Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brandon Dawson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Brandon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I was 24 years old working as a recruiter in accounting and finance. I was making good money but I was very unhappy with my job, and needed a change. One day I put in my two weeks notice and decided to bet on myself that I would figure it out. After some reflection I decided that I wanted to try college again. I had tried fresh out of Highschool with a focus in marketing, but decided that college wasn’t for me. This time around I wanted it to be different and try a major that I was actually passionate about.

Going back to college wasn’t going to be easy. I needed to save money, and figure out where I was going. I spent the next year on a friends couch, and working at Blockbuster Video. I saved until I had enough money to start school, get a place, and live comfortably. I decided to go to Augusta University, as it was a new area with a fresh start, and they had a very good television and cinema program, which was something I had been interested in since I was a kid.

My time at AU was amazing. I learned how to perfect my skills with cameras, made life long friends, met my wife, and got a temp position with my current employer at WJBF NewChannel 6.

Currently at WJBF I host two television shows. I’ve been here for 11 years, worked multiple jobs at the station, and have really cemented myself in the Augusta community.

If I hadn’t taken a shot on myself all those years ago, none of this would have happened. I was prepared to work the rest of my life in business but something just felt off. Taking the risk to leave was one of the best decisions I ever made.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My Name is Brandon Dawson, born in Syracuse, New York, raised in Georgia. I’m an 11 year television professional, and in that time I’ve received awards, worked just about every job at my television station, and now I host two life style shows.

To start at the beginning, I was a non traditional student in college with a major in Communications. My focus was television and cinema because I was a big camera nerd, and I wanted to work in movies. Just before I graduated I got a temp job at the local television station to make some extra cash. My job was to help film high school football games for a live broadcast. About half was through the season I fell in love with live production, and begged the News Director at the time to bring me on full time. It took a year, but eventually they were able to bring me on as a technical director, which is essentially the person behind the control board during a news broadcast. It wasn’t using camera’s which is what I wanted to do, but it was a foot in the door.

After some as a director, I eventually became an editor, which utilized more I my skills that I’m accustomed to. Over time a photographer position opened up, and this is what I was waiting for. I was the morning photographer for our morning show, so I was at all the big morning news stories. Fire, shootings, accidents, you name it, I was there. Working in morning news can be tough because a lot happens in the mornings but it was what I liked to do. I received an AP Award as a photographer which I was very proud of. After doing that for 5 years I started to think about where I would pivot my career next, and I honestly wasn’t sure, but the universe had different plans for me.

Our team was invited to test a new ride at Six Flags Over Georgia. It was supposed to be me filming, then a reporter, and a weather person would be riding the ride live. The weather person got sick and couldn’t make it. When we arrived Six Flags informed me that I didn’t need my gear because they had everything covered, but I could ride the ride because there was an extra seat. Myself and the reporter got on the ride, they counted us down and we went live, and mid interview the reporter threw it to me to say something and I just ran with it. We got done and the Six Flags folks complimented me for my performance especially since I wasn’t an on air talent. I took the compliment and headed back to Augusta. When we got back my boss pulled me in to his office after watching our live hit and told me “we need to talk about what you’re doing here.” The next day I was applying to be their next reporter, and I got the job.

As a reporter I had a very particular style. I wasn’t big on hard news, but my specialty was feel good stories. I put my heart in to those stories and eventually received a Gabby Merit award for a piece that I put together.

Fast forward 3 more years, and at our station there was a rumor that there was a spot opening up for a new show to be produced and everyone had ideas on what it could be. Myself, and two friends thought a road trip show would be cool as no one in the area was doing anything like it. We went out, shot a pilot, and presented it. I didn’t hear anything about it for a few months but eventually the bosses came to me and said they loved it and wanted to do the show.

That brings us to now. My road trip show has a spin-off that’s a cooking show. Both shows objectives are to highlight positive people, places, and activities in our community. I can proudly say we accomplish that and have helped many people along the way.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

So, when I was younger I had trouble reading and writing. I was always behind, and had to be pulled aside because the other kids were ahead of me. School was not my thing growing up, so I tended to stray away from anything that involved writing because I was embarrassed. In college as a non traditional student I had to teach myself a lot of things like punctuation, format, things like that. It was tough, but we me made it.

When I first became a reporter my number one fear was writing. I would send my script to multiple people because I was afraid of being “exposed” as bad writer. While all this was going on though I kept studying on how to become a better writer because I was determined to do this job. So, I would say that it took a lot of resilience to go through that. Growing I was told I could never do anything like what I’m doing now

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Share. Share everyone’s stuff. If you go on to my social media page I share all of my fellow creatives work. You can’t do it yourself, and then be mad when your work doesn’t get shared either. It’s all about networking. As for society, it’s the same thing, if you want to see more content from people, help them by sharing it. It can be social media, word of mouth, just talk about the things you love.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Bdawsontv
• Facebook: Brandon Dawson WJBF