The "Rescue Dog".
They call the dogs we rescue, rescue dogs, and yet in my case, I wouldn't have gotten through the last 8 years without my mutt. I think we met to rescue each other.
I got a call from my mum 8 years ago asking me to come to a shelter to see this pup she found. (Who just goes to the rescue shelter for fun?) From the moment the gate and they let this dog out, I knew she was no longer going to be in that shelter and that we were going to be taking her out of there.
I told my mum she seemed like a great dog and that she should get her. Little did we know that this pup we just found, had her heart set on me. Every time I came to visit the dog would climb on my lap, fall asleep with her nose tucked under my arm, and sleep with ease. I ended up staying with me mum and this dog before I moved back to Los Angeles. I began working with her several times a day, playing, and training, and we learned a way to communicate with each other. We built this crazy bond and after six months there was this obvious trust and bond between us. I was able to walk her through parks and woods unleashed, she would learn to watch for me, and she would learn to only go so far until she needed to know where I was. I was able to develop several different types of calling methods that would indicate how immediately to get back to me. There was a safety & trust that developed into something special for us. I can't even express the joy in the moment she learned to swim and how important her swimming would become to us both.
The day came when it was time for me to leave, and head back to Los Angeles and there was no way I was leaving this dog behind. Yet, I had no clue what we would go through together.
ABOUT HER:
She is a Husky/Lab mutt about 45 lbs. They say she came from Tennessee, up to South Carolina and into a Delaware shelter. When we got her she was roughly 1.5 years old and had spent several months being transported and sheltered, so I knew I would never put her back into a crate. She would go on to live with me mum for about 6 months until she and I took a round trip across the US from Delaware to California. She had and still has trust issues with strangers and even at times with me. She is relatively unsure about a lot but she knows that she is safe and cared for.
ROAD TRIP:
We started in Delaware and headed to Nashville our first night on the road. Stopping several times along the way, pigging out on pizza, snacks, and anything else she wanted to eat with me. I started feeding her my last two bites and since then we still do. Once we made it to Nashville we explored all over. Walking downtown together and sometimes she'd stay in the car and sleep while I found myself wandering into bars to hear the great music, I wouldn't stay out late or leave her very long. On our way back to the hotel we met two amazing people that wanted to show us more of Nashville and they insisted I bring Kota. It turned into an amazing experience and in the morning they wanted us to stay another day but we had plans, we had a destination to reach and I was eager to get back home to Los Angeles.
In each state, city, and every sunset along the way we would stop, enjoy, and explore together. It made for an amazing experience stopping in restaurants, walking through stores, and finding places for her to play. Until we made it. Pulled into a hotel in San Diego, put our stuff in the room, and immediately headed to the beach. We spent the next morning watching the sunrise over the coast, which I had fallen in love with many years before and was now able to share with her.
After breakfast, we took off to Los Angeles and our new place which wouldn't last long, and the test of our bond would truly start.
SLEEPING IN A CAR:
Unfortunately after only a few months in LA, my clothing brand was not taking off how I expected and things were getting tough, yet I refused to give up and I was determined to make this journey in LA happen.
After we left our first place we ended up finding this amazing community in Hermosa Beach and a place where she and I could sleep in a parking lot with other car campers. I had no idea that this stage would last over 2 years, sleeping in a car through thunderstorms, 30-degree mornings with offshore winds would get so cold that we would have to cuddle in the back of an SUV to keep each other warm.
Why? Why did I decide to live in a car with my dog? Because I was so determined to start an apparel brand I knew every dollar I had to earn had to go back into it. Avoiding rent, and bills, and paying for the LA lifestyle was of no interest to me. I was there to do one thing, build a business that would better my life and empower the lives of those I was creating this brand for.
The mornings we found between 3-5 am were always the worst during winters. In the back of a car, with no heater, close to the ocean and water temperature keeping the air cool was the toughest. I would spend most of my days working on spreadsheets, projects, research, sales, marketing everything I could do to learn how to build an apparel brand. Driving to stores to sell my brand she was always right there next to me, luckily LA is incredibly dog friendly. At nights I would attend events I was invited to and house gatherings where Kota would walk free and meet people, which wasn't always great because she was still scared of people and other dogs but wanted to try. She would meet certain people and get comfortable with them but still feared others.
I started meeting friends who would invite us both over for dinners and gatherings, charity events, tournaments, fundraisers, etc, we were a pair around town and I think people began to know this. We dove into the community immediately, shocked by how friendly it was. I don't know if anyone or how many people knew that we were living in our car.
GETTING A HOME:
The day finally came when the brand was in several stores around town, online orders were coming in and I was able to find an investor. We were finally able to get ourselves a place and the greatest part was the house we got was down the street from the park we lived in for two years. Kota was comfortable in the area we were in, there was a dog park where she could play with others and we were only an 8-minute walk to the beach.
Being so close to the beach would teach me one great thing about Kota, she loves to swim and can swim for hours. Every day we'd walk the beach or go to the bay so that she could swim and damn, would she swim. I mean miles and miles of swimming as I walked the beach keeping my eye on her or until she made it look so fun I'd jump in and swim with her.
