Hello everyone, my name is Matt Dillon and yes my brother’s name is Kevin Dillon. After 28 years, I am still not sure whether my parents knew that there was a famous brother duo named Matt and Kevin Dillon already in movies by the time we were born. I grew up between Philadelphia and New York, but on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River. After a few sets of stitches, a growth spurt, and graduation from high school, I realized I needed to get outside my comfort zone and expand my personal horizons by trying to live in various areas around the world.

I went to school in the south at Wake Forest University where I knew no one with a freshman year roommate from Southern Alabama and next door neighbor from El Paso, Texas. Despite not being in a place I was familiar with, I still created friendships with people from all over the country and all over the world that I cherish to this today. I also learned about the southern way of life, learned how to cook BBQ, started loving Texas country music, and enjoyed college football. On top of living in the south during college, I also had the chance to work in Ireland and study in London. Knowing hardly anyone in these foreign lands, I still excelled personally, professionally, and educationally.

After graduation, the economy was not doing well and I went back tomy hometown, Philadelphia. While I did learn more about myself after living by myself for 2 years and being my own recipe guinea pig, I realized I still had an itch to get outside of what I used to. I yearned to spread my wings and fly like Elliot and ET in that 1982 documentary ET. Not the best analogy or most timely reference but it was the first clever movie title that came to my mind. So I considered moving to NYC, didn’t like the work life balance, Chicago, too cold, or San Francisco. As a result, I heeded the advice of American Author Horace Greely to “Go West, young man.”

So I moved to San Francisco after only being here once before. I knew one person, yet I was outside my comfort zone once again. I immediately felt myself trying much harder to expand my horizons both socially and professionally. Now I have more friends in the Bay Area than I do in any other place. While in San Francisco, I also hiked Half Dome at night, which for some avid outdoorsman is not a big deal, but for an avid indoorsman is one hell of a feat that I would have never accomplished unless I was outside my comfort zone.