We were lucky to catch up with Jennifer Dawn Gabiola recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jennifer Dawn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?
When I envision the legacy I am meant to leave with my life, I feel into the truth of my heart. I see myself empowering more women all over the world to deeply know the sacred and powerful connection between Spirit and Style. God gave me an acronym for S.T.Y.L.E. which stands for “Spiritually Translating Your Life’s Essence™.” I love helping women unapologetically express the true essence of who they are from the inside out through their authentic Style. As an introvert and sensitive soul, I am not loud. But I take up space in my own way by making a statement with my undeniable energy and one-of-a-kind Style. My frequency is rare and powerfully magnetizes what is in alignment for me. When I feel myself, the right people feel me. And my Style is my Art, an ever-evolving sacred expression of my divine Spirit.
God gave me this gift of authentic self-expression to empower others to honor their Light and freely show up fully as the divine Being they are meant to BE. We live in a time with so much external noise and distraction. And my vision is to help more people remember that our power is not outside ourselves, but in our Spirit within. We are each created to BE our own unique divine expression of Love to empower others to boldly shine. When we show up fully embodied in our true essence, we make our greatest impact. My legacy is to empower future generations of this truth.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I AM Jennifer Dawn Gabiola. Personally, I absolutely love vintage shopping, eating out to enjoy good food with good company and traveling the world to fill my soul and experience new cultures.
Over the past 15 years in my business, Dawning Soul, I have helped introverted leaders and sensitive souls build their heart-centered personal brands and unapologetically shine in their life and business. My mission is to help more soulful leaders to fully embody their divine Spirit and make the lasting impact they were born to make.
I got into my business through an unexpected divine plan. Before I became an entrepreneur, I had a successful career as a Design Director and after 12 years, I lost my job. I was devastated because I was the first employee and helped to build this multi-million dollar company from the ground up. It was a huge wake-up call for me to let go of trying to seek my identity outside of myself and finally honor who I truly AM on the inside. As a workaholic and perfectionist, I tried to prove my self-worth through my work. Around this time, my health also suffered as I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was at a crossroads moment in my life and decided to take a much needed break. A few months later, I got a divine download to start my own business by selling t-shirts with my personal poetry to empower women to own their beauty and power from the inside out. Because I had lost my career and my health, I went for it and walked in faith one step at a time. What seemed like happened in an instant, my business, Dawning Soul was born. My dear friend gave me this absolutely perfect name. I love that it was inspired by my middle name, Dawn which means always new, ever-changing and ever-evolving. After several years, I was eventually guided to expand my business by leveraging my previous career in branding, marketing and my passion for style to help my fellow introverts to authentically build their personal brands and unapologetically shine.
Through my business, I take a holistic and soulful approach to help my clients express the true essence of who they are through their personal brands. I love supporting my clients through heart-centered strategy, exquisite design and soulful personal presence & style. I offer private coaching, masterclasses and group programs as well as a free Facebook group called “Quiet Voice. Big Impact. Community.”
As a fellow introvert and sensitive soul, I understand the challenges of being more visible in a way that feels authentic and sustainable to our precious energy. It can feel overwhelming to consistently put yourself out there with your business, so it’s important to feel deeply connected to who you truly are and the real impact that you feel divinely called to make. We may not be loud, but we have an undeniable quiet power. And we are meant to lead in our own way.
What sets me apart from others is that I love seeking the depth and beauty beyond the surface of Life. All of Life to me is sacred. And we are here to express our truth. I love to authentically express my truth through my Style. My Style has always been my sacred practice to express my Spirit from the inside out. When I adorn myself with pieces that give me life, I feel myself communing with God and my Soul. I never know what I love until I see it. When I feel an instant HELL YES in my heart, that’s how I know a piece is for me. I love my Style because it feels like an organic and intimate way to powerfully recognize my Soul. And what I feel inspired to wear in the moment reflects how my Spirit is currently evolving and how it wants to express itself. When I wear what I truly love, I feel empowered and deeply aligned from the inside out. And my energy becomes undeniably magnetic because I’m totally feelin myself.
