Meet Donny Dust | Primitive Skills Self Reliance Educator and TV/Film Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Donny Dust and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Donny, what do you attribute your success to?
In all honesty…I listened to know one, took zero advice from “experts” or “consultants” and did everything I needed to do to establish what success meant for me and went after it. Everyone on the outside likes to offer their opinions with little investment of their time, effort or energy into my business concept or plan for success. However, I was never afraid to sit at my own lunch table and go at it alone. Success and what it is, is only determined by the one who holds the paintbrush in his hands…not the person who just gets to look at the painting in the end.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Creativity is the number one survival skill. All that you see around us has been created…homes, paintings, roads, tables, food and so much more. My specific skill or approach is to create what one needs. Never to over consume, but rather understand that nature provides all and within this line of thinking everything form the mental, physical, emotional and primal self can be obtained through nature. Taking this outlook I asked myself, “How did we, humans survive for thousands of years?” This answer was found in stone tools. A functional art, that has kept us alive, feed and safe for thousands upon thousands of years. So, in-turn I taught myself to art of flintknapping or the lithic reduction. The functional art of creating stone tools our early ancestors used to shape their very existence.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is a simple answer, I would not take them into a city. I would bring them to a trail head in the mountains and just go. No plan, minimal gear and only led by curiosity. The idea of a plan is not the best. Too many times people stick to a plan and determine success only by the steps of the plan. However curiosity leads to new places and adventures. Allowing my friend to be curious about the terrain that stands in-front of them, eliminating the plan can one truly have an unexpected journey. Allowing ones senses to engage with the sights, sounds, smells of the mountains can a person achieve an adventure of uncertainty and excitement. Curiosity has brought us across the seas when little was known about the given world, allowed us to travel to space and experience unknown galaxies. More importantly curiosity is key to all success.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout goes to the natural world…the environment. All I have learned about life, people, business, success and failure comes form a deep understanding of the natural world. I have consumed what she has offered in the forms on different foods. I have drank her waters when it has rained, emerged from the ground from a spring and when morning dew waited patiently on plants to be sipped. I have lived in her caves for extended periods of time, slept under towering pines and in open fields of flowers. I have walked through her valleys, over mountains and forded her deepest rivers. All this shaped who I am and what I provide to people who seek out challenge and adventure. In simple terms, I would never by a car from a guy who has never built a car.

Website: https://www.paleotrackssurvival.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donnydust/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/donnydust

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donnydust1/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrbAnPwWsPKuadQ94wNORvw