Can I tell you an embarrassing story?

(I kinda feel like we’re at a sleepover and talking about our most embarrassing moments. I’ll go first.)

I used to be a really bad boss.

Way back when I first started my business, I quickly arrived at that awkward stage where you need the money to hire someone, but you have to hire someone to get money. You know the feeling?

So, the title of this episode probably caught your attention. Yup, this episode is all about the anxiety around making money.

Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.

If you’re anything like me, you were taught not to talk about money, especially if you make a lot of it. You don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or worse, make them think you’re ripping them off.

Today, we’re talking all about how to get others to trust and respect you.

Trust me, I had to learn this lesson the hard way, and I’m going to share that story with you so you can hopefully learn a lot faster than I did.

Buckle up, because this is quite a ride.

I get nonstop questions about pricing as a self-employed service provider.

How do you know what to charge? How to raise your prices and tell your clients? How to deal when they don’t take it well?

Are you squirming just reading this?

This week, we’re getting right into it with my anxiety journey.

You probably know that anxiety is a big thing for me. I was always a shy, nervous kid, and those traits stayed with me through my teens and into adulthood as I developed full-blown anxiety.

Creativity and anxiety tend to come together, and sometimes it makes creativity feel like a curse.

And it doesn’t help that creative careers involve a lot of anxiety-inducing activities, like putting yourself out there and talking to people when you’d rather hide from everyone and just create stuff.

In this edition of The Anxious Creative, you’re going to learn all about overcoming the anxiety of building your clientele.

Today on this solo Dawn episode, I’m talking about why I decided slow down my business and specialize in hair painting.

Quick background: Like pretty much everything that’s changed my life and business, I got into hair styling kind of by accident. I took a class in high school, went to hair school after I graduated, and took some time to travel around and keep learning.

I’m so excited for you guys to hear from today’s guest, Sarayah!

She’s been in the industry for six years, and she’s only 22! Sarayah is from New Jersey and got started at 16 in a high school vocational program that allowed her to graduate with a high school diploma and a cosmetology license.

She started by sweeping and doing bowls in salons, then moved up to assisting. She decided to start an Instagram account and got some traction, and the salon that fired her as an assistant actually invited her back as a stylist. Nuts, right?

He’s back!

In this episode, I chat with my boyfriend Nick about one of my all-time favorite topics: communication.

Nick is a minister, which means he has to communicate a lot with staff, volunteers, and the people in his congregation. With lots of practice, trial, and error, he’s learned a thing or two about communicating.