Administrative Professionals Luncheon
The Huntington County Chamber of Commerce will hold its Administrative Professionals’ Day on Wednesday, April 24. The event will be held at the Historic Forks of the Wabash, 3011 W. Park Drive. The luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. and conclude by 1 p.m. Cost is $20 per person.
This year, Dawn Rosemond, attorney for the firm Barnes and Thornburg, will speak about how she found her “why.” On paper Dawn Rosemond had achieved all she had ever wanted and more. She had aced college and law school, the first in her immediate family to earn a graduate degree. She was a crack litigator and partner with a prestigious Indiana law firm and had a loving family. But that day about eight years ago sitting in church, she had an epiphany.
“I got to this point in my journey in my career where I was doing well by external measures, but the way I felt didn’t match the level of success I had,” she said. “For the first time I think I had to own that I didn’t think that much of me… My thoughts of me were that I was not enough.”
Another person might have looked to her career, thinking changing what she did would address these concerns. But Rosemond knew that the change had to come from within, not without. As Rosemond put it, she knew her “what.” Now she needed to find her “why.” Soon after Toni Irby, a friend and sorority sister from Rosemond’s college days at Indiana University Bloomington, asked her to talk about life to a group of high-achieving high school students in Fort Wayne, where the two lived. Rosemond opened herself up to the young women, inspiring them with her own path and her words.
When she returned home, she found herself quoted all over social media.
“A light bulb went on for me that a light bulb had gone on for them,” she said.
Over the next few years she found herself frequently asked to speak to groups, to share the motivational and inspirational philosophy that now guided her own life.
Eventually, that grew into what Rosemond terms Reign, her leadership, professional and personal development platform. Rosemond has offered her Reign classes around the country, from Martha’s Vineyard to Los Angeles to the Bahamas. She’s published a book, “Boss Presence: 100, Ok 50, Ok Some Tips for We Bad Chicks to Reign at Work” and has a blog where she shares her “ReignDrop” insights.
For years, however, Rosemond put up a veneer, letting the outside world see a very different person than the one she felt she was inside. From the time she was a child, she dreamed of becoming an attorney, although she had no immediate role models in that profession. Her biological father left when she was a child and her mother was a factory worker her whole life.
With an eye towards law school, Rosemond worked hard in high school, earning top grades. But when it came to college applications, she applied only to IU Bloomington, afraid no other school would accept her.
“The only reason I went to IU was because I was scared,” she said.
Even after graduating from law school at the University of Illinois and snagging a competitive job right after graduation, Rosemond still didn’t believe in her own worth. People saw her as a success but she found herself shrinking back in professional and some social situations, feeling as though people were doing her a favor to include her. By 2005, she was named a partner at the firm.
“This drives everything for me. This is not a dress rehearsal,” she said. “My ‘why’ is to lead people to the realization that they were created to reign in this life … I always say, your royalty is always calling you. Your job is to answer.”
If you would like to attend the Administrative Professionals’ Day luncheon, please RSVP by calling (260) 356-5300 and let the Chamber know how many plan to attend and their names. Reservations not canceled 48 hours prior to the event will be invoiced. Deadline to rsvp is Thursday, April 18.
