Founder of Tone It Up and The Big Silence

Karena Dawn, mental health advocate and co-founder of Tone It Up, the leading women’s fitness, nutrition and lifestyle community, is a wellness entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, meditation leader, and founder of the mental health foundation, The Big Silence. She hosts The Big Silence podcast, having open conversations about mental health, wellness and self-development.

For more than a decade Karena Dawn has empowered millions of women around the world to live their healthiest and happiest lives. Her lifelong passion for fitness, mindfulness, and spiritual empowerment has made her a leader in the wellness space. Dawn has been featured in Forbes for creating a “fitness empire” and on the Create & Cultivate 100 List honoring women who are masters in their field. She has also headlined the POPSUGAR Play/Ground Festival and has been a keynote speaker at the PoWer Up Women’s Conference. She is a mindful meditation coach for Chopra Global, and a regularly featured speaker and instructor for TED Women, and other national platforms.

Karena is the author of three books: the New York Times bestselling book Tone It Up: 28 Days To Fit, Fier​ce, and Fabulous and Balanced and Beautiful: 5-Day Reset For Your Body, Mind, and Spirit. Her debut memoir, The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing, released in 2022. In her stirring memoir, Karena Dawn reveals what it was like to grow up with a mother suffering from severe mental health issues, and how Karena learned how to release herself from guilt and shame and find the inner strength to go from abandonment to forgiveness, from hopelessness to healing. 

Meditation and movement transformed her life and helped her overcome a dark period of depression and substance misuse. As a passionate advocate for mental wellness, Karena is proud to serve on the Board of Advisors for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Karena is dedicated to helping others feel confident, empowered, and fulfilled. Through The Big Silence Foundation, Karena cultivates mental health conversations and offers resources and programs to destigmatize and change the culture around mental health. Through all her platforms, Karena motivates others to dig deep and dream about a bigger, brighter, bolder life, and to go out and make that dream happen.