In 2018 on @whattomhasdunn you'll see over 24 interviews with young Australian Adventurers and Advocates. But why? What's the benefit for me to spend the hours finding and then interviewing these people? Simply put, there's too many cool stories out there that you need to know about! For me, my SUP4DCA trip (a 3,800km SUP journey that raised ~$82,000 ) is the thing I'm most proud of. It was a personal challenge but I feel good knowing that something I did has made a positive impact on the wider world. The trip gained a nice chunk of public attention which helped my fundraising and it was cool to see that people were interested in what I was doing along the way. After SUP4DCA and it's success, a family friend gave me the completely over the top compliment of "we need more Tom Dunn's in this world". After promptly booking her an appointment with a psychologist, I started thinking about what she was really saying. It wasn't me that she wanted to see more off but rather the style of trip I'd completed. She had enjoyed seeing the story of seeing someone do something interesting to benefit others. It made me think. Surely such a simple thing that's so rewarding has been done by other people too? So I started to search for other stories and what I found was inspiring. It took some serious trawling through the internet but eventually I found person after person who were doing amazing things. I found myself thinking "We need more Kate McBride's, more Brayden Sharp's and more Jayde Haimester's in this world". I was inspired by the stories of extreme endurance to pursue a goal, and the passion that people hold to fight for something in the face of adversity. The more stories I read, the happier I felt about the world, knowing that there was people out there fighting to improve it. The other great effect was that I felt more inspired to make a positive contribution myself to something I'm passionate about. That is why I've decided to share the stories with you. On @whattomhasdunn I could choose to focus solely on my own exploits, and realistically in the long term I'm likely to have greater personal success that way. Instead however, I want to share with you the happiness and inspiration I felt while reading the story of others. These interviews will expose you to a group of incredible young Australians you may not have otherwise come across. You'll hear their story, and find out why they do what they do. After reading, hopefully these interviews will leave you as inspired and motivated to make a positive change as I am.
The series is planned to have an interview with an Advocate and an Adventurer released each month. The more stories I come across, the more I can share, so please get in touch if you have a suggestion of someone who's story deserves some promotion. The first interview will be released on the 15th of January 2018 so check in to @whattomhasdunn then, and I hope you're as excited to read them as I am to publish them.
