AboutDave

So, Who Is David Gunter?

A motivational tape given to David Gunter as a child helped pull the once troubled teen through one of the most difficult times of his life. And now the 29-year-old is using the...

Power of Motivation

...to help youngsters realise their dreams.

"I was given a tape as a child and listened to it for years."

"The one saying I always remembered was- if you want to go places where others can't you've got to do what others won't."

"That was always something I repeated to myself over the years. Even when I was at my lowest I would listen to that tape on a walkman."

The power of positive thought saw the troubled teenager turn his back on a potential life of crime and emerge to become a successful Security Operations Manager, Family Law Investigator and Correctional Officer in a maximum security prison.

David shares his inspiring story

...to young adults throughout Australia with his I Roll With Dave seminars.

Capitalising on the popularity of the I Roll With Carl campaign which spawned from the Underbelly television series David is asking youths to choose their role models wisely.

"I want the kids to have a choice," David says. "You can either choose to roll with the good guys or roll with the bad guys. The power of choice means even Carl could change."

David says youth DO have a choice

...in what direction they want their lives to take and don't have to throw away their futures by associating with the wrong crowd or through bad decision making.

Born in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne in 1980, David spent his formative years living in the Mt Dandenong area.

"When I was younger mum was a welfare officer and dad was a cop. They'd both seen more than most people do in a life time and it took its toll Dad left the police force in 1989 and we moved to northern NSW and then to Queensland in 1992. During my teenage years I 'butted heads' with my parents and as a result spent a little time on the street and sometimes in bad company.

I remember one night just packing a duffle and sleeping on the beach, that was a lonely moment and looking back I wish I'd been able to work it out – that would have been a better result for everyone.

These days when kids say to me 'my parents are divorced' I can tell them, 'yeah, me too but my mum loves me and my dad loves me and if that's as good as it gets I'll take it.' People can say things like 'that's not how life should be' but the fact is for some that's how life is and you have to deal with it. And the good news is, you can! But sometimes you just need a little help to do it.

I was rebellious like many teenagers and I was expelled from one school and dropped out of another in year ten. The only one it really hurt was me and I could see a childhood dream of being an investigator slipping away."

David began associating with homeless and rebellious youths, many of whom would go on to become some of the Sunshine Coast's most notorious criminals. He saw the lives of his young friends destroyed, consumed by crime, drugs and alcohol. Thankfully for David he knew this was not a path he wanted to take. It was time to make a choice.

The words of that motivational tape were always there in David's mind, and reconciliation with his father was the start of a new chapter for him.

"Kids ask me now how I get on with mum and dad and the answer is, 'fine'.  I had to learn to let go of the past and I didn't find that easy."
David  started working as a glassy in nightclubs at the age of 16, before moving into nightclub security. His determination to succeed saw him advance through the ranks, and by the age of 23 he was managing a security firm with 250 employees, that stretched from the Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast.

The job came with its demands and hazards; 100 hour weeks, being stabbed twice, broken relationships, and seeing the darker side of alcohol abuse taught David some tough lessons.

Still in pursuit of his childhood dream of becoming an investigator David sought work in the investigation field. But the path to success was not easy.

With no tertiary qualifications

David was denied access to work as an investigator. However the determined young man found a way to achieve his dream. He took a job in the insurance industry which led him from a sales position to further study which gave him the qualifications needed to accept a position as a claims investigator. In this position he learned more about investigation and more about people. He was on his way.

In 2005 David established his own commercial investigation business and qualified as a fraud investigation instructor. As a result he was often engaged in relation to family and domestic issues and through more study became so proficient with family law matters that he acted as a consultant for various law firms and individuals.

But David felt he still lacked a challenge and felt unfulfilled. In 2007 after graduating from the Queensland Corrective Services Academy (QCSA) he started working as a Custodial Correctional Officer, at the biggest maximum security prison in Australia.Side-by-side with some of the state's most hardened criminals; David received a first-hand view of life inside a prison. "There is great insight to be had by dealing face to face with inmates on a daily basis.A passion began to grow within me to find out why they were here and what could I possibly do to minimise or prevent it"

Making a difference - "people have asked me do you really think you can make a difference and I think of an old story about thousands of star fish being washed up on a beach and a kid frantically throwing them back in the water - an old man asked him if he really thought he was going to make a difference, there were so many - the kid turned to answer him as he threw another one back in the water - I made a difference to that one." ... because I can't help them all doesn't excuse me from helping some.

David's life took a further change

...when in 2008 a friend asked him to speak to a group of high school students about how he rose above the troubles of his teenage years to

become a successful business manager, investigator and correctional officer.

The response from that first talk inspired David so much that he knew that this was what he wanted to do with his life.

"After the first talk one particular kid came up said, 'you've made a real difference in my life already"' That was when I decided that this is what I wanted to do. I'm no expert on the bible but bible says life and death are in the power of the tongue and that day I saw life results from words."

David's passionate and real-life encounters

...of his life led to more school bookings and soon he was presenting seminars on a weekly basis.

In 2010 David will launch the I Roll With Dave seminars to youths across the region.

The one hour seminars will be a no-holds-barred account on how drugs, alcohol, recession and other social factors can impede the life of youth and how through the power of motivation and reachable goals kids can rise above and succeed... no matter what!

"I feel like we live in too much of a politically correct world these days. I want to be known as that speaker that says it likes it is. I've seen real life as it is, and more importantly how it can be."

"political correctness according to dad - is like picking up a turd from the clean end. When life is at stake, short term or long, straight talk is where problems are exposed and solutions found."

David's I Roll With Dave seminars are available now for teens and young adults.