We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dion McInnis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dion, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

Love me. Not a day in my life did I ever feel unloved. Looking back, I see how that has inspired everything that I do and every role that I’ve had, personally and professionally. My view of life, of the people in it and of my creative outlets are influenced by the positives that come with feeling loved. I believe that safety and perspective is what has driven me to photograph beauty in the world, to share stories that inspire and to encourage others to see beauty. Philippians 4:8 says “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Things are a bit different than when I last spoke with you. All the things I was doing then — photography, writing, public speaking — I now do for a nonprofit that serves adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, New Danville. I can’t think of a better place to use my gifts and abilities, particularly at this time of my life. I developed a presentation titled “Live, learn, work and grow: Wisdom from under the windmill” for the organization. The four verbs come from our tag line and the windmill is an icon for us because of our rustic environment. The presentation shares 15 uplifting nuggets of life and living that our clients remind us about daily. I enjoy sharing that with various audiences. Everyone can use those messages now.

The job change and the last few years of interesting experiences — welcome to 2020 and 2021, right? — have helped focus me more tightly on messages and creative expression that I believe will help people in this challenging times. I completed another book since you last talked to me; this one is Fundraiser’s Prayer Book: Insights and inspiration for faith-driven fundraisers. I use stories from my career in fundraising, along with original prayers to help fundraisers in their work. I am also working on another book and a short story, along with my speaking and photography work. The book is a love story; it is about growing up in Houston with a family and environment that taught me about love…love of family, of friends, of life. The short story will reveal that sometimes we don’t learn our purpose until later in life and it might not be what you expect. I better leave that one hanging like that!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

From the time I was a kid, I knew that expression through writing and photography were important. In my mid-20s, I learned that I had a gift for speaking and teaching. Throughout various career changes in different fields, I never let go of those gifts; throughout personal challenges, I never let go of those gifts. Careers, like callings, will make you change paths throughout life. Recognizing my gifts and holding onto my faith has served me well as I weathered various storms like trying mightily to stay on course.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I believe we were created in the image of the Creator, ergo we are called to create in our own ways. We must. I try to do that and to inspire/guide others to do it, too. For some, creating can be artistic, in the traditional sense. For others, it might be creative solutions on the job, or creating new recipes on limited resources. There are many ways that we can create and we should use our abilities, wisdom, experiences and insights to power our creativity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.DionMcInnis.com
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dionmcinnis
• Other: www.PoetVision.com

Image Credits
Cameron McInnis, Dion C McInnis