It was a sunny Saturday morning in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. As I stood waiting to meet Dawn Bournand, I was reminded of the importance of women’s empowerment. International Women’s Day would be two weeks away and I was getting ready to meet a woman who is empowered to encourage other women, empowered to go after her dreams, and empowered to love herself so that she can love others.

For Seele's Women’s History Month profile, Dawn Z. Bournand is the woman that’s being honored. Dawn is an American living in Paris, France. She is an author, success mentor, business coach, and radio show host and international speaker. Originally from Florida, Dawn studied Business and English Literature at The University of Florida. Before moving to Europe, she was a Business Executive in the U.S. She had taken a backpacking trip throughout Europe during a semester off in college and fell in love with the continent. When she began to feel it was time to make a big life change from her corporate life, she decided to return to the place she adored and enrolled in a photography course in Paris, and like so many others who have fallen in love with Europe as a tourist, she stayed. For a few years she taught English in Paris and then she met her husband, and now they have 3 boys.

In addition to the work that Dawn does as a success mentor and business coach, she founded Fabulously Successful; a motivational company that helps women around the world to create success on their own terms with their own individual passions. While she has been coaching for 9 years, it was not always her primary career- until recently, when she took the leap to make it full time as it has always been the activity that she finds to be the most fulfilling and rewarding.  She’s dedicated to helping men and women use their life purpose to discover the freedom and empowerment that they have, to obtain their own business successes. You’ll read about it in a second with my Q&A interview with her.

But one thing that really caught my attention with Dawn is that she’s humble. She has accomplished many things, but she doesn’t think highly of herself in an arrogant way. She surely doesn’t come off that way. She makes herself accessible when she can to encourage others, especially women. That’s one important thing to remember as people- that we should strive to make ourselves accessible to others, helping them when we can.  

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Photos of Dawn alone, courtesy of Claire Morris Photography