Meet Dawn Garcia

We recently connected with Dawn Garcia and have shared our conversation below.

Dawn , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

Wow….this question is very deep on so many levels. The only way that I could really explain where my resilience comes from is to tell you my story.. my testimony of God’s Greatness in my life. It all started once I was born on December 5th, 1995. I didn’t have the normal story of being born and then a few days later going home to a loving family. I was born prematurely , weighing only about 1 pound. I was so small that you could hold me in the palm of one hand. Being born premature, came with many complications after birth, such as breathing problems with me developing bronchitis, and having trouble walking correctly, In my early years of age involving many surgeries, and physical therapy. But after vigorous trials with my doctors , I was able to pursue a normal life , walking regular, and breathing better with an inhaler only for when I did strenuous activities. But if that wasn’t enough already, it seemed like problems were never ending. I lived in a middle class neighborhood, my parents were very well off . I had everything I could ever want or need.. financially and physically anyway. But as time went on , I realized that things weren’t always what they seemed. I found out that I was adopted and that I had been living a lie my entire childhood up until that point. Everything changed after that , I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone. After I found out the truth , it’s like my parents mask fell off and they showed their true narcissistic selves. I went through countless verbal, emotional and even sometimes physical abuse living in that house. Desperately trying to escape my reality with every sin possible such as drugs, criminal behavior, etc. It would help for a moment but the void was never filled. And as if home wasn’t bad enough, I dealt with constant bullying at school too , that left me depressed , lonely and isolated. Constantly being the doormat for everyone’s unhealed trauma left me to various suicide attempts, mental hospitalizations and zombified from psychotic medications over the course of my adolescent years. Daydreaming about what my life would of been like if I was with my birth mother became another paradise from reality. All up until I finally met her..claiming that she wanted a relationship with me behind closed doors but in the public eye wanted to keep the past in the past because she had a new family. Like it was my fault , she had me at age 14 ya know? Not trying to give me any information on my father, because she’s hurt about the choices she made…she at least owed me that. On every social media platform, acting like I don’t exist but yet advocating for mental health while still projecting her unhealed trauma ..the irony. And I know your probably wondering how I know so much about the mental health aspect of things..let’s just say those involuntarily admissions to the mental hospital paid off. Instead of healing and stopped projecting their trauma onto me …my adopted parents would have rather checked me in .. but it wasn’t all bad. God finds you wherever your at… And that’s where I had my first encounter with the holy spirit, sitting on my bed..praying for a way out. God spoke to me and said “make plan and make it plain” and I did , I wrote down everything I was going to do when I got out this time , to never give them an excuse to try and bring me back. And everything I wrote down that day , 5 years later I’m doing and thriving…let’s just call it from pain to purpose and this has just scratched the surface of my story.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a Jill of All Trades, I like to say. First and foremost I am a Christian, Wife and Mother before anything else. I am also a Published Print Model , Author, Motivational Public Speaker, Mental Health Advocate, Panelist , and an On set Assistant for content creators. But most importantly my purpose is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and I believe that strongly, which is the importance of sharing my testimony with others on platforms like this one. God has saved me , and changed my life tremendously since surrending my life to him and giving him my full “YES”. I want to inspire others that you can do all things through Christ that strengthens you, and that although you may face trials and tribulations, there is a great purpose on the other side of it , you just have to keep the faith. I’ve been homeless, had my family turn their back on me and leave me for dead and God turned it around for my Good…I’ve been in situations where my life was almost taken by someone and God got me to safety more times than I can count..just never give up. I will be sharing my testimony , information and awareness about mental health on a podcast coming up as well as publicly speaking about the correlation between drugs and mental illness at a addictions recovery and treatment center called Gaudenzia in my area as well. I’m super excited about that and blessed to be able to give back to my community..and Lastly, I will be releasing my book about my life titled “From Pain to Purpose” coming out sometime next year , so alot of great things on the way …all Glory to God !

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three qualities that were most impactful in my journey were One, Being Present. Growing up , I was also the type of child that would worry about everything that needed to be done in the future. I never would take a moment to stop and smell the roses as they say and enjoy the moment of what I have now. But as I began my walk with Christ and went through certain trials and tribulations, learning to just be happy in the moment brought me so much peace. The Second quality was trusting the process and God’s plan for my life. God’s plan might not make sense to you , but his plans are to prosper you and not to harm you. I remember when I had lost my old apartment and I had just became homeless, I was constantly talking to God like “Why did this have to happen to me ?” ” Maybe if I didn’t do this and that , then this wouldn’t of happened” and as I have gone further in my journey, I realized that everything had to happen the way that it did for me to get to the purpose that he has for me. I wouldn’t of been as strong as I am now if I didn’t have to go through some of the things that I been through. I wouldn’t have known my true strength if I didn’t have to go through so many things alone so to speak. Perseverance builds character. And Lastly, Be Yourself and Not who Everyone wants you to be or who you think the world wants you to be. This world is full of facades, and alot of people are walking around unhappy and miserable whether they want to admit it or not , because they want to keep up with the next person or the trends. It’s not worth it. Money , Fame , and Exterior things can all be stripped away from you at any time. Who are you without it ? Who are you inside ? What type of heart do you have ? I always like to ask people this question..if people could see the type of the heart you have behind closed doors when they looked at you instead of your outside appearance would you be embarrassed? You have to heal what’s inside through Jesus Christ and everything else will be added …

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

Jesus Christ, simply put. There’s really no way around it. I would not be where I’m at in my life , physically, mentally , emotionally and professionally without him. I was so lost before and now I’m found. God put me in situations where nobody could help me but him, to show me that all I really needed was him. I’ve seen his greatness on a major scale and in my every day life , it really doesn’t get any better than Jesus ! I encourage everyone to have your own personal relationship with God and not just take my word for it. The peace I have now since walking with Christ , just as the Bible says it really does surpass all understanding, it’s priceless.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram: @dawnnikole_

Image Credits

Phillip Moore Jr

Stefan Scott

Tobi O.