An Inspired Chat with Dawn Renè Austin

We recently had the chance to connect with Dawn Renè Austin and have shared our conversation below.

Dawn Renè, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
I am most proud of building the invisible framework that holds all of my creative worlds together.
People see the films, the essays, the upcoming novel, but they do not see the architecture behind it. They do not see the systems, brand identities, and long-term plans I quietly built to make sure my work has a home and a future.

It is spreadsheets and story bibles, business registrations and Bowker forms, strategy sessions with myself in the quiet hours when no one is watching.

It is the unglamorous work that lets the art survive, and that to me is just as sacred as the art itself.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am Dawn René Austin — a writer, filmmaker, and founder of Keanjo Publishing and Dawniverse Films.
I create stories that bridge memory, history, and imagination, inviting readers and viewers to see themselves inside the narrative.

Keanjo Publishing is my newest venture, a home for my debut novel The Tip of Memory, which launches in 2026 as the cornerstone of a growing catalog.
Through Dawniverse Films, I produced the feature Before Dark, and I am developing new projects that explore technology, legacy, and human resilience.

I see my work as more than books and films — it is a connected creative ecosystem built to last, with space for other artists to join in.
Right now, I am building the next phase of that ecosystem: launching my blog journal Dawn’s Notes and preparing my Artist Spotlight series to feature other creators who are shaping the future of storytelling.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Fear breaks the bonds between people.
Fear of being seen, of being misunderstood, of being hurt. It makes us retreat into silence and armor.

What restores those bonds is presence.
Choosing to stay soft, to listen, to keep reaching even when it feels safer to withdraw.
Love is not loud, but it is persistent, and that persistence is what mends us.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear that I was not enough.
Self-doubt has been the quiet shadow in every room I’ve entered — whispering that I did not belong, that I was reaching too high, that I would fail publicly.
It made me shrink when I should have stepped forward.

I am learning to move anyway, to let action speak louder than the voice of fear.
Every time I choose to keep going, I teach that shadow how small it really is.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I am committed to building a creative world that outlives me.
Not just a book or a film, but an ecosystem that can hold the work of many voices long after I am gone.
It will take years, maybe decades, but I am patient with what matters.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I am doing what I was born to do.
For a long time I followed what I was told to do, because it was safer and easier to explain.
But creating has always been the truest language of my life, and I finally stopped asking for it to be understood.
It does not have to be understood. It only has to be done.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dawnreneaustin@macys.com
• Instagram: @dawniversefilms
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dawn.austin.58760/
• Youtube: @dawniversefilms5680