June 24, 2024 • 32 mins
For our special 10-year anniversary episode of the Digital Dawn agency, we sit down with the inspirational Dawn Sinkule. Dawn takes us on an engaging journey from her days as a senior executive at Target Corporation to the unexpected and fulfilling path of becoming an agency owner. She shares the pivotal moments, like landing her first client through a Facebook group, that gave rise to Digital Dawn. With candor and warmth, Dawn reflects on the triumphs and challenges that shaped her entrepreneurial voyage, expressing immense pride in reaching this significant milestone.
Resources talked about in this episode
Digital Dawn Shopify checklist – Shopify Checklist
Digital Dawn Website - Digital Dawn
Connect with us - Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin
Book a call - https://digitaldawnagency.com/discovery-call/
Key Takeaways To Tune In For:
(03:13) - Decade of Agency Ownership Success
(11:07) - Building Long-Term Client Relationships
(16:06) - Challenges and Evolution of Marketing
(23:27) - Life, Work, and Advice With Dawn
(31:22) - Celebrating 10 Years of Digital Marketing
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tori (00:00):
Hi, my name is Tori.
I'm one of the marketing managers and
graphic designers on the Digital Dawn team.
The Digital Dawn agency is celebrating 10
years in business.
Dawn Sinkula has been an agency owner for
10 years and I am taking over the Ecom
Profit Podcast so we can get a little bit
better insight into the agency as well as
(00:24):
Dawn herself, the digital Dawn.
So I hope you enjoy this special edition of
our 10 year anniversary for digital Dawn
the digital Dawn herself.
So so happy to get you on here, dawn.
(00:44):
And okay, first of all, let's just get this
out there you are a solo podcaster, so I'm
pretty new to this and everyone's been
wanting to learn a little bit more about
you and a little bit more about the agency.
So we wanted to put you on the opposite end
of the desk, if you will, because in your
(01:06):
Ecom Profit podcast, you are interviewing
other industry experts as well as you bring
on brand owners for your podcast, and we
get a little piece of you here and there,
even in your solo episodes.
But we really wanted to get an interview
with you because, more specifically, you
(01:27):
are celebrating.
We are celebrating 10 years as an agency
owner for Digitalcom this June, yeah, so
it's a perfect time to finally do this.
So first of all, congratulations.
How does it feel to own an agency for a
decade now?
Dawn (01:48):
Well, first, yeah, I mean, if you had told
me 10 years ago that I would be celebrating
10 years as not only just a business owner,
but an agency owner specifically, I would
have told you that you were absolutely
crazy.
I think I wouldn't have believed it.
I don't think I ever thought this was
something that was going to end up being
(02:08):
like my lifelong you know dream and purpose.
But here we are, 10 years later, and I
couldn't be happier, I couldn't be more
excited, and I think it's been one of those
like amazing journeys not to be too cliche,
you know, oh, it's been such a wild ride,
but it really has been pretty, pretty wild.
So it it's definitely something that I am
(02:30):
proud of.
I'm proud that we've made it as long as we
have, Cause it really is something that a
lot of business owners don't agency or
otherwise but a lot of business owners
don't even make it past the first couple of
years.
Right, Like, specifically speaking, people
don't make it in business as a small
business owner that long, and if you can
make it to five years, you have like I
don't know what it is like a 95% chance of
(02:52):
making it past that, and then, once you hit
10 years.
It's like all right, you can make it
forever, sort of thing.
So it's like you know.
I mean I feel really happy and excited and
proud that it has been this long, but I
never anticipated that this was going to be
the journey that I was on.
Tori (03:08):
So yeah, well, it is phenomenal.
So, what inspired you to start the agency?
And you know what was the vision going into
it, what the audience through, just the
start of of creating what you have?
Dawn (03:25):
Well, for those people who maybe don't know
the background of what I did before I
started the agency, so I was a senior
executive with Target Corporation and so I
worked with them for a really, really long
time and in 2014, I decided like I needed
to shift, things needed to change, and so I
(03:47):
left Target and I was on kind of this like
okay, what am I going to do next journey?
And the way that my leaving happened, I was
not able to like go work for another
retailer for a while, so I kind of just
dabbled around in, you know, the online
space a little bit, and I always had wanted
(04:09):
to do this like sort of consulting.
I mean, I didn't really know what
consulting meant exactly, but I thought, oh
you know, like that sounds cool.
Everybody's a consultant.
But people always would ask me you know,
like, what does target do?
Or how do you do it there, what are they
doing, or how can I do that, my business
and stuff.
(04:29):
And so I thought, okay, consulting would be
business advice?
Yeah, would be easy enough.
I have a lot of you know, experience with
that.
I thought I could do that, and so I started
taking some online classes and started
doing some things, and this whole like
internet world opened up to me that I
didn't even know and I'm I still think a
(04:49):
lot of people don't even know exists, where
this whole like infrastructure of people
are like making creating businesses online.
They don't have brick and mortar spaces,
they don't have.
They have this whole virtual world of
people that live and do all these things
across the world.
And I don't know from a corporate
perspective, I just never really thought
(05:12):
about it like that.
I just never knew it existed.
And so I started taking more courses, I
started doing more research and I got my
first client, from a Facebook group
actually, and somebody said hey, does
anybody know anybody that could like help
me with some business questions that I have?
And I like raised my hand and said, oh,
(05:32):
I'll, I'll, I'll answer them.
And so we got on zoom and I started telling
her my story and she was like oh my gosh,
can I hire you?
And I was like, for what?
Like?
Tori (05:44):
wait, you hiring me for Like wait, I'm just
telling you my stuff.
Dawn (05:48):
I'm like I don't think this is really
anything that you're going to like pay me
for.
And she's like, oh, people are going to pay
you a lot of money for your knowledge.
And I was like, okay, so that was my first
client and I didn't even know what to
charge.
I didn't even know what I was doing.
I just thought, okay, I'll, I'll just like
talk to her every week and see what she
wants me to answer for her.
(06:09):
And then I started giving her more and more
advice and we started creating things and I
don't know it just kind of turned into this
like really good coaching, mentorship type
relationship that I had with her and she
started telling her friends and then
somebody else started telling their friends
and so I started getting more and more
clients.
And then I found this program online where
(06:33):
you became an online business manager, and
at the time I didn't even know what that
meant, but it just sounded cool.
So I was like, okay, I'll take this.
And I think that course really opened up a
whole different world for me.
It taught me all about, like, the tools
that were available online, how to like use
different resources online, how to get
(06:54):
familiar with like you know Asana and
project management and like all this stuff
that I didn't
know.
I mean, I knew it, but I'd never like done
it virtually, so that was really amazing.
And then from there I got it, but I'd never
like done it virtually, so that was really
amazing.
