Welcome to The Joyful Rebellion!

Because setting boundaries, resting well, and building healthier systems is radical.

🧪What's New In the Lab

"You're either a leader everywhere or nowhere." This quote is from Abby Wambach's Wolfpack, which was my book club's pick for April. We had a rich conversation exploring what it means to be a leader and how we show leadership in our actions every day.

There were so many great lessons in this short but impactful book, but one takeaway for me is this: whenever we step up and demand more for ourselves, speak up for others, celebrate someone's success, or set boundaries, we are planting the seed for those around us, watching us, to do the same.

Tonight I'm leading a workshop about Ethical Leadership with the Council of Neighborhood Associations in St. Pete. Book a call with me to explore how I can support leadership development in your organization.

Book a Discovery Call

✍🏽 The Better Boundaries Brief

The Loneliness Epidemic at Work (And Why It’s Not Just Personal)

Have you had a chance to read this month's edition? I wrote about the epidemic of loneliness and how it affects us at work. Read to explore how loneliness is produced by policies, workplaces, and institutions, and why solving it requires people‑first design, not individual resilience.

And if you have a moment, enjoy this short poem, Minister of Loneliness, presented by Sarah Kay about how we can be more curious and connected.

Read the Blog

🎧 Work Is Third: Podcast Spotlight

Be the Thermostat, Not the Thermometer | Protecting Your Peace with Rene Rivas

What if protecting your peace doesn’t mean staying quiet—but finally speaking up?

In the latest episode of Work is Third, I talk with Rene Rivas, entrepreneur, nurse, and founder of RevIVe+ Mobile IV Concierge, about healing, presence, vulnerability, and redefining success on your own terms.

Rene shares his journey from difficult workplace experiences to building a business rooted in prevention and wellbeing. Together, Dawn and Rene explore the power of community, how joy can be a daily choice, why adulthood may need to be reimagined, and the difference between being a thermometer who reacts to the room—or a thermostat who sets the tone.

Listen Now

📊Data That Matters

The Six Pillars to Advance Social Connection

Why this matters

In the U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community, Dr. Vivek Murthy notes that "We can choose, in short, to take the core values that make us strong—love, kindness, respect, service, and commitment to one another—and reflect them in the world we build for ourselves and our children. This strategy shows us how to create the connected lives and the connected world we need."

This is so perfectly aligned with the message in Wolfpack, too, where Abby Wambach writes that "Revolutions begin with a collective belief. Revolutions are won with collective action." Whether we are fighting for communities of connection, women's rights, pay equity, or other issues that are important to us, our success depends on connection.

Link: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community

💬Quote of the Week

“They spent their lives and careers building something that many of them knew they’d never get to take advantage of - but they did it anyway.” Abby Wambach in Wolfpack — Quote by Abby Wambach in *Wolfpack*

📓 Journal Prompt

What does it mean to be a leader? How are you living that definition every day?

🌞 Affirmation of the Week

Being a leader means creating boundaries that show I value myself.

💫 Closing Reflection

Leadership is rarely loud. Often, it looks like how you treat yourself, how you show up for others, and the standards you refuse to lower.

Leadership isn't a title or a job position. It's how people show up every day.

If your organization is ready to build leaders rooted in ethics, courage, and connection, let’s talk.

With care and rebellion,
Dawn ✨

🤝🏽Let’s Work Together

Ready to build systems that support better ways to live and lead?
I partner with organizations to create the conditions for everyone to thrive, through education, training, skill building, strategic planning, and implementation.
👉 Book a call and let’s build something better together.

Book a Discovery Call