Giving a TED Talk, starting my business, travelling the world, running morning raves, starting event summits and writing a book. All sounds simply great, but wind the clock back about 4 years for a minute. I'm sat there in a room across from 5 elderly Japanese men in an interview for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan. Four colleagues had got accepted for interviews and then there was me. I gave it my all but got nothing. I watched my mates get the job while I sat there feeling pretty shit about myself. When I asked why, I got the most Japanese reply... "You didn't really want it". The best part though, they were completely right.
So I ran head first into what I felt was me
So what did I do?
With a first class honours in Mechanical Engineering and a decent network that I decided to cast to the wind after many years of hard graft, I got involved running events in Dublin, Ireland that you could say went pretty well. I booked acts, themed events, holidays and got hungry for the happiness I brought to peoples lives as I filled out venues across the city.
I'm the power ranger, not the dick...
I got to book acts like Charli XCX and other acts who blew up and now blast across the radio at me all the time.
It was all going pretty well, I was loving what I was doing and wanted to take it a step further and make real change. I wanted to see would it be possible to get people together and instead of just having a good time, I could try make an effective difference. Always having a fasciation in entrepreneurship and innovation, I started a Summit to gather youth who wanted to make change and make something happen. Thus the Student Summit was born. We had high rollers to inspire, startups queuing to get involved and students signing up in their droves.... then the media got wind..
Then the press started rolling in!
All the major broad sheets were giving us some very useful coverage!
Even the techies were watching us....
Hozier's manager Caroline Downey came along to inspire some folks
###The vibe was remarkable and people loved it. It was new and it worked!
###Three Student Summits down and next year will probably be even bigger!
You get the picture
Yearning to explore the world, I booked a flight to Asia and went off the beaten track in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. This was an eye opening trip filled with all the usual splendour but inspired me to chase after a life of travel and inspiring happiness in peoples live.
Coming back happier than ever, I wanted to make a beeline for events once more. But I struggled. I was completely broke after my trip, I had spent every cent in my pocket and lived up every moment not sparing a thought for my return. I had essentially drank myself to debt (Tough even by Irish standards).
So I rolled up my sleeves, got a part time job in a friends bar and started all over again. I poured pints, washed glasses, dealt with drunks and crazy hours. I did all the side earners I could to pay for rent and basic food. It wasn't long before getting into the swing of things but my goal to get back on to road never changed.
A new project awaited...
Approached by an operator setting up a new nightclub, there was an invite to get in from the start. I jumped straight on board. Dublin's newest underground music and arts venue from a renovated old shirt factory/pre-theatre space to be created into a cutting edge niche with quirky design. It took off trending and not long before I put my feet in a second venue in Cork, the south of Ireland. I was back on my feet, bringing punters through the door but in truth I was back to where I started, I wasn't really making change.....
Enter morning raves
If I were to tell you that you should get up at 5:30am and get dressed to make your way to a 6am rave, you'd probably tell me I was mad.... and you are right! I am mad but it turns out everyone else is too...
Conga lines and screaming.
Yoga to techno...what a pairing
Some stunning ladies too get's the guys out of bed early
If I were to tell you that this rave had no alcohol or drugs, you'd probably envision an empty dance floor...
But it worked! We were Morning Gloryville Dublin and we were raving our way into the day with up to 400 people at a time. Jumping up and down in all sorts of costumes to banging techno and dance beats while hoopers and performers graced the stage grooving to festival DJ's. The only thing people are taking here is coffee and smoothies. Nothing else. Throw in free massage for everyone aswell as some free Yoga and people were skipping off to work buzzing for the day.
Don't believe me? Here's what it looks like...
Again the media rolled in with chat show interviews, radio interviews, pictures in the paper and media outlets online all over us. Everyone wanted a piece and it was going just swell!
A happiness movement had begun with people who wanted something different. An event where you can party your ass off without having to drink cans of booze or drop dangerous pills. A place where people were free to shake that ass and in essence, just not give a shit. We started doing festivals, pop ups, promotions and some guerrilla style flash-happiness-mobs. Here we are spreading happiness on the streets of Dublin.
Working with my business partner, we looked to the future....
What were people looking for and what was the key to inspiring happiness?
We noticed that in recent years we have more technology in our lives than every before but somehow, rates of depression were the highest they had ever been. There was something wrong and we aimed to tackle it. Thus, Unplug was born.
UnPlug?
Simple language that explains how to have a healthy relationship with technology! We got a team of psycologists, CBT specialists and tech experts together to make a program that works. We did our homework, day and night to really see what was going on. We reached out to everyone in the space across the globe to make sure what we had was fool proof. We began running retreats for people who wanted a sustainable healthy relationship with their tech. These people were on their digital devices first thing in the morning, last thing at night and seemed to be captives to the digital distraction devices in their pockets.
###So we did a press release and within 2 hours I had, five radio interviews, an appearance on a chat show offered, six articles in major papers across the country and more! It just blew up...again. We hit the nail on the head.
We were facing the issue head on. We can't live without technology. We need to manage it so out lives don't become consumed by it.
The nations broadcaster came down to cover what we were doing on prime time news!
Fast forward 2 months and I'm standing on a stage in New Delhi about to walk out to an audience to give a TEDx talk to over 500 Indians.
I had done it! I had found happiness, I was inspiring others and I was travelling the world. I'm now 9 months travelling and have visited Australia, Philippines, India, Nepal, Thailand, Philippines, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and a few more in between. Here I got to meet people, study their use of technology in places as addicted and hooked to the cloud as Korea, travel to some of the most amazing places in the world and inspire audiences along the way.
Some of my experiences
Wandering the Great Wall of China
Fourteen days trekking to 5416m in the Himalayas
Contributing to those who needed it along the way
Showing up to a few events to inspire and spread good vibes
Crashing a wedding in Bangkok
Seeing some of the most stunning places on earth
Teaching monks to kick flip
Getting lost in Tibet
Crashing a high school reunion
I even spent some time living as a Buddhist monk learning Kung Fu and Tai Chi
What made it possible?
1. Always reach a little bit further than you can
2. Try to do something of real value for people
3. Do what you say you will
By sticking to what I loved doing and never looking back, the rules above made me who I am. I always step out of my comfort zone and do the things I never truly understand. The rest I let myself figure out along the way. Once, I put my mind to it. I fulfil it. A compulsive habit that worked in my favour and it can work for you too.