Dream Job Ready - Business owner, C7 quadriplegic, author and one heck of an inspiration - Darren Longbottom chats with Dane Sharp about life and leadership in a wheelchair | Dream Job Ready EP45

Business owner, C7 quadriplegic, author and one heck of an inspiration - Darren Longbottom chats with Dane Sharp about life and leadership in a wheelchair | Dream Job Ready EP45

03/23/21 • 43 min

Business owner, C7 quadriplegic, author and one heck of an inspiration - Darren Longbottom (Owner of Zink Surf) chats with Dane Sharp about life and leadership in a wheelchair | Dream Job Ready EP45

Ready to be inspired, shocked, moved and motivated in one short interview?

Darren 'Daz' Longbottom was born into the surfing industry. Growing up on the beach in Cronulla, Australia, he and his brother witnessed surf industry and business success first hand via their father, who was a surfboard manufacturing pioneer in the 70s and 80s. Coming of working age, it didn’t take Daz long to forge his own identity in the surf industry and business world, eventually becoming the owner of a surf shop in Kiama on NSW's south coast.

The business was successful and enabled Daz to live a happy, easy-going and casual life, but all that was rocked in a split second by a freak surfing accident in the remote region of Mentawais, North Sumatra.

The freak surfing accident broke Darren's neck and resulted in instant paralysis. Alone in the water and semi-unconscious, Daz fought to stay alive until he was rescued by his friends, returned to the boat and stabilized (by getting strapped to a surfboard). But that’s just the beginning... What follows is a 25+ hour ordeal (I stress the world ordeal) returning to the mainland and reaching the safety of a hospital... You're likely trying to guess or imagine what went wrong and what happened... Think worse and times it by x 2...

Today, Daz still runs his successful surf store in Kiama, but now does it from a wheelchair because of his C7 quadriplegia and spinal cord injury. His co-authored book Beyond the Break explains his unbelievable, life-or-death escape to safety in impeccable detail and reading the book inspired me to interview Darren for Dream Job Ready. For it's not simply the inspiration, motivation or advice on mindset he shares, but the importance, reliance, and motivation he put on work, his job, and on his company, even in the hardest times of his recovery.

Dane visited Darren at his home on the South Coast of NSW for the interview (Covid-19 safe) and we had a small sound issue with my microphone. No biggie, you'll make out and understand everything I say, but I'm just calling out that the audio is not as crystal as it normally is or as Darren's microphone audio is, which is perfect.

If you want this episode to be a deeper level of personal, check out the video version on YouTube.

You can also connect with Dream Job Ready via our Socials:

YouTube / Search 'Dream Job Ready'

LinkedIn / https://www.linkedin.com/company/dreamjobready

Facebook / @dreamjobready

Instagram / @dreamjobready

Twitter / @dreamjobready

And if you'd like to financially support this podcast series, please make a contribution via https://supporter.acast.com/dream-job-ready-1

Music: ‘Funky Sunday’ composed and performed by Mark Matthews.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dreamjobready.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ready to be inspired, shocked, moved and motivated in one short interview?

If you want this episode to be a deeper level of personal, check out the video version on YouTube.

You can also connect with Dream Job Ready via our Socials:

YouTube / Search 'Dream Job Ready'

LinkedIn / https://www.linkedin.com/company/dreamjobready

Facebook / @dreamjobready

Instagram / @dreamjobready

Twitter / @dreamjobready

And if you'd like to financially support this podcast series, please make a contribution via https://supporter.acast.com/dream-job-ready-1

Music: ‘Funky Sunday’ composed and performed by Mark Matthews.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dreamjobready.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

How and why to get a dream job in Voice Tech with Jen Heape | Dream Job Ready EP44

Dream Job Ready with Dane Sharp and Jen Heape (Co-founder and COO, Vixen Labs) | Dream Job Ready EP44.

Hello and thank you for discovering Dream Job Ready! Season 2 is here with a bang and we kick off the new series by interviewing Voice Tech expert, Jen Heape, in Episode 44.

Jen is COO and co-founder of Vixen Labs - UK's leading voice consultancy and design studio.

Smart Speakers, Voice Assistants and voice-centric apps (think Clubhouse) are radically changing the way we interact with technology at home, at work, and in the classroom. It's an exciting industry and one that's going to dominate the next decade.

With expertise in linguistics and over a decade of experience leading creative teams, Jen heads up the voice product output of Vixen Labs. She brings intellectual and creative rigor to voice design and is passionate about how conversational technologies can affect real change in our lives, right now. With a particular interest in the psychology behind voice-based interactions, she seeks to push at the technological constraints of today to create bold new applications.

Jen’s specialism lies in the pioneering field of voice strategy and voice user experience (VUX), covering all areas of conversational experience design, such as use case definition, user journey mapping, interaction design, character development, and tone of voice creation.

She regularly speaks internationally on all things voice, especially around ethics and biases in conversational technologies, as well as deep dives on the innovative principles of voice design.

I first met Jen back in 2009, when she freelanced with me and Rip Curl during a Rip Curl surfing event in Portugal. Jen helped me with content creation and website articles pre, during, and post-event, and I'm super proud of the career she's gone on to create.

If you're looking for a new dream job or exploring new industries to call home, hit play and learn some more about Voice Tech and the opportunities that exist.

On top of discussing all things voice, Jen and Dane share advice about what to do and what not to do during interviews, why networking is essential and where to invest energy in your job search.

You can connect with Dream Job Ready via our Socials:

LinkedIn / https://www.linkedin.com/company/dreamjobready

Facebook / @dreamjobready

Instagram / @dreamjobready

Twitter / @dreamjobready

We welcome your feedback and questions via Email [email protected]

And if you'd like to financially support this podcast series, please make a contribution via https://supporter.acast.com/dream-job-ready-1

Music: ‘Funky Sunday’ composed and performed by Mark Matthews.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dreamjobready.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

3 reasons why my new job is my dream job with Dane Sharp & Josh Wilson | Dream Job Ready EP46

Hi, I'm Dane Sharp - host of Dream Job Ready. I'm also an excited, new starter this week, announcing I've landed a new dream job as Chief Marketing Officer at tech startup, togetherAI.

I've been fortunate to work for some amazing companies (Rip Curl, Under Armour, eBay, McDonald's) and awesome people in my career, but this new endeavour is one worth sharing and celebrating.

Unfortunately, youth mental health is deteriorating as children are “on device” at increasingly younger ages with an alarming correlation in increased rates of anxiety, depression, cyber-predatory and cyber-bullying. 1 in 5 young people will be socially excluded, threatened or abused online this year. 1 in 4 are at clinical risk of serious mental illness but the majority are reluctant to seek help.

Families often lack the awareness, knowledge and communication skills necessary to navigate complex scenarios and build resilient mental health and wellbeing on the journey to adulthood. Over 70% of parents feel that they struggle to communicate with their children.

As a new parent, these stats and the realities at large about family mental health shocked me. When I learned of togetherAI's focus and mission, I couldn't help but want to be a part of its future.

I've known togetherAI Founder and CEO, Josh Wilson, for more than 6 years, working together briefly when he was starting his first business venture, StatEdge. Today, I'm happy to be working with him and a team of passionate peers to bring togetherAI to life.

I invited Josh on to the show for this episode and asked him to prepare 3 reasons why his new job is a dream job. The three?