A wife, a mother, a business owner and an athlete. 9 Marathons, many Triathalons and 3 Ironmans. Adopting 2 girls from Ethiopia and now opening her own business…WOW!

It is our pleasure to introduce to you this month's Everyday Hero, Dawn Ellinwood. Dawn was just like any other average person 6 years ago. As Dawn stated, "I was very caught up in "being busy", being a princess and not saying anything about how unhappy I was in my marriage, just waiting for it to fade away."

She was introduced to Primeco Consulting in 2002 at the YBN (Your Beauty Network) Retreat in San Diego and she knew in that moment, that it was time to take a look at where she was going in her life and in her marriage. She took on coaching for herself and started to realize how lazy she was in her relationships. She began to rebuild a great foundation in her marriage and began rediscovering herself and her passions in a whole new way. She then took on becoming a coach for Primeco Consulting in 2005.

The very next year Dawn & her husband Kipp began the adoption process in Ethiopia and on May 14th, 2007 they landed in San Diego with their 2 beautiful daughters, Bereket & Genet who are now 5 and 3 years old. A whole new life was beginning now for them as they entered the new journey of parenthood. The girls definitely bring a lot of joy to their life and everybody that they come across. They are the true picture of love.

With the new addition to the family Dawn knew that it was time to start her own business in San Diego so that she could be with her children as much as possible. She left Primeco as a coach in August of 2007 and started the process of building her own salon in Solana Beach, CA. This of course wouldn’t just be any ordinary salon, because Dawn just doesn’t know how to do anything ordinary anymore.

Ubuntu Hair Studio has adopted the tradition of an African concept called Ubuntu. “A person with Ubuntu is welcoming, hospitable, warm, generous and willing to share,” as explained by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in his book God Has A Dream. Ubuntu Hair Studio hopes to be the change that we all want to see in the world. Their first element of change is a no tipping policy; any gratuities collected will be donated to a spotlight charity. They truly live in “I am BECAUSE you are; you are, therefore WE are.”

Through Dawn’s own personal growth and development she not only shifted her own life but had a huge impact on the others around her as a coach, mentor, athlete and mother of two. She wants to be sure that she gets to live every day fully and do all of the things that she wants to do. Sure she may fall down from time to time and press the pause button to re-evaluate, but what makes her our Everyday Hero is that she gets up, brushes off the dirt and keeps moving forward EVERY time.

She is an extraordinary woman with a huge heart and wants nothing more than for people to be there greatest selves. She left me with this: “Whatever you are stuck in, there is always someone there to help pull you out of it because just when you think you have it all handled, there is always more to deal with.”

If you live in the area, you can stop by and see Dawn at her new salon in Solana Beach. Check out there website at www.ubuntuhairstudio.com for more details. You can also hear Dawn speak at the YBN Retreat this September 28th & 29th in San Diego on “The REAL Story of Opening a Salon & Spa.”