Episode 107: Dawn Pfingsten

Dawn Pfingsten

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Pretty Powerful Podcast, where powerful women are interviewed every week to share real inspiring stories and incredible insight to help women or anyone break the barriers, be a part of innovation, shatter the glass ceiling, and dominate to the top of their sport, industry, or life's mission.

Join us as we celebrate exceptional women and step into our power. And now here's your host, Angela Gennari.

Angela Gennari: Hello and welcome to another episode of the pretty powerful podcast. My name is Angela Gennari and today I'm here with Dawn Pfingston. Hi Dawn. Hi. How are you Angela? I am so good. So good. So I wanted to introduce Dawn to you.

So Dawn has makeup tutorials that she does on Instagram. She's got a great following and she has, how long have you been doing this? About five years. So she has a [00:01:00] YouTube and social media pages created to help women over 40 and over 50 look and feel their best, um, as simply and affordably as possible.

So I love that because I'm in that age group, and I am constantly trying to find new and inventive ways of looking young and fighting the, uh. The aging process. So tell me a little bit about why you wanted to get into this industry. Well, first of all, thank you for having

Dawn Pfingston: me, Angela. I appreciate you so much.

Um, I really wanted to do this because I feel like as social media has grown,

Both: there are

Dawn Pfingston: so many younger women. Of course, there are also teenagers, but in their twenties and thirties, and I feel like. I'm 56. So I feel like in our 40s and 50s, we want to try all of those makeup tips, outfit ideas, all of those [00:02:00] things.

Yeah. And then we, And if, if you're like me, I feel like we try some of those things and it takes us a couple of times or more to go, okay, well now wait a minute. Okay. I don't look like her. My skin is not like hers.

Both: My

Dawn Pfingston: weight has shifted and it's not in all of the same places that it used to be. I can't do that.

Both: Now that we

Dawn Pfingston: can't more, I guess it would be more accurate to say it doesn't work for me. What worked in my twenties, what worked in my thirties does not work in my forties and now my fifties. And so I wanted to just start helping women my age, first of all, to say, You know what? We are not 20 anymore. What worked before doesn't work [00:03:00] now.

We need to approach this differently. And oh, by the way, most of the products that we're seeing a lot are higher end. And I just don't want to spend that kind of money anymore.

Angela Gennari: Well, that, and I feel like a lot of the heavy eye makeup and some of those things just look terrible. Like it looks scary on me now.

You know, I could have pulled it off in my twenties, but trying to do it now is just not, it's not the right look. So yeah. So I've, I've seen the things on Instagram where I'm like, Oh, that's a cute look. And I tried it on myself and it is. Definitely far from cute. So, um, so how do we as 40 and 50 year olds who want to remain looking fabulous and amazing?

How do we, how do we create that balance of seeing the newer trends, but also wanting to not look obnoxiously weird for our age? I

Dawn Pfingston: really feel like we have [00:04:00] to first recognize and then embrace the fact that our skin is changing. First of all, I think, especially over 50, I'm losing color

Both: in

Dawn Pfingston: my face. So the tendency is to add a little bit more, but also, okay, let's just be honest.

Everything is falling from top to bottom, everything is falling. And so some of the things that worked before don't work anymore. And like you said, with eye makeup, I feel like I like to show some eye looks, but I don't like to use. A lot of eye makeup. You see all the younger girls. Okay, apply this in the crease.

My crease left town a few, a [00:05:00] few years ago. Right. It's not even there anymore.

Both: And

Dawn Pfingston: so I really need to approach it differently. So we have to recognize that things are different now.

Both: And

Dawn Pfingston: we have to embrace that and work with what we have Versus saying, Oh, no, I can get that to work because most of the time I can't get that to work anymore.

Exactly. So, like you said, with the eye makeup, I have to recognize that the more I use. Quite honestly, the worst I'm probably going to look

Both: right.

Dawn Pfingston: Right. So I need to draw it back just a little bit.

Angela Gennari: So what should we be focusing on? And for our guests who are in their twenties and thirties, what advice do you give to them to have healthy looking skin and maintain that youthful appearance as they get older?

Dawn Pfingston: The biggest thing that I would say in twenties and thirties. [00:06:00] Is wash your makeup off at night? Mm, yeah. I know I didn't uhhuh all the time and wash your makeup off at night. And sunscreen. Yeah. Because I'm going to tell you, I didn't, I didn't, I mean, we grew up in a time where we were tanning and we thought it was okay.

