us.

Next thing I know, I’m setting up, and the crew came rolling in.

And then, off we went. I always like breaking up the seriousness of some of my presentation with a good laugh. This team was very keen on a laugh too which always makes it that extra special.

Afterwards the CEO thanked me and said no doubt they’d see me again soon to speak with another crew.

The drive back was long, but it gave me the moment to reflect on the day and the connections made.

Thursday… I had the day off!! You know what that means??? More time and more coffee at Notorious. I’m pretty caffeined out after this trip so am going to have a rest from coffee over Christmas. Not before I give it all it’s worth at Notorious though.

I was there for about 4 hours, reading, working, and just chilling.

Usually when away speaking it’s back to back talks snd driving around. To have a day off when interstate is rare, so I lapped it up!

After leaving the cafe I had a zoom meeting (guess it’s not a full day off), then chilled in my Airbnb and spoke to my beautiful wife and baby back home.

After a big chillled day I went to sleep early for a big day of speaking and driving and travel back home (I’m sure a comma should be in there somewhere).

All of that was only after spending another morning at Notorious cafe. I had a feed, coffee, checked over some notes about the upcoming presentation, and then headed for the 45 min drive to Carlton.

I arrived early which gave me a couple of options..  do some more work, or have a snooze. I opted for a snooze which is always a good choice and woke up fresh to speak with the crew at Parkville.

After the snooze I arrived at the spot which looked, from the outside anyways, that it was going to be an epic function room. After finally finding some parking I was met by one of the principals of teh college.

He escorted me inside and I sat down as one of the other presenters were doing their thing.

After that, everyone went outside for some lunch as I met Anne Marie (legend!!) who was the Executive Principal.

Leading up to the talk we spoke over the phone, and you know when you speak to someone and you get an idea of the awesome person they are? Well, this was one of those cases, and I wasn’t wrong! What a genuine and caring woman. We had a good laugh too which I know I say often, I love!

Soon I was being introduced, and with a big applause by a wholesome crew, I was good to go. There’s a moment in a motivational speakers talk where you relax into things and get in a flow, sometimes it takes a little longer than usual, but with this crew, it was straight away.

Being in their positions, they’ve seen and heard it all which means they’re open and withhold judgements until necessary :-)

We had some good laughs, a heap of deep moments, and time for some reflections. Afterwards there was a big applause and then I had to scoff some food down before heading to the airport to get home to wife and baby :-)

Thanks for having me again Melbourne.

See you in 2026!