Her Story
About Dawn
Dawn Young serves as HR Generalist and the only HR professional at her current healthcare organization, overseeing all functions of HR for 82 employees across 16 locations in 10 states while supporting providers and veterans' C&P evaluations. She brings 14 years of professional HR experience, having transitioned from accounting after marrying a military officer and completing her BS in Human Resources Leadership online through Sullivan University in Louisville, Kentucky. Dawn loves every aspect of HR and has implemented a full HR department from scratch, including policies and an employee handbook. She is pursuing PHR and SHRM certifications. As an ex-military spouse of 24 years who engaged in non-profit volunteerism for over 20 years, Dawn credits her success and resilience to her faith in God, having survived breast cancer treatment with 14 rounds of chemo, mastectomy, radiation, a blood clot, car accident, divorce, job losses, and the death of her father. She values integrity above all and advises maintaining work-life boundaries while adapting to change, drawing from her own experiences thriving in unpredictable environments.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dawn
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success truly to God. I have been such a fighter my whole life, fighting God as well, but He is going to get His way. With all the trauma I have sustained and survived, including 14 rounds of chemo, mastectomy, radiation, blood clot, car accident, divorce, losing jobs and my father, there were days I felt I couldn't go any further, but God was the only reason I could get up and keep going. I worked through sickness because I needed to, and God placed me in a job where I helped the owner heal from losing his mother to breast cancer as I was healing.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I ever received from a superior was 'only touch one thing one time.' When multitasking, you can only do one thing well. So have your to-do list for the day, touch that and complete it even if interrupted 20 times, go back to the incomplete task and move on, because that one task can be done well. If you have hands on 7 different things, some won't be done to the best of your capability. I quote her almost every day.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Please don't bring any personal issues into the workplace. Once you're in the workplace, come in, do your job, and go home. Interact respectfully. The younger generation believes people owe them everything, including employers. The world doesn't adjust to you; you have to adjust to the world without compromising who you are. They don't have good discernment or coping skills. Leave your personal life at home because if you bring in personal problems, it creates a toxic environment.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is that every company thinks HR is just admin, pushing papers, hiring and firing. That's far from the truth. HR is the balance, the hammock between employee and employer, to make both sides whole. People think it's always our fault but then want us to clean it up when they go against the rules or do illegal things. We support managers; we don't make hiring/firing decisions. Also, AI: everyone Googles and wants to tell you what AI said, but you have to know what you're doing as AI gives only generalized information.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is the one big word. It goes hand in hand with my personal life. I've had the most interesting past 10 years with breast cancer, blood clot, car accident, losing two jobs, losing my father, and divorcing all at the same time. God allowed all of this to happen to completely reinvent myself. Integrity means being true to Dawn, honesty, understanding, doing the right thing even when no one's watching. It has sustained me through everything.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.