We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Dawn Gabiola a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jennifer Dawn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

One of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken in my life was betting on myself and leaving my corporate career to become an entrepreneur. It actually wasn’t a conscious choice for me. I was thrust into this path. And looking back now, I see that I was being divinely guided to walk my highest path and purpose.

I had a successful career as a Design Director for 12 years. I was the first employee and helped build a multi-million dollar business from the ground up.

But after 12 years, I was let go. I was burnt out and my health suffered. Because I was a workaholic, I tried to constantly push myself to overachieve because I was subconsciously trying to prove my self-worth. But I knew intuitively that I couldn’t go straight to another corporate job because my situation would only get worse.

I took a few months off to rest and recover. During this time, I heard God say to put my personal poetry on t-shirts. I was like, “How am I going to make money doing that?” But I decided to go all in because I had already lost everything.

So, my entrepreneurial journey began. I let go of control and allowed myself to be led in faith one step at a time. I felt like I was saving my soul and my own life. Because I was.

I named my business Dawning Soul. My middle name is Dawn. And a dear friend gave me this name for my business. I love that it means always new, always evolving. Always a new beginning.

I began my business selling my Dawning Soul poetic tees to empower women to own their beauty and power from the inside out. I had success selling my poetic tees in boutiques around town and online in my Etsy shop.

But deep down I wanted to serve at an even deeper soulful level. I decided to use my branding and marketing skills from my previous career and combine it with my love of personal empowerment and style. Which brings me to where I am today helping my fellow introverts and sensitive souls own their quiet voice and fierce power to build brands that make a big impact. I love helping these leaders authentically express their true essence through their marketing, personal presence and soulful style.

My entrepreneurial journey was not just about building a business doing what I love. Truly, my path has been a spiritual journey to come back home to me. Every step forward, every challenge helped me grow into a greater version of myself that I didn’t know existed. I learned to trust in a force greater than myself. Through God’s grace, I remembered that I was chosen to BE here as an essential part of Life itself to share my rare and divine light.

Now, I no longer see my choice to lead myself on my entrepreneurial journey as a risk. But as my greatest investment in myself and my purpose here on earth.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I AM Jennifer Dawn Gabiola. Personally, I absolutely love vintage shopping. It gives me so much joy to find one-of-a-kind vintage gems to authentically express my spirit from the inside out. Professionally, I am a Soulful Branding & Business Mentor for Introverts and Sensitive Souls to authentically shine in life and business. Through my business, Dawning Soul, I take a holistic approach to branding and marketing. I love supporting my clients through heart-centered strategy, exquisite design and soulful personal presence & style.

How I got into my business was totally organic and divinely guided. I didn’t have a master plan. As mentioned, I had a successful 12-year career as a Design Director and helped build a multi-million dollar company from the ground up. But God ultimately had a different plan for me. I had a major crossroads moment when I lost my career and was also diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I lost everything that I thought was me – my self-image, my career and my health. I then received an unexpected divine download to share my personal poetry on t-shirts. Because I had already lost everything, I went for it. I sold my Dawning Soul poetic tees in local boutiques around Houston and online in my Etsy shop. Then, I got the incredible opportunity to share my collection at Houston Fashion Week. I was so grateful for all this success, but deep down, I wanted to serve women on an even deeper level. Everything came full-circle to what I am doing now helping my fellow introverts and sensitive souls to own their quiet voice and fierce power to build brands that make a big impact.

I provide my clients with a wide range of support to help them fully express the true essence of who they are in their business. I offer 1:1 private coaching for clients looking for personalized support to authentically build their brand and grow their business through embodied leadership, heart-centered strategy and custom design. And I offer group support through my “Quiet Voice Big Impact” branding and marketing program and self-placed support through my “Master Your Energy. Master Your Impact” Masterclass.

And I’m so excited to share that I am currently celebrating the 10 Year Anniversary of my Spirit of S.T.Y.L.E book by launching a Special Edition Spirit of S.T.Y.L.E. E-book and Look Book Bundle, a commemorative Dawning Soul “I AM” poetic tee as well as my Spirit of S.T.Y.L.E. Experience to empower women to fully express their Higher Self through their sacred style.

What problem I solve for my clients is helping them truly see themselves so they can unapologetically express the true essence of who they are. I love helping my fellow introverts and sensitive souls become the powerful leaders they are born to BE. My purpose is to help them authentically express who they are from the inside out in their life and business. From owning their personal presence and style to expressing the power of their voice and energy in their branding and marketing, it’s all about helping my clients make their greatest impact.

What sets me apart from others is my belief that the key to living at your highest level is to connect with the true essence of your spirit. Your essence holds the core qualities of who you innately are which is meant to be fully expressed in your life and business. When you fully embody your essence and express your sacred energy from the inside out, you unlock your rare and undeniable magic.

