Dawn Bolton

Current job title: Small business consultant for POP-UP (People’s Opportunity Program for Underserved Populations) program at the Housing Authority of Bowling Green and retired, WKU faculty emeritus.

Hometown: Fond du Lac, Wis., (although I have been in Bowling Green for almost 30 years).

Family: I have two grown children who are married and living in Bowling Green, and a new baby granddaughter! I also claim stepchildren (and stepgrandchildren) from a previous marriage.

The one thing no one knows about me is … I have never driven through a car wash. The whole idea of it terrifies me!

My dream job is … Before this year, I would have said that my dream job was teaching at a university, but I have my dream job now – working part-time for the Housing Authority as the POP-UP small business consultant! I love that I get to use my years of education and experience to coach (teach) minority entrepreneurs, who have the passion for their businesses but may not have all of the business skills or opportunities needed to be successful.

My first job was … cleaning the offices at my dad’s feed mill in Eden, Wis. Everything was SO dusty!

The best advice I ever got was … Knowledge gives you confidence. No matter how many people, or how important they are, if you know what you are talking about, then you can be confident to stand before them. Once I understood this, it made my life of teaching and presenting much less stressful.

My hero (and why) is … not just one person, but many. I am fortunate and blessed to be a part of several groups of women I communicate with regularly. The women in groups called Beautiful Angels, TheSixOfUs, WWW, Bridge Group, Platteville Roommates and LAC are my “sheroes.” I have known some of them for decades and some for a short time, but they all show me acceptance, fondness and inspiration while providing me with guidance. I could not have made it this far in my life without them.

If I could do it all over again, I … wouldn’t. Every aspect of my life – successes and failures – has made me who I am today. And I’m okay with that.

The part of my job I could do without is … currently, I can’t think of anything. While teaching, I could have done without all of the reports that had to be written.

The one thing I always carry with me is … a tissue. My grandmother taught me to do so, and I have been doing it for over 50 years.

Best meal I ever had was … pictured on the front cover of Parade Magazine. My brother-in-law made it exactly as it was pictured – and it was heavenly!

At the top of my bucket list is … taking my adult children and their spouses to a Green Bay Packer football game at Lambeau Field.