Angela Gennari: Baby oil. Yes. Baby oil. Sun in and lemon juice in your hair. And yeah, we wanted dark skin, blonder hair. Yeah. Everything. Yes, we did. And.

Dawn Pfingston: While I do think that a little bit of sun is good, I mean we need that for our health, vitamin D,

Angela Gennari: vitamin D,

Dawn Pfingston: but we do need sunscreen. And I'm going to tell you, speaking from experience, and maybe you know this too, you think, oh yeah, yeah, sunscreen, okay, skin damage.

And then all of a sudden, One day you're like, okay, that very large brown spot was [00:07:00] not there before.

Angela Gennari: And

Dawn Pfingston: I have one right on the tip of my nose where your sunglasses hit just below that. Oh, my stars. And it just takes you by surprise because I think when you're in your twenties and thirties, you think you think skin damage and you think skin cancer, which is absolutely a possibility.

But let's just, let's just put that just aside for just a second. Not that it's not important, but we're also going to see the damage, not necessarily life threatening. But the damage from the sun and not taking care of our skin,

Both: even

Dawn Pfingston: aside from the skin cancer aspects, the dark spots, and let's just talk about that for just a second, because again, I don't want to minimize anyone who [00:08:00] has ever struggled with skin cancer, but let's just say that when we're younger, we wear makeup because, you know, we want to, we want to look better.

We want to look prettier. But those sunspots and those H spots are real.

Both: So

Dawn Pfingston: now I am wearing makeup and I want to make it something that I can work with that tackles all of the skin concerns that I have. While also trying to cover up the sunspots from when I wasn't taking care of my skin when I was younger.

Yeah. And I don't know about you, but I also thought that those dark spots weren't going to happen till I was like 70 or

Angela Gennari: 80. I know. I know. I was saying I'll pop up and I was like, Oh man, are we there already? It just feels too soon.

Dawn Pfingston: Yes it does.

Angela Gennari: Yes it does. Well, [00:09:00] so where, where do you feel like, um, a 40 or a 50 year old could make the investment into better products?

What, what products do matter? And then what products really don't as far as like, you know, give me your, your top, you know, make the investment in this product, but also there are good inexpensive products in this category.

Dawn Pfingston: I think. Let's start with the inexpensive. Mm

Angela Gennari: hmm.

Dawn Pfingston: Don't spend a lot of money on cleanser.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, okay good

Dawn Pfingston: I see a lot of people wanting to spend a lot of money on Cleanser

Both: and

Dawn Pfingston: and and this might be a little controversial Double cleansing. Mm

Both: hmm.

Dawn Pfingston: I feel like Get a really good cleanser that actually does what it's supposed to do

Angela Gennari: and

Dawn Pfingston: be one and done.

Angela Gennari: Mm hmm. Yeah.

Dawn Pfingston: So I don't think cleanser has to be [00:10:00] expensive.

Uh, I like cleansers from CeraVe.

Angela Gennari: Mm hmm. I

Dawn Pfingston: think they work terrific and they do everything that they're supposed to do.

Angela Gennari: Yeah,

Dawn Pfingston: the, the two things, the two things that I really think that we need to look for, and they don't have to be expensive, vitamin C

Both: and

Dawn Pfingston: retinol. Yeah. Vitamin C is something that you need to use during the day.

Like, not only does it really help with anti aging concerns, but it also fights off. the environmental stressors that are out there. So you can find some really good products with vitamin C. Retinol at night and the retinol at night, basically in a nutshell, just kind of fights off any damage that you may have already had.

[00:11:00] It just kind of counteracts that and really helps your skin to repair in the evening.

Both: One

Dawn Pfingston: of the other things that I don't think, and again, this might be very controversial, but I don't think that we need to spend a ton of money on our eye creams.

Angela Gennari: Oh, really? Interesting. Yeah. Okay. Um,

Dawn Pfingston: very few of them work

Angela Gennari: and

Dawn Pfingston: I think that with eye creams, I think so many commercials ads scare us into thinking that it's going to, that regular skincare underneath your eyes is going to cause irritation and that can absolutely be the case with some people, but really and truly.

If your skin can take it, I just apply all of my skin care all the way underneath my eyes. Everything morning and night. If you don't have any irritation Then don't [00:12:00] worry about it because it's for the most part, all the same ingredients. Anyway, they're just charging you more for a smaller bottle.

Angela Gennari: Interesting. Yeah, I've, I've gotten to the point where I will do the same thing. Like I'll have vitamin C on underneath of my moisturizer and then I will have, um, I'll put moisturizer all over my face and I don't really necessarily use eye cream.

Dawn Pfingston: Mm. And then I like a good eye mask.

Both: Mm-Hmm. ,

Dawn Pfingston: you get great results.

I keep it in the refrigerator because, you know, I, if I apply my skincare at night before I go to bed, it's working. But, you know, often you wake up just looking a little less than your best. Right? Like this week I haven't been feeling well. Mm. And so I've got eye masks in the refrigerator and. The active ingredients in the eye mask have long term effects, but the fact that it's cold has gives immediate results, [00:13:00] right?

So I love a great eye mask.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. What about those little gold ones? You know, the little gold, the, they sell them and they, and they're, I use these all the time, but the, they're like a little container of gold eye under eye treatment.

Dawn Pfingston: Some of those are great. I think that, um, we're led to believe that because it's prettier, that it's going to work better.

Right. But just find an eye mask. There are some great ones, even on Amazon, that are less than 20. You want caffeine, hyaluronic acid, Niacinamide. Those are the things that are really going to do some great things for your under eye area in the morning. If you pop it on kind of like when you're drinking your coffee and that, you're going to be amazed at how much more effective that's going to be than spending a lot of money for those fancy eye creams that aren't really doing as much.

Get yourself a great eye mask. Caffeine, hyaluronic [00:14:00] acid, niacinamide, keep it in the refrigerator.

Angela Gennari: Very cool. Would you recommend taking niacinamide as a supplement?

Dawn Pfingston: Not necessarily. No, you can, you can just, um, get it in your skincare and be good.

Angela Gennari: Okay. Very cool. All right. So, um, what else would you recommend in terms of women who are aging is in terms of a great moisturizer, have you found that it's worth investing in a really good moisturizer and sunscreen?

Okay. Do you want to know my secret? Sure.

Dawn Pfingston: I have gotten a lot of great skincare products, um, that I have tried. Some have been higher end. Some have been a little less expensive, but I'm going to tell you the magic elixir is rose hip seed oil.

Angela Gennari: Rose hip seed oil,

Dawn Pfingston: rose hip seed oil, organic, um, [00:15:00] Expeller, Um, pressed, um, first cold pressed,

Both: um,

Dawn Pfingston: you can find really good organic rose hip seed oil on places like Amazon for under 15.

Wow. And rose hip seed oil has more vitamin C in it than a lot of some of the other products that you're going to find on the market. that talk about vitamin C and you can use it for everything. I use it from here to here. I keep it in my suitcase when I travel that way. I don't have to think about what I have, what I don't have.

It is absolutely perfect for really moisturizing in the evening before you go to bed. You could put it on your cuticles. I put it on the ends of my hair. That is my magic. My magic elixir is organic rosehip seed oil. I love it. Interesting.

Angela Gennari: Okay. I've not heard that one. That's amazing. Okay. Very cool. [00:16:00] So to pivot a little bit, um, I, I know that you're also into fashion.

Is that right? Yes. So tell me the differences of dressing in your twenties, dressing in your forties.

Dawn Pfingston: I think in our 20s we're dressing for other people.

Angela Gennari: Mm. Yeah, very true.

Dawn Pfingston: We are, and I don't mean this in a bad way, we're going to clubs, we're going out, we're, you know, all the things that we did with our friends in our 20s.

And I think in our forties and fifties, we're dressing more for ourselves, what we enjoy, what's the most comfortable for us. And I don't necessarily mean comfort. in a way that suggests, well, we're older and we just want to be comfortable like our grandma. I mean, comfort in this is what makes me [00:17:00] comfortable.

Yeah. And sometimes I feel comfortable and I feel like I look great. In a pair of heels. Most of the time, my heels are my drop me off at the door shoes. I tell my husband, drop me off at the door. I'll look great in here. When I'm done, I'll wait at the door while you go pick up the car. But, I have always been the most comfortable.

I love wearing jeans. And so I say this all the time when I show, um, fashion, when I show outfits, I call it elevated casual because my very favorite thing to wear are jeans and a blazer. Oh,

Angela Gennari: nice. Okay.

Dawn Pfingston: And I have really embraced like, um, comfortable, really cute sneakers, like not necessarily Again, maybe what my grandma [00:18:00] wore, what my mom wore, but something really cute and really casual that I can wear with jeans that I can wear with a blazer.

And then I like to pop on a great graphic shirt, graphic t shirt, a band tee, some sort of graphic t shirt that I love and a lot of jewelry. And I am the most comfortable in that. Yeah.

Angela Gennari: And what I love about it. Oh, so go ahead.

Dawn Pfingston: Oh no. I was just going to say, I feel like with jeans and a blazer, I can go just about anywhere.

Angela Gennari: I can

Dawn Pfingston: pop on a really great pair of shoes or boots and be dressed up a little, put a really great blouse underneath. a blazer with jeans, or I can dress it down, just put a plain t shirt or a graphic tee, you know, when it may be one of my favorite bands, like Bon Jovi or something like that. And I can, I'm the most comfortable wearing that.

Angela Gennari: Well, and what I love about a good blazer is that it's forgiving. So if you're having one of those [00:19:00] days where you're, You're not loving the way your body looks, or, you know, you, you're not sure if you're hot or cold or whatever. It's a great layering piece that hides a lot of flaws, but makes you still look put together.

And because

Dawn Pfingston: most of us, I think I speak for most of us in my age range that are in menopause, our belly is not our favorite

Both: part. And

Dawn Pfingston: when I wear jeans and the blazer, I can wear a nice blouse. I just got a couple of them in. I need something for something I'm doing in a week or so. And I've got a couple of really pretty blouses.

that can be left

Both: untucked.

Dawn Pfingston: So even though it's untucked, I'm wearing a blazer and I still look nice.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. Okay. Very cool. So, uh, I know a lot of us are in that phase of life where we struggle with the heels thing. I mean, golly. So how do we dress up [00:20:00] an outfit without wearing heels?

Dawn Pfingston: A pointed toe, and I realize that sometimes that's a little, you know, people are like, oh, those aren't comfortable for me.

If you can get, if you can wear, I'm gonna give you two options. If you can wear a pointed toe, especially if it's a nude. pointed toe, it doesn't have to be a heel.

Both: It can

Dawn Pfingston: be a flat size up a half of a size, and it won't pinch your toes. So normally I'm about a seven, seven and a half in a shoe. If I'm going to wear a pointed toe, I always give myself grace and size up about a half of a size.

And that way my feet aren't squished. I don't feel like Cinderella in the glass slipper. But A dark denim trouser, a dark denim jean with a pointed toe. It's just so elongating. [00:21:00] It makes you look taller. It makes you look thinner and it makes your legs look so much longer. Interesting.

Angela Gennari: I love

Dawn Pfingston: that.

Angela Gennari: Okay.

Very cool. I will have to invest in a few of those because right now my go to if I'm not wearing heels is boots and they're not always the most comfortable either. Sometimes they're not.

Dawn Pfingston: Sometimes they're not. But if you want a shoe to just disappear underneath whether you're wearing jeans or a trouser, make sure the jean is, make sure the shoe is the exact same color or nude because it will just disappear.

Angela Gennari: Okay. Very cool. So some of the fashion trends I keep hearing like skinny jeans 40. What do you think about that?

Dawn Pfingston: Um, I don't necessarily think that's true. Um, I think that if you can wear something that's a little bit more tunic length, or if you wear dark skinny jeans and you wear [00:22:00] like something that goes over the top of it, I love a kimono.

Both: Yeah. I

Dawn Pfingston: love a long cardigan. And here is the thing that I think. I think people are only thinking about skinny jeans and then I don't think that we give enough thought to what we're wearing skinny jeans with.

Both: And

Dawn Pfingston: one of the things that is very difficult for those of us who have had children are in menopause, that not only is one of our problem areas, our belly, but one of our problem areas is our hips.

And anytime we wear like a cardigan that stops at our hips, it just draws all the attention right there. Yeah. Where visually, whether you're wearing skinny jeans. Or a wide leg or a straight leg. It doesn't matter where dark denim, but where something over the top, that's going to elongate [00:23:00] you and scam your hips.

And almost visually, it almost cuts it off a long cardigan.

Both: Okay.

Dawn Pfingston: A long kimono, something like that. And just think of it, it's almost like this where it's almost like it just cuts off everything on the sides and

Both: it just

Dawn Pfingston: makes you look right down the middle and it can be very slimming and elongating and also help you look a little bit taller.

Angela Gennari: Beautiful. I love it. Okay. So when you were younger, did you always feel like this was going to be your industry?

Dawn Pfingston: Oh no. No. No.

Angela Gennari: No.

Dawn Pfingston: Oh no, when I was younger, I went in the military right after high school. And so, um, I, I don't know why I think about this, but I enlisted in the air force two days before I graduated.

So when I graduated high school and walked across the stage, I was already a member of the military. So, um, I went into the military right out of high [00:24:00] school. I loved it.

Both: Um,

Dawn Pfingston: I just, it was just amazing. Such a great experience for me. Um, molding me, helping me learn and grow into an adult. I was, it was fantastic.

I loved it. And, um, and then right after that, while I was still in the Air Force, I, um, started in, um, um, direct sales.

Both: I

Dawn Pfingston: was in direct sales for almost 20 years. And so I think that kind of started my entrepreneurial journey. Um, so I loved being in direct sales. I loved just working with other women and just knowing that my success was completely dependent on me.

Angela Gennari: That's amazing.

Dawn Pfingston: So I love that. And I think that is what really helped me being, uh, um, [00:25:00] being in a direct sales and that part of my entrepreneurial journey, um, really helped me. To start in this industry, knowing that whatever I do, I'm going to have to get better at it because it all depends on me.

Angela Gennari: Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's one of the beauties about being an entrepreneur is you start realizing how capable you really are. And a lot of it is because we have no choice, but then a lot of it is because we're all capable of much more than we give ourselves credit for. So, right.

Dawn Pfingston: And there is an awful lot.

We all know it doesn't matter what business you're in, what industry, whatever, sometimes being in the right place at the right time.

Angela Gennari: Oh, yeah.

Dawn Pfingston: It doesn't matter whether you're own a bakery, whether you're work at a department store, whether you work at the bank, whether you are in an industry. Industry like this right place at the right time.

But if you're not growing, if you're not helping yourself get better, it doesn't matter who [00:26:00] you run into. Doesn't matter what opportunities come up. It could be the best opportunity. If I'm not doing well, if I'm not. striving to be my best self and to get better every single time. Doesn't matter who I run into.

Angela Gennari: Exactly. So tell me a little bit about your journey as an entrepreneur. So, uh, what obstacles did you have to overcome, uh, as you're starting your career? And one of the things that I want to particularly ask about is the following that you have on social media. You have a pretty significant following. So tell me about that journey.

Dawn Pfingston: I honestly would say. And you are in an industry as well that. I think you can appreciate this. Okay. Technology often paralyzes me.

Angela Gennari: Oh yeah. [00:27:00]

Dawn Pfingston: I, um, so we have a daughter who just graduated high school. One of our daughters just graduated high school and she's like, Oh yeah, I can figure that out. Oh, I can do that.

You know, they get a new iPhone, iPad, whatever. I have a guy that when I get A new laptop, something like that. I just give it to him and I say, you give it back to me when it works,

Angela Gennari: right? Make it do the things,

Dawn Pfingston: make it do the things I needed to do this thing, this thing, this thing, and this thing, you make it do the things.

And then you give it back to me when it does all the things. I remember my daughter got a new laptop about a year ago and I said, okay, do you want me to call my guy? Because he knows that you're going to get a new laptop. And he said, I could drop it off to him and I could pick it up. He's like, she's like, mom, no.

I can do it. I think that all of these younger girls that I said all that to [00:28:00] say that I think all of these younger girls that are doing so well in this industry, maybe your industry, others, technology doesn't scare them. We did not grow up with it.

Angela Gennari: Right? Exactly. We

Dawn Pfingston: did not grow up with it. We did not grow up with social media.

We did not grow up with all of the technology. My biggest hurdles, I think have been where I think, okay, I kind of sort of think I've got this Instagram thing figured out. Oh, no way. Last month there were 47 new updates. Now I've got to learn all of them. Right. Right. And then when I decided to start on YouTube, Oh, my stars and garters, that is a completely different.

Yeah. Animal, all of the things that work, all of the things that have to be done behind the scenes. [00:29:00] Completely different and I have to learn all of that in a different side of my brain, if you will.

Angela Gennari: Yeah.

Dawn Pfingston: So it is definitely been technology and social media because there's so much to learn. And. I do not think that I'm the best at it.

I know that I'm not the best at it, but every time I think that I've learned this little thing, they change the algorithm. Oh my gosh. They change it. I'm like, no. Yeah. What do I do?

Angela Gennari: Uh huh.

Dawn Pfingston: And along with that, there are so many, there are so few people that I can ask

Both: to

Dawn Pfingston: help. Yeah. Yeah. Because I could sit and have a conversation with you for hours about how this has changed, how this has changed, how this and this [00:30:00] don't work together.

My husband is in a completely different industry. Right. My daughter who embraces technology and can just go, okay, give me five minutes. I can figure it out. doesn't understand some of the things that are puzzling me

Both: that

Dawn Pfingston: I deal with on YouTube, for instance, because she doesn't work in that, in that area at all.

Right. So it's ever changing. And there are very few resources for me. You know what I mean? And people that I can talk to that understanding go, Oh girl, Oh, I got this figured out. Right. Because I have a couple of friends that I can think of. Who are my go to that I ask them things and one of them has gotten this mastered and one of them has gotten this mastered and here's me over here mastering a completely different Whole set of, [00:31:00] you know, different things.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Well, one thing I tell people all the time is make sure you find your tribe because, you know, like when it comes to running a business, I adore my friends and my family, but they may not be the best people to go to for business advice. They're good. They're great people to keep me grounded and remind me of my values.

And, you know, that does not align. That doesn't sound like you, right. They're great cheerleaders. But when I have business questions about, you know, how do I change, you know, into a, uh, you know, my insurances. 600% increase. How do I, you know, res shop that and get a good rate? Like, they're not the, they may be not the best ones to go to.

They're like, oh, you can call my car insurance person. Like, not the same, you know, and so not the same. That's right. Yeah. You, you have to constantly try to find the tribe that fits in each of your, your little niches that you're working in. Absolutely. Personal business influencer, you know, whatever that might be.

Dawn Pfingston: Absolutely. Absolutely. And [00:32:00] the people that you look up to or the people that you watch, it's different for everyone. You know, you probably have four or five people that you watch and you love and you just glean so much information from them

Both: and

Dawn Pfingston: they probably help you with some of the things that maybe even I struggle with.

You're five or six different people. I've probably never heard of them.

Angela Gennari: Exactly. Yeah.

Dawn Pfingston: The people that I watch and go, Oh my gosh, I love how she did that. I need to reach out to her and see if she can kind of point me in the right direction. You've probably never heard of them. So there's so much to learn.

And there are so many different people that we can learn from. And even just depending on what industry or what the pain point is.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. So what advice would you give to people who are looking to become an influencer in their [00:33:00] industry, whatever that might be? How do they, how do they set themselves up to gain the following?

Cause you have a, like I said, you have a significant following you are following, you know, you have over 90, 000 followers on Instagram. So how does one set themselves up to be an influencer or to, to get the following in order to make a difference in their industry?

Dawn Pfingston: I feel like you really have to be willing to put yourself out there and don't try their two sides to the same coin.

Both: Yeah.

Dawn Pfingston: You have to see what's working for people and kind of do what's working, but you also have to be yourself. I can't absolutely 100% For lack of a better word, mimic or mirror what someone else is doing, but I also have to watch them and go, okay, this thing works for them. I'm going to try to make [00:34:00] it work for me,

Angela Gennari: right?

Dawn Pfingston: But also you have to rely on your family and friends to hear you or to not hear you, but cheer you on,

Angela Gennari: but

Dawn Pfingston: your family and friends are not going to be the ones that are going to make you successful.

Angela Gennari: Right.

Dawn Pfingston: I have so many really good online friends that are some of my best cheerleaders and some of the best just, Oh my gosh, you've got to listen to Dawn.

You have to follow her. You have to do this. And I've got family members that don't even do that. Yeah. Oh yeah, for sure. And so you, you have to be willing to put yourself out there, but you also have to know that sometimes you only have you

Both: Mm-Hmm. .

Dawn Pfingston: Absolutely. And [00:35:00] so you've just really got to find. You've got to have your friends and family who will help push you out there, but know that they are not going to be the ones that are going to drag you along.

The ones that are going to drag you out of the muck and the mire and all of that are going to be the people that you meet online. And you really have to find people online. That are not, that are at the top that you can watch, but that are moving toward the top that you can align with, that you can be become friends with.

Those are the ones that you're going to gain the most from. And I don't mean that in a, in a bad way. Um, I mean, you can help each other. I do have some really good friends online that we're about at the same level. [00:36:00]

Angela Gennari: Mm hmm.

Dawn Pfingston: And we help each other so much.