And then from there I got a ton of clients
and so I started doing a lot of like
solopreneur stuff, where I was just like
doing consulting.
And it was really funny because I think
(07:17):
after about a year of doing that, somebody
asked me like you know, these strategies
that you're giving us are really really
good and I really like them, but I don't
have anybody on my team to like actually
implement any of this stuff.
Can you like actually start implementing
things for me, or do you have anybody on
your team that can actually implement stuff?
(07:38):
And I was like I don't have a team, Like I
don't even know what you're talking about.
And then I started thinking, oh, I could do
this, I could implement some stuff, and
like I'll pay more.
So I started implementing some stuff or
charging more and I thought, okay, I'll do
that.
And then I started hiring somebody, cause I
didn't know how to do graphic design, so I
found somebody to hire and did graphic
design with me, and so then we started
(07:59):
doing stuff.
Well anyway, long story short, it just kind
of started building and building and
building, and the more I got into this, the
more people kept asking for additional help
and support.
And that's where I started hiring all of
the team that some are still there today
and some have you know, and we really
started doing Facebook and we started doing
(08:20):
a lot of you know online marketing and we
started doing a lot of you know like
financial support and we started doing
consulting and it just kind of turned into
this really big thing and then 2020 hit and
it was like, oh shit, COVID, everything
kind of just changed and everybody wanted
to get online and so it was like perfect
(08:43):
for me because I've been doing this a long
time.
So let's do and help everybody we can.
And so that year I consulted probably with
like I don't know, it was probably 150 or
200 different business owners over the
course of the year of just like what I
would do, how I would do it, how I would
stay alive, how I would, and some of those
(09:03):
became clients, and some of them, you know
just, were people that needed help at the
time, and so we rebranded the name digital
Dawn in 2020.
And we've really started, then, kind of
honing in specifically on just marketing
Facebook, Instagram, Tik TOK, YouTube, all
that kind of stuff the the marketing side
(09:25):
of the business, Although I really like the
consulting side and I really like the
financial side of things and some of the
like growth strategies for business.
That may or may not have anything to do
with marketing, but I like that side of
things too.
But really most people are attracted to the
word marketing and so they will come to us
because they want marketing and then they
(09:46):
end up getting you know, all the other
stuff on the backside too.
But that's the long version of how this
came to be over the last 10 years and,
funny enough, the person that I hired first
for that actual, like design help is still
helping us today.
So, 10 years later or nine and a half years
(10:07):
later, nine years later, whatever it ended
up being kind of, she's still with us and
she still helps and still does stuff.
So it's a crazy, crazy thing that you know
it's managed to stay around this long and
that we've, all you know, continue to grow
and it's it's scaled and been amazing you
know, continue to grow and it's, it's
(10:28):
scaled and been amazing.
Tori (10:28):
So, yeah, no, it really has.
And I think too, dawn, some of your clients
a handful of them have been around since
pretty much the conception.
Yeah, so talk, talk to me about how client
relationships in digital dawn success and
how do you maintain having a client for
(10:49):
almost 10 years?
Yeah, that's kind of unheard of, especially
in the agency world, I feel.
You know, sometimes people get what they
want from an agency and then they jump ship
or they think they can do it themselves.
Yeah, if they don't have a big team, they
think they can do it themselves and jump
ship.
Dawn (11:07):
But having a handful of clients that have
stuck with you this long, yeah, it's crazy,
because I would have never thought that the
people that had started with me originally
would be the people that had stuck around
as long too, because they really kind of
just came in for a few things, right.
Like one client came in just for a website
(11:29):
and I built the website with him and then
it was like, oh, did you know I do all this
other stuff.
And he's like no, I didn't know you did all
this other stuff.
And I'm like, well, do you want me to do it?
And he's like yeah.
And here we are, and so, like it never was,
like initially planned that way that I was
gonna, you know, like these would be the
clients I wanted to keep forever.
(11:49):
But I think over time it has really been
important for me to build those
relationships with my clients, and not just
the ones that have been around for a long
time.
But I take a very personal, like I don't
know, ownership in other people's
businesses as well and I feel very
(12:09):
committed to other people's success.
And I feel like if you're going to put your
trust in us to do it, then I need to
execute and I need to be able to show you
that we can get good results.
And over the course of the 10 years, really
it's kind of morphed and changed.
And you know I've built relationships with
these people that I mean I've traveled to
(12:32):
their homes and spent time with them.
I've seen them, like when they've been on
vacation.
We've and I've been on vacation.
Like we've met up in places.
We have traveled together to different
events.
We have gone to, like networking workshops
together.
I mean like it has turned into something I
(12:53):
never even imagined that it could turn into
it.
It's like a friendship as well as a client
relationship.
I mean, you know, when you travel with
somebody overseas in particular and you go
with them to a retreat across the world and
you spend weeks with them, and you know
what I mean Like and I'd never like thought
(13:14):
okay, what.
Like who am I doing all this stuff and who
am I doing it with?
This person, of all people, like I would
have never, ever met this person had it not
been for this business and the online space.
So you know it's a.
For me it's very much about a commitment to
relationships.
It's about being committed to the success
(13:36):
of the, the clients themselves, but it's
also just like a personal thing too.
We have just built this over time and I
would say a lot of the clients that have
worked with us know that we really are
committed and care about it and that we
really do have this sort of like personal
loyalty to them.
I don't know it's been, it's been kind of
(13:57):
strange.
Tori (14:00):
Yeah, no, I mean, I think that's a
testament to you and to the agency, dawn
Just when you find good people, you stick
with good people.
Yep, so that is really awesome.
So challenges let's breeze over a few of
(14:21):
the challenges from 10 years ago to now.
Let's talk about just what were the
challenges and how have they changed over
time.
Dawn (14:33):
As an agency owner, Well, I think one of
the things that at the very beginning was
there's a couple of things For me
personally at the very beginning, coming
from corporate into a solopreneur
entrepreneur space, like I was very used to
having a team of people to do things for me.
And I remember being in my office like
(14:56):
within the first couple months, and I
remember having a computer issue and I
remember thinking like who do I call to
like fix this?
Like is there?
There's nobody obviously here on my team.
That's got cause I don't have a team.
So, like when I was, you know, working at
corporate, I'd like call and be like hey,
it guy come down and fix my computer for me.
(15:17):
And I just remember thinking like what,
what do people do?
Like I'm sure there's people that fix
computers, but like, do I Google it?
What do I?
Tori (15:24):
where do I?
Dawn (15:24):
find who are they and where do I find them?
Or am I expected to like do it or I do, I
fix this myself, and so like a little bit
of that, like oh shit, like I'm all by
myself and if something's going to happen I
got to fix it or do it myself.
