Interview by Gainesville High graduate and Abernathy Cochran intern Marie Matthews
Meet Brett Dillin! He is married to Stacia Dillin and has three children, Alexa who is 12, Mason who is 10, and Brooks who is 4. He has lived and worked in Hall County his whole life. He taught at Flowery Branch High School for 10 years and has now taught at Gainesville High School for the past five as the marketing management teacher and the cheerleading coach.
We want to thank Coach Dillin for spending time with us recently and telling us more about his life and love of Hall County.
Question: Please tell us a little bit about your family.
Answer: “My family includes me, my wife Stacia, and my three children. Alexa is 12, Mason is 10, and Brooks is 4.”
Q: Please tell us about what you do?
A: “I currently teach marketing management and entrepreneurship at Gainesville High School, it’s my fifth year here. I’m also the cheerleading coach.”
Q: How long have you lived or worked in our community?
A: “I have lived here my whole life. I taught at Flowery Branch High School for 10 years and the past five here at Gainesville High School. Hall county the whole time.”
Q: What are a couple of your favorite restaurants in our community?
A: “One will be the El Carreton food truck, Longstreet falls in there, the Collegiate Grill, and Crossroads in Flowery Branch.”
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?
A: “Probably Myrtle Figueras. Just knowing what all she’s done for the school and the community is awesome.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
A: “I’d probably like to travel back just down the coast of Florida, we’ve done it once when I was younger, me and my wife did. It would just be fun to do it again.”
Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
A: “I enjoy watching ‘Kingdom.’ That was at Coach Cornett’s request. Favorite movies are ‘Major League’ and ‘Gladiator.’”
Q: What advice would you give to people?
A: “Don’t be afraid to try something, don’t be afraid to fail at it. That’s the only way we’re going to know what we like or how we’re going to get better at things.”
Q: What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about our community?
A: “Probably the Collegiate and Longstreet. I grew up eating those even as a kid and I still do.”
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
A: “Even as large as our community has gotten, it still has a hometown feel. I grew up in the north part of Hall County, I worked for a decade in the southern part, now I’m working in the city. And no matter where I go it still has that hometown feel across Hall County as a whole.”
Q: Where do you see yourself in five to 10 years?
A: “I’ll see myself with my kids in high school which is a fun but scary thought at the same time. I plan to still be working at Gainesville, and coaching.”
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “Go hiking in Hawaii on the mountain cliffs. I feel like it would be a once in a lifetime thing.”
