Who is Mr. Dakota

Well dang, I guess we will just start where it all began. Born and raised in good ole Berea, Ohio by two amazing, loving parents who dealt with all of my craziness. I was a wild child I guess you could say, from starting food fights to waking up in my neighbor's garage in a drunken stupor with nothing but a cape, boxers and a dream to live life to the fullest, and boy have I sure lived a life. Joined and killed it on the high school football team and even won myself a Winter Formal King before I miraculously graduated. Then college happened where I started off at Tri-C and got a house with my 4 best friends which was the coolest house in the HISTORY of ever, mostly because of the amazing people and some of my favorite memories are from there. After falling off the roof multiple times, raising a litter of kittens twice, and being raided by the police for who knows what, my time in Berea was over and I transferred to Kent State University. Originally, I was going to school to become a police officer, that was something that I have always wanted to be in life because I always wanted to save people. However, I realized I was way too goofy to become a cop and switched my major to hospitality management. That was such a kickass idea because I got to take cooking classes, wine pairing classes, and even got to go to Vegas for a whole week from a Casino Management Class which was so badass. Kent was such a crazy time, I lived with so many amazing people there too, I even joined ATO... Ruh Rah Rega BABBBYY!!! Got myself a kickass Big and Little from it and even found myself in a male pageant show for Alpha Phi's King of Hearts where I totally ate it and fell in front of hundreds of people during the swimsuit portion of the event like a jack wagon... still think I should have gotten first.

After graduation I moved to Put in Bay where I bartended for an amazing yacht club and met such wonderful people who I still keep in touch with today <3 That Island is probably one of the wackiest places I've ever been to in my entire life with so many hidden gems. Then I read this book called "You Are A BadAss" which gave me the motivation to drop everything and move to Fort Myers. I strolled the streets of Fort Myers Beach until I found one of the most extraordinary places ever, Nervous Nellies!! Working on the beach was a totally different world, especially when you become one with the locals, it is such a gnarly vibe. Covid was where things got interesting because I ended up being in Fort Myers alone far away from my friends and family in Ohio. Luckily enough we created the Xbox Bar Chat that kept me in touch with all the boys at home and helped me not lose my mind. Trust me, I was kind of getting there between growing the foo man chu stash, creating my massive beer pyramid, and baking end of the world cakes. Eventually, I went back to Put in Bay in Ohio and broke my ankle miraculously by slipping in mud... sober. I've fallen off roofs, downstairs, out of trees, and never broke anything but somehow that's what did it. So, for the rest of the year I was the lobster eggroll assembler, and the host who rolled people to their tables on my badass Knee Rover.

Once that Summer ended, I moved back to Florida where I have decided to reside for now. While in Fort Myers, I've survived 2 hurricanes. The rebuild for Ian was probably one of the hardest things that I have ever been through in my life because it took everything away from me. I lost my job, most of my friends moved away, I was going through a break-up, and my landlord was selling my house. Instead of giving up and leaving I decided to push through which was the best decision ever because it made me a much stronger person and I found, hands down, the best job I've ever had which is Connors Steak and Seafood. This job has helped me grow so much as a person turning me into a leader and in general just a better man. I have since become 6 months sober from nicotine and alcohol which has had a huge impact in my life making me want to experience and see more things. I'm now learning guitar, reading an amazing series called the "Fourth Wing", cooking crazy meals, and finding even more challenges to tackle that I never thought in a bazillion years I would be able to achieve.