When I met DJ Trina Johnson in February 2009, I knew Sweet would be working with her a lot. She’s dynamic, driven and compassionate. In addition to keeping 2,000 women dancing all night long at Babes Around Denver‘s phenomenal First Friday event each month, she’s an accomplished business woman who loves music and making people’s bodies move.

What really struck me about Trina was her heart. She leads with it. All the proceeds from her DJ career go toward her No. 1 passion: Taking care of stray dogs. That’s why she’s totally Sweet.

One of the most popular DJs on our maiden voyage in November, Trina is looking forward to filling our Cozumel resort with music and organizing a community service project to help dogs on the island this September. We’re so proud to have her on our Sweet team. Brava, Trina.

Here’s her story in her own words:

Everyone has their “thing”
While walking home from school one day I noticed a little black dog tied up to the porch post inside a neighboring yard. I quietly walked over to him, untied the rope from the post and brought him home with me. I remember thinking it was the most inhumane, cruel thing I had ever seen. I was only five years old. I snuck him in to the house. He and I lived in my closet for about a week.

I fed him, gave him water, took him outside (even in the middle of the night), played with him, slept in the closet with him. Life was perfect, until my parents found him. I first told my parents that I found him, then I told them he had no home, then I resorted to “his owners were really mean to him and kept him tied up outside and starved him and didn’t want him.”

My mom didn’t fall for it. She looked at the dogtag and called the owner. They came and took him away that day. I really missed him and every time I walked by his house, he was inside. I guess I made things worse for my little buddy.

In the years to come, I must have brought home at least a dozen stray dogs I had found on the streets. They always seem to find me, when they are lost that is. Some I was able to keep, others we had to take to “The Pound” or the owners somehow mysteriously knew we had their dog. Thanks, mom!

Before College, trying to figure out what it was I wanted to do when I grew up, I thought about Veterinarian School. I was at the hospital one day while my sister was having a baby and fainted. I realized that the site of blood and guts floored me, literally. Not a desirable trait in a vet.

For while, I adopted dogs. In 1997, I went to Mexico for the first time. There were dogs running around everywhere. Some with mange, most of them pregnant. I remember my first vision was looking out the window on to the beach, seeing a momma dog walking with 9 or 10 puppies following her. It broke my heart. I went to the grocery store and bought as much dog food as I could carry. Every day, I fed the dogs. I went back every year to Mexico and did the same thing. Eventually, I connected with a Humane Society in Puerto Vallarta. I donated money every year and took flea collars down when I went.

Everyone seems to have a “thing,” like human rights, abortion, hunger, children, etc. I have always donated to local Humane Societies and sponsored animal events in Alaska. After I closed my nightclub in Denver, I didn’t have an outlet to be able to raise awareness or money for the animals down there. It was shortly afterward that I began DJing for Babes Around Denver that I came up with the idea to donate all of my fees to various shelters around the country. I thought, if I could get my name out there, I could raise a lot of money for various shelters. In 2008, I donated $8,000 to various animal charities. In 2009, I donated $12,000. I can’t wait to hit the $20,000 mark.

My reward for it all? With music in my soul and animals in my heart, I get to do two things I love the most. There is no greater feeling in the world than knowing what you do makes a difference, no matter how big or small.

Follow DJ Trina’s adventures in animal rescue.

Tags: DJ Trina, Shannon Wentworth, Sweet Somethings

Posted in: Sweet Somethings

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