Speaker.

After three years on the dole, knocked back from 40 interviews, the 27-year-old’s dreams of becoming a financial analyst were in tatters, the economics graduate decided ‘enough was enough’. He left his home in California and travelled across the US, trying out a job peculiar to each state every week. In just 50 weeks, Dan went from being a down-and-out to an Arizona border patrol agent, a jazz conductor, a TV weatherman and even a Las Vegas wedding planner. He is now writing a book about his adventure and hopes to get a job as a dietician. 

Daniel Seddiqui has recently completed his mission to work 50 different jobs in 50 states.  He has been everything from a Rodeo Announcer in South Dakota, a Model in North Carolina, a Marine Biologist in Washington, to a Border Patrol Agent in Arizona. 

Why would anyone put themselves through such a grueling experience? Daniel says, “My goal was to help Americans understand each other's lives, respect each other's hard work and stimulate peoples' curiosity about different lifestyles.”

Featured on World News Tonight, CNN, NPR, BBC, Sky News, Today Show and The LA Times, Seddiqui explains: “I was on a mission to explore the many careers, environments, and cultures that America has to offer. I was unaware of what life was like outside my 'bubble'; for that matter, a majority of Americans are unaware of the opportunities that exist in the United States. One person could become a successful farmer in Nebraska, while another could become a widely acclaimed movie director in California. I wanted to explore the lifestyle that each state has to offer by choosing one career per state; a career that is popular and represented that state.”

Through the international, national, and local media, as well as his website Livingthemap.com, Facebook and Twitter, millions followed Daniel’s cross-country adventure, as he worked as an insurance broker in Connecticut, a surfing instructor in Hawaii, a sugarmaker in Vermont, and an auto mechanic in Michigan, just to name a few of his many "professions." 

My book will be out Jan 2011  called  "50 Jobs in 50 States- One man's Journey of Discovery across America"