So that was good and I I really, you know,
kind of realized at that particular moment
I got to like find some really good people
(15:45):
and or I got to get really tech savvy
myself and figure, you know, scrappy and
figure stuff out.
Tori (15:51):
So that was really hard.
Dawn (15:54):
I think at the beginning, yeah, it's huge.
And then I think you know the whole virtual
space.
If you think about like 2015, 2016,.
Like virtual stuff, teams and things like
they weren't a thing yet really you know
what I mean.
Like only after COVID did virtual teams and
(16:17):
and having Zooms and all this kind of stuff
become a thing.
But we were doing this well before anybody
was doing you know business virtually
without like really understanding it.
And so it was a challenge because still to
this day, like you and probably 90% of the
(16:37):
team, I have not met in person.
And like we have worked together for years
and years and years and the person who
started with me at the very beginning I
didn't even talk to her on zoom for the
first two years Like we only did slack,
like we never even thought, hey, let's get
on zoom and look at each other, cause, like
(16:57):
zoom really wasn't a thing that much.
You know what I mean.
Like it just it was weird and so it's very,
you know, it was very lonely, I think, at
the beginning, because I was very used to
having, like a lot of people around me and
having that interaction and having, like
you know, people to talk to and stuff like
that.
And it can just be kind of a isolating
(17:19):
experience when you don't have an office to
go to and you don't have a team.
So I had to do a lot of things to like go
to coffee shops or do networking groups or,
you know, have lunches with people and
stuff, just so that I like, mentally, was
not like getting sort of like, oh my gosh,
this is so hard, hard and horrible to do by
yourself, kind of thing.
(17:40):
So that was part of it.
And then I think, you know, facebook and
Instagram meta, as it's called now really
changed in 2017, 18, 19, up into 20,.
Like has progressively gotten harder and
harder and harder and it's made the
industry of online marketing that much more
(18:01):
challenging.
And so that's out of your control.
And so it really kind of came to fruition
for me during COVID of like, okay, I have
this business, and if I don't make money,
then other people don't make money, or I
don't have a team, and so, like, am I going
to put all my eggs in one basket?
Am I going to do?
You know how am I going to survive this?
(18:22):
If, if you know, covid takes us all down,
or if meta goes away, or you know what I
mean, like some of the stuff you don't
think about until you are in that situation
and it can be totally scary and freak you
out completely.
And I, I for a long time I thought, okay,
well, I can just go get another job.
You know, I'll just get a job, get a job.
And then, after a couple of years, I'm like
there's no way I could go get a job.
(18:43):
I, I can't work for anybody else now.
Like I'm my own boss.
I couldn't possibly have somebody boss me
around.
Like it's way too much now.
So I don't know, it's just things like that,
where you know it's hard.
I mean, nobody said it was easy by any
means, but I don't think you realize just
how hard it actually is until you're doing
(19:04):
it day in, day out, whether you eat or
somebody else eats or whether you know
you're.
I mean the pressure of creating business
for yourself and for other people.
It's a lot.
It's a lot of pressure, and if you aren't
built for it, that's why I think a lot of
people don't survive.
You know, I mean it's hard.
Tori (19:26):
Yeah, no, you were built for it, dawn, you,
I mean, I wouldn't have said that.
Dawn (19:31):
Like I said, I wouldn't have thought that,
given where I came from, I would.
That was not always my thought, but yeah, I
think now, like I can't see myself doing
anything else.
I mean, do I think it's going to evolve and
change over time?
For sure, because I think just internet and
the way that we sell and buy and the
economy and all sorts of stuff yes, I think
it's definitely going to change.
But do I ever see myself going back and
(19:53):
like working a corporate job?
Never, like I can never do that now, yeah,
good, I'm glad.
Tori (20:01):
I mean digital Dawn is a future focused
agency, so we're not you know the world of
AI, as I like to call it.
We're embracing it and learning just as
well.
We're not, you know.
I mean it is a scary place and to if you're,
if you don't keep up, but we are keeping up
(20:21):
with it and learning just as much.
So, even though we are a future-based
agency, dawn, you're an 80s baby, so you
know you grew up child of dial-up right big
cell phone or no cell phone maybe no cell
phone.
Dawn (20:38):
I'm that old, like there wasn't even there,
wasn't even dial up, when I was like that's
how old, no dial up, I didn't have dial up,
I didn't have dial up till I was in college,
after college maybe I don't even remember
like a long time so with that, you are very
familiar with traditional.
Tori (20:59):
If you had to pick a piece of traditional
marketing that you think is effective, what
would you say?
Dawn (21:07):
Ooh, that's a good question.
Um, you know, I think the traditional
marketing that I still think is so
effective is like actual TV media marketing,
like like actual on TV commercial marketing.
That to me, has been timeless for forever
(21:30):
right, Like even back when TV was like just
getting started.
And I'm not that old, cause I did have
color TV when I grew up, like my son was
like was the TV even colored when you were?
I'm like, I'm not that old, for God's sake,
but even then, like I remember being a kid
watching commercials on Saturday mornings,
or you know, and then telling my mom like,
oh, I want that and or even still.
(21:52):
I mean today you pay, I don't know, $5
million for a minute on the Superbowl or
whatever.
I mean, like TV media is still very, very
effective and still one of those things
that I consider more traditional Now, the
way in which we've gone about it, how we do
it, what it looks like, the cost of it, all
that kind of stuff.
(22:12):
But that's pretty timeless, you know, and
and it always has been something that I
think people have been able to react to
really well and people see it and it's a
very sort of in your face marketing
strategy.
Most people have TVs.
Not everybody's on Facebook, not
everybody's on Instagram, not everybody's
on TikTok Not everybody.
(22:32):
But I don't really know a lot of people
that don't have a TV at this point, young
and old, and so for me it's like OK, if
you're going to go back to basics, go to TV.
I don't really think print is that valuable
anymore, just because I don't think people
are reading magazines.
They're not, you know, right, and there's a
(22:55):
whole environmental thing of that that I
just find to be like sort of wasteful, and
so I think there's like a way that we can
do it differently.
But I think TV is probably the more
traditional back in the day sort of
marketing that I think is still working
today.
Tori (23:12):
Oh, I love it.
Now, we don't do TV ads, we don't do.
Dawn (23:15):
TV ads.
No, thank God.
Just FYI no TV ads, thank you.
I don't want to get into that business, but
we do a lot of other things, just not that.
Tori (23:26):
Yeah, yes, okay, awesome.
So then, dawn, let's just talk about you.
Let's kind of end on you.
Sure, tell us hobbies outside of the
business and I know, like your agency, 24
seven but tell us about you.
Don give us your background.
Tell us your hobbies.
Everyone's dying to know.
(23:47):
Are they outside of the digital?
