Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Hobson.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
Chris grew up in St. George, Utah, and after serving in the military and being away from Southern Utah for over 20 years, he is happy to call St. George his home again. Chris started playing the violin when he was 8 years old, and as he was approaching adulthood, he passed on his love of music by teaching those just beginning to play. After returning home from Iraq, Chris returned to what he knew and loved – the violin. He began teaching private music lessons in 2009. After watching students struggle with sub-par, cheap, and unplayable instruments from online retailers, Chris and Jackie embarked on their entrepreneurial journey in 2011 to help parents buy affordable-quality instruments. We understand there is only so much even the most gifted student can do with what music teachers call a VSO or violin-shaped object. We supply instruments that will challenge students rather than impede their ability to play confidently.
After Chris made a career in music, he quickly developed a reputation that kept his teaching schedule full and parents driving hours to get an instrument from him instead of a quick trip to a music store. Although Chris’ latest journey has resulted in opening a music store instead of selling instruments and teaching from his home, he prioritizes keeping the same positive experience and sharing his expertise with each customer.
We have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds since we met aboard a U.S. Army transport plane in 2003 as we headed toward Iraq. After returning home, we spent fifteen months in a combat zone, got married, and started our life together. Many veterans who serve return home to discover that once simple things have become difficult. Chris struggled with traditional employment after being medically/honorably discharged from the military. Music has been a great coping mechanism and provided Chris with a beautiful career that enriches the lives of those around him. Even after a decade of supplying instruments to families and schools, our top priority is always to provide quality instruments, helpful expertise, and a positive experience.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road is as smooth as you leave it. Someone has likely been there if you are traveling on a smooth road. I like leaving the road paved road and creating my success–creating my own story. I am self-aware on a different level since I have been diagnosed with PTSD on such a debilitating level. It has shaped how I work, play, study, and learn. The limitations that I experience daily have entirely altered the trajectory of my life and the plans that I had before deploying to Iraq. By studying and practicing coping mechanisms on a personal level, I have developed skills that help me maintain what is important to me. It is challenging most days, but you can get used to swimming in stormy seas.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a recently published author, a violinist, and a luthier (one who makes, restores, or repairs wooden, stringed instruments). I have always loved writing as a creative outlet, and my recent publication was part of an anthology of poetry about Utah’s natural resources. I am working on an entire photo album of our experience in Iraq, with a corresponding poem for each photograph. I am in the editing phase of a non-fiction novel that begins on the airplane (where I met and served with my wife, Jackie) as we were deploying flying to Kuwait just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It will be finished later this year. My wife helped me open a business called the Violin Gallery in St. George, Utah. I sell, repair, and restore orchestral string instruments. I spend most of my days at my shop either working on instruments, helping customers, chatting with locals about overcoming traumatic experiences, or writing at my antique carpenter’s bench.
We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking.
To live is taking a risk. I frequently talk with customers openly about PTSD or mental health issues, and this is a point that I bring up a lot. If you go outside, you risk being traumatized. If you enter a relationship, being brave enough to love someone, you may be traumatized. To live is to experience a vast array of emotions. The converse is that you never take risks, go outside, and don’t allow yourself to be vulnerable to another person; in other words, you choose not to live. Every day I go to work, I win. I prefer to be brave enough to go out into a world that, after returning from war, seems foreign at times.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.violinsatgreengate.com
Image Credits
All images take by Chris Hobson
