How often do 350 thought leading millennials get the opportunity to collide and explore what makes them tick?  For its sixth year, the Luminosity Youth Summit offered up this opportunity and, once again, we were super excited to join in!

Youthful feet shuffled their way into the seats of the incredible mainstage theatre of the Glasshouse Port Macquarie. Any apprehension began to dissipate as friendly faces filtered through the crowds, kindly reaching out a welcoming hand that signalled hope and untold stories. Immediately we saw new connections forming, diverse stories being shared and the buzz building as the smoke machines pumped out a magical atmosphere and and crowd favourite, MC Andrew Morello, burst onto stage with his unshakeable energy. His first message:

“You are all at a crucial age, the age where you’ve got the opportunity to do something absolutely amazing… My question to you is this: Are you ready?”

The young crowd leant in, primed and ready for a life-changing three days igniting creativity, excellence and entrepreneurship. Here’s a glimpse of the key takeaways.

Day One

Be optimistic, embrace your whole self, find your why and share your story.

Every day we are bombarded by news that tells the story of fear, devastation and doom. Couple this with social media channels flooded with images of people trying to achieve filtered best lives and it’s no wonder there’s a lot of angst in our world right now. Day 1 of Lumo stared down the barrel of this gun and disarmed the weapons of fear by presenting an alternative reality: one of intelligent optimism, as conveyed through the musical mastery of good news trio, Future Crunch; of grit and mastery, as modelled by stories from solo sailor,  Jessica Watson, and the spirited Australian Ninja Warrior and Calisthenics guru, Jack Wilson, who literally flipped his way onto the stage with his key message to “learn to embrace who you really are and be confident in sharing your story”; and of purpose and authenticity, as encouraged by social entrepreneur and economist, Mikhara Ramsing, in the brave sharing of her path to a more purposeful and authentic life and the ways in which it can be achieved.

Day 2

From adversity comes strength, change is a matter of choice, and the ‘how’ in pursuing your own purpose-project.

Day 2 began with two powerful stories of overcoming adversity. While difficult for many to hear, Angela Joy’s brave story of surviving domestic violence led to lessons learnt not only in the importance of reaching out in times of need, but in having the courage to tackle the changes we wish to see in the world. In the shared spirit of heralding  strength and opportunities that can come out of adversity, professional speaker, Mike Rolls, shared his story of hope, grit and resilience as he battled extreme illness, injury and multiple amputations. With a beautiful balance of light and shade to his delivery, we cried and laughed our way through instruction to “amputate dead weight”, take on a “challenge mindset” and chase opportunities to dip outside our comfort zones as we work to grow into the best versions of ourselves. These messages were reinforced by Olympian Boxer, Shelley Watts, who reminded us that the power to make positive change in our lives lies within our choices. As lunch rolled around, the #Lumobuzz was in full force with a cacophony of conversations echoing through the Rydges ballroom as participants debated their viewpoints and began contemplating their most meaningful dangerous ideas.

Break-dancing lawyer turned professional Hip Hop artist, Sid Mathur, brought the conversations closer to together with his three key messages: give yourself permission, follow the joy, and challenge the distraction. Through his beautifully crafted rhythmic voice and captivating charisma, Sid inspired us all to follow our intuition and pursue our passions, challenging the distractions that take us off course; a message continued by Clean Coast Collective’s co-founder, Dan Smith, who encouraged the audience to “see money as a tool for life rather than an outcome” and instead focus on pursuing purpose-projects that connect with our values and bring greater meaning to our own lives and those around us.

“See money as a tool for life rather than an outcome.”

Dan’s powerful messages of sustainability and community service created deep connections with the crowd, serving as one of the favourite keynotes of the Summit. Dan encouraged us all to put our focus into pursuing purpose-projects that connect with our values and bring greater meaning to our own lives and those around us. And he wasn’t alone. Kristal Kinsela, one of our local Aboriginal entrepreneurs recognised for her advocacy and achievements, closed the day by sharing her top tips for making it as an entrepreneur in the 21st century, reiterating the importance of uncovering a clear purpose, building meaningful relationships and placing wellbeing at the core of all work.

Day 3:

Harness your creativity to imagine up your future, dream with your eyes open, and question strategically to activate positive change.

With skills and strategies under our belts for how best to pursue our passions, it was time to turn our attention to uncovering what those passions may look like. Day 3 welcomed back Lumonisity’s favourite Imagineer, Nixi Killick, with her well quoted message to “dream the future awake”. We were challenged to embrace our inner creativity in order to imagine up the future in which we wish to live. Continuing the ‘dream big’ theme, muso slash personal trainer, Benny Owen, encouraged us to let go of traditional perfectionism and dare to dream with eyes wide open in order to find our own unique ‘perfect’. And in a world that desperately needs our love and care, founder of Youth Leading the World, Sue Lennox, championed the need to consider how we can shape our purpose to positively impact our environment, and use the power of the collective to make lasting change in sustainability and innovation. How can we best do this? Through curious inquiry, strategic questioning and deep listening.

“Dream the future awake”

It was then time to say farewell to our host, The Glasshouse, as we shifted over to Rydges for lunch and our final Lumo 2018 session. What better way to end an incredible Summit than with one of our own: local entrepreneur, teacher and life coach, Andrew Lord of Blueprint Coaching. Dangerous ideas are great to have, and some tips for pursuing them are even better, but Andrew provided the icing on the cake with his whole group workshop pitched at designing a personal success strategy. Engaged from wo to go, the Lumo crew had the opportunity to share their key takeaways, design their big dreams and strategise ways in which to make them a reality.

Of course, the Summit could not have finished without MC Morello raising the roof for the last time, bringing everyone on their seats sporting a power stance, chanting statements of self-belief, courage, determination and optimism. And as the crowd dissipated and the sounds faded, the #lumobuzz remained palpable in the Rydges ballroom.

That’s a Wrap

Be optimistic, embrace your whole self, find your why and share your story.

From adversity comes strength, change is a matter of choice, and the ‘how’ in pursuing your own purpose-project.

Harness your creativity to imagine up your future, dream with your eyes open, and question strategically to activate positive change.

These messages confirmed why we get so excited about this annual event. With many of the jobs of tomorrow still to be defined, answering the age old question of “what are you going to do when you get older” seems superfluous. Here, 350 young people had the opportunity to tip that question on its head and start reimangining answers to not what, but why do you do what you do.

What do your individual strengths, skills and values stand for? What will you be the change champion of? The Summit truly is an opportunity for magical meaningful conversations.