Dawn (23:50):
Well I I would say that I try not to be
agency 24 seven because I think that's hard
mentally for a lot of people to be on all
the time, but things I like to do.
So I'm married, have two kids that are
adult young adulting right now and so
that's very keeps me very busy.
(24:10):
But I love to go to concerts.
I love to go to like live events and I
missed it so much during COVID I didn't
realize how much that I missed it.
And so now my husband and I are like going,
going, going all the time.
We love to go to concerts.
I've got four dogs.
I love animals my whole like life.
Could you know, if I could just take in
(24:31):
every rescue that dog not necessarily cat,
but dog out there, I would.
I just love animals so much and and my
prior life, way back before Target, I was
the chef and like was classically trained
as a chef, and so we love to like cook and
have big parties and do all that kind of
(24:51):
stuff.
So I love entertaining and cooking and all
that kind of stuff.
So nothing too like crazy, you know,
exciting wild stuff, but definitely a good
big concert goer and love to be at like big
events and, yeah, sort of an extroverted
introvert I would say I call myself, so I
(25:14):
love to be around people, but only for like
a certain amount of time and then I got to
go home and like go to sleep.
Tori (25:23):
So yeah, so.
So when you do go home or you have those
quieter times, how do you unwind Like
what's your relaxation style, what?
What do you do to relax?
Dawn (25:35):
Yeah, well, I love my dogs, right, I love
hanging out with my dogs.
They just have a great like calming
presence about them.
That, I think, is very cathartic.
I love reading.
I'm a pretty avid reader, so I like to read.
I'm a huge true crime fan Like I love true
crime, that's, I read all the like scary
(25:57):
horror books, books I love to watch like
scary true crime.
I love to listen to true crime podcasts,
all that kind of stuff.
So that's pretty much what you'll find me
doing when I'm relaxing.
Tori (26:07):
it's like listening to murders and reading
you're walking down the street with four
dogs and you have murder mystery like no
one's messing with you at that right
exactly, I'm walking through the listening
to someone being killed and attacked during
you know their walks.
Dawn (26:22):
So, yes, and I, you know, go to sleep
watching you know true crime stuff.
So, yes, very, very, very relaxing for me,
but that's that's kind of what I do.
Tori (26:33):
So oh my gosh, that's awesome.
Okay, so do you have any hidden talents?
Nobody knows about that.
Dawn (26:45):
A lot of people didn't know I was a chef
before that.
That seems to be one that a lot of people
didn't know that I have like this whole
like I can cook cook not just like a little
bit, like I can full on and I think that's
kind of a hidden talent I can do the splits
without having to warm up still to this day,
like I could do the splits right now I have
some sort of weird like ability to do
(27:07):
splits.
Tori (27:07):
You're flexible.
How about just do you take gymnastics?
Dawn (27:11):
I did when I was a kid.
Yeah, I was.
When I was little.
I danced and did gymnastics and stuff, but
I don't know right.
So that's my one hidden talent, um that's
amazing.
Tori (27:23):
So the chef part of it?
Yes, italian, mexican.
What?
What's the?
Do you have any specialty?
You said you're classically.
Dawn (27:33):
I'm Italian and so we always cook Italian,
right, like that's sort of like a
requirement of being Italian is that you
have to know how to cook.
But outside of that, I think my husband
this is when my husband and I met, when we
were both chefs, and so we were both
trained in French classical cooking.
So that's sort of our like formal training
(27:57):
is that.
But I don't really like that type of food
all that much.
I mean, I like to cook it, but I, that's
sort of the the.
The type of training that we were we were
trained in was classical French cooking.
Tori (28:11):
So oh, that's wild, that's awesome.
Um, and I'm very surprised by the split.
Not surprised, but that, that's totally.
Dawn (28:22):
It is right.
Tori (28:23):
I mean, who knew?
Ok, and then I guess, just to like wrap it
all up here, if you could go back and give
yourself one piece of advice, what would it
be?
Dawn (28:38):
For, like at the beginning of the, the
agency piece, or like just in life in
general, because there'd be so many pieces
how about let's do both?
Tori (28:46):
why not?
Dawn (28:47):
what the heck so if I was to give myself
advice teenage dawn versus this dawn I
would say take, take the trip, move, do the
thing go away.
And then you can always come back, like I
was always so scared to leave just the
comfort of it.
You know what I mean my family, everything.
(29:08):
I stayed close to home to go to school.
I stayed close to home.
I didn't travel a lot, I didn't do a lot
until I became an adult and then I was like
I can't get away far enough and I wish I
would have done that when I had no
responsibilities, right, and so that would
have been my advice to myself is like take
the trip, do the thing.
Um, now, as an agency owner and as a
(29:30):
business owner, I think one of the pieces
of advice that I give most everybody is
that if you don't make mistakes, you're not
really growing, and I know that that kind
of sounds, you know, cliche, but you really
are constantly making mistakes all the time,
and it's the resilience of that that keeps
you going forward.
(29:51):
So I look back and I think I should have
made a different decision.
I shouldn't have hired that person.
I shouldn't have kept that person on so
long.
I shouldn't have done that I should have
charged this, I should have.
You know all the things that we like, oh,
if I would have, could have.
But I really try to look at that stuff as
stepping stones to where we are today and
being able to look at that and say, okay,
(30:12):
the resilience of being able to recognize
that you should have, could have, would
have, don't make that mistake again and be
able to pick yourself and move forward from
it.
For me, probably is the best piece of
advice to give to people in the business.
In a business is like you're going to make
mistakes, you're going to spend a whole
bunch of money, you're going to blow a
whole bunch of money, you're going to hire
the wrong person, you're going to do the
wrong thing, but if you can recognize it
(30:34):
and not make the same mistake again and be
resilient, you will be successful.
This is not all perfect and roses and like
oh, everybody loves it and it's amazing and
all that stuff, but I wouldn't do it, I
wouldn't have it any other way.
You know what I mean.
Tori (30:49):
So yeah, yeah, and you were resilient and
got through those hurdles and continue to
get through the hurdles, so yep, well, yeah,
that's where 10 years has brought us
everyone.
Again, huge congratulations Dawn, you being
an agency owner for 10 years, and here's to
(31:11):
many more.
Dawn (31:12):
Cheers, cheers.
Yeah, here's to many more.
I appreciate it.
Thank you for interviewing me and thanks
for being on the team for many of those
years, so I appreciate it.
Thank you for interviewing me and thanks
for being on the team for many of those
years, so I appreciate it.
It's been awesome.
All right, okay, thank you Bye.
Tori (31:28):
Thank you guys so much for watching,
listening.
We really appreciate all the views, the
subscribes, the follows, the comments.
