Meet Joseph Dunham

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

Hi Joseph, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

This is a great question, I get asked this often “Have you always been this way? Yes, at a young age I decided to adopt a positive outlook on life verse a negative & pessimistic one. Little did I know I was making the decision to have a growth mindset vs a fixed mindset. I realized that it took so much energy out of my to be mad, upset and negative. Whether that’s having a negative attitude, being mad, being mean towards myself or others, allowing things to impede on my energy. It was far easier and felt better being positive and kind to myself & the world – not just that but just seeing the difference it made in my life in all things. My mother was a major influence on my optimistic outlook was well. She ALWAYS had a smile on her face and a positive outlook on things. Were there trying times for us growing up? Absolutely, and she didn’t hide her emotions and feelings from my brothers and I BUT she always held her head high through it all. And of course God, my Lord and Savior – I’ve always strived to by loving! As He has called all of us to be good & kind to our neighbors this is something I actively live day in and day out! With God all things are possible and with God there’s no reason to not be positive!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

What do I do? The real question is what don’t I do? I am the Founder & Host of The Good Service Podcast; a podcast & platform focused on the positive works these organizations are doing within their community to make it a better place than they found it. A place for inspiring and wholesome stories to live BECAUSE we are inundated with negativity through social media and media in general. The show has been live since October of 2022, so we are 2 years & 20 episodes in and growing rapidly! Our main goal is to become the #1 source of Good News, Nonprofit Collaboration & Positivity in the world! What is most exciting about this for myself is the fact that I get to be myself as a host. If you ask anyone who knows me, I love to highlight & uplift those around me, giving people their flowers is one of my many super powers alongside interviewing these change leaders and helping their organizations have a place to be highlighted! In my research there isn’t a podcast & platform such as TGSP and it is truly one of a kind. The vision God gave me 2 years ago for this only continues to become more clear and bigger by the day which excites me! What also excites me about everything we do is sharing our good service with the world through these interviews and conversations! Not just that but helping these organizations behind the scenes too.

Episodes release every 2 weeks on Fridays at 12pm! We are on all streaming platforms and new as of 2024 we have a YouTube channel where all of our episodes can be watched!

I have a business development and process optimization background from my time in corporate America and through my studies in college. I also (recently) have built an agency side adjacent to The Good Service Podcast that allows me to help these organizations drive their impact through consulting with me. I have done this so long successfully in the private space for Fortune 500 companies and had a revelation mid 2024 that this is the work I want to be doing but for nonprofits! The people doing the work that really matters!

So all in all, I’m building an amazing network of nonprofit leaders, connecting them to one another and resources to drive their organization impact and giving them a podcast & platform to share their stories to spread hope & positivity globally!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Resiliency – you have to have no quit to you. When you’re doing something for the first time, something no one in your family or friend group has done you’re going to come across MANY obstacles. You’re planting your flag on the moon of a whole new ability/skillset/career and it is a lonely road. There’s going to be a lot you have to teach yourself so you have to have the will power to do so. You’re going to have to be okay with your friends and family members supporting you but not fully understanding the ins and outs of the podcast world.

Vision / Being a visionary – you’re going to have to have a clear vision and idea of what this is going to be doing, what this is going to look and feel like! The vision has to make sense to you and only you. When the vision makes sense to others and is clear that is when you’ll start to grow and be able to build on the foundation you’ve already set from doing the work yourself. I.E. having people support and help you build everything out (hiring a team or having friends/colleagues provide their own expertise and skills that will help not only round out but make the vision come to life further more than what you were able to just yourself!)

Genuine curiosity – you have to be curious from the jump! Do the research on the industry, do the research on who else if anyone else is doing what you are doing! Do the research on a mentor that can help guide you along the way! You’re going to have to YouTube and Google everything if you have no point of reference. Even once you’ve learned how to do something and make it your own, you’re a forever student of the game. So even as you see success and are years into the craft you still need to be genuinely curious and a forever student!

The advice I have for all of this would be know your WHY. This is what is going to help you in the areas I discussed above but it will also be what drives you when the motivation taps out and discipline has to tap in. There’s an exercise called “The 7 Whys” – you ask yourself “Why?” 7 times. This is what will help you get to the root of why you’re actually convicted to do this and will help you!

The other piece of advice I have is keep going! God gave you this vision for a reason, don’t give up on yourself and don’t give up on him! Everything worth doing in this life comes at a price and is not easy. Stay down, stay committed and stay true to yourself on this journey!

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

Easy, The Alchemist. It is hands down my favorite book of all time. It is a fictional read but has real life implications and applicable takeaways. The story of a young Shepard on his Personal Journey, It is a story about the journey of becoming, one that is never ending and you are ALWAYS arriving. I feel like this is the same journey I’m on and all of us entrepreneurs are on. You never get to said destination and everything just magically stops, congratulates you and is over. The work continues always! Throughout the story the young Shepard runs into many challenges and problems after not listening to his intuition or the advice he is given by those wiser than him. I believe this is a beautiful parallelism to life and being on your own journey.

Some of the valuable lessons this taught me about my own journey directly & indirectly is trust yourself and the voice inside you, have mentors of all kinds who can poor into you, pay attention to when certain things happen to you (good and bad, these things happen for a reason: may not be known in the moment but will come to light in the future), you know what you’re doing more than anyone else, this is a never ending journey respect & love the journey and it will respect & love you back.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Jordan Patterson: @thejordanstudios & @thewilliamjordan (photographer & videographer partner)
Ashli Washington: @itsmeashli & @r404films (photographer & videographer partner)
Tiffany Portis: @thelocationatl (studio space & partner)

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