A Place of Grace ~ featuring Dawn, Evilena's Store Manager

Welcome to Spring, friends! We hope you are enjoying these days of sunshine and blossoms and warmer temperatures!

This month in our Evilena’s blog we are going to introduce you to one of our sun-shiniest employees, Dawn! 

Dawn is our store manager, or, in her own words, “Jan’s sidekick.”   You can catch her doing a little bit of everything around Evilena’s.  She will often share new arrivals with you on our daily 1:30 FB Live videos. Dawn is a creative soul who enjoys designing, merchandising, and helping others, and she is simply a delightful and friendly presence around the store!

Dawn is a wife and a mother of 4.  Her family has two dogs, Ferris and Marley. She has solid local roots here in our Lincolnway community.  Her beloved parents still live in the area, and Dawn is grateful for the heritage of faith that her parents instilled in her.  She has a deep love and respect for her parents, and she appreciates the good launching pad they gave to her, which enabled her to raise her own children with a legacy of love and respect for others.

Dawn studied marketing and journalism at St. Francis University.  She worked at Alsip Nursery after college, and up until she had children.  Dawn homeschooled her children until high school.  In July, Dawn will celebrate 3 years of working at Evilena’s Red Dresser in Frankfort.  Jan and Dawn make a great team as they work together in serving our customers!

Dawn is thankful that her faith is encouraged to flourish at Evilena’s. When asked what she loves most about working at Evilena’s Red Dresser, she said, “It is remarkable how Jan runs her grace-based business.  This shop is truly ‘A Place of Grace.’  Jan finds opportunities for each person’s strengths to be used, while also giving us space to learn and grow, all from a beautiful place of grace and encouragement.”

Dawn shared how Covid truly “drove it home” regarding the value of community.  “Last year I really learned the importance of the relationships between staff, customers, and our community.  I love how the store has a kind of ‘Cheers’ atmosphere - where everybody knows your name. We have a collection of beautiful people who come to this store and work together to help each other.  Someone consigns, someone else purchases, someone else helps process the transactions, and it’s just such a wonderful thing how it’s a win-win for everyone involved.” 

Dawn loves working in an environment where faith, prayer, and care for others is a priority.  She feels that we are each on a mission from God to be a light in a dark world.  Even in a retail setting, the love of God in Christ can be expressed in daily life.  She strives to keep God’s perspective in view - the perspective that sees the good in others the way God does.  One aspect of God’s love in particular that Dawn has come to appreciate is the way one can find the good even in the midst of bad behavior or unsettling circumstances.  Dawn believes, “When things look bad, that is an opportunity for me to find the good that God has placed there.  Difficult situations teach me about unconditional love, about grace, about tracing the hand of God in everything.  God’s love for us is not dependent on our deeds or works - - there is nothing we can do to make Him love us any more or any less.  He just loves us. Period.  And He is always working in us and through us to bring about His good purposes.” 

This belief is the foundation upon which Dawn strives to work and serve the people in her local corner of the world. 

Dawn expressed her deep gratitude to Evilena’s customers for the way they rallied around Jan and the store during the Covid-19 pandemic.  She said, “Our customers cheered us on and supported us beyond what we could have ever imagined! We just have such a wonderful community of amazing people who kept us going.”

Dawn shared how she is so thankful to work with Jan at Evilena’s Red Dresser.  “The relationships we’ve built here with each other and with the people who consign and shop here are so valuable!  This shop is a place of grace...a place to experience the love of God through our interactions with each other...and a place to learn and grow.  God still has work for us to do!” 

We love you and appreciate you, Dawn! We look forward to many years ahead working together with you!