10 years in the industry has been
absolutely amazing and Dawn is an
incredible leader and continues to push
Digital Dawn forward and we hope that
(31:49):
you'll join us on this journey.
We hope, if you ever need any marketing
assistance, that you will reach out.
Follow us on Facebook, instagram, tiktok,
pinterest, linkedin.
We're all the places.
We're constantly learning, constantly
evolving and, as a future-focused industry
leader, dawn is always here to drop the
(32:12):
latest Ecom Profit Podcast episodes to give
you more tips and tricks and insights into
all things e-commerce.
So thank you again for watching and we will
see you later.
Hi, my name is Tori.
I'm one of the marketing managers and
graphic designers on the Digital Dawn team.
The Digital Dawn agency is celebrating 10
years in business.
Dawn Sinkula has been an agency owner for
10 years and I am taking over the Ecom
Profit Podcast so we can get a little bit
better insight into the agency as well as
(00:24):
Dawn herself, the digital Dawn.
So I hope you enjoy this special edition of
our 10 year anniversary for digital Dawn
the digital Dawn herself.
So so happy to get you on here, dawn.
(00:44):
And okay, first of all, let's just get this
out there you are a solo podcaster, so I'm
pretty new to this and everyone's been
wanting to learn a little bit more about
you and a little bit more about the agency.
So we wanted to put you on the opposite end
of the desk, if you will, because in your
(01:06):
Ecom Profit podcast, you are interviewing
other industry experts as well as you bring
on brand owners for your podcast, and we
get a little piece of you here and there,
even in your solo episodes.
But we really wanted to get an interview
with you because, more specifically, you
(01:27):
are celebrating.
We are celebrating 10 years as an agency
owner for Digitalcom this June, yeah, so
it's a perfect time to finally do this.
So first of all, congratulations.
How does it feel to own an agency for a
decade now?
Dawn (01:48):
Well, first, yeah, I mean, if you had told
me 10 years ago that I would be celebrating
10 years as not only just a business owner,
but an agency owner specifically, I would
have told you that you were absolutely
crazy.
I think I wouldn't have believed it.
I don't think I ever thought this was
something that was going to end up being
(02:08):
like my lifelong you know dream and purpose.
But here we are, 10 years later, and I
couldn't be happier, I couldn't be more
excited, and I think it's been one of those
like amazing journeys not to be too cliche,
you know, oh, it's been such a wild ride,
but it really has been pretty, pretty wild.
So it it's definitely something that I am
(02:30):
proud of.
I'm proud that we've made it as long as we
have, Cause it really is something that a
lot of business owners don't agency or
otherwise but a lot of business owners
don't even make it past the first couple of
years.
Right, Like, specifically speaking, people
don't make it in business as a small
business owner that long, and if you can
make it to five years, you have like I
don't know what it is like a 95% chance of
(02:52):
making it past that, and then, once you hit
10 years.
It's like all right, you can make it
forever, sort of thing.
So it's like you know.
I mean I feel really happy and excited and
proud that it has been this long, but I
never anticipated that this was going to be
the journey that I was on.
Tori (03:08):
So yeah, well, it is phenomenal.
So, what inspired you to start the agency?
And you know what was the vision going into
it, what the audience through, just the
start of of creating what you have?
Dawn (03:25):
Well, for those people who maybe don't know
the background of what I did before I
started the agency, so I was a senior
executive with Target Corporation and so I
worked with them for a really, really long
time and in 2014, I decided like I needed
to shift, things needed to change, and so I
(03:47):
left Target and I was on kind of this like
okay, what am I going to do next journey?
And the way that my leaving happened, I was
not able to like go work for another
retailer for a while, so I kind of just
dabbled around in, you know, the online
space a little bit, and I always had wanted
(04:09):
to do this like sort of consulting.
I mean, I didn't really know what
consulting meant exactly, but I thought, oh
you know, like that sounds cool.
Everybody's a consultant.
But people always would ask me you know,
like, what does target do?
Or how do you do it there, what are they
doing, or how can I do that, my business
and stuff.
(04:29):
And so I thought, okay, consulting would be
business advice?
Yeah, would be easy enough.
I have a lot of you know, experience with
that.
I thought I could do that, and so I started
taking some online classes and started
doing some things, and this whole like
internet world opened up to me that I
didn't even know and I'm I still think a
(04:49):
lot of people don't even know exists, where
this whole like infrastructure of people
are like making creating businesses online.
They don't have brick and mortar spaces,
they don't have.
They have this whole virtual world of
people that live and do all these things
across the world.
And I don't know from a corporate
perspective, I just never really thought
(05:12):
about it like that.
I just never knew it existed.
And so I started taking more courses, I
started doing more research and I got my
first client, from a Facebook group
actually, and somebody said hey, does
anybody know anybody that could like help
me with some business questions that I have?
And I like raised my hand and said, oh,
(05:32):
I'll, I'll, I'll answer them.
And so we got on zoom and I started telling
her my story and she was like oh my gosh,
can I hire you?
And I was like, for what?
Like?
Tori (05:44):
wait, you hiring me for Like wait, I'm just
telling you my stuff.
Dawn (05:48):
I'm like I don't think this is really
anything that you're going to like pay me
for.
And she's like, oh, people are going to pay
you a lot of money for your knowledge.
And I was like, okay, so that was my first
client and I didn't even know what to
charge.
I didn't even know what I was doing.
I just thought, okay, I'll, I'll just like
talk to her every week and see what she
wants me to answer for her.
(06:09):
And then I started giving her more and more
advice and we started creating things and I
don't know it just kind of turned into this
like really good coaching, mentorship type
relationship that I had with her and she
started telling her friends and then
somebody else started telling their friends
and so I started getting more and more
clients.
And then I found this program online where
(06:33):
you became an online business manager, and
at the time I didn't even know what that
meant, but it just sounded cool.
So I was like, okay, I'll take this.
And I think that course really opened up a
whole different world for me.
It taught me all about, like, the tools
that were available online, how to like use
different resources online, how to get
(06:54):
familiar with like you know Asana and
project management and like all this stuff
that I didn't
know.
I mean, I knew it, but I'd never like done
it virtually, so that was really amazing.
And then from there I got it, but I'd never
like done it virtually, so that was really
amazing.
And then from there I got a ton of clients
and so I started doing a lot of like
solopreneur stuff, where I was just like
doing consulting.
And it was really funny because I think
(07:17):
after about a year of doing that, somebody
asked me like you know, these strategies
that you're giving us are really really
good and I really like them, but I don't
have anybody on my team to like actually
implement any of this stuff.
Can you like actually start implementing
things for me, or do you have anybody on
your team that can actually implement stuff?
(07:38):
And I was like I don't have a team, Like I
don't even know what you're talking about.
