We were lucky to catch up with Dan Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

When I started Stiry (stands for ‘Stories that Stir”) in 2016 after following some direct inspiration, with no money and no clear vision, I had no idea by business would save my life. Literally. As I was busy producing documentary stories on the most inspirational stories around the world, I was battling multiple unknown chronic illnesses for over 20 years. In 2019, I had a blood clot in my leg that wouldn’t go away. It just so happened that at that time I felt inspired to produce and direct a documentary on a woman named Kim White. Kim was battling a one in a million cancer diagnosis and we both felt inspired to do a feature length documentary on her journey. We had no funding and no real plan, but we jumped. The craziest thing I did was begin production on such a large scale film without any funding, but I personally funded the project with debt in hopes that we would raise the money along the way. I realized that while the film was meant to capture her legacy and help many people in their own battles, one of the main reasons I felt inspired to tell her story is that she would ultimately save my own life. Little did I know that at the time we were filming I had a problem with my kidney where blood was not flowing well back to my heart when I would sit and stand. During that time Kim’s health was failing and she unfortunately passed away in the middle of the production. On my last visit to her in the hospital, she asked me to pull up a chair and “tell me what’s really going on with your health.” She knew. She knew something serious was going on. And then she made me a promise right before she passed, “I’m going to figure you out.” I didn’t think much of the promise until we interviewed her interventional radiologist for the documentary. During a break in the interview I said, “You should try to figure me out. I’m kind of a medical mystery.” I told her my symptoms and she said I likely had several syndromes that she happened to test for. One in particular that had to do with my kidney. That night following our interview with her, Kim’s interventional radiologist looked at my charts and scans and found the problem with my kidney. She subsequently got me into the only specialist in the state who knew these conditions inside and out and within the next two years I was diagnosed with every syndrome she named that day of her interview and had two life preserving surgeries just months later. One of which restored blood flow to my heart and allowed me to sit and stand again after 18 months of lying flat almost full time.
I thought I was starting Stiry to document other people’s stories, but I believe I was inspired to start this company to tell my own story…and in doing so it saved my life. Don’t overlook a strong prompting when it comes. You have no idea how it will save your own life.

Dan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

At Stiry (stories that ‘stir’), we tell stories through film that provide individuals with ‘perspective moments’ that change the way they see their own story and the stories of those around them. Only the most raw and vulnerable stories can change your perspective in this way. Though our films are both cinematic and emotional, the most important mission we have is to help you ask yourself the right questions, uncover your story through our unique process and discover your calling and purpose in life. From individuals to nonprofits and mission-based businesses, our award winning team has told over 400 stories around the globe and we are just getting started. You can find our stories on stiry.com and @stiry on social media. It’s time to discover your story and unlock your purpose.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’m not in control. You can create all the business plans and set goals and objectives you want to hit, but at the end of the day things are going to unfold very differently than you planned. And that’s the beauty of being an entrepreneur. If you submit to higher power and a higher self, you will find what you were meant to do vs what you thought you’d be good at. My business has led me to a much more powerful script than the one I wrote when I first sat down and wrote down my plan. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t beyond difficult to get here, but what transpired through divine intervention and following my intuition, is much bigger than I could have imagined. I used to want to control everything and it caused a lot of undue stress and unnecessary face plants (even though I learned from those mistakes too!) and now I learned there is a better way to build something special. The sooner you can submit yourself to something bigger than you, you can set yourself free and live a much more fulfilling story. I still use everything I learned in business school, but I’ve learned how to follow my gut; which has never led me astray.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I funded my business with 13 credit cards. It was scary! We didn’t get our first paid job for 8 months and it was only $500. It took over three years to finally feel like this was actually going to work. I didn’t want investors because I knew what we were doing needed to be pure and not crowded with agendas outside of our mission. I’ve since paid off a lot of this debt, but it was the way I felt inspired to start this business. And I don’t regret it. I took a big risk and it has paid off. We’ve been able to help hundreds of thousands of people with our Stiry films.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stiry.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/stiry
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/stiry
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dandavisstiry/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/stiry

Image Credits
Tracy Layne, Phoebe Melikidse, Karina Taylor