Meet Dillon Walker | Founder & Community Builder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dillon Walker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dillon, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
One of the greatest change-makers in my life taught me a really great lesson about balance. She suggested that balance can be a toxic, false ideal that tricks us into going around discomfort rather than through it, especially for high performing people.

As I’ve come to better understand this, and with her help, balance for me is achieved when I take all my priorities in work, life, relationships, family and health and organize them in a way that brings me maximum joy and fulfillment.

I think the trick for me is being focused on learning, always. If we can learn from everything we do in our lives, we have a better chance of finding “balance.”

The reality is that sometimes, we just have to suck it up and get that thing we’ve been procrastinating on for 3 weeks done. And sometimes that comes at a sacrifice of something else. But balance is about recognizing that each of these areas of priority aren’t going anywhere — staying focused on joy and fulfillment creates an ebb and flow.

One of my 6th grade teachers gave me one of the best pieces of advice I could have ever received. I was frantically running around, worried about something related to yearbook or student government or some other over-achieving kid’s to-do item, and to this day I still utilize the words she imparted: “All I can do, is all I can do, and all I can do, is enough.”

What should our readers know about your business?
Hydrant is a creative studio working with purpose-driven organizations in branding, marketing & communications, and technology. We leverage our holistic, in house team to help our clients achieve ongoing growth and mission-delivery goals.

We like to focus on the problem solving and pairing great design and strategy with those solutions. We’re unique in that we leverage our interdisciplinary in-house team to achieve amazing creative and technical solutions. From identity to social to e-commerce to custom apps, we can mix and match solutions and help organizations really looking to innovate come up with something terrific.

COMMON Workspace is a shared workspace founded just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We deliver an easy, modern and elevated combo of space, perks and community to freelancers, remote workers, and small teams. Our approach is to remove as much friction as possible for our members.

It’s been quite a process, and learning painful lessons along the way, but I think that’s the whole point – it’s about the journey, not the destination. Trite, but true.

Persistence and resilience are really important when you’re trying to do something new, but especially a startup company. Who knew opening a shared workspace just before a pandemic would be hard?

All along the way I have to practice immense gratitude for the numerous lessons learned and still being learned through the practice of stewarding these ventures.

At both Hydrant and COMMON, we want to inspire people to live happier lives, get sh*t done, and grow cool, amazing things more easily.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Tucson has so many amazing things to offer! A delightful combination of tacos, nature, bevvys, and curiosity are in order.

In no particular order:
– Biosphere 2, the worlds largest facility dedicated to the research of climate change’s effects on our planet.
– Taqueria Aqui Con El Nene for great tacos or the best Sonoran Dog (fight me!) in Tucson.
– Owls Club, a funeral home turned cocktail lounge for a great whiskey drink.
– Sonoita, for wine tasting at some of the best: Rune, Deep Sky, Los Milics, and Callaghan.
– Penca Resturante for the best chips and salsa and sangria we have to offer.
– Center for Creative Photography and Tucson Museum of Art for the high-brow exhibit enjoyment.
– A bike ride on our 100+ mi “Loop” a continuous bike path encircling the city and nature areas.
– San Xavier Mission is the oldest intact European structure in Arizona and definitely worth a stop.
– Rooftop drinks at the Moonstone for the most amazing views of the Catalinas and Rincons.
– Hike up Wasson Peak in the Tucson Mountains followed by a stop at the Sonoran Desert Museum.
– Drinks and Ramen from Westbound and Kukai at the Mercado Annex, an outdoor container park.
– Street taco tour on the southside: taqueria pico de gallo, tacos apson, taco fish, rolles are among my favorites
– The Shelter, Tucson’s Kennedy themed neighborhood bar.
– MOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art is always showing an amazing exhibit
– The Coronet for live jazz, amazing cocktails and the best fries you’ve ever had.

Just to name a few…!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
So many people! I’ve been so lucky to be surrounded by great mentors, friends and support my whole life. I dedicate this shoutout to my amazing teams and communities at Hydrant and COMMON Workspace who inspire me every day.

Website: hellohydrant.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walker-dillon/

Other: dillon@hellohydrant.com