And then I started thinking, oh, I could do
this, I could implement some stuff, and
like I'll pay more.
So I started implementing some stuff or
charging more and I thought, okay, I'll do
that.
And then I started hiring somebody, cause I
didn't know how to do graphic design, so I
found somebody to hire and did graphic
design with me, and so then we started
(07:59):
doing stuff.
Well anyway, long story short, it just kind
of started building and building and
building, and the more I got into this, the
more people kept asking for additional help
and support.
And that's where I started hiring all of
the team that some are still there today
and some have you know, and we really
started doing Facebook and we started doing
(08:20):
a lot of you know online marketing and we
started doing a lot of you know like
financial support and we started doing
consulting and it just kind of turned into
this really big thing and then 2020 hit and
it was like, oh shit, COVID, everything
kind of just changed and everybody wanted
to get online and so it was like perfect
(08:43):
for me because I've been doing this a long
time.
So let's do and help everybody we can.
And so that year I consulted probably with
like I don't know, it was probably 150 or
200 different business owners over the
course of the year of just like what I
would do, how I would do it, how I would
stay alive, how I would, and some of those
(09:03):
became clients, and some of them, you know
just, were people that needed help at the
time, and so we rebranded the name digital
Dawn in 2020.
And we've really started, then, kind of
honing in specifically on just marketing
Facebook, Instagram, Tik TOK, YouTube, all
that kind of stuff the the marketing side
(09:25):
of the business, Although I really like the
consulting side and I really like the
financial side of things and some of the
like growth strategies for business.
That may or may not have anything to do
with marketing, but I like that side of
things too.
But really most people are attracted to the
word marketing and so they will come to us
because they want marketing and then they
(09:46):
end up getting you know, all the other
stuff on the backside too.
But that's the long version of how this
came to be over the last 10 years and,
funny enough, the person that I hired first
for that actual, like design help is still
helping us today.
So, 10 years later or nine and a half years
(10:07):
later, nine years later, whatever it ended
up being kind of, she's still with us and
she still helps and still does stuff.
So it's a crazy, crazy thing that you know
it's managed to stay around this long and
that we've, all you know, continue to grow
and it's it's scaled and been amazing you
know, continue to grow and it's, it's
(10:28):
scaled and been amazing.
Tori (10:28):
So, yeah, no, it really has.
And I think too, dawn, some of your clients
a handful of them have been around since
pretty much the conception.
Yeah, so talk, talk to me about how client
relationships in digital dawn success and
how do you maintain having a client for
(10:49):
almost 10 years?
Yeah, that's kind of unheard of, especially
in the agency world, I feel.
You know, sometimes people get what they
want from an agency and then they jump ship
or they think they can do it themselves.
Yeah, if they don't have a big team, they
think they can do it themselves and jump
ship.
Dawn (11:07):
But having a handful of clients that have
stuck with you this long, yeah, it's crazy,
because I would have never thought that the
people that had started with me originally
would be the people that had stuck around
as long too, because they really kind of
just came in for a few things, right.
Like one client came in just for a website
(11:29):
and I built the website with him and then
it was like, oh, did you know I do all this
other stuff.
And he's like no, I didn't know you did all
this other stuff.
And I'm like, well, do you want me to do it?
And he's like yeah.
And here we are, and so, like it never was,
like initially planned that way that I was
gonna, you know, like these would be the
clients I wanted to keep forever.
(11:49):
But I think over time it has really been
important for me to build those
relationships with my clients, and not just
the ones that have been around for a long
time.
But I take a very personal, like I don't
know, ownership in other people's
businesses as well and I feel very
(12:09):
committed to other people's success.
And I feel like if you're going to put your
trust in us to do it, then I need to
execute and I need to be able to show you
that we can get good results.
And over the course of the 10 years, really
it's kind of morphed and changed.
And you know I've built relationships with
these people that I mean I've traveled to
(12:32):
their homes and spent time with them.
I've seen them, like when they've been on
vacation.
We've and I've been on vacation.
Like we've met up in places.
We have traveled together to different
events.
We have gone to, like networking workshops
together.
I mean like it has turned into something I
(12:53):
never even imagined that it could turn into
it.
It's like a friendship as well as a client
relationship.
I mean, you know, when you travel with
somebody overseas in particular and you go
with them to a retreat across the world and
you spend weeks with them, and you know
what I mean Like and I'd never like thought
(13:14):
okay, what.
Like who am I doing all this stuff and who
am I doing it with?
This person, of all people, like I would
have never, ever met this person had it not
been for this business and the online space.
So you know it's a.
For me it's very much about a commitment to
relationships.
It's about being committed to the success
(13:36):
of the, the clients themselves, but it's
also just like a personal thing too.
We have just built this over time and I
would say a lot of the clients that have
worked with us know that we really are
committed and care about it and that we
really do have this sort of like personal
loyalty to them.
I don't know it's been, it's been kind of
(13:57):
strange.
Tori (14:00):
Yeah, no, I mean, I think that's a
testament to you and to the agency, dawn
Just when you find good people, you stick
with good people.
Yep, so that is really awesome.
So challenges let's breeze over a few of
(14:21):
the challenges from 10 years ago to now.
Let's talk about just what were the
challenges and how have they changed over
time.
Dawn (14:33):
As an agency owner, Well, I think one of
the things that at the very beginning was
there's a couple of things For me
personally at the very beginning, coming
from corporate into a solopreneur
entrepreneur space, like I was very used to
having a team of people to do things for me.
And I remember being in my office like
(14:56):
within the first couple months, and I
remember having a computer issue and I
remember thinking like who do I call to
like fix this?
Like is there?
There's nobody obviously here on my team.
That's got cause I don't have a team.
So, like when I was, you know, working at
corporate, I'd like call and be like hey,
it guy come down and fix my computer for me.
(15:17):
And I just remember thinking like what,
what do people do?
Like I'm sure there's people that fix
computers, but like, do I Google it?
What do I?
Tori (15:24):
where do I?
Dawn (15:24):
find who are they and where do I find them?
Or am I expected to like do it or I do, I
fix this myself, and so like a little bit
of that, like oh shit, like I'm all by
myself and if something's going to happen I
got to fix it or do it myself.
So that was good and I I really, you know,
kind of realized at that particular moment
I got to like find some really good people
(15:45):
and or I got to get really tech savvy
myself and figure, you know, scrappy and
figure stuff out.
Tori (15:51):
So that was really hard.
Dawn (15:54):
I think at the beginning, yeah, it's huge.
And then I think you know the whole virtual
space.
If you think about like 2015, 2016,.
Like virtual stuff, teams and things like
they weren't a thing yet really you know
what I mean.
Like only after COVID did virtual teams and
(16:17):
and having Zooms and all this kind of stuff
become a thing.
