I’m Dawn.

I’m a designer, creative director, business owner, writer, former RN, wife and mother. I’ve spent most of my life making things, building things and figuring things out as I go.

I’ve never taken a particularly straight road to get anywhere.

I started in graphic design, took a turn into healthcare and eventually found my way back to design. I taught myself web design, spent years designing websites and building brands, and today I’m the co founder and creative director of R. Rebellion, the fragrance and lifestyle company my business partner Shana and I built in Pendleton, Oregon.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped writing.

Then, in 2025, I was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer, and I found myself writing again. At first, it was simply a way to keep friends and family updated. Eventually, I realized I was documenting something much bigger.

Not just cancer.

Life.

The beautiful parts. The brutal parts. The funny parts. The things we build, the people we love, the places we go, the things we lose and what happens when life doesn’t go according to plan.

That’s what this space is for.

You’ll find stories about design and creativity, life and work, the West, travel, family, cancer and healing, and probably a few things I haven’t figured out yet.

I don’t have a grand lesson to teach. I’m still learning too.

But I’ve become increasingly aware that our ordinary lives are worth documenting. The stories we think we’ll always remember have a way of disappearing if we don’t write them down.

So I’m writing them down.

I’m glad you’re here.

Dawn