A space for what’s real.
Immersive gatherings that create space for real connection, reflection, pause and transformation.
Welcome to “the REAL.” In a world accelerating towards automation, optimisation and constant connection, we're creating space for something increasingly rare: real human connection.
Created by Lisa Kjerulf, The REAL brings together founders, leaders, creatives, investors and curious minds from diverse backgrounds to explore the deeper questions shaping our lives, our work and our future.
Many professional events leave little room for real exchange. Conversations remain surface-level, while speaker-led formats can leave us feeling we've been spoken to without having truly engaged.
The REAL is an invitation to experience something different.
Through intimate, thoughtfully curated experiences, we create space to pause, connect beyond our usual circles and show up as our real, unedited selves.
It's a space to share stories, challenge perspectives, embrace uncomfortable questions and explore very REAL topics that often go unspoken in everyday life. To listen, learn from and support one another, without pitches, playbooks or the pressure to have all the answers.
Our experiences began around the dinner table, bringing small groups together over a beautiful shared meal and open conversation. But the vision has always been bigger than the format.
Whether through shared conversations, immersive environments or unexpected encounters, each experience is designed to engage our senses, open our minds and deepen our connection to ourselves and one another.
We believe that when we create the space for real human connection, something shifts. New perspectives emerge. Relationships deepen. Unexpected ideas and collaborations take shape.
Because what begins at the heart of these experiences, has the potential to create lasting personal and collective transformation.
We gather to question assumptions, expand perspectives, and reconnect with what matters. In ourselves, our work and the world around us.
"To have conversed so deeply in only a few hours with people I had never met, reflects the quality, truth and honourable vulnerability that is possible when we are willing to go there. The event was so hard to leave and departing goodbyes actually led to longer conversations and connections of which have continued into friendships and potential working collaborations."
—Former Guest
Previous conversation hosts.
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![Nicole Gibson]()
Nicole Gibson | Backing Human Intelligence
A founder, global speaker, and leader in emotional intelligence and human-centred technology. Nicole is the CEO and founder of inTruth Technologies, a pioneering bio-tech translating wearable data into real-time emotional insight to support better decision-making, wellbeing, and leadership in high-pressure environments. Together we dove deep into the ethical implications of AI and bio-tech, and what embodied, emotionally intelligent leadership looks like in a world on the edge of transformation.
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![Daniela Maiorano - The REAL Supper Club]()
Daniela Maiorano | Discovering Your Potential Where you Least Expect it
A fierce fourth-generation chef from Abruzzo with a rich culinary heritage and a transformative personal journey. From battling addiction, to becoming a professional boxer, to building her dream in the tranquil landscapes of Northern New South Wales, Daniela's story challenges us to consider how our darkest times can foster resilience and redefine what it means to be successful.
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![Liesel Arden - The REAL Supper Club]()
Liesel Arden | Creative Agency in a Time of Uncertainty
An award-winning artist, writer and researcher exploring creativity as a source of agency, meaning, and connection in uncertain times. Her work spans across fine art, installations, interaction design and academic research, examining how humans shape, and are shaped by, their environments. We explored how everyday creative acts allow us to respond rather than react, how they sustain us in uncertain times and how they ripple outward into our work, leadership and communities.
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![Nikki Williams - The REAL Supper Club]()
Nikki Williams | What does it mean to be "Well"?
A repeat entrepreneur, marketer, and wellness advocate whose personal journey led her to create Mentwell Australia. Together we unpacked the paradox of wellness in an age of collective exhaustion, explored what truly sustains us, and reflected on how we can honour our needs while living and working in an always-on, fast-paced world.
Upcoming Experiences
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December 2nd | Byron Bay
In collaboration with SUR—UNDER, this will be an intimate, multisensory experience of breath, beautiful food and meaningful conversation. Exploring the power of ritual beyond modern day self-care to help us navigate the pressures of modern life and ultimately reconnect with ourselves and each other.
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Perth | December 7th
In collaboration with Perspective X exploring what it means to remain human in the age of AI. As technology rapidly reshapes the way we work, think, create and connect, we’ll look beyond predictions about what AI will become and turn the conversation inward: What is this transition asking of us? What uniquely human qualities become more valuable? And as we increasingly look to technology for answers and direction, how do we remain connected to our own judgement, intuition and inner knowing?
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March 2027 | Melbourne
In collaboration with Mata Gathering and award-winning filmmaker and broadcaster Helen Kapalos. In a time when narratives move faster than ever and public discourse is shaped by algorithms, media cycles and competing agendas, the question of truth has become increasingly complex. What does it mean to stay anchored in our own truth? And what happens when individuals choose to speak it—especially when doing so carries personal, professional or social consequences?
Together around the table, we’ll explore the role truth plays in our lives and institutions today: how it shapes the stories we tell, the leadership we embody and the cultures we help create. What does it mean to remain aligned with our values in complex systems? Where do we feel the tension between the narratives we present and the realities we live?
Please note: Space is limited to maintain the intimacy of the experience.
Come experience the REAL.
We do not mass promote our events, so if you are interested in being a part of the experience, please register your interest for an invitation to the next one.