But we were doing this well before anybody
was doing you know business virtually
without like really understanding it.
And so it was a challenge because still to
this day, like you and probably 90% of the
(16:37):
team, I have not met in person.
And like we have worked together for years
and years and years and the person who
started with me at the very beginning I
didn't even talk to her on zoom for the
first two years Like we only did slack,
like we never even thought, hey, let's get
on zoom and look at each other, cause, like
(16:57):
zoom really wasn't a thing that much.
You know what I mean.
Like it just it was weird and so it's very,
you know, it was very lonely, I think, at
the beginning, because I was very used to
having, like a lot of people around me and
having that interaction and having, like
you know, people to talk to and stuff like
that.
And it can just be kind of a isolating
(17:19):
experience when you don't have an office to
go to and you don't have a team.
So I had to do a lot of things to like go
to coffee shops or do networking groups or,
you know, have lunches with people and
stuff, just so that I like, mentally, was
not like getting sort of like, oh my gosh,
this is so hard, hard and horrible to do by
yourself, kind of thing.
(17:40):
So that was part of it.
And then I think, you know, facebook and
Instagram meta, as it's called now really
changed in 2017, 18, 19, up into 20,.
Like has progressively gotten harder and
harder and harder and it's made the
industry of online marketing that much more
(18:01):
challenging.
And so that's out of your control.
And so it really kind of came to fruition
for me during COVID of like, okay, I have
this business, and if I don't make money,
then other people don't make money, or I
don't have a team, and so, like, am I going
to put all my eggs in one basket?
Am I going to do?
You know how am I going to survive this?
(18:22):
If, if you know, covid takes us all down,
or if meta goes away, or you know what I
mean, like some of the stuff you don't
think about until you are in that situation
and it can be totally scary and freak you
out completely.
And I, I for a long time I thought, okay,
well, I can just go get another job.
You know, I'll just get a job, get a job.
And then, after a couple of years, I'm like
there's no way I could go get a job.
(18:43):
I, I can't work for anybody else now.
Like I'm my own boss.
I couldn't possibly have somebody boss me
around.
Like it's way too much now.
So I don't know, it's just things like that,
where you know it's hard.
I mean, nobody said it was easy by any
means, but I don't think you realize just
how hard it actually is until you're doing
(19:04):
it day in, day out, whether you eat or
somebody else eats or whether you know
you're.
I mean the pressure of creating business
for yourself and for other people.
It's a lot.
It's a lot of pressure, and if you aren't
built for it, that's why I think a lot of
people don't survive.
You know, I mean it's hard.
Tori (19:26):
Yeah, no, you were built for it, dawn, you,
I mean, I wouldn't have said that.
Dawn (19:31):
Like I said, I wouldn't have thought that,
given where I came from, I would.
That was not always my thought, but yeah, I
think now, like I can't see myself doing
anything else.
I mean, do I think it's going to evolve and
change over time?
For sure, because I think just internet and
the way that we sell and buy and the
economy and all sorts of stuff yes, I think
it's definitely going to change.
But do I ever see myself going back and
(19:53):
like working a corporate job?
Never, like I can never do that now, yeah,
good, I'm glad.
Tori (20:01):
I mean digital Dawn is a future focused
agency, so we're not you know the world of
AI, as I like to call it.
We're embracing it and learning just as
well.
We're not, you know.
I mean it is a scary place and to if you're,
if you don't keep up, but we are keeping up
(20:21):
with it and learning just as much.
So, even though we are a future-based
agency, dawn, you're an 80s baby, so you
know you grew up child of dial-up right big
cell phone or no cell phone maybe no cell
phone.
Dawn (20:38):
I'm that old, like there wasn't even there,
wasn't even dial up, when I was like that's
how old, no dial up, I didn't have dial up,
I didn't have dial up till I was in college,
after college maybe I don't even remember
like a long time so with that, you are very
familiar with traditional.
Tori (20:59):
If you had to pick a piece of traditional
marketing that you think is effective, what
would you say?
Dawn (21:07):
Ooh, that's a good question.
Um, you know, I think the traditional
marketing that I still think is so
effective is like actual TV media marketing,
like like actual on TV commercial marketing.
That to me, has been timeless for forever
(21:30):
right, Like even back when TV was like just
getting started.
And I'm not that old, cause I did have
color TV when I grew up, like my son was
like was the TV even colored when you were?
I'm like, I'm not that old, for God's sake,
but even then, like I remember being a kid
watching commercials on Saturday mornings,
or you know, and then telling my mom like,
oh, I want that and or even still.
(21:52):
I mean today you pay, I don't know, $5
million for a minute on the Superbowl or
whatever.
I mean, like TV media is still very, very
effective and still one of those things
that I consider more traditional Now, the
way in which we've gone about it, how we do
it, what it looks like, the cost of it, all
that kind of stuff.
(22:12):
But that's pretty timeless, you know, and
and it always has been something that I
think people have been able to react to
really well and people see it and it's a
very sort of in your face marketing
strategy.
Most people have TVs.
Not everybody's on Facebook, not
everybody's on Instagram, not everybody's
on TikTok Not everybody.
(22:32):
But I don't really know a lot of people
that don't have a TV at this point, young
and old, and so for me it's like OK, if
you're going to go back to basics, go to TV.
I don't really think print is that valuable
anymore, just because I don't think people
are reading magazines.
They're not, you know, right, and there's a
(22:55):
whole environmental thing of that that I
just find to be like sort of wasteful, and
so I think there's like a way that we can
do it differently.
But I think TV is probably the more
traditional back in the day sort of
marketing that I think is still working
today.
Tori (23:12):
Oh, I love it.
Now, we don't do TV ads, we don't do.
Dawn (23:15):
TV ads.
No, thank God.
Just FYI no TV ads, thank you.
I don't want to get into that business, but
we do a lot of other things, just not that.
Tori (23:26):
Yeah, yes, okay, awesome.
So then, dawn, let's just talk about you.
Let's kind of end on you.
Sure, tell us hobbies outside of the
business and I know, like your agency, 24
seven but tell us about you.
Don give us your background.
Tell us your hobbies.
Everyone's dying to know.
(23:47):
Are they outside of the digital?
Dawn (23:50):
Well I I would say that I try not to be
agency 24 seven because I think that's hard
mentally for a lot of people to be on all
the time, but things I like to do.
So I'm married, have two kids that are
adult young adulting right now and so
that's very keeps me very busy.
(24:10):
But I love to go to concerts.
I love to go to like live events and I
missed it so much during COVID I didn't
realize how much that I missed it.
And so now my husband and I are like going,
going, going all the time.
We love to go to concerts.
I've got four dogs.
I love animals my whole like life.
