5 Questions With Dan Schawbel Episode 42: Scott Harrison
An interview with Scott Harrison about how he found his life’s purpose, got others onboard with his mission, took action, what he’s learned from his journey and his best career advice.
Welcome to the 42nd episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions.
This episodes guest:
My guest today is the founder and CEO of charity: water, Scott Harrison. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Scott spent his early years as a nightclub promoter and was eventually hired by the likes of MTV and VH1 to throw parties. After experiencing a nightclub shooting in Paraguay, he quit his job and volunteered as a photojournalist for Mercy Chips, a charity that provides humanitarian aid for terminally ill patients. During his time there, he was exposed to the impoverished conditions in Liberia and started charity: water to serve Liberia and other developing nations by providing drinking water. Since it’s founding in 2006, charity: water has funded over 38,000 water projects supporting 9.6 million people around the world. After making such an impact, Scott wrote his book, Thirst, in order to use his story to inspire others. In this podcast, we delve deeper into his story to uncover how he was able to realize his life’s purpose, take action to realize his purpose and how his journey changed how he lives his life.
Video interview from charity: water’s New York City headquarters:
The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode:
- What was the moment when you found your life purpose?
- How did you get other people on board with your mission?
- A lot of people have ideas but few execute on them. How do you take ideas, manifest them and then perform the right actions that push you into action?
- How have all of these stories, your travels, the people you’ve met who have suffered, changed your outlook on life?
- What’s your best piece of career advice?
Follow Scott’s journey: