Listen: Music management entrepreneur and author Rebekah Campbell talks about her new book '138 Dates', business and finding love
By Laura BennettTuesday 21 Sep 2021Hope DriveRelationshipsReading Time: 2 minutes
On the road to finding life-long love, serendipity and romance are often prized over intention and diligent pursuit.
But, what if waiting for a movie like meet-cute isn’t enough, and you need to do some grunt work?
When Rebekah Campbell decided to take matters into her own hands, she was a successful 34-year-old entrepreneur.
Rebekah had built a music management business that saw her representing artists like Matt Corby, Katie Noonan and Evermore. She’d started two technology companies: Hey You – the leading mobile payment system for cafes and restaurants in Australia – and a rewards-based online platform for sharing gig and music recommendations.
A successful career wasn’t Rebekah’s only life goal though: she wanted to get married and have a family.
In 2012, after an awkward Christmas spent on her childhood folding bed – alone – Rebekah was staring down a single future she didn’t want, and got the shot in the arm she needed to re-enter the dating world after a 10-year hiatus.
What resulted was 138 Dates, a book about Rebekah’s three-year journey to love.
In it, Rebekah confronts the grief that sparked her hiatus, the rejection she feared, and what she would do when time and time again she got stood up, forgotten or not called back.
Rebekah learned how her business prowess could “put her in the path of luck”, as she “acquired leads”, held “screening calls” and decided who would be followed up with a face-to-face meeting.
What may seem clinical was Rebekah’s pathway to happiness and love (spoiler: Rebekah’s now married to Rod whom she shares two kids with).
In this conversation with Laura Bennett, Rebekah talks about 138 Dates including her dating fears, trying online dating and what do when it all goes wrong.
138 Dates is available now, and for mature audiences given its sexual references and themes.