Could you know, if I could just take in
(24:31):
every rescue that dog not necessarily cat,
but dog out there, I would.
I just love animals so much and and my
prior life, way back before Target, I was
the chef and like was classically trained
as a chef, and so we love to like cook and
have big parties and do all that kind of
(24:51):
stuff.
So I love entertaining and cooking and all
that kind of stuff.
So nothing too like crazy, you know,
exciting wild stuff, but definitely a good
big concert goer and love to be at like big
events and, yeah, sort of an extroverted
introvert I would say I call myself, so I
(25:14):
love to be around people, but only for like
a certain amount of time and then I got to
go home and like go to sleep.
Tori (25:23):
So yeah, so.
So when you do go home or you have those
quieter times, how do you unwind Like
what's your relaxation style, what?
What do you do to relax?
Dawn (25:35):
Yeah, well, I love my dogs, right, I love
hanging out with my dogs.
They just have a great like calming
presence about them.
That, I think, is very cathartic.
I love reading.
I'm a pretty avid reader, so I like to read.
I'm a huge true crime fan Like I love true
crime, that's, I read all the like scary
(25:57):
horror books, books I love to watch like
scary true crime.
I love to listen to true crime podcasts,
all that kind of stuff.
So that's pretty much what you'll find me
doing when I'm relaxing.
Tori (26:07):
it's like listening to murders and reading
you're walking down the street with four
dogs and you have murder mystery like no
one's messing with you at that right
exactly, I'm walking through the listening
to someone being killed and attacked during
you know their walks.
Dawn (26:22):
So, yes, and I, you know, go to sleep
watching you know true crime stuff.
So, yes, very, very, very relaxing for me,
but that's that's kind of what I do.
Tori (26:33):
So oh my gosh, that's awesome.
Okay, so do you have any hidden talents?
Nobody knows about that.
Dawn (26:45):
A lot of people didn't know I was a chef
before that.
That seems to be one that a lot of people
didn't know that I have like this whole
like I can cook cook not just like a little
bit, like I can full on and I think that's
kind of a hidden talent I can do the splits
without having to warm up still to this day,
like I could do the splits right now I have
some sort of weird like ability to do
(27:07):
splits.
Tori (27:07):
You're flexible.
How about just do you take gymnastics?
Dawn (27:11):
I did when I was a kid.
Yeah, I was.
When I was little.
I danced and did gymnastics and stuff, but
I don't know right.
So that's my one hidden talent, um that's
amazing.
Tori (27:23):
So the chef part of it?
Yes, italian, mexican.
What?
What's the?
Do you have any specialty?
You said you're classically.
Dawn (27:33):
I'm Italian and so we always cook Italian,
right, like that's sort of like a
requirement of being Italian is that you
have to know how to cook.
But outside of that, I think my husband
this is when my husband and I met, when we
were both chefs, and so we were both
trained in French classical cooking.
So that's sort of our like formal training
(27:57):
is that.
But I don't really like that type of food
all that much.
I mean, I like to cook it, but I, that's
sort of the the.
The type of training that we were we were
trained in was classical French cooking.
Tori (28:11):
So oh, that's wild, that's awesome.
Um, and I'm very surprised by the split.
Not surprised, but that, that's totally.
Dawn (28:22):
It is right.
Tori (28:23):
I mean, who knew?
Ok, and then I guess, just to like wrap it
all up here, if you could go back and give
yourself one piece of advice, what would it
be?
Dawn (28:38):
For, like at the beginning of the, the
agency piece, or like just in life in
general, because there'd be so many pieces
how about let's do both?
Tori (28:46):
why not?
Dawn (28:47):
what the heck so if I was to give myself
advice teenage dawn versus this dawn I
would say take, take the trip, move, do the
thing go away.
And then you can always come back, like I
was always so scared to leave just the
comfort of it.
You know what I mean my family, everything.
(29:08):
I stayed close to home to go to school.
I stayed close to home.
I didn't travel a lot, I didn't do a lot
until I became an adult and then I was like
I can't get away far enough and I wish I
would have done that when I had no
responsibilities, right, and so that would
have been my advice to myself is like take
the trip, do the thing.
Um, now, as an agency owner and as a
(29:30):
business owner, I think one of the pieces
of advice that I give most everybody is
that if you don't make mistakes, you're not
really growing, and I know that that kind
of sounds, you know, cliche, but you really
are constantly making mistakes all the time,
and it's the resilience of that that keeps
you going forward.
(29:51):
So I look back and I think I should have
made a different decision.
I shouldn't have hired that person.
I shouldn't have kept that person on so
long.
I shouldn't have done that I should have
charged this, I should have.
You know all the things that we like, oh,
if I would have, could have.
But I really try to look at that stuff as
stepping stones to where we are today and
being able to look at that and say, okay,
(30:12):
the resilience of being able to recognize
that you should have, could have, would
have, don't make that mistake again and be
able to pick yourself and move forward from
it.
For me, probably is the best piece of
advice to give to people in the business.
In a business is like you're going to make
mistakes, you're going to spend a whole
bunch of money, you're going to blow a
whole bunch of money, you're going to hire
the wrong person, you're going to do the
wrong thing, but if you can recognize it
(30:34):
and not make the same mistake again and be
resilient, you will be successful.
This is not all perfect and roses and like
oh, everybody loves it and it's amazing and
all that stuff, but I wouldn't do it, I
wouldn't have it any other way.
You know what I mean.
Tori (30:49):
So yeah, yeah, and you were resilient and
got through those hurdles and continue to
get through the hurdles, so yep, well, yeah,
that's where 10 years has brought us
everyone.
Again, huge congratulations Dawn, you being
an agency owner for 10 years, and here's to
(31:11):
many more.
Dawn (31:12):
Cheers, cheers.
Yeah, here's to many more.
I appreciate it.
Thank you for interviewing me and thanks
for being on the team for many of those
years, so I appreciate it.
Thank you for interviewing me and thanks
for being on the team for many of those
years, so I appreciate it.
It's been awesome.
All right, okay, thank you Bye.
Tori (31:28):
Thank you guys so much for watching,
listening.
We really appreciate all the views, the
subscribes, the follows, the comments.
10 years in the industry has been
absolutely amazing and Dawn is an
incredible leader and continues to push
Digital Dawn forward and we hope that
(31:49):
you'll join us on this journey.
We hope, if you ever need any marketing
assistance, that you will reach out.
Follow us on Facebook, instagram, tiktok,
pinterest, linkedin.
We're all the places.
We're constantly learning, constantly
evolving and, as a future-focused industry
leader, dawn is always here to drop the
(32:12):
latest Ecom Profit Podcast episodes to give
you more tips and tricks and insights into
all things e-commerce.
So thank you again for watching and we will
see you later.
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