Our interview with Dylan Wilk took an expected turn when he hinted at tips on finding love – how apt this February!
A self-made multi-millionaire by the age of 25, Dylan Wilk gave up his wealth to work with the poor in the Philippines and eventually started social enterprise, Human Nature.
Dylan flew down to Singapore for our recent Giving Matters Forum and the Giving.sg team managed to catch him for a quick chat.
We started the ball rolling with one word answers to describe…
Singapore
DW: Hospitable.
City of Good
DW: Compassionate.
Life
DW: Adventurous.
Next, we put Dylan in the hot seat and gave him the tough choice of picking one or the other.
Spicy or Non-spicy?
DW: Spicy. Everything should be spicy! The town where I grew up in has the most number of curry houses in England and my favourite spicy dish is lamb rogan josh.
Pleasure or Happiness?
DW: Happiness, definitely. Pleasure is just there and gone, but happiness is forever. A life of pleasure becomes a life of boredom. No matter what you buy, after a while you get bored of it. There’s nothing that can keep you excited forever. So you need to get rid of all those things and replace them with relationships and a purpose for your life; And that leads to happiness!
Charity or Social Enterprise?
DW: This is a tough one because there can’t be one without the other. There will always be some people that just need help and others that just need a chance. So both!
Donate or Volunteer?
DW: If you really have to only do one – volunteer. Because the more you get involved, the more you feel the joy of giving; you feel the joy of giving your time and eventually they’ll get all your money as well. 
To end things off, we got some solid advice from Dylan.
What advice would you give to those who want to start volunteering?
DW: Don’t think of doing anything grand, just turn up. Find something that interest you or someone that needs a hand, and just turn up. Little by little, the path will reveal itself to you.
And look for your love life in your passion, look for your love life in volunteering. Don’t be settled with a selfish boyfriend – if he can love the poor who are smelly, he can definitely love you who smells good. Look for someone who gives because you know they will love you no matter what.
What is one thing social enterprises can do better?
DW: I think we need better marketing, because we often agonise over whether or not to spend any money on marketing but eventually you have to if you want it to grow. It’s an investment you need to make.
Why does giving matter to you?
DW: Giving matters because it’s the way to be happy! In the end, we were designed to live in community. We find our purpose through our relationships, through the things that we do for other people. Nobody finds their purpose, their meaning for their lives on their own. You don’t find it looking at your own navel. You’ve got to get out there, and be with other people. Every time you’re with people, you get happiness from giving – whether it’s giving your time, telling a joke or giving a helping hand, and that’s why giving matters!
The Giving.sg team with Dylan Wilk at our Giving Matters Forum
