Our Untold Profile this time is about Dustin Wilson, an extremely special person to me. I met him when I was ten years old and that fast friendship has weathered the storms of adolescence and young adulthood, including my moving across the globe multiple times. Dustin is an incredibly loyal person whose steadfastness and willingness to delve into tough topics have always been roots through which I draw inspiration. Given his background in management, his experience as a COO of a start-up, his proclivity for numbers, and his ability to keep my crazy ideas grounded in reality, he was a natural choice for our first treasurer of the board.
I interviewed Dustin to give all of you the chance to get to know him as well.
Alright, let’s get some basics out of the way before we get to the juicy stuff. Where are you from and where do you live now?
I was born in Maryland but have lived in Colorado since I was 6. I currently live in Wellington, about an hour north of Denver and ~20 minutes south of the Wyoming border.
And what do you do for a living?
I have been working for West Chem for almost 5 years now, servicing commercial dish machines and selling chemicals to local restaurants, churches, schools, etc. My wife’s uncle owns the business so I get to work for family which is incredibly rewarding. We’ve been growing steadily since I started and I get to work with the best group of guys, which I absolutely love.
You’ve also got a beautiful young family going. Could you tell me about them and maybe give a fun fact about each of them?
Yes, I have an amazing wife and 3 amazing daughters – Liliana, Adina, and Chloe.
Shawna is the most dedicated mother I know and a talented baker, with a fiery side that comes out when talking about her faith, which I love. Liliana is six and is incredibly helpful for a six-year-old. She loves playing with her sisters, making people laugh, learning new things, and sharing her faith. Adina is almost five and has a huge heart and an adorable lisp. She feels more strongly than anyone I know and while she sometimes struggles to identify her own feelings, she just wants to be loved and praised. Chloe is two and way too smart for her own good. She’s a terrible listener, incredibly dramatic, has the best facial expressions, and is impossible to stay mad at because of how sweet and silly she can be. And she knows it.
You and I have been through a lot together. One of the toughest adversities I’ve seen you face was the saga that unfolded around your dad. Would you be willing to talk a bit about what happened?
Sure! Almost 10 years ago I came home around this time of the year (winter) to go get a Christmas tree with my family, only to be surprised by 2 cops arresting my dad. Turns out he was convicted of sexual misconduct with a minor and had been having an affair for several years, which came as quite a shock to his family and our social circle, considering he was worship pastor for a decade. It was an incredibly confusing and painful time but has definitely helped shape me into who I am today. I owe a lot to the difficult circumstances he put our family through and am grateful for many of the outcomes, most especially realizing I don’t want to end up like him. I haven’t seen him in almost ten years, though I can say I have completely forgiven him and moved on without regret.
Thank you for sharing, seriously. I was—and continue to be—incredibly proud of the way you pressed through that darkness and built the family you have today. Could you talk about what got you through that trying time?
It was a combination of a solid support system, with you at the at the heart of it, recognizing that I didn’t want to end up like my dad, and realizing that I was now the “man of the house” for my mom and two sisters. I of course went through stages of anger and grief and for those I mostly self-medicated with music. My faith was also a big factor in my healing and my conversion from non-denominational Christianity to Catholicism helped form my perspective, the context of what happened, and the direction I wanted my life to go. I now recognize I owe everything to my faith and God.
That’s awesome. Thank you! Now could you tell me about some of your personal goals?
My personal goals are very simple. I want to be the best version of myself, aka who God created me to be. I want to be an image of Christ to those in my life, starting with my wife and daughters, and I want to teach my girls how to seek God with everything they do. I want to raise them to love fearlessly. I want to grow in humility, love, justice, mercy, temperance, fortitude, prudence, and faith. I want to live a life for others without regrets. I want to live and die in union with God and His will for my life.
So talk a little bit about how you got involved with Untold International.
Well, I know this guy, Mr. Brady Blackburn, who started this nonprofit… the rest is history! In all seriousness, we’ve been best friends for close to a couple decades now and I’ve been closely involved with many of your harebrained ideas over the years. Untold International is by far his most important and impactful endeavor, and even though you live and breathe this organization, it’s so much more than “Brady,” or even “Brady and Kaitlyn.” Sure you’re the founders and allowed yourselves to be inspired, but that’s simply because you listened to the call. I recognize this as a divine project; you’ve just allowed yourselves to be the boots on the ground. Anyway, after a couple years of watching you develop this nonprofit and following closely with the construction of the literacy center in Asisiriwa, you asked me if I would be interested in joining the board as the secretary. I agreed but quickly asked about the duties of a secretary and if there were any other options. You threw out treasurer and as I have always enjoyed being a “numbers” guy, I felt that would be a better fit. So here we are! Much of what I do is simply monitoring the cash flow, depositing any paper checks we receive, and coordinating any transfers to our people on the ground, which is always an adventure sending money internationally.
What part of Untold International’s mission do you most strongly identify with and why?
I’ve had different aspects of Untold International’s mission stand out to me as both the mission has developed (and solidified) and as I personally have developed. I think what resonates with me most is the community aspect of what Untold International does. We don’t come in and tell them what they want or need in their community, in fact there is hardly a “we” to speak of. It’s virtually all community-driven – from helping supply what the community wants and needs to recruiting their help in making it happen. Untold International would not exist without the community and our future depends on the community. And although I haven’t had the privilege of getting my boots on the ground at Kasadwini Atenaeɛ, I feel a real connection from all the stories I’ve heard, pictures I’ve seen, and growth I have been a part of. And I’m excited to continue being a very small part of this amazing community, even as remote as I am.
Where do you envision Untold going in the future? What are you excited for?
I honestly am not a huge “vision” guy, I’m more of a “get it done” guy. That being said, every time I hear a real solid idea of what we could do in the future, I get very excited and am definitely down to make it happen! I think I’m mostly excited for following the community over the next 5, 10, and even 20 years to see what kind of an impact Untold International will have in countless people’s lives.
Thank you so much for letting me interview you! You’re a priceless member of our team and we’re so excited to have you.
Untold International is a community driven nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people all over the world through literacy, literature, and language.
