Hailey Dawood is the Owner & CEO at The Idea Hunter, where she helps corporate clients bring creativity and impact to their events to deliver memorable, high-value experiences that transform their brand presence. During Covid, Hailey was forced to completely pivot her business and that period of uncertainty laid the foundation for the 7-figure business she leads today.

Her biggest turning point? Taking a leap of faith and leaving her stable, corporate job in marketing to work for her Mom’s events company.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

→ The power of following your intuition during career pivots and transitions

→ How to turn career setbacks like layoffs, into major opportunities

→ Practical strategies for taking bold steps as an entrepreneur, including breaking big goals into actionable moves

📝 Free Masterclass – The Power Story Playbook: Learn how to confidently share your story, stand out at work, and unlock 6-figure opportunities → https://priyasam.com/

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CONNECT WITH HAILEY DAWOOD
🌐 Website: https://www.theideahunter.co/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hailey__dawood/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hailey-dawood/

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CONNECT WITH PRIYA
🌐 Website: https://priyasam.com/
📹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PriyaSam
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyasam/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/priyasam
👤 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/priyassam/

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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Introducing Hailey Dawood: Entrepreneur, Content Creator & Event Industry Leader
01:11 – Hailey’s Early Career: From Accounting Internships to Marketing at Pepsi and General Mills
04:35 – Growing Up with Entrepreneurs: Lessons Learned from Family Businesses
06:51 – Pivotal Moment: Getting Laid Off and Embracing New Opportunities
10:43 – Joining the Family Business: Hailey’s First Steps in Events
13:03 – Trusting Intuition: How Hailey Discovered Her Passion for Events
16:04 – Finding the Right Fit: Turning Skills into High Performance
18:18 – Overcoming Industry Stereotypes and Recognizing Hidden Talents
20:11 – The Path to Ownership: Buying the Business in a Pandemic
24:04 – Navigating Uncertainty: Betting on Herself and the Idea Hunter Legacy
25:22 – Pivoting During COVID: Creative Solutions for Virtual Events
28:36 – Embracing Failure and Growth: The Power of a Beginner’s Mindset
31:38 – Maximizing Your Grace Period: Strategies for Skill-Building in New Roles
32:11 – Building a Personal Brand: Sharing the CEO Journey on Social Media
35:54 – Consistency and Authenticity: Keys to Social Media Growth
38:02 – Earning Support: Building Credibility in the Online World
40:25 – The Value of Coaching: Accelerating Growth through Community and Learning
41:08 – Goal Setting Masterclass: Achieving Big Dreams through Small Steps
46:27 – Real-World Examples: Turning Micro Goals into Everyday Wins
50:04 – Reflecting on the Journey: Resilience, Confidence, and Intuitive Decisions
53:06 – How to Connect with Hailey Dawood and Final Takeaways from the Episode

Subscribe for more inspiring interviews and actionable insights every week on "Unleash Your Voice."

What if one story could change the trajectory of your entire career?

In this solo episode, I’m sharing how I went from an $80K salary as a national news anchor to a $160K role in tech in under two years and without changing my resume or adding new certifications.

The key?
A Power Story that clearly and confidently communicated my value, even in an industry I had no prior experience in.

If you’re navigating a career pivot, preparing for job interviews, or just tired of feeling overlooked despite your results, this episode is for you. I’ll walk you through the mindset shift, the storytelling strategy, and the exact questions I asked myself to build a personal brand that opened doors I never thought possible.

🎉 Want help building your own Power Story?
Sign up for my FREE live Masterclass, The Power Story Playbook happening July 16th at 1pm EST on Zoom:
👉 https://priya-sam.mykajabi.com/july-the-power-story-playbook

In this deeply personal episode of Unleash Your Voice, I’m sharing the story I’ve never told in full: How my so-called “dream job” as a TV anchor nearly broke me. From the outside, I had it all: a high-profile role, a steady voice on morning shows, and a path I’d worked toward since childhood. But behind the scenes? It was costing me my mental health.

If you’ve ever found yourself in a role you once wanted more than anything, only to feel drained, diminished, or disconnected—you are not alone. I walk you through my journey: from delivering newspapers as a kid to anchoring the news, enduring microaggressions and toxic leadership, and finally making the bold leap into a new chapter that aligned with my worth, values, and mental health.

This episode is for anyone questioning whether they’re meant for more and needing permission to choose themselves.

