Meet Dijon Rishod Banks | Rollerskater/Rollerskating Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dijon Rishod Banks and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dijon Rishod, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I’d say there are a few important factors behind my success, here’s three:

1. Having genuine love for what I do and honoring those who help others within the community.

2. Always having the desire and the strength to never compromise my morals for material gain or exposure.

3. Sticking with the core values and moral compass my Heavenly Father has instilled in me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What sets me apart from others is the fact that I genuinely love my crafts, and I work diligently to never allow my love for what I do to become sour due to negativity and darkness that lurks around me. The journey of getting to where I am today professionally came with many obstacles, trial and error, sacrifice, growth, and much more. It was not easy. Challenges I had to overcome was battling with childhood trauma, and not allowing that to be an excuse to cripple me for the rest of my life. Battling with mental health, going to therapy and fighting addictions. I’ve learned along the way that this battle called life is a battle I could never conquer alone. I’ve been blessed by my Heavenly Father, vía his word The Bible, with the gift of teaching, all the while being able to learn to be a student of life as well. I want the world to know that my life reflects being the anomaly, and finding balance between putting the well-being of others before myself. As well as learning to respect and care for myself, so that I can in turn be of assistance to my peers.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There’s a couple places and things I’d set up for a friend of mine and myself to do. I’d take them out to eat to Turkey Leg Hut, Lotus Seafood, as well as a soul food spot called Esther’s. I’d take them to this poetry night that takes place on Wednesday nights at Avant Garden, hosted by a group called “Write About Now”. We’d maybe catch a rooftop movie as well. The most exciting places I’d love to take them is to the skating rinks we have our adult skate nights at throughout the week. Friday nights at a rink called Bear Creek from 10:30-2am would be mandatory. Great vibes and good energy, kind of like the vibes from the movie “ATL” where they skated at Cascade on Sunday nights. These are just a few things I’d do with a good friend of mine.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It would be an honor to shoutout my mother for the years of love, care, consideration, tough love, wisdom, and much more! She’s never abandoned me, she’s been patient with me, always had faith that I’d prevail, and gave me the discipline I needed to stay alive and free. There’s many other sources of support I could shoutout as well. My Heavenly Father, fellow peers and family members. I definitely didn’t make it this far alone!

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