Daisha Wilks and Dalton Hamby are about to race around the world on national television, but before “The Amazing Race” begins, the Northeast Alabama couple has been spending time closer to home.

The Jacksonville State University alumni have been visiting schools across the state, meeting people and sharing a message about finding your passion, taking chances and understanding that a change in direction does not mean you have failed.

At Crossville High School, where they recently spoke to juniors and seniors about finding their passion, that message came with a fitting mantra: “From Alabama to Anywhere!”

It is a message that reflects their own lives.

Wilks grew up in Flat Rock and attended Pisgah High School and Northeast Alabama Community College before earning a master’s degree in biology from Jacksonville State University. She once planned to become a physician but began questioning whether medicine was where her passion truly belonged.

Hamby, a Weaver native, attended Weaver High School and Gadsden State Community College before earning a bachelor’s degree in emergency management from Jax State. After working in Baldwin County for about a year and a half, he returned home and eventually put his interest in videography to work creating content for Jacksonville University’s recreation center.

The two met after Hamby spotted Wilks on Instagram. Their shared connection to Jax State and love of travel caught his attention, and he introduced himself with a video playfully showing him sliding into her direct messages.

Within months, they were traveling through Southeast Asia together. One of their first destinations was the Philippines, a particularly meaningful trip for Hamby, who is adopted and wanted to learn more about his Filipino heritage.

Since then, their adventures have taken them to more than 30 countries while they have built a life together around travel, videography and content creation.

The couple, who are now engaged, will compete on Season 39 of CBS’ “The Amazing Race.”

Wilks, a 2018 Northeast Alabama Community College graduate, recently reflected on just how unlikely that opportunity once seemed.

“We were absolutely thrilled, and we honestly couldn’t believe it was real,” Wilks told NACC. “We’re two small-town kids from Alabama, so the opportunity to compete on one of the longest-running reality shows in tv history was something we never imagined would happen to us.”

Wilks also said representing northeast Alabama on a national stage was important to the couple.

“We’re proud of where we come from, and we hope people watching will see that you don’t have to come from a big city to have big dreams,” she told NACC. “We are just two small-town kids who decided to take a chance, and that led us to ‘The Amazing Race.’”

And those two small-town Alabama kids are making it clear they plan to take their home state along for the ride.

“We’re incredibly proud to be Alabama kids, and it means so much to us to have people from across our home state come along for this journey with us,” the couple wrote in their announcement.

Alabama Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter also recently met Wilks and Hamby at one of the couple’s stops on their Alabama tour and said he believes they will represent the state well.

“I’m excited to see Dalton and Daisha compete on ‘The Amazing Race.’ They are two of Alabama’s best that will represent our state extremely well,” Ledbetter told Yellowhammer News.

But Wilks and Hamby aren’t waiting for the Sept. 30 premiere to use the attention surrounding their appearance on the show to spread a positive message.

At Collinsville High School, they shared stories from their global travels with juniors and seniors. At Crossville High School, they talked with students about finding their passion. They have also stopped and visited with several other schools and l Alabama businesses.

The couple told Yellowhammer News that returning home and spending time with students, business owners and others across Northeast Alabama has made the experience even more meaningful.

“We’ve traveled all over the world, but there’s just something about coming back home to Alabama. We love our state, our small towns, our people, and the businesses that make these communities what they are. Getting to visit schools and connect with students, pour into the next generation, and encourage them to dream big, while also getting to support and connect with local businesses, has been such a blessing. No matter how far we travel, Alabama will always be home,” Daisha and Dalton said.

During an interview on The Mark White Show, the couple shared a similar encouragement — changing direction doesn’t have to mean someone has failed.

Their own path to the reality television show is another example of being willing to try something without knowing where it might lead.

Wilks’ mother, Debbie, suggested they audition for the show. They went outside, recorded a video and sent it in, not expecting much to come from it.

Months later, while traveling in Laos, their phones began ringing in the middle of the night. At first, they thought it was a scam. An email eventually explained that “The Amazing Race” had been trying to reach them, and they discovered the opportunity was real.

Once selected, Alabama became part of their preparation as well.

They practiced navigating with paper maps, assembled furniture, watched previous seasons and trained at locations across Alabama and in Chattanooga.

Jacksonville State became what Wilks called their “training ground.” The couple ran the bleachers at AmFirst Stadium and even strapped on headlamps to run around the library at night.

“JSU is the friendliest campus in the South,” Wilks said. “So wherever we go, we’re bringing that with us. We’re going to prove it.”

As the Sept. 30 premiere gets closer, Wilks and Hamby have been posting daily countdown videos and inviting people to follow along with their journey.

And for anyone watching from Alabama who may be wondering whether to take a chance of their own, Hamby offered advice that goes well beyond The Amazing Race.

“Do what’s scary,” he said. “Just try it, take a shot in the dark. Something crazy and amazing might happen.”

Season 39 of The Amazing Race premieres Sept. 30 at 8:30 p.m. Central on CBS, with the second night of the special premiere Oct. 1. The show will also be available on Paramount+. Alabamians can follow Daisha and Dalton on social media as they count down to the premiere and continue sharing their journey from northeast Alabama to the world.

Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].