Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dion Leonard. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Dion thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
In 2017 I was about to release my first book ‘Finding Gobi’. I was however still working full time for a company that I loved but I felt that this was also going to hold me back if I stayed with them. I wanted to give the book my full attention and see where it could go. After speaking to my wife about my belief that the book was going to be a success we made the decision for me to quit my job and take a chance on it all. My book is now in 24 languages and being made into a Hollywood movie. I’ve gone onto write a children’s picture book, a chapter book that is huge across schools and also a fiction book. You never know where life can take you, if you just back yourself.
Dion, 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?
In 2016 I was running a 155 mile race across the Gobi Desert in China that takes 7 days to complete. On day 2 of the race a little stray dog (later named Gobi) would join me and run the race with me, Through temperatures of 120f to rushing rivers across some of the toughest terrain on earth we ran side by side. After the race I made Gobi a promise to bring her home with me but she went missing in a city of 3 million people in China. Against all odds I set about finding her and reuniting together with a dog that changed my life forever.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I had a very depressive, destructive and abusive childhood that lead me to be on the streets of a small country town at the age of 13. I was working at a gas station, doing cash jobs to feed myself whilst still trying to put myself through school. It was the toughest time of my life, with no support I really had to stand up on my own two feet and dig deep to get through it all. Although I didn’t realise it at the time, later on in life I could really draw on those experiences when life was throwing me a curve ball and bounce back knowing I had been through many lows before. Life is a rollercoaster ride, gotta ride the lows for the highs!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
My story of Gobi has over the years gone viral a few times across social media, press and tv. The one lesson I’ve always learnt is always stick to your story, don’t do things for others that don’t feel right or sell yourself short. I’ve developed really good connections with media personnel that have covered my story and this has helped me to reconnect with them to cover other aspects of the story in other ways many different times. Networking with the right people is like in life the key to developing a great long term success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.findinggobi.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/findinggobi/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/findinggobi/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dionleonard
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/findinggobi
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingGobi