CAMPUSPEAK

How was Daniel Seddiqui able to find 50 Jobs in 50 States?  Well, because he couldn’t find one.

After graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in Economics, Daniel found it impossible to find even an entry-level job.  After three years of volunteering and odd jobs, Daniel started questioning himself, his process, and his prospects.  Life wasn’t offering Daniel opportunities, and he needed to do something truly radical to get on track.

USA Today called Daniel Seddiqui the “most rejected person in the world.” After failing 40+ job interviews and sending out 18,000 emails looking for volunteer positions, he adopted a new goal—he wanted to work a job in every state.

He worked as a corn farmer in Nebraska; a real estate agent in Idaho; a wedding coordinator in Vegas; a logger in Oregon; a bartender in New Orleans; a cheese maker in Wisconsin; a racing pit crew member in Indianapolis; a peanut sheller in Georgia; a theme park employee in Orlando; a lobsterman in Maine; a surfing instructor in Hawaii; and a model in North Carolina.  The list is unreal.

It all culminated in a book, 50 Jobs in 50 States: One Man’s Journey of Discovery Across America.  The subtitle says it all: “How I Turned Rejection into Opportunity and Dreams Into Reality.”

In his entertaining campus keynote, he shares his journey of a lifetime, thrilling students with unbelievable stories (and dozens of hilarious photos) of finding crazy jobs, and stepping completely outside his comfort zone.  He offers hope to students intimidated by job prospects after college, encouraging them to open their minds and do some things that scare them.

For those looking for a keynote relevant to life after college, Daniel’s lessons about resilience, networking, adaptability, taking risks and endurance are obvious.  For those simply looking for a program that will fascinate college student audiences,
Daniel’s keynote “Living the Map” offers humor, hope, and a sense that anything is possible. 

Consider Daniel for your next leadership conference.  At its core, his keynote is about tackling the challenges of life with a positive attitude and learning never to limit yourself.  It’s a message that will energize any audience of student leaders.

• Keynotes

• Living the Map

Living the Map

In his campus keynote, Daniel Seddiqui helps students understand how the road to their future begins with an open mind, flexibility, and a willingness to take risks. After three years of endless job searching, Daniel decided to follow his dream of visiting all 50 states by having a short one-week job in each one.  He wrote about these adventures in his book 50 Jobs in 50 States.  In his campus program, he offers students hope that their dreams can be realized, even if their paths have to be creative. He talks about resiliency, networking, adaptability, risk taking and endurance—all critical characteristics for any student leader. He gets students laughing by sharing unbelievable stories from his 50 States adventure, inspiring them to dream big and take chances on their own talents and dreams. Perfect for any leadership conference, or simply as a stand alone evening of inspiration, “Living the Map” is Daniel’s challenge to today’s college students to make their lives count.

Daniel's Bio

Daniel was born and raised in the Bay Area of Northern California.  He was a competitive athlete, training and competing in both track and cross country at both the University of Oregon and the University of Southern California, where he graduated with a B.A. in Economics.  His 50 Jobs in 50 States project has been featured on many international and national media outlets; World News Tonight, CNN, Fox News, The Today Show, MSNBC, NPR, C-SPAN, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Yahoo!, MSN, USA Today, The Weather Channel, Golf Digest, New York Daily News, among others. Daniel then went to establish an accredited college program to empower students to make informed decisions about their career path by exposing them to a variety of authentic work experiences during an “on the job” summer semester.

He also founded Living the Map, which raises awareness of the varying cultures, careers, and environments across the country through outreach, educational endeavors, and community building. Living the map encourages those to explore the world around them, to understand and respect one another and to make continuous discoveries to better themselves.

Daniel is continuing to broaden his experience with his new project, Drop Me In!. He designed a study to understand marginalized American regions that have been identified to suffer socially and economically. He is immersing himself in various communities not only to help the people in these communities realize how they can be liberated from socially contagious problems that suppress them, but also to inform the public about the issues to which they’re unaware or have turned a blind eye. When he’s not traveling, Daniel rests his head in Chicago.