Have You Met Tako? We'll Introduce You To DD Employee Brian Shintaku

Anyone who goes by the nickname of Tako likely has a pretty great personality, but his awesome sense of humor is just a fraction of what makes Brian Shintaku such a great addition to the DD company team. We’re continuing to learn about each of the people who help to spread the disc golf love under the DD roof, so let’s find out more about Brian!

Starting Off On The Right Foot

Brian has lived in several places across the United States, but in 2018 he made the trek from California to Emporia and started working for Dynamic Discs that January. As the Team Manager for DD/Latitude 64/Westside, he’s got his hands full with a variety of tasks each and every day, but finds that the atmosphere and people he’s around is really what sets Dynamic Discs apart from other jobs he’s had:

“The best thing about working for DD is working in and around the sport and activity I love most, disc golf! I initially applied to DD to try to be a part of a exciting, booming, trustworthy company that is at the top of the market in disc golf.”

Tako has been playing disc golf since his teens, so for him, getting to be a part of the industry is a pretty amazing thing.

Making A Difference

One thing that’s so powerful about the employees at Dynamic Discs is that their passion for the sport extends beyond a 40-hour workweek. Shintaku is active throughout Emporia and loves to teach others about the sport:

“When outside of work, I try to grow the sport by volunteering at events to explain basic principles of disc golf. One example would be reaching out to local schools to give presentations during a PE period; during these events, each person/student gets a chance to throw a disc and make a putt in the basket.

The difference I try to make to disc golfers everywhere is to be a positive supporter, teaching others about ways to get involved with their community, helping with social media posts to show what programs and equipment are available, and being a good ambassador for disc golf. Hopefully leading by example is contagious and others will follow suit.”

A Family Event

Tako is clearly immersed within the disc golf world, but how does the rest of his family feel about it? He shared with us a pretty awesome story that goes to show just how amazing it is when the disc golf love extends to others:

“About five years ago my family (me, my wife Carly, and daughter Hayleigh) lived in Colorado. During a ladies' league with five other ladies at Ghostown DGC, I decided to film all the ladies’ drives on the ninth hole. After the first five ladies threw, it was then Carly’s turn and she threw a drive 235’ directly into the basket and it was filmed! On the drive back down the mountain, Carly felt dizzy and uneasy.

She sometimes gets altitude sickness so we thought nothing of it, but the symptoms continued after we arrived home that afternoon. She decided to take a pregnancy test and sure enough, baby number two was in her belly! So on the same day, we had twice the amount of joy for Carly’s second ace and child number two.”

Brian is a true part of the DD family and we couldn’t imagine working without him!