Dillon Yi is currently working as a senior engineering consultant in the mechanical engineering discipline for the nuclear power industry at Enercon Services, Inc. in Kennesaw, GA. Outside of his career as an engineering professional, Dillon is pursuing freelance work as an actor, model, and singer. He is passionate about all aspects of the film industry and is a lover of the arts, but music holds a special place in his heart. He recollects his earliest and happiest childhood moments when he would study movies and discover new music with his older brother, a graduate of the University of Georgia in Film Studies and the Los Angeles Film School in video editing, and would spend countless hours; studying, learning, and keeping up with the industry. Before Dillon's appointment to the United States Merchant Marine Academy and military and government service, he had Hollywood dreams, particularly in martial arts and deep or heavy cinema, and rockstar dreams, as well, resonating most with the emotional, heavier, and rebellious styles of music. He started Hate Heart Recordings, LTD. as an entity to accomplish all of his dreams and as a channel for his visions with a long-term non-profit purpose to help other creatives realize theirs, whatever that vision is within ethical boundaries. He has a mission to keep the underground scene and independent artists alive through the generations with a focus on affordability and quality while continuously learning and constantly improving.

In his professional career as an engineer and leader, Dillon was most recently a Principal Engineer in the Technology Department at American Bureau of Shipping and is passionate about nuclear energy. In this role, Dillon worked with diverse teams as a Nuclear Subject Matter Expert to research the adoption of advanced nuclear reactor technologies for the maritime industry. Dillon began his career in government at NAVSEA Norfolk Naval Shipyard working as a Nuclear Engineer in the Nuclear Test Engineering Division where he graduated from a naval nuclear power engineering school on the US Navy’s A4W class reactor aircraft carrier platform. He then transitioned to a role as a Project Engineer for a defense and federal contracting firm in their Marine Engineering Division. Dillon then worked as a Consulting Engineer for various land-based power plants and facilities with the primary clients being combined cycle and cogeneration plants.

While there, he specialized in heat recovery steam generators, high-energy piping systems, waste heat and auxiliary boilers and pressure vessels. Dillon’s proudest work experience has been in nuclear design on TerraPower’s Natrium Demonstration Project working at Bechtel as the prime contractor. There he was a key member of the nuclear design and licensing group as a lead engineer responsible for the gaseous radwaste processing system. Dillon also served 7 years in the US Navy Reserve as a Strategic Sealift Officer (SSO). He was the first SSO member of the US Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey active reserve unit and regularly conducted inspections, surveys, and sea trials of US Navy surface vessels and service craft. Dillon earned his Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering and Shipyard Management from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point.

He also obtained his United States Coast Guard Third Assistant Engineer License, Unlimited Horsepower of steam, motor, and gas propelled vessels and spent one year at sea as an engine cadet. A science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) enthusiast, certified lean six sigma black belt, and engineer-in-training, Dillon plans on pursuing professional licensure and continuing his education through a doctorate degree aspiring to finish solving the “Theory of Everything” and maintaining the defensive posture and dominance of the USA over all other countries and enemies foreign and domestic. When he is ready, he plans to run for political office as part of the Libertarian Party, eyeing the top seat at the Oval Office. Dillon is also a natural artist and creative at heart attributed to his royal Korean blood and martial arts in his genetic makeup, he dreams of making it in the arts and entertainment industry and having his name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Dillon was born in Riverdale, Georgia on October 6, 1991 at 1:58 PM to Korean American parents, Sung Chul Yi (father) and Eun Shil Yi (mother - maiden name, Kang). However, he lost both his parents at a young age and adopted by his uncle and aunt, Sung Nam Yi (Sunny) and Jung Hee Yi respectively, at the request of his late grandfather, Kwang Myong Yi. He comes from a large household of six including, Sunny, Jung, Justin (Sunny and Jung’s biological son), Stefanie (biological daughter), Dillon, and Leena (his direct little sister). He also has a half-sister, Crystal. His extended family is culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse, which has equipped him with the soft skills necessary to relate with people of all backgrounds. An avid traveler, he has visited nearly every coastal state and major city nationwide and has made trips to Spain, Djibouti, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Guatemala, South Korea, China, Greece, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Japan, and London.

