Out of the blue on day, I received a request to be a guest on Alison Donaghey’s radio show. Now, if you know me, you know I LOVE doing radio shows. I can talk. So, naturally, I said “Yes!”. I sent what I needed to send and waited for the show.
I knew I’d love talking to Alison because I love conversations generally. What I wasn’t expecting was that I would fall instantly in love with who Alison is and what she does.
Our hour-long show morphed into 90 minutes of the kind of conversation you only have with someone you’ve known for lifetimes. A few weeks later, Alison and her son, whom she commits to having a non-work-related FUN day with once a month with, popped by my office. We put faces to names and voices and our connection continued. More chatting. More conversation. More wow.
Later that day, on Facebook I see this: “Most everyday I am posting a new someone I fall in love with a little bit. Today is miss Gina.”
Turns out, our affection for each other was mutual.
This says a lot about Alison. She is real and unapologetically in your face. She pushes buttons and challenges people to be conscious of what they think and why they think that way. She wants everyone to challenge the status quo. So she started a second company. (A woman after my own heart – Yes, we can do more than one thing!)
It’s called: Domino Thinking
And she asks her clients on very big, daunting, important questions: Have you considered the outcome?
Domino Thinking evolved from Alison’s inherent talent of thinking differently. She used to think there was something wrong with her. As she matured and got to know herself better, Alison realized she was on to something, so now she shares it on her radio show: Natural Born Speakers on Bold Radio.
On top of this (because she wears a lot of hats well), Alison runs a hugely successful commercial and residential painting company called Sonshine Girls Painting. She started it when she was a single mother raising her son on welfare. Through grit and sheer determination, Sonshine Girls built a reputation for responsive, innovative, and efficient service. She kicked ass in an industry that was – and still is – dominated by men. Go girl!
“When my son was little I used always call him Sunshine,” says Alison. So when I started the company I wanted him to be a part of it so I spelled the name SONSHINE. I also wanted to allow the possibility of peoples SON’s to work for us too. The girls was added because when I painted for someone else I inevitably encountered people who demanded to talk the male boss or who thought women couldn’t work in the trades. I wanted to avoid that stereotype. And it worked. I have amazing clients who support Sonshine Girls and women working alongside men in the trades.”
Straight up: Alison inspires.
She inspires those around her. The woman raised a beautiful, thoughtful son on her own, built an amazing company on a shoestring budget (actually, on no budget), launched a radio show, started Domino Thinking, and bought and now owns four properties – one of which she designed on her own. WHOA!
Alison doesn’t follow a path, she carves her own. She challenges what we think we know and inspires us to push boundaries. She is successful in business and in life. Whatever is next, no doubt, Alison will amaze.