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.
Before launching Flat Out of Heels, Dickson had a consulting company, D1 Consulting Group, where she provided marketing and business development services, among other offerings, to several clients for six years. Before the consulting company, the now chief executive had an entertainment website based in her hometown that listed events and activities in Columbus, as well as kept subscribers in the loop through its robust email lists. It was the first website of its kind in that region.
Dickson has always gravitated towards entrepreneurship. She knew she wasn’t the type of person who could work in a corporate environment and do the same thing everyday for years. As the CEO of Flat Out of Heels, she encountered a Learning curve entering an industry she knew nothing about.
“I didn’t have experience in anything that I was doing, but I have marketing [skills], so I know how to sell a product. The biggest challenge was making sure I had all the information. I definitely made some mistakes because of the things I didn’t know. You don’t know what you don’t know until you find out.
She has been learning as she goes and Flat Out of Heels has grown tremendously. Dickson credits Networking with 99% of the opportunities received to date.
“Building your network is not just going somewhere and giving your business card to somebody,” she adds. “It definitely takes years.”
Dickson nurtures each relationship she develops and has connections she’s developed from college and early in her career. Her formula is simple: “Maintain a high level of integrity, moral character and treat people how you want to be treated.”
In fact, good networking is how Dickson was able to land a partnership with Loren Ridinger, senior vice president at Market America and the creator of cosmetics line, Motives. Little did she know that a LinkedIn message to Ridinger would result in an upcoming for Flat Out of Heels.
“It was just a year of going back and forth with paperwork and email before I finally talked to her team and spoke with her,” confirms Dickson. “It was just me not being afraid to reach out to someone and say what I wanted and see if it would work out. I didn’t know her before then. We’ve never even met in person before, but we have worked together over the phone and sending things back and forth to each other through email. We got the collection designed and it’s finished. It looks amazing and it’s definitely the best collection that I’ve put out so far. We’re going to start promoting it very soon.”
Follow B20 on Twitter: @BlackWeb20
Motivated much? We thought so! You don't have to keep sitting on that idea, we can help. Find out how.
Sole Survivor
It’s a scenario all too familiar for many women. She’s out at an event or nightclub wearing high heels and, as the hours go by, her feet begin to hurt. She doesn’t have a pair of flats to change into, so she is forced to endure the discomfort. This happened to Dawn Dickson and she decided to do something about it.
