Check Out Willie Blue II’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Willie Blue II.

Hi Willie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Well, I was born and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. My dad worked for Goodyear tire company for 35+ years, and my mom was/is a physical therapist assistant. I have two younger brothers (Jamar and Ryan), both of whom serve in the U.S. Military, and a baby sister (Alexis) who recently graduated with her Ph.D. in social work.

Growing up, my parents tried their best to give us the most comfortable life they could. Times were hard, and lots of family lessons were learned, but we all survived, and the struggle made us stronger. Throughout my attendance at Pine Forest high school (the best high school in N.C.), I took part in the band, so when I graduated, I received a music scholarship from the illustrious Fayetteville State University and became part of the Bronco Express Marching Band.

My time at Fayetteville State was terrific, I just needed a little more, and that’s when I transferred to Appalachian State University to study the music industry, and that’s when life really took a turn. After living in Boone, NC, for 6 years and a series of fortunate and unfortunate events (long story), I ended up back in Fayetteville searching for what I wanted to do with my life. I had recently adopted a pit bull named Migo and fell in love. I wanted to know everything about him. I began to study the medical side of taking care of him and thought to myself, “how can I do this for a career?”

That’s when I began pursuing my animal health career. When my now wife took a job in Cary, NC, I began to look for employment in a vet clinic in the surrounding area. This proved to be more challenging than expected; I went to almost all vet clinics between Fuquay, NC, and Raleigh, NC, and didn’t get one bite. I mean, I walked into one place, and as I turned around to leave, I saw my application being thrown away. So, I was majorly discouraged and was going to pursue something different.

Fortunately for me, Fuquay veterinary was not far from my house, and I contacted them by phone and in-person EVERY week until finally they gave me a chance, and I never looked back. After about 6-7 years at that vet clinic, I began looking for more challenges and excepted a position at the large animal hospital at N.C state university. It was here that my eyes were open to all the great things in veterinary medicine, and I knew I was on the right path. One day, while working in the barn at the college, the rehab department needed volunteers to help hold patients during acupuncture. I immediately fell in love with canine rehab.

My mom was a human physical therapist, so I was very familiar with a lot of the techniques and terminology, so it just seemed natural to me after some time at N.C. State I went on to get my certification in canine fitness training through the CCFT program at the University of Tennessee. I began to question how I could do this independently and bring the best service possible to canines and their families my way. That’s when The Dabba Company was born. I knew I would need a way to reach the clients, so I developed a mobile vehicle that was a gym on wheels.

I took a 26-foot box truck, put large windows on one side, put turf throughout the truck added electricity and lights. Boom. You have The Dabba Company’s mobile gym! From there, it’s been on. I have been slowly growing the company, now we’re getting ready for a significant expansion and I’m super excited about the future.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Wow, it’s definitely not been a smooth road! There have been all types of obstacles and hurdles. There were physical hurdles – back in 2011, I developed some virus that left fluid around my heart, so I ended up having a heart procedure to take care of that. Then I was diagnosed with a rare stomach disorder called CVS. I’ll spare you the details, but it kept me in and out of work and had it not been for the hand of God, my family, understanding bosses, and co-workers, I would not have made it. Then there were the financial hurdles – for whatever reason, I was unable to secure a loan, so everything you see came from the ground up. It ended up not necessarily being a bad thing in the long run, but it sure made the start-up difficult. And then there were life hurdles – like having to deal with racism and discrimination in the workplace. Having clients that don’t want to work with you because they don’t believe it’s possible for an African American to like me to do this job was discouraging. It’s a challenge when there’s not a lot of people that look like me in the industry, so I’m constantly required to prove myself all the time, and that gets exhausting. Self-doubt was probably the last most crucial hurdle I’ve had to overcome. Believing in myself and my talents is what got me here and knowing that I have been blessed with this gift of helping animals heal on purpose – it’s not some stroke of luck that keeps me going!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In a nutshell, I specialize in canine fitness, focusing on pre/post-surgical fitness, weight loss, senior, and working dog fitness. When dogs get injured, I work with the veterinarian and their owners to form a plan and bring them back to a healthy lifestyle safely and effectively. We do this the same way humans do; we use specific exercises catered to help specific groups of muscles recover from injury.

We help overweight dogs achieve a healthy weight and teach the clients how to help them maintain it. We help senior dogs navigate their way to staying healthy while dealing with getting older. These older dogs get a lot of arthritis and other physical ailments common with getting older. With our working dogs or general fitness dogs we focus on maintaining their fitness and strengthening them to perform whatever job they have at maximum potential. Lastly, we do basic training and puppy confidence sessions!

What sets me apart from a lot of other trainers and facilities is my dedication to each pet’s health, my ability to bring the gym to the client, and my knowledge and experience in the field that allows me to be able to put together programs for the pet’s success and let them know when and if we need to seek further help.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was a fun kid growing up, never super popular but known. My parents provided structure when we were growing up, things like, “don’t talk back to adults,” “yes ma’am, no ma’am”, “treat women with respect” things of that nature. I was into music heavily, my dad was a bassist, so I grew up playing drums with him and in school. I developed a love for blues, funk, and jazz from my dad. I have always been a family-first kid, so I spent a lot of time with my brothers playing sports, fighting with them, you know – standard brother stuff, lol.

I have always loved animals; even when we were younger, we always had dogs. I would go down to my grandma’s house in the country and be surrounded by cattle and hogs. I had friends who had horses, chickens, and other animals that I grew fond of. I tried not to give my parents too hard of a time growing up, but I pushed their buttons for sure. I didn’t start getting into any real trouble until college (another story for another time, lol).

Overall, I had a great childhood! Even though we didn’t have the best of everything, we now, as a family, look back and laugh about the hard times we had and thank God for bringing us through. My sister has her Ph.D. now, and one brother is high ranking in the Air Force. My other brother just graduated with his degree in Sports Management and owns his own sports branding company, and I own my own company and will soon graduate in December with my animal science degree!

I would say despite our ups and downs, my parents did a great job raising us.

Contact Info:

• Email: Thedabbalife@gmail.com
• Website: thedabbalife.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedabbalife
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedabbalife
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBpeiRuP0XimUilAMFwW4Dg

Image Credits
Cassidi Williams and Charles Wright