We would travel all over Southern California together. Road trips to Carmel, Santa Barbara, Pasadena, LA, La Jolla, Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Tahoe from Beaches to hills to mountains and red rock, etc she was always by my side. Anywhere I needed to go for a meeting or opportunity with a potential businessman, she was always right there every time. She became so familiar with the town that she would walk off-leash next to me and walk into stores she knew had treats for her. She began to find an ease around people and began to trust more.
I could take her anywhere, any hike no matter how long or hard. From beach, to cannons, to mountains it was amazing to see her run, play, and be free off leash to see a world I don’t think she was ever exposed to. It became our thing, to find places we could explore and see together. It got me out of the house, out of my work and to see a place so profoundly beautiful that we fell in love with California. From sunrise to sunset that would stop us in our tracks to witness it, it was our heaven and we had to fight for the privilege.
END OF BEACH LIFE:
This house would only last for several months until everything started to unravel. It was a beautiful house with two floors, huge open spaces, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, small yard, Kota had room to run free. It was her place, so close to the beach and we were going to have to leave. Within weeks I was going to be back in my car, after all the hard work from years of building something I was so proud of.
LA FAMILIA & Our Angel:
As the weeks were coming to an end with this beautiful place I had been able to get us, an angel came to OUR rescue. A woman I had met 6 months prior came back into my life and was offered the opportunity to let us stay with her. She came to my home and helped me clean, and pack, while we spent the very last night on the mattress in the living room in front of one of the fireplaces, emotionally realizing things weren’t going as I had hoped again and I was losing Kotas home.
What was meant to be a short stay, turned into a situation that made little sense to anyone else, but the three of us. This woman and I became so close and it was truly because of her that I had any happiness other than Kota. Out of money, beyond miserable and upset with myself, I even watched my dog express depression that I didn’t know they could experience. This woman who was spending her days as a social worker during COVID and dealing with deaths every day would come home to a man who pretended to find any bit of joy he could for her. I was spending my days holding onto the hope that if I just worked harder I could save this brand, while also trying to find any work. We would find joy in the three of us during this crazy time. She would join us on long walks around the neighborhood, and she started joining us on our adventures and hikes, she truly became an important part of our lives and Kota was able to find a great friend.
.
It was a great situation during historically one of the scariest times. This pup that had been through so much, brought us all together in ways we wouldn’t expect. Even a woman who was not a dog woman became very fond and protective of Kota.
I was working on other projects that were hopeful, money looked like it was going to start coming back in and after two years COVID was starting to end. I was able to get a place back in the town we had left two years prior and was offered the chance for a pop-up shop to sell my brand in the town that we had drawn inspiration and success from previously.
POP UP SHOP:
The pop-up shop would be a success. We were selling hundreds of shirts out of the store, online orders were coming back in, and even the town asked me to build a full store. Kota was there every day meeting people, getting out of the house, and enjoying being close to the beach we’d get to walk the town every night after I closed up. Though the shop was only temporary and soon coming to an end I decided to go to Palo Alto, CA. I had heard all about the investors and opportunities there and I was willing to continue doing whatever it took to make this venture succeed. I rented a Uhaul and once again Kota and I were living in a car. For about a month I was pitching investors, angel investors, venture capital, private equity, and lawyers to help me grow what people around the world were grateful I was creating for them.
Once again this dog, this animal was right by my side. Every night in the back of this van, sleeping in cold weather, and eating what I could afford but things were tough. We still managed to find as much time as we could to walk around Stanford University, find places to hike at night, and keep moving. Until I couldn't handle it anymore. I felt horrible for her, misery for myself, and had no other option but after 7 years of giving it everything I had. LITERALLY. We had to give in. It was time to call family and head back to Delaware to spend time figuring out what to do.
BACK TO DELAWARE:
After 7 years of sleeping in cars, beach town homes, west coast adventures, traveling the country, and taking this dog with me everywhere. I had nothing left in me. NOTHING. A friend in Delaware saw the distress in me and offered us a place on a stunning 30-acre estate where Kota could run free. Leaving me to deal with a mental health issue I was never expecting, a depression so deep I would go on to lose 30 pounds and hardly leave a bed. Kota would get me up, have me take her for walks, feed her, and find toys for us to play with even when I was unable and unwilling to deal with day-to-day matters.
I could physically see the pain I was causing this dog from the suffering I was in and the horrible energy I was giving off. If you have ever seen a sad or depressed dog it's the saddest thing I can tell you I have ever seen. I saw what I was going through, in her.
She kept me going, through the darkness I found light, and through the pursuit of light, I found a new goal. To look at everything I had been through not as failing but as learning. With little to no emotional support or understanding of what we had been through. I was going to take what I had experienced, what I had learned, and the resilience we developed and find a way to share that with others, hopefully empowering others to see the greatness in their hardest times. We got to experience all of this, because we leaped, with all the bad there is even more greatness in this journey of ours.
STICK AROUND, WE ARE GOING INTERNATIONAL.
So, this Don't Act Right Brand is more than apparel. It was my only distraction in the last 2 years that gave me any purpose. The purpose of sharing my story and others who have found the light in their darkness and the realization that it’s all just a journey, lessons to learn, and an adventure to take. I’ve learned that often taking action can change your direction. But you have to ACT and you never know where you’ll end up.
We can't see why we go through what we do and we have no idea where our lives will end up. No matter how much pain, there is pleasure, find a way and keep going.
Don’t Act Right.