Meet Aaron Rathbone

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

Hi Aaron, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I started my adult music career in Nashville working with BMG Music Publishing on the creative side of the songwriting business. Signing and developing writers, recording top-quality demos of their best songs, and networking with labels and producers to land radio singles was the game, and I had a very high tolerance for risk at that time, bordering on reckless even. No idea was bad, anything was worth trying, and I didn’t think very hard about long-term impacts in my 20’s. I just swung for the fence with my decisions (more like impulses lots of the time), and looking back I missed opportunities by not taking a longer view. As I left the recording industry behind and moved back home to purchase my father’s business, Dirt Cheep, I had a LOT on the line. I had a young family and employees depending on me, vendors that depended on my business, customers that looked to us to help them create music or deliver their message to their audience… not to mention the financial obligations associated with a mature business such as leases, credit lines, endless invoices, and day to day operations. I became severely risk-averse, almost to a fault, as pendulums often swing to their extremes before settling into a methodical pattern near the center. Looking back I missed opportunities by being too careful, and I worried far too much about the minutia that didn’t matter in the big picture. Today I think I’ve found that methodical center, and regarding how I think about risk, I’ve found wisdom in Jeff Bezos’ framework of ‘one-way’ and ‘two-way’ door decisions. For reversible choices—the two-way doors—Bezos advises swift action. These are opportunities to learn and adjust course if needed. However, for consequential, hard-to-reverse decisions—the one-way doors—he emphasizes careful deliberation and thorough exploration of alternatives. Bezos also highlights the importance of ‘disagreeing and committing’ in team dynamics. This approach fosters decisiveness while respecting diverse viewpoints. It’s about trusting your colleagues and fully supporting decisions once they’re made, even if you initially disagreed. Crucially, Bezos warns against compromise for compromise’s sake and resolution through stubbornness. Instead, he advocates for seeking truth and making informed decisions, even when it requires more effort. This framework has helped me navigate risks more effectively, with less stress, balancing quick action with thoughtful consideration where it matters most. We successfully navigated the challenges of Covid and continue to thrive in these uncertain economic times, and I think the one-way and two-way doors approach has helped make Dirt Cheep nimble in the marketplace and successful combining the priorities of a successful brick-and-mortar retail store with delivering what our customer want most.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
When people ask me what I do for work, about half the time I simply say “I listen for a living.” My parents showed me how to listen to the world around me from the time I could follow the sound of their voices, and I grew up in not only a musical household but in a family that communicated clearly and often; a place you felt heard. To me the birds chirping were just as important as the bubbles in the creek or my mom singing me to sleep. I’m really lucky in that regard, and it’s shaped my life dramatically. I don’t consider myself an artist per se, but more of a general creative in every capacity I can access. I see colors when I listen to sounds, I’m fascinated by the creativity of others, and I find my utmost joy not in creating something out of nothing, but rather creating something new out of something that already is. To that end, I’m not a professional musician as many would assume a music store owner to be. Instead, I’m more like 90% of my customers and the people I meet every day. We’re folks who enjoy listening to and making music as a hobby that’s integrated into our lifestyle, but not in a pursuit to teach or stand on stage in front of a crowd. We do it selfishly, art for the sake of it, and to me that’s beautiful. So when I pick up a guitar or plug in a microphone, tune a church sound system or talk to a writer about what they hear in their head and how they see the world, I’m living my best life. I’m listening.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have three places that would be top priorities for a close friend visiting town for a week: the Beltline, the Marietta Square, and the wineries of North Georgia. My wife and I will drive down from Marietta a few times a year for a weekend itinerary in the City, which despite its proximity we rarely visit (so it always seems familiar and new). We love to start at Ponce City Market for a snack and some window shopping, then get out on the East Side Trail for people watching, leisurely strolling, with a stop at Beetlecat in Inman Park. That adventure usually ends up at Krog Street for an excellent meal at Superica. Later in the week I’d take our guest to spend the day on the Marietta Square, starting at Two Birds for the best craft beer curation in Cobb (and creative pizzas), then strolling all the shops with stops at Red Hare for tamales, Mac’s for oysters, Hamp & Harry’s for creative cocktails, then maybe some late night music at Johnny McCrackin’s. Clearly we like to walk off our calories! Lastly, I think the North Georgia mountains are incredible, and we’d host our guest at Chateau Meichtry in Ellijay before heading out for an easy hike in Dahlonega at Desoto Falls, perhaps a stop at Wolf Mountain Vineyards, then on to their town square for an elegant dinner at 19° North Seafood & Grill. To us that would be an epic week!

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?
I’d like to shout out to all of our Dirt Cheep employees, past and present, who have collectively shaped what we are as a company. The Dirt Cheep brand is all about Doing More With Less, focusing on substance over status, uncovering value at every turn and saving our customers money through those efforts. The journey towards that clarity has been impacted daily by our employees’ vision, dedication, persistence, loyalty, and acceptance that sometimes it seems like we don’t know what we’re doing… and it’s true, we don’t. That may seem a bit unconventional for a company to admit, but we take comfort in knowing that nobody else knows how to do what we’re doing either. We’re blending the old with the new and taking a familiar musical adventure to refreshing new places. You should come with us.

Website: dirtcheep.com

Instagram: @dirtcheep