Dillon was top of his class his early school days, having attended Ola Elementary, Middle, and High School in McDonough, GA of Henry Country; a small, rural, and quaint country town and excelled in wrestling, being a multi-year varsity letter winner, state qualifier, and state team member. He also enjoyed training with the cross-country team although he never ran in a sanctioned event. Dillon was raised in a disciplined household and recalls starting his physical training as soon as he was adopted, being ordered to perform pushups, and run laps around his home. Truthfully, Dillon dreaded exercise and had a love for the arts and humanities. However, per his uncle’s order, Dillon kept up with his math and science studies and wrestled to be competitive for a prestigious career as a military officer. After a tough first year, he trained ferociously in the off-season to be awarded Most Improved Wrestler, motivated by his desire for recognition from his parents that never came.

At Kings Point, Dillon was an idealistic achiever, influenced by great military leaders, and had initial ambitions to become a Navy Seal Officer, however he had a near-death experience from Rhabdomyolysis attributed to poor self-care whilst balancing academic, athletic, and regimental life, that made him rethink his career ambition. Still addicted to the grind after recovery, Dillon switched his athletic ambitions from college wrestling to Olympic Weightlifting after feeling inspired by the incredible feats of strength and athleticism of these elite athletes, being one of the founding members of the weightlifting team and making it to the collegiate national stage. He would carry this ambition with him after graduation and through his career, making connections with elite weightlifting coaches, and helping build national teams, while also finding success on the national stage as an athlete. He would also gain an interest in Crossfit and obtain his level one certification.

Dillon is a gym rat, carrying lifelong influences from bodybuilding, martial arts, Oly lifting, and powerlifting greats, and dabbles in weaponry and all the martial and movement arts as a martial artist by blood. At this point, it is who he is after struggling with his identity issues his whole life and after years of hard work, grit, and determination coming to the realization that he harbors the wishes of his ancestors in his genes as a descendant of the talented first son of the last king of the Joseon Yi dynasty; who deserted his line to the throne to pursue his arts much like Dillon is currently doing. He is a free thinker, an advocate for art as he himself is an artist, mental health, the lgbtqia, nuclear, sexual assault victim, and veteran communities. He is open to learning about and advocating for other underrepresented causes as a firm believer of diversity, equity, and inclusion and a specialist in servant leadership. In essence, he sees a gap in the world that needs to be bridged for peace.

He is only a man that comes from a harsh upbringing beyond his control who never gave up on himself despite his circumstances. He is a passionate and stubborn do-it-yourself type of person, believing in the concepts of agile, gemba, kaizen, kintsugi, lean, and scrum as applied to life and likes what he likes. As a straight man, but comfortable and understanding of himself, and with a life experience and resume like no other, is married to a real transgender woman, Tiffany Yi, but is currently separated and divorcing due to differences in long-term life vision. Dillon is a devout Christian and a spiritual person but is not limited by his beliefs. Dillon desires a diverse, large, and loving family. He is a self-taught “everything” for the most part, an autodidact, and believes that you can teach yourself anything with the right mindset and under the right mentors if you dream big enough.

Having accomplished as much as he has, Dillon’s wish is to educate and inspire others and share his story as it is being written as he is now committing to his lifelong dream of star-domme. With Hate Heart, Dillon hopes to inspire people of all demographics to pursue excellence in their professional endeavors while unapologetically being themselves. Hate Heart believes that it does more harm than good to repress one’s carnal desires and true self especially in an ever changing, connected, and confusing modernized world that we all live in today. The belief is that negative emotions can be positively channeled through artistic, creative, and physical outlets that do no harm to yourself and others. As Hate Heart grows, it is our vision to bridge the gap between the creative and professional world while helping those that may be struggling to channel their emotions in harmless ways and live long fulfilling lives.

Incomplete
-27 years of fitness experience

-Hailing from a rich lineage of Korean martial artists including Taekwondo national champions, Hapkido, and Tang Soo Do practitioners
-Studied self-defense and the arts of Karate-do, Judo, and Aikido under Sensei Hiroyuki Tesshin Hamada of Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (DNBK) Japanese martial arts organization at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA (Black Belts rejected)
-Studied Muay Thai under Head Muay Thai Instructor, Jake Chamberlain, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under former professional UFC and WEC fighter, Mackens Semerzier, at the House of Muay Thai in Norfolk, VA
-4 years of GA High School Folkstyle Varsity Wrestling in the AAA / AAAA divisions (Three-Year Letterwinner, Awarded Most Improved Wrestler in Sophomore Year, AAA State Qualifier, Region Champions Team Member, Placed 5th in the GA AAA State Team Tournament)
-1 Year of Division III College Wrestling in the 125 / 133 lbs weight classes at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) in Kings Point, NY
-USA Weightlifting Collegiate Olympic Weightlifting

More to come...