✨ What you'll hear:

• The behind-the-scenes truth of my newsroom career (and what finally pushed me to leave)
• How therapy, storytelling, and community helped me reclaim my power
• Why building a Power Story isn’t just about getting the next job, it’s about remembering who you are
• Why leaving a toxic job is not failure, it can be the start of your next chapter

This one’s for anyone who feels stuck in a job that’s draining their spirit. You’re not imagining it. You’re not alone. And you deserve better.

🔗 Plus, I’m sharing my free on-demand Power Story Masterclass here to help you start crafting a story that reflects your full power, potential, and voice.

Because no job is worth your peace. And your story? It’s the key to unlocking the future you deserve.

A Power Story is your unique story - it highlights how you're different. Your Power Story should include your passion, values, the themes from your life and career, and micro-stories.

You don't just need this story in job interviews or for your website or speaker bio. You need these stories in every day life - especially at work. Your personal brand is being built whether you're doing it intentionally or not (but if I'm being real...you should be doing it intentionally).

When you have this core story, it will lead to you being able to talk about yourself confidently and effectively. You'll build better personal and professional relationships and stand out in job interviews with ease.

If you're ready to build your Power Story and to learn how to use it in the professional world, you can join my FREE Power Story Codes Workshop next week. More info here: https://priya-sam.mykajabi.com/the-career-confidence-codes

If you've been listening to the pod for awhile - you'll remember Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa from episode 24. She's the first repeat guest we've had!

Chika was the only Black medical student in her class at the University of Toronto in 2016 and she became an advocate for more diversity and inclusion in healthcare.

Since then she has accomplished A LOT - she was her class valedictorian in 2020, named one of Time's Next Generation leaders in 2021, and now she's a Mom of two and a published author.

Chika's book Unlike the Rest: A Doctor's Story is a memoir that reads like a novel - it chronicles her childhood dream of going to medical school and the challenges and the successes she experienced along the way. It's raw, powerful, and insightful as Chika dives into topics including racism, disordered eating, body image, and finding her place when the odds were against her.

You'll get a behind the scenes look at how this book came to be in this episode.

You can find Chika's book Unlike the Rest: A Doctor's Story here: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/unlike-the-rest-a-doctors-story/9781443466264.html

You have 7 seconds to make a first impression and what you wear is a big part of that.

In professional settings like conferences, events, and job interviews, dressing the right way for YOU can help calm your nerves and support your confidence.

You’re going to learn exactly how to do that in this episode of Unleash Your Voice.

We’ll get 4 Styling Tips to Elevate Your Professional Presence from wardrobe consultant Stephanie Dervishi.

Stephanie and I are both Fanshawe College Alumni and we are so thrilled to have Fanshawe Alumni as a sponsor for this episode.

If you're a Fanshawe College Alumni - make sure to follow @fanshawealumni on Instagram so you can enter their Five Days of Giveaways contest starting December 9th. The first giveaway is a wardrobe consultation with Stephanie and a $200 gift card!

Hey friend! If you've been a loyal listener here - you know we've been going through a transition at Turning Point in the past few months and I so appreciate you bearing with me.

I can now officially tell you that we're rebranding!! Turning Point started off as a stand alone passion project for me in 2020 - YES it's been FOUR years! During that time - I've gone through a lot of changes myself both personally and professionally.

Since I started my coaching and consulting business, I've been trying to figure out how Turning Point fits in to the picture. It's been tough - I'm so passionate about the in-depth turning point stories but I'm also being pulled in this new direction as I work with people on uncovering their uniques and learning how to use them to advocate for themselves in the professional world.

SO - welcome to Unleash Your Voice! This is the pod's new identity. The regular episodes will be focused on communication and how to stand out professionally AND you will still see Turning Point episodes in the feed - they'll be marked Turning Point so you can find them easily. Those episodes will still have the same format as what you're used to.

What I realized through this process is that I've really been helping people to unleash their voices through my Turning Point interviews so having this umbrella name for the pod aligns with both my original mission and my new direction.

I hope you continue to enjoy the interviews - and please feel free to share your feedback with me @priyasam on IG or Priya Sam on LinkedIn.

Everyone deserves to have self-confidence and to believe in their own unique value. When you have that, you can ask for what you deserve and advocate for yourself in professional settings.

If you're anything like the average person - you've struggled with confidence at tone time or another. If that time is now - this episode is for you.

My guest is Gazal Amin - a Sales Consultant for teams and a confidence Queen. She shares three actionable tips for building your confidence at work.

One of the analogies that really resonated with me is that building confidence is like building muscles at the gym - it can feel awkward, intimidating, and hard at first but after awhile it becomes routine, empowering, and rewarding. More on that and much more in this episode.

You can connect with Gazzy on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/authenticgazzy?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==