What I am most proud of is the woman I have become, especially this year. Personally, I am proud of my commitment to live the highest vision God created for my life and having the resilience to always persevere and rise into new levels of growth. I trust that whatever is placed on my path is divinely meant to serve my highest good.
Professionally, I am proud of bravely leading from my Spirit and bringing the divine visions of my heart into reality. I love that through my business, Dawning Soul, I fully embody and express my true essence. My personal brand, my presence, my energy and my style are all my sacred Art and I love helping others authentically shine their light in their life and business too.
To help more people powerfully shine, I love collaborating with like-minded heart-centered leaders. A few notable collaboration projects that I am proud of from this year are being a guest speaker at a special Self-Love Valentine’s Event at the exquisite K-Beauty Lab Korean Spa. It was a joy to share my Spirit of S.T.Y.L.E. Class to share my sacred Style process and inspire the class participants to create their authentic Style from the power of their Spirit.
I was also one of the featured artists at the epic Kimono Zulu Exhibition: Reimagined Vintage Kimonos at Neiman Marcus which celebrated Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May. It was such joy to collaborate with Kimono Zulu to create a special kimono incorporating my Dawning Soul “I AM” poem to empower women to unapologetically express their undeniable Spirit through their sacred Style. It was so magical to see my “I AM” kimono collaboration modeled live at the event.
I’m especially proud of my recent project, my Spirit of S.T.Y.L.E. documentary which is a “Love Letter to Style” to honor my divinely inspired vision for Style as an empowering sacred practice to express your true essence from the inside out. On this visual journey, I share how Style has deeply impacted my past, present and vision for the future. This was a divinely inspired project to celebrate the 10-Year Anniversary of my Spirit of S.T.Y.L.E. E-book and empower more people to honor and fully embody their sacred Style.
In order order to empower more leaders to shine on their soul-inspired journey, I AM currently offering my Spirit of S.T.Y.L.E. Vibe Session which is a private online sacred style session to connect with your true essence, express your authentic style and become undeniably magnetic. I am also offering my Spirit of S.T.Y.L.E. E-Book and Look Book as well as a Special Edition “I AM” poetic tee to embody and express your authentic style from the inside out. (See below for more details.)
What I want people to know about me and my brand is that everything that I do truly comes from my heart and Soul. My vision for my life has always been to BE everything that God created me to be. I see everything in my life and business as sacred with divine purpose. And my brand and business, Dawning Soul is the divine catalyst for me to make my greatest impact. I truly believe that each and every one of us is born with a powerful Dawning Soul, an ever-evolving magnificent Spirit. When we embrace the true essence of who we are and give ourselves permission to unapologetically express our Light, we become unstoppable. We are all here to remember our Divinity and boldly live our Truth.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
2024 has been a year that has totally tested my resilience. My inner strength had been tested before when I lost my successful 12-year career as a Design Director and when I got diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. But never had I had to face challenge after challenge – back to back – in such an intense period of time.
Before I share more about my journey this year, I wanted to make note that 2024 in the Lunar New Year is the year of the Green Wood Dragon. As the luckiest sign in the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon represents energy, power, transformation and prosperity. Well, this year definitely tested my fortitude to personally transform on a very deep level.
It all started at the beginning of the year when a some tree roots in our backyard caused our pipes to break. Then, we had to replace our wood fence. Shortly thereafter, we had an unexpected pipe burst in our ceiling which damaged the walls and floors. So, we had to replace the drywall and the original hardwood floors throughout our house. When the floors were taken out, we found out that the foundation had to be fixed. Once we got the foundation fixed, the next day Hurricane Beryl came through Houston and caused widespread damage. And we lost power for a week. During the hurricane, our cat also got sick. All this happened throughout the first 8 months of the year all while being a caregiver for my Mom. Caregiving is a challenging role in itself, so to also experience all these unexpected obstacles was a whole new level of pressure.
Talk about resilience. My partner and I surrendered to the process and allowed ourselves to face each challenge with real faith and grace. We trusted that all of this was happening for a greater reason. Our love for each only strengthened. And our Spirits were fortified.