Angela Gennari: That's amazing.

Dawn Pfingston: So, but I had different people, not different people.

They're all still there, but the ones that I really clung to and really relied on at the beginning, 5, 000 followers. And believe me when I say when I was starting, I looked up to them because they were where I wanted to be. Now I'm watching the people that are at 100, 000, 500, 000, a million followers, and I'm reaching out to them.

And they're happy. Most of them are happy to go, Oh, we'll just try this. Oh, just try this. And I'm not trying to, I guess, be a pest. I'm not trying to say, okay, can you give me a list of the top five? Da da da da da. I'm always just saying, Angela, I'm struggling [00:37:00] with this thing. Can you tell me where you found that?

Both: Hmm.

Dawn Pfingston: And if I just, it's amazing how many of those people will go, Oh girl, all you got to do is da da da da da. I'm like, so much.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I tell people, um, I do, I do some public speaking. And so one of the things that I tell people also is to make sure that you, you don't have to know all the answers.

You just have to know the question. Like if you can just ask them the question you can get so far because I don't have all the answers, but if somebody asks me a direct question, I can probably answer that question. I can't tell them how to, you know, be a successful business person in their industry, but if they have a question, I can answer a question.

Yes. Right.

Dawn Pfingston: And sometimes we want to ask those broad questions. How do I get successful as a YouTuber, as a content [00:38:00] creator, as an influencer? But what I really need is how to get better lighting, how to look better on camera, where to put the camera, uh, you know, how to edit better. Those types of things.

Because all of those things add up to being a better content creator, being a better YouTuber, being a better influencer, that type of thing.

Angela Gennari: Well, and one of the phrases I hate the most is let me just pick your brain. And it's like, and that, that sounds like unlimited amount of time that I have to sit there and just provide gobs of business advice.

If they just ask me a direct question, I'm much more open to solving that, that solving that problem for them than, you know, this, this immense responsibility of let me just pick your brain. Well, what do you, what do you want to ask? Just ask me what you want to ask. One thing specifically, right? Ask. Yeah.

Yeah. Be respectful of my time and I'm more than happy to share information, but yes, I agree. [00:39:00] So what do you, uh, what would, what advice would you give to your 18 year old self

Dawn Pfingston: to be brave?

Angela Gennari: Hmm. Okay.

Dawn Pfingston: To be brave. Um, it's okay. If some people don't like you, it's okay. I certainly do not want to alienate people.

I certainly do not. But I realize that I'm. Offering simple makeup tips, affordable makeup, affordable skincare, elevated casual fashion. That may not be for everyone. I know that some people really want to wear that full glam makeup.

Both: Some

Dawn Pfingston: women my age say, you know what? I enjoy my eye makeup. And I want to get better and make some of those really complicated eye looks.

And I know that I might not [00:40:00] be for them.

Both: Mm hmm.

Dawn Pfingston: Sure. And that's okay.

Both: Yeah,

Dawn Pfingston: that's okay. Um, we can still get along and that's okay. Um, but I also know that I don't offer high end fashion. And I don't dress up. We have a little hobby farm. And so the older I get and the more involved I get in our animals and our farm animals, the more I realized.

That getting dressed up has no place in my life right now, right, right. Oh my gosh, I need to be able to dust stuff off of me and I need to be able to just change one thing and run out to the pasture and take care of something. And I know that's not for everybody and that's okay and I have to be okay

Angela Gennari: with that.

Absolutely. So how do you handle the trolls online? Because I think anyone who is a content [00:41:00] curator, that's one of the things that you have to deal with is people who are just really negative or really critical.

Dawn Pfingston: Luckily, I have not had a lot of bad luck with that. I did have one instance that was just.

Horrible.

Angela Gennari: Really?

Dawn Pfingston: Um, but for the most part, since my audience are mature women, most of them are pretty mature. Good. Um, which is fantastic. But I do see, I have, I have some friends that are online and they are much more brave that I am than I am with their outfits. I I think that we need to be mature enough to say, you know what?

She looks fantastic. That's not for me, right? But she looks fantastic. And I think that more [00:42:00] people need to realize that it is perfectly acceptable to scroll on by.

Angela Gennari: Yeah,

Dawn Pfingston: yeah, exactly. You don't have to comment. On everything.

Angela Gennari: Mm-Hmm. . Well, and there's the old adage, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all, is just leave people alone.

