We were lucky to catch up with Tamara Dawn recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tamara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

Three years ago I started a Podcast as a therapeutic, creative outlet and I quickly began to learn a lot about Digital Marketing as I tried to promote my show. I also started experimenting with different design ideas for merchandise to earn some extra cash.

Around year one of Podcasting I came up with an idea for an apparel brand called Melanintoxicate which celebrates the beauty found within Melanated people. As I researched how to protect the apparel brand, I decided to monetize my skills at the same time, and my Consulting Agency Tamara The Dawn, Inc. was born. One of the services we offer, Content Creation, allows me to earn revenue by being creative, while helping brands or companies gain exposure and credibility in their industries.

A month-and-a-half after Tamara The Dawn, Inc. officially launched in July 2021, I took a step of faith and walked away from my job in the Social Work field. This wasn’t initially my plan to leave so soon after starting the company, but I was forced to make that decision by my former employer. Instead of finding another full-time job I decided to go all-in with my company and figure out how to make it work so I wouldn’t need another full-time job. It was a bit of a struggle in the beginning trying to attract clients, but I started attending a lot of networking events and have collaborated with other organizations doing some subcontracting work to have steady revenue. Networking is one thing I wish I would have done more of in the beginning to speed things up regarding client referrals and earning revenue.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a mother of three adult “children” who are 19, 20 and 23. Having a creative outlet has always been a healthy way for me to process my life and motherhood. I started out writing poems, blogs, or short stories and when I couldn’t push through the writer’s block that I had I turned to Podcasting and launched Tamara til the break of Dawn in November 2019. On the show I tell stories about my life, my interests, and the ways I am trying to grow to encourage and inspire growth in others. I love the fact that I can use my platform to be transparent about my own struggles so that others won’t feel alone in theirs if they can relate. I am most proud of how much I have grown as a person since starting my podcasting journey. I am more fully me wherever I go and I love that for me and the people I interact with. I also was not consistent as a creative in the past, but now my entire life is focused on creating in one way or another and I love it!

I have always had a passion for helping people and for over a decade I served in Youth Ministry and worked in the Social Work field. I believe it is important for a person to evolve mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually as they work to excel professionally because we have to grow to become the person who will sustain what we are working to achieve. My career was predominantly focused on teaching youth and adults workforce development skills in one-on-one and group settings, while also customizing plans and providing success strategies and accountability to help them achieve their goals.

Tamara The Dawn, Inc. offers various Coaching Packages, Resume Writing Services and Business Services such as Workshop Facilitation and Content Creation Services. We pride ourselves in being able to educate, encourage, motivate, inspire, and instill hope into our clients, as well as the people who consume our content, so they can keep moving forward past the obstacles that try to deter them from achieving their goals!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Since Tamara The Dawn, Inc’s launch in July 2021, I have pivoted more than a few times to either fulfill a client need or create better work habits for myself. I do believe consistency is important, but I don’t think we should allow consistency to cause us to become rigid and unwilling to be flexible when needed. I believe the idea of pivoting isn’t something that should happen once or twice. but more so, pivoting should be a mindset we adopt as we’re working to achieve our mission, vision, or goals.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ll actually share two things that I recently had to unlearn because both have been instrumental in helping me to grow as a person, entrepreneur, and creative. The first thing I had to unlearn was “hiding parts of me in the environments that I thought those parts wouldn’t be accepted”. Despite how confident people thought I was, I always used to struggle with being and feeling insecure. Especially in environments that were unfamiliar, so it would take a while before I would “fully show up”. But as I have done some work to heal and get to the root of my insecurity, I realize that I was never happy being the watered down version that I presented to everyone. So I stopped watering myself down and have noticed that people are actually more drawn to me now than ever before.

The second thing I had to unlearn was “remaining silent in situations or conversations where I could add value or offer a solution”. This unhealthy habit stemmed from my voice not being valued in prior work environments. But I have come to understand that, even in my personal life, my worth is not determined by someone else’s inability to see it. So I can’t let those past situations stop me from adding value in the present or future.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tamarathedawn.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/tamara_the_dawn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melanintoxicate
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-mcmillan-2b43b122a/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tamara_the_dawn
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC1f2ku9RjaV-0aGj32cF5Dg