I make myself what I am.

There are moments in every person’s life that define them.  Moments that shape them and provide the necessary drive to overcome and achieve feats that seem insurmountable to most.  These remarkable individuals are part of an elite chosen few.  And Dawn Dai is one of them.

Before she could ever comprehend the meanings behind pain, loss and struggle, Dawn Dai had to face them all.  Born in Detroit, Dawn learned the harshest of life lessons before she could even walk when her father, an officer with the Detroit police department, died suddenly from an undiagnosed blood clot, leaving her mother to raise a 3 month old Dawn and her 3-year-old sister alone.  “My mother raised my sister and I. She made sure we attended the best schools, made sure we remained active throughout our youth and nurtured us to have a strong relationship with God.”

The start to her life was rocky, but it was never a deterrent.  Born with an innate ability to speak to and interact with people from all backgrounds, Dawn spent her early years starring in leading roles in her school plays, active in sports and as President of her student council.  She took to heart a lesson given to her by an eighth grade teacher, “I make myself what I am.”  Little did she know life had a lesson of its own to teach her and it would come in the form of finding out her mother was diagnosed with cancer.

Tragedy of this magnitude would’ve broken most, but Dawn made sure she used her struggles as fuel to push her forward.  In high school Dawn excelled, participating in her school’s student council, forensics team and theatre arts program.  She also worked for SCOOP, a program geared towards Detroit youth interested in communications careers which was funded by the Cable Communications Commission.  At SCOOP Dawn produced PSAs, developed voiceover skills and was even awarded a college scholarship for one of her projects.  It was around this time that Dawn began to get a sense for her true passion, but it was a guest during a special assembly at her high school that would help her to go for it 100 percent.  During the assembly the guest, a motivational speaker, spoke to the crowd about making proper life choices, his messages rang loud and clear to Dawn.  It was at that moment she knew that she wanted to use her God-given gift of word to uplift other people.  The message couldn’t have come at a better time.  Life had another blow to dish out.  Dawn’s mother was now battling cancer for a second time.

With her family life looking bleak and her future looking bright, Dawn knew this was not the time to crumble.  She decided to draw strength from the one person in her life that, no matter the obstacle, always stood strong…her mother.  With her strength and passion renewed Dawn pressed on towards the next chapter in her life.  Dawn applied to only one college, Howard University, and was determined to get in.  She didn’t.  However, ‘no’ had never been apart of the vocabulary for the young girl whose senior class voted her ‘Most Likely to Become Oprah.’  Dawn saw this rejection as just another challenge and wrote to Howard, clearly stating her case as to why admissions should change their mind.  Dawn wrote, “Howard is a place where history is made and I want to be a part of that history.”  She was accepted.  At Howard, Dawn continued to nurture her gift by interning for several companies including BET Networks, hosting her own show on Howard’s radio station WHBC and anchoring “Howard Today” a news program for the university’s campus television station.

Be the first to claim your dreams…

After graduating from Howard with honors, Dawn packed her bags and headed to New York to turn her dreams into reality.  She landed a job as local producer of the Yolanda Adams Morning show for 1190 WLIB-AM, but she didn’t stop there.  After hearing that TV/Radio personality Egypt Sherrod was returning to historic WBLS 107.5-FM to host a show, Dawn seized the opportunity and made a bold move.  In true Dawn fashion she walked right up to Egypt and asked to schedule a lunch meeting.  During the meeting Egypt was so impressed with Dawn’s take charge attitude and drive that she brought Dawn on as her executive assistant and assistant editor for her website EgyptSaidSo.com.  A true multi-tasker Dawn balances worked for both stations and soaked up all the lessons they offer and used them to continue opening new doors on the road to success. A firm believer that words have power, Dawn made another bold move and moved to Los Angeles in the fall of 2013 with the same vision of continuing her dreams.

Labeled “A Voice for Radio, With Oprah’s Ambition,” by the New York Times in 2010, Dawn has leveraged her blossoming career in communications to add inspirational speaker to her repertoire.  Through her speeches Dawn seeks to draw from her own life experiences and encourage others to ‘speak life’ in all they do, ‘make yourself who you are and what you become’ and most importantly, ‘never be afraid to dream.’  In addition to her inspirational speaking, Dawn is a life coach and voiceover talent.

With all that Dawn has seen in her life one would think that she much older than what she is, but that just goes to show that the ups and downs of life show no prejudices and perseverance through obstacles isn’t determined by age, but by one’s state of mind.  Today, life is still far from perfect for Dawn Dai.  In 2012, Dawn lost her mother  to Stage 4 breast cancer. However, it is these experiences that allow her to speak from the depths of her soul and motivate others to overcome challenges in their own lives.  Dawn Dai is a living testimony as to what can be accomplished through hard work and dedication and a shining example of who you can become when, despite all odds, you choose to speak life and reach for the stars. She credits who she is and everything that she has become to her mother, Janice Hill.

Destined to aspire to inspire, Dawn blends the lyrics of today’s most popular songs into a weekly motivational message, “Vitamin D.”