Recently Girlma.de team had the opportunity to catch up Dawn Quaker, who after a six-year career as a professional ballet dancer, performing with companies such as, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet decided to hone her business skills working in recruiting and business development within the hedge fund industry. Next she saw a gap in the industry so decided to fill it herself which has resulted in her first venture called Edunext, which is why we wanted to share a few highlights from a recent interview with Dawn.
1.) Tell us about yourself
All my life, i’ve been interested in building things. Whether it be ballet or business, the one common thread has always been that the companies I enjoyed working at the most were on the cutting edge in their respective industry.
That’s what I’m trying to do with Edunext - take experiential learning in a new direction, while maintaining the integrity and mission(s) of the organizations we work with as part of our collaboration. We see their mission(s) as a reflection of our own and know that collectively we can make the greatest impact.
2.) Who are or have been your mentors and how have they impacted your lives/business/success - you get the idea.
As women, it is important that we recognize the strength of our own voice and not fear our own empowerment. I was fortunate as a teenager to have a teacher, Linda Roberts, that taught me just that: how to think for myself, how to argue and how to listen. All three inform who I am and what I do, today.
3.) What do you do to stay relevant in your industry?
Edtech is a burgeoning field; the evolving role of technology in education and the myriad of variables which may impact an individuals learning environment make it a necessity to continually reinvest in your mission statement; this reinvestment requires both maintaining a broad appraisal of current events and politics while remaining informed of the most recent academic articles on computer science, educational pedagogy, and human development.
4.) What are the top three tips you recommend to our Girl Empire audience (young women) to be like you some day?
There are actually four things I think all young women should keep in mind:
- Be Yourself. Fully and unapologetically.
Steve Jobs may have said it best, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
- Dream big. Thanks to the generations of women who have come before us; we have more opportunities than ever before, so be sure to value who you are, what you want to do, and know no limits.
- Read. Knowledge truly is power. You will enrich your life exponentially with a good book.
- Be Resilient. Every woman is faced with obstacles in their life; remember the thing that matters most is that you adapt and persevere.
Dawn currently resides in New York City, New York and is student of business development and entrepreneurship while completing her studies as a student of Psychology at Columbia University’s School of General Studies.
You can reach out to Dawn via twitter at: @d_quaker