How I discovered my true essence was through style. Style has been my deeply sacred practice for me to express the core essence of who I AM from the inside out. God gave me an acronym for S.T.Y.L.E. which stands for “Spiritually Translating Your Life’s Essence™.” (I always get goosebumps when I share that). When I lost my successful career and my health, what helped me come back home to myself was my style. I instinctively gave myself permission to feel my way forward. I noticed what vintage pieces spoke to my soul and gave me life. I followed my joy and adorned myself with beauty. My style became my way of communing with God and my inner spirit as a divine and sacred expression of God’s love and beauty fully expressed through me. My style captures my rare and sacred frequency and how I energetically move in the world. As an introvert, I love making a statement without having to say a word. My vibe speaks for itself. When I feel myself, the right people feel me because they resonate with my heart.

What I am most proud of is that I have never given up on myself or the vision God placed in my heart. I know with every fiber of my being that everything I have ever gone through has helped me to become the person I AM today. I see challenges as divine opportunities to unlock deeper parts of your greatness. And to receive the grace and wisdom needed to prepare for bigger blessings in the future. I bravely faced pain from the past and broke ancestral patterns of oppression. I made the conscious choice to end negative generational cycles in order to create generational blessings. I am showing up fully as who God created me to BE. And I bravely play my part in my ancestral line and for humanity as a whole.

The main things I want potential clients and followers to know about me and my brand is the meaning behind Dawning Soul. As mentioned, my middle name is Dawn and I love that Dawn means always new and ever-evolving. I truly believe we are all ever-evolving Dawning Souls here to make our lasting mark on the world by BE-ing and expressing our fullest, most authentic selves. As we heal and evolve, so does every life that we touch. We are meant to BE the embodiment of God’s love in action. That’s the mission behind my business – to empower soulful sensitive leaders to unapologetically and freely show up in their full authenticity to make their greatest impact in their lives and businesses.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

A story from my journey that illustrates my resilience was never feeling good enough to BE me. Growing up, I was bullied for being so quiet. I was shy and introverted and preferred to keep to myself. But people would judge and misunderstand me and project their insecurities onto me. Other kids would bully me because they thought I was weak. And adults would tell me to get over being so quiet and sensitive because the world would take advantage of me. So, I didn’t feel that it was safe to be me.

As an adult, I suppressed these insecurities and overcompensated in order to feel good enough. I became a perfectionist and workaholic. I internalized all the criticism I received growing up and subconsciously criticized myself to overachieve and prove my self-worth. This negative self-talk eventually caught up with me and impacted my health. And I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

It was when I lost my successful corporate career that I finally learned to find my value deep inside myself instead of through external validation. My entrepreneurial journey helped me to come home to myself. God showed me that who I AM at the core was innately valuable and that my natural gifts and passions were needed in this world. And everything came full circle when I was divinely guided to serve my fellow introverts and sensitive souls through my business. It’s been such a privilege to empower these quiet leaders to make their impact with the support I wish I had early on.

My resiliency came from believing that deep down I was worthy of more. That I was worthy of my own love, care and self-acceptance. I chose to have faith and never give up because I wanted to know so badly what it felt like to feel safe to be me. And I am incredibly grateful to now feel at peace and blessed to BE fully me. I don’t regret all the challenges on my journey to get here. Because I know it’s always darkest before the Dawn. And I am so honored to finally see my light.

Have you ever had to pivot?

A time in my life that I chose to pivot was changing who I served in my business. Because of my love of fashion and style, I started out focusing on serving soulful leaders in the beauty and fashion industry. I loved supporting these leaders who wanted to go beyond the surface materialism of this industry and make a lasting and meaningful impact. Even though I had success with my clients, I found that this niche was too small because at the time there were not a lot of leaders in this industry who wanted to communicate their brand in such a deep and soulful way.

Around that time, I kept getting so many divine signs about introverts. I didn’t identify as an introvert because I thought that meant you were shy and anti-social. But because I kept getting all these divine nudges, I looked into it more and learned that being an introvert meant you need regular quiet time to recharge your energy. That was totally me. What was so synchronistic was the clients I attracted in the beauty and fashion industry were also introverts. I knew in my gut that God was encouraging me to pivot in this new direction to serve this like-minded community in order to deepen the impact of my business and build on my love of personal empowerment, branding and style.

So, I created the support that I needed when I first started my business as an introvert and sensitive soul. I challenged the stereotypes and focused on communicating our natural strengths and the power of our quiet leadership. I championed these leaders to unapologetically own their quiet voice and fierce power to build brands that make a big impact.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dawningsoul.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dawningsoul/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.gabiola
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/dawningsoul
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/user/DawningSoul
• Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dawningsoul
• Podcast: https://anchor.fm/quietvoicebigimpact

Image Credits
Dez theGreat with The House of Greenwood