We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Don Dobson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Don, thanks for joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

It’s 2013 and I’m working as a security guard back home in Sacramento. The job was cool and all but it wasn’t enough and I felt my life was at a crossroads. I needed to figure out what I wanted in life. One thing I knew for sure was I wanted to move out of Sacramento and move to San Diego.

I was 20 years old with two security jobs. One during the week and the other one on weekends. I had just recently went back to school after being a drop out and got my diploma, NOT a GED. I’m feeling good about myself and I’m focused on my goals. I had written out a few plans for relocating to Southern California preferably San Diego. All my plans were put together strategically so this was going to take 6 months to a year to achieve.

One day working a couple hours into my shift, I got sent home early by my job. It was over a prior situation that happened before my shift. It didn’t make sense but I was already fed up with this particular company anyways and they ended up suspending me.

During my suspension I went down to San Diego for a few days to getaway. While down there, I started applying for security jobs in San Diego not really being serious. Now I’m back home from vacation and my phone rings. It’s a security company responding to an application I put in. They asked if I can start work the very next day. I said yes when I knew I had no possible way to make that happen. They gave me more info on the job then we got off the phone and I started looking at flights.

Much to my surprise there weren’t anymore flights .I don’t do the greyhound at all so that wasn’t an option. Only option left was to book a train ticket. I booked my ticket but it only went to Stockton. For context that’s barely an hour drive from Sacramento and San Diego is 500 miles away. I called my mom and asked her if she can take me to the train station. Of course her being my mom she was worried and had a million questions but she still tooo me. She didn’t know that my ticket was only going to Stockton. I didn’t tell her because I had my mind made up and I was going to get to San Diego someway somehow..

I give my mom a hug and kiss and get on the train. We make it to Stockton and now I got to figure out how to make my way to San Diego. I walk up to the ticket window. and simply asked if they could pull some strings for me to get to San Diego. She took my ticket went to the back and came back shortly after. Gave me a new ticket and told me “Go to the platform, when you get on the train give them your ticket and don’t say nothing else.”

I did exactly just that and made it to San Diego that night and was working my new security job the next morning.

I took a risk in leaving my home on a drop of a dime and it has absolutely changed my life in more ways than you could imagine. If I didn’t take that risk I wouldn’t be here to tell this story.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I just turned 30 on April 17th I was born in Riverside but raised in Sacramento, California. I’ve always liked basketball, trucks and music so those three things kinda make up my life.
I am a truck driver and on my free time I like to make beats and also develop new ideas and designs for my clothing line. My goal and intention is to become a full time music producer and run a clothing line.

I got into trucking when I was living in San Diego and things weren’t going smooth for me at the moment. I took a risk and broke my lease and went to Arizona for truck school. So far that has worked out but it came with many lessons. Now it’s been 9 years and counting as a truck driver.

Basketball has been a part of my life since day one. I grew up a Lakers fan and Kobe Bryant was my favorite player. I played ball for local rec leagues and outside pickup games. Given my occupation I don’t play as much basketball as I’d like but I still follow the NBA and try to hoop every now and then.

Music production is something I discovered late in my life. I just started back in 2019 but I been wanted to do producer music since I was 16. Growing up on the west coast all you heard was Snoop, E-40, 2Pac and Ice Cube everywhere you went. So that music easily influenced me to make those type of beats. My favorite producer is Daz Dillinger from Tha Dogg Pound. I hope one day I can be in the with him making classics.

I started a clothing line in 2021 called Life Activists. The representation behind this brand was standing up for what you believe in. Using those valuable lessons in life to help you grow and navigate through your experiences. I want future clients and to know you’re not alone it’s so many others on the same journey but different paths. My clothing line is for people who still fight the fight, who don’t give up when the odds are against them. Right now my clothing line is in design stages for 2023. Expect something come late summer this year.

What I’m most proud of is that I went through so much adversity in such little in my life and I’m still here without a scratch. The road was not smooth at all and many times I tried to turn around or give up and stop progressing but I didn’t. It’s something in me that won’t let me, maybe I’ll take a break to pace myself or slow down a bit but never give up.

What I provide is a feeling, because I want to have a clear understanding of what you desire and how my tools or knowledge can help you achieve that feeling. I love to solve problems and I’m quick to find solutions to problems because when you’re able to fix things the joy people get from that is second to none. That’s what sets me apart from the rest because I put in 100% effort and make sure it’s up to par.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

This doesn’t really have backstory but I had to unlearn not speaking up. It was such an uncomfortable feeling having to do that by force. With my job I’m around a lot of loud engines and machinery so at times you have to talk louder so people can hear you. But it helped me when it came to having a certain time of voice when speaking especially when setting boundaries. I grew up bullied and feeling like I wasn’t enough so the last thing I ever wanted to do was disappoint people. Many situations I’d let slide or wouldn’t speak because confrontation and uncomfortable conversations were hard for me. As I had to this the hard way a few times it became second nature and now it’s not a problem anymore.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

After my parents finally split for the last time I lived with my dad. I had bumped heads many times with both my parents and that lead to me going from house to house trying to find my way in life. Having that situation go in my life school wasn’t the front of my mind and I had to stay at the hospital unexpectedly for a little bit. I ended up dropping out of high school my junior year and went to live with my sister. She understood me so it was easier to be myself and grow at the same time under her roof. I would’ve never thought I’d be a high school dropout but it happened and I had to roll with it as life kept going on. The adjustment was hard but I made it through.    

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/stillegit?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@prodbystillegit2879