I was born on September 8, 1975 in San Diego, California. My legal byline is S. Dawn Jones, because my first name is Sharla. Everyone calls me Dawn because I don’t use my first name.
 
When I was growing up I wanted to be a veterinarian. I loved puppies, kittens, hamsters, weasels, you name it, I liked it. I am a very compassionate person and thought that my love of animals would translate into being a good doctor of animals. My mother convinced me to be a people doctor instead, and when I was seventeen I went to Point Loma Nazarene University to do just that.
 
I quickly discovered that although I love pretty much every subject including science, I did not love it nor relish the idea of being a doctor. At a loss for what exactly to do with myself, I joined the Marine Corps at age 19 on an open MOS, which meant they randomly assigned me to whatever job was available. I became a military police officer. However, my feet did not agree with my pledge to be a Marine, and one year after joining I was honorably discharged due to developing plantar faciitis.
 
I have three sons, Jonathan, Jordan, and Rocko III. During my eleven year marriage to Rocko Jones Jr, we moved around from place to place, most notably to Japan for a year. On the job front, I twiddled my thumbs for a while, went back to finish my Associate Degree, and then decided to finish my mother’s dream on a lower scale and become a nurse. I ended up in New Jersey at Richard Stockton College.
 
Sometimes... life makes an abrupt left turn. I thought I knew where I was going and discovered I was wrong. I realized I would be able to be a nurse but I would hate it. I was so upset. How could I make a difference? Well, I think maybe I was looking in the wrong place. Writing is in my blood and I have been writing stories and diaries since I figured out how to shape the letter "A". I love the news and watch/read it obsessively. It just made more sense to work in news than anything else ever did. But I was still disappointed in making that left turn from my intended plan.
 
What made me happy? Did I ever ask myself? When I finally did ask myself that question, I realized I love people. I care about people. And I do not have to be wrapping their boo-boos to show it. I was very frustrated about it though. Was I letting people down? Was I letting my mom down? Was I letting the world down because I could have done something great?
 
But I realized something very important. I can still make a difference, I can still make meaningful anything that I want. Touch every person inside, smile, make a difference to everyone that I ever meet, ever work with, or ever even think about. I realized in the end that I love to write, I love to teach, I love to talk and tell stories. I changed my major to Communications and dug in with both feet. I discovered in less than a millisecond that I finally found my calling.
 
While at Richard Stockton College, I spent a semester hosting a two-hour political talk show on the college radio station, WLFR. Because I’d previously worked for an entire year as the sound technician at Fourteen Six Christian Fellowship in Surprise, Arizona, I was very familiar with sound, radio, and broadcasting. So instead of being nervous that I was being heard live on the radio all over Atlantic County, I said, "This is the most fun I've had in my entire life."
 
When I went to work as a correspondent at Talk Radio News Service, my very first assignment was to cover the recent State of the Union Address given by President George W. Bush. It was my first day there, and I’d never seen a Marantz recorder in my entire life. I put on my very best Noviello-Bloom suit, picked up the recording equipment I didn’t know how to use, and stood in Statuary Hall ready to interview members of Congress that I knew I would not recognize. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once. The adrenaline that slammed into my chest when Senator John Kerry walked into the room told me this is it, this is who I am, this is the best thing in my whole life and I never want to stop!
 
In addition to my duties at Talk Radio News Service, I also produce documentaries and video projects. I am the Production Manager for the video and multimedia services division with Movies For a Better World Productions. They have offices in New York City, Orlando, Beverly Hills, and Greenwich Connecticut. I bet you feel like you’ve missed something here, and you have!
 
See, I don’t just sit down and not do anything with myself. I walked out my door, bought a plane ticket, a video camera, a computer, and went off in search of something that would matter to people. I read the manual on how to use the camera while on the plane, and while I was in New Orleans I read the manual on how to use Adobe Premiere, which is what major studios use to edit film. In a little over my head? Oh, without a doubt. But the expression "takes initiative and fights to the death" applies to me.
 
I ended up being noticed by more than one person, and eventually went down to New Orleans twice. Movies for a Better World wanted me on their team, and so that is now my half-way freelance project side. Politics and News Reporter by day, movie producer and kick-butt Director at night. I am very curious what my future is going to be!

© 2008 All content on this site is copyrighted by S.Dawn Jones

Home

Contact