Meet Dawn Sellers

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dawn Sellers. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dawn below.

Dawn, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I believe finding purpose only comes from fully living, but no one could have told me that when I was younger. Always searching for what it was I wanted to do or where I fit in. Experiences, both wins and failures, tragedies and good times, came and went. I still didn’t have an answer. I had a long career in healthcare compliance and credentialing that left me burned out and desperately searching for something more joyful. As I reached my fifties, I found myself running a restaurant and bar with my husband. I had to be on 24/7, issues finding staff, increasing prices, more demands each day, and trying to keep up with the flow of customers that seemed never ending. It was challenging and successful, we were celebrating, but I was still missing something. I knew this wasn’t what I was meant to do. I found creativity wherever I could including scheduling events at the business, one of which was an author book signing series. It sparked a desire I had set aside for many years. I knew I wanted to be a writer. I had so many ideas for stories, I started telling people about my plans and stealing away any moment I could to write.

As the business grew, we were at a point where we needed to invest in an upgrade to the kitchen so that we could serve more customers. That was the beginning of 2019. My mother in-law was very ill, she had neurological symptoms that were finally diagnosed as Huntington’s Disease. We soon discovered that the disease is genetic and that each biological child has a 50% chance of also having Huntington’s Disease. Many people choose not to be tested, but as my husband and I discussed the possibility of him having HD, taking into account how hard we had worked for the past 21 years of our marriage, the fact that we didn’t have children, but we still had a lot of plans and goals for our life together. He made the decision to be tested. Because it is a rare diagnosis and a high percentage of Huntington’s patients commit suicide once they receive the diagnosis, there is a process. A long process. We continued to run our business and discussed the options for our future for nearly a year. Knowing that if my husband’s test was positive, he would likely only have 10-15 years of mobility. His mother had been in a wheelchair for a decade already and was now bed bound. Unable to control her movements, she needed to be fed and cared for completely. With no cure, it wasn’t a promising future. We knew that there was a 50% chance that we would have the same outcome. After many months of mentally processing, watching his mother continue to decline and pass, we made the decision that if the test was negative, we would go ahead with expanding our restaurant and continue to build our business. If the results were positive, we would close the business and retire, spending the next 10-15 years traveling and doing all the things we wanted to do.

As someone who has always worked one or two jobs, the idea of being at home, caring for my husband made me very nervous. How would I be able to find a balance between keeping myself busy and caring for him? I knew that writing would be it.

We met with a counselor, a requirement before you get the test results. We were both very realistic about the possibility and had so much time to process it we were ready for whatever the results would be. In October 2019 we finally received his test results.

It was positive.

My life was different from that day on. It was a tragic answer that you can never be fully prepared for. We set the date to close our restaurant as March 31, 2020. This would give us time to help our staff find other jobs and make the arrangements to close.

The pandemic added another layer to our life, as it did to everyone that month. Like all other businesses, we were required to close on March 17th, two weeks before we had planned. Expecting the shut downs to be temporary, we started planning our travel and adventures that we would begin within a few weeks, we thought. When the isolation was extended, week after week, travel was not even an option that was in sight, I started writing.

I read all the books on writing that I had collected. I realized that one of my stories could make a good movie. I found an online screenwriting class and dove in. I was hooked. I realized this was what I was always meant to do. I loved the format of screenwriting, the preciseness of it, and how to tell stories visually. This is my purpose.

I started reading every book on screenwriting I could get my hands on, watched YouTube videos, read everything I could find online about storytelling, and specifically screenwriting. I found a contest that looked interesting and entered. My short screenplay was one of the winners and the prize $100. I immediately bought a gold charm of a movie camera and have worn it around my neck every day since then. It is a reminder of what I am meant to do no matter what else shows up in my life.

My husband and I decided that the time in isolation was a perfect opportunity to cleanse our lives of any and all negativity and toxic relationships, both family and friends. We wanted to surround ourselves with only good people. With the clock beginning to tick on our future, there wasn’t time to waste with anything that didn’t bring us joy. I took an online yoga instructor course, not only to become certified to teach, but also to deepen my own practice to calm my mind and lessen the anxiety I was experiencing between the current isolation and the worries of what the future would be.

In the past four years, I have met some amazing people, written several screenplays, won more awards, and am now researching my novel with a plan to then write the screenplay this coming year. I have worked on film sets and gained the confidence to produce and direct my own comedy television pilot. I was able to raise $20,000, hire cast and crew, and complete the project this year. My film is in festivals now and I am currently looking to develop the rest of the season, hoping to find distribution.

My husband is also writing and can do some acting, something that he had done in his free time before and enjoys having the time and ability to do it now. Each day is unpredictable. I never know each morning if he will be functioning normally, be agitated, or completely unable to process the day, all expected symptoms of the disease. I take one day at a time, grateful for the good days, the people, and things we can enjoy. I am also very realistic about the possibility that it may be the last one as the clock continues to tick. I recently started teaching yoga two days a week to get out of the house. I know that screenwriting is my purpose and while it may seem a tragic path to arrive here, my life’s experiences and discovery of this purpose have given me the strength to create a balance that brings me joy no matter the circumstances.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am a screenwriter, director, and filmmaker. I create female-driven stories in diverse worlds and believe storytelling can influence connection and perception.

I have a comedy television pilot that I wrote, directed, and produced. I am looking for a development partner or funding to film the rest of the season. It is a story with the underlying theme of finding meaning and purpose where you find yourself in life and creating your own community. More information and the trailer can be seen on my website: BrokenToeProductions.com
The film is currently in the film festival circuit and was just awarded Best Comedy Series Episode at the Oregon Short Film Festival. It is also nominated for an award the Portland Comedy Film Festival.

I am a founder of the nonprofit, POV Filmmakers that serves local independent filmmakers in the Portland community no matter where they are in their filmmaking career. We have free monthly mixers that provide opportunity to learn and network with other filmmakers who want to collaborate on making their own films. I am a local coordinator the International Screenwriting Association, Portland Chapter that meets every Third Thursday for educational presentations and networking with other filmmakers. I enjoy connecting others in the local film community and providing the resources and opportunities that I looked for when I first started writing.

Projects coming up include writing a novel that will be followed by the feature length screenplay, a couple of other short films in pre-production, and I have been hired to direct a short film in Portland, Oregon next year.

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?

Listening to people, learning their stories. Everyone has one.

Understanding that we are more alike than we are different, no matter where we are in the world.

Things don’t always work out as you plan. Be present in the moment and open to opportunities that come your way. It is all on the path to understanding yourself.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

When I am feeling overwhelmed I like to take a walk. I live near the forest and find spending time in nature really helps clear my head and prioritize things that need to be done. Setting out with a problem, I usually find clarity and an answer along the way. In addition to yoga, I started meditating a couple of years ago, even five minutes a day helps to calm my mind and help process the day to avoid getting overwhelmed. Life is challenging with so much coming at us every moment of the day but taking a few minutes for myself, without distractions, can help me handle the demands. I have spent time nurturing positive relationships with good friends who meet at least once a month in addition to regular calls or texts to check in for encouragement and support.

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Image Credits

Katie Prentiss Photography

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