Personally, 2024 has shown me more of who I truly AM. The resilience I gained this year purified my heart and strengthened my character. I let go of old patterns that no longer served me. And I made space to increase my capacity to receive. I met this new magnificent version of myself that can fully receive more aligned blessings on my path to greatness.
To celebrate the epic transformation I experienced this year, I felt inspired to do a special photo shoot for my birthday in October. I had actually planned to do this shoot at the beginning of the year, but the timing wasn’t right because God had a greater plan. I had to personally go through this major transformation in this Year of the Dragon in order to fully embody this new fortified version of me. I loved witnessing my growth and how my Spirit wanted to beautifully express my current evolution through these inspired outfits that I was totally feeling. It gave me so much life and deep joy to freely express my essence through my sacred Style for this momentous celebration. To celebrate my birthday, I will share some inspired posts about my sacred style process in Instagram with all my favorite looks and the deeper meanings behind each outfit.
Special thanks to my Love, Dez the Great with The House of Greenwood for sharing his incredible photography talent for my magical photo shoot. And all the spectacular vintage sellers for the absolutely epic vintage statement pieces. Thank you @ThriftShark for the magnificent vintage Dragon sequin dress and @ZoeFashionplate for the extraordinary vintage high fashion Japanese slippers. And @TribeandSol for the striking vintage Western denim jeans and Rummel Creek Village Antiques for the exquisite vintage tribal necklace. And @MantisLadyVintage for the spectacular vintage Kisses dress. And @IndigoStyleVintage for the outstanding vintage Judith Leiber belt that made me feel like Wonder Woman, @ThriftShark for the fabulous vintage red pants and @TwinFlameAtelier for the fantastic Fendi clutch purse.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Pivoting in my business has completely deepened my purpose. I first started out my Dawning Soul business selling t-shirts with my personal poetry. My mission was to empower women to unapologetically own their beauty and power from the inside out through their style. My most popular item was my “I AM” poetic tee. I had some success for a few years with my t-shirt collection online, in local boutiques and even getting into Houston Fashion Week.
But I was longing to make an impact on a deeper level. Then came my first pivot. I decided to leverage my previous 12-year career in branding, marketing and design and combine my passion for style to help leaders in the beauty and fashion industry to build soulful personal brands. I had some success with this niche, but it eventually became limited because at the time, this industry was more focused on surface beauty rather than cultivating inner beauty.
Then I was guided to my next pivot – focusing on helping introverted leaders build their heart-centered personal brands. This was not a part of my original plan. I didn’t even consider myself to be an introvert because I thought that meant you were anti-social. But I kept getting so many divine signs. When I looked deeper into it, I learned that being an introvert just meant you need regular quiet time to recharge your energy. That was totally me. And talk about synchronicity, the clients I was already attracting happened to also be introverts. This pivot brought me to a new level of success.
And now a new pivot has arrived. I am now being divinely guided to expand my business to serve the ascension of humanity. To help my fellow introverts and sensitive souls to fully own their Divinity and powerfully lead during this transformational time. When you embody your essence and unapologetically express the life-giving energy of your divine presence and sacred Style, you become an unstoppable force.
We are living in a fast-paced world where we need to stay grounded to what is real. And what is real is who we are divinely designed to BE on the inside. In our true essence.
As a collective, we are ascending to a higher level of consciousness. It is when we give ourselves permission to embody and unapologetically express our truth, then we can be finally free.
I am being called to play my part in this collective rising. It is my absolute privilege to bring forth this vision that God placed in my heart years ago. To share Style as a sacred gift to embody and express the divine Light of your magnificent Spirit. To become who you came into this world to BE and make your greatest impact.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://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
- Other: Spirit of S.T.Y.L.E Documentary: https://iamspiritofstyle.com/watch/
Spirit of S.T.Y.L.E Offers: https://iamspiritofstyle.com
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dawningsoul
Podcast: https://anchor.fm/quietvoicebigimpact
Image Credits
Photography by Dez theGreat with The House of Greenwood
Photo from Kimono Zulu Neiman Marcus Event by Wilson Parish Photography