You would think that as someone who owns a shoe company, Dawn Dickson would be a shoe lover. But she’s the furthest thing from that.

“I don’t really have that many pairs of shoes,” the founder of Flat Out of Heels admits. “I’ve never in my life owned a pair of designer heels like Louboutins. I wear Flat Outs. I have free shoes, so why would I not wear my free shoes? Of course I have pairs of heels that are nice, but I rarely wear high heels unless I’m going somewhere. I’m not into fashion. I’ve never bought a fashion magazine in my life.”

Dickson describes her style as “classic” and “casual.” She’s not into designer labels or shoes; instead, her love for the business is what got her into creating her line of rollable flats.

In order to tackle the day-to-day grind, Dickson begins each day with meditation and prayer, which help her achieve balance in her life. Even though no two days are the same, they typically begin with her checking emails and getting her daughter ready for school. She also credits being organized and not being a workaholic with minimizing the stress in her life.

“Being organized is very important, and then just taking time for yourself. I get up in the morning and take 30 minutes for myself for meditation, for prayer, to be present in that day, to set my intentions for that day, and everything has to wait so I can be where I need to be [in that day].”

Outside of Flat Out of Heels, Dickson’s passions include education [homeschooling, which is what her daughter is enrolled in] and learning about the history of the world and herself, as well as helping other entrepreneurs. Her personal goal is to become an angel investor one day. She spends time mentoring other businesses because she believes in the importance of reaching back and giving as much knowledge to other people as she can.

The entrepreneur lists fellow entrepreneurs such as Angela Benton and Daymond John as her inspirations.

“I definitely admire Angela [Benton]. I’m very happy that she has dedicated her life to being an entrepreneur and helping other entrepreneurs that are often overlooked like women and people of color,” she says. “I admire Daymond with how he’s evolved his personal brand. I definitely want to be able to brand myself that way. He’s made himself an expert in entrepreneurship and he gets paid to go speak and give his opinion. That’s amazing. I would love to do that.”

Dickson also admires her friend Jasmine Crowe of BlackCelebrityGiving.com and what she does for homeless people all over the country.

In five years, Dickson would like to see Flat Out of Heels sold to someone with her possibly being involved in some capacity either training another person to be a CEO and then transitioning, or having a board or advisor position.

“I would love to see Flat Out of Heels taken over by a major shoe or retail brand and taken to the global level.”

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From the Start 

Dawn Dickson has been an entrepreneur since the age of 21. The Columbus, Ohio native hasn’t held a “day job” since ’01 and credits her diverse background in journalism, marketing, non-profit fundraising and information technology for affording her the opportunity to manage her own business.