Even if the person didn't look fantastic and it, and, and you know it was a dumpster fire of an outfit, in your opinion, it doesn't mean that they don't feel good in it. And if it doesn't agree with you, then it's none of your business. Just leave them alone.

Dawn Pfingston: And there have been women that I have seen online.

with outfits that I think, Oh gosh, that is not for me. I could never wear that whether I like it or whether I don't. But then I see that she's got 10, 000, 30, 000, 50, 000 followers. And I'm thinking, Okay. Well then you know what? She's not speaking to me. Right. Right. She's speaking to [00:43:00] these women who love that.

And you know what? She's not hurting anybody. Exactly. That action is not hurting anybody. And if these 10, 000 or 20, 000 women like that, and they all get along, and everyone is doing well, and they are happy for each other, More power to them. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and then if I have, but I have blocked, but I have blocked some people.

Yeah, I was gonna, yeah, that's what I had. I had someone the other day, I had a YouTube video, um, my YouTube videos as of later, more skincare and makeup tip based and less fashion. Although I do love that, but I do really like to, um, concentrate more on affordable fashion and just quick makeup tips just to make all of this easier as I'm getting older and my skin is changing.

But someone commented on a video and [00:44:00] she was like, Oh no, I couldn't possibly do that. It was something like that in the comment. And I thought to myself, What about the title of that video thought that you were going to get anything different than what you got out of it?

Both: Right.

Dawn Pfingston: Like, okay, so you saw the title, you saw the picture, and you watched the whole video and still commented on it.

Right. I don't understand.

Angela Gennari: Mm

Dawn Pfingston: hmm.

Angela Gennari: Mm hmm. But it's okay. Yeah. But it's okay. Well, and I have to be careful because I have a little bit of a habit of being snarky. If somebody says something really nasty to me, I'll give them a really snarky response right back because it's just kind of who I am. And so I have to be really careful about online because, um, I, you know, I'm not going to initiate some criticism or some, some nasty remark because I don't see a reason for it.

I don't see a purpose of it. But if somebody. Comes for [00:45:00] me. I'm I'm not going to back down. So I have to be careful there because it is it is something that I know this about myself. And sometimes it's just like a deep breath. Delete the comment. Move on.

Dawn Pfingston: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. I don't I don't want to engage.

I mean, but you know, we're human. And they're, I meant to say human. That was my cold that said humid. Um, but we're human. And sometimes it does affect us. And sometimes you want to be a little snarky. Um, but then I will kind of take a breath. Yeah. Think about it just for a second and think, okay, you know what?

I can just delete you. That's right. That's right. I can just block you and Thank goodness that we do have that option to be able to do that, because if I have to get ugly with you, probably only one of us is going to be sorry. Yeah,

Angela Gennari: yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:46:00] I don't lose battles when it comes to wits. No, right. So, well, this has been really enjoyable.

I've really learned a lot and I appreciate your time, but I have one more question for you, John. What do you wish more people knew?

Dawn Pfingston: I wish I'm going to say I'm going to stick with our topic and women, and I wish that more women knew that we do not have to do the same things that we did in our teens, in our 20s, and our 30s.

We can evolve. It is okay. to grow and to know that I'm not the same person that I was. Now, I am going to absolutely own all of my mistakes. Sure. Because I made some

Both: in my teens,

Dawn Pfingston: in my twenties, in my thirties, I can own those and know that, you know, I made them, but [00:47:00] as we evolve as a person, as our skin changes, as our body changes, we can say, you know, what.

I wore that lipstick in my twenties. I can't really wear that now. I wore heels in my twenties. I just, I'm not loving that now. I I'm, I'm just not feeling those heels now. I could wear those body conscious things when I was 19, that I do not feel comfortable wearing now.

Both: And it is

Dawn Pfingston: okay to say. I did that when I was 20.

I did that when I was 30. I even did that when I was 40. I'm 56 now, and I can completely play by an entirely different set of rules and be comfortable with who I am right now.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much. This has been such a pleasure. So how can people find you?

Dawn Pfingston: I am at just doing my best all one word at just just doing my best on Instagram, on YouTube.

And on Facebook, and I would love to have you come over there and find me and say, hi, that would be amazing. Thank you, Angela. So, so much for having me here. It's been a pleasure.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. It's been a pleasure for me as well. So thank you again, Dawn. And she can also be found on pretty powerful podcast.

com. We'll make sure all of her links are there. So thank you, Dawn. And I hope everyone has the most amazing

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