DALLAS — When Robert Neely, of Dallas, graduated with a master’s in leadership and ethics, he could’ve landed a fancy job with a fancy title.
But he wanted to do something even more powerful: make people smile.
“If you smile at more people during the day and the reaction that they give you, that’s stunning,” Neely said. “That can change the world.”
While in school, Neely spent a lot of time studying why people do the things they do and he kept getting the same answer.
“I saw a golden thread that no matter who you are, where you’re from, what you’ve been through, we as humans all have a desire to love and be loved,” Neely said.
He had a plan to spread that love to the world ... a plan he shared with good friend, Hunter Stensrud.
Neely explained that people are consumed by bad news, and they need to be reminded of all the good around them.
So, together, he and Stensrud started a company called Inspire More. It’s a website where they find the most inspiring stories from around the world and share them.
Their posts have reached more than 500 million people.
“It’s really amazed me what a small amount of hope can do for someone,” Neely said. “It can literally change someone’s day, someone’s week, someone’s life.”
“Sharing the good news is amazing, that we create, but we always want to find ways to give back,” Stensrud said.
That’s why every time someone shares a post from Inspire More, it triggers a donation. Inspire More choose different charities throughout the year to receive those donations.
Right now, Neely and Stensrud have partnered with Smile Train, a nonprofit that performs corrective cleft surgeries for children.
“That amount of money is going to provide a lot of care for kids all over the world,” said Phil Carroll, senior vice president of communications for Smile Train.
It’ll put more smiles on more faces than Neely could’ve ever imagined, but it’s exactly the kind of inspiration he hoped to create.
“There is something so sweet about loving someone else,” Neely said. “What joy does that give you to give to others, to change someone’s life?”
Like a smile, it might just change the world.
Inspire More’s partnership with Smile Train is sponsored by GSK Consumer Healthcare, who is helping provide funds for life-changing corrective cleft surgeries around the world.