---
title: "Franchise Owner Wins National Business Award in Celebration of Women’s History Month"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/b772c824-e155-442b-aeca-9f8f58c82f82
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20230309_franchise_owner_wins_national_business_award_in_celebration_of_womens_histo.html
category: "Retail"
industry: "Retail"
published: 2023-03-09T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T20:35:14.654Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1524749292158-7540c2494485?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Franchise Owner Wins National Business Award in Celebration of Women’s History Month

**TL;DR:** Dream Vacations franchisee Dawn Nowlan has been honored with the OPAL Award for Women, recognizing her leadership and community service as a female travel advisor. Nowlan has been a travel agency franchise owner since January 2020 and has been active within the Dream Vacations family.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2023-03-09. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20230309_franchise_owner_wins_national_business_award_in_celebration_of_womens_histo.html).*

## Story

The OPAL Award recognizes a female franchise owner who exemplifies Outstanding Performance And Leadership. The honorees are active in the community and civic organizations and demonstrate leadership within Dream Vacations.

“Dawn has shown excellent performance by increasing sales and growing her team every year since she started with Dream Vacations,” said Debbie Fiorino, chief operating officer for Dream Vacations. “What makes her accomplishments even more impressive is the fact she started her franchise just before the pandemic. She epitomizes what it means to be an OPAL winner, and I am honored to present Dawn with the 2023 OPAL Award.”

A resident of Charlotte, Mich., Nowlan has been a travel agency franchise owner since January 2020, and has been active within the Dream Vacations family. Nowlan has found success with her “Travel Talk” reels every week on Instagram garnering her awards for creativity in social media.

She has also volunteered to serve on panels and committees for marketing as well as leading the Michigan Dream Vacations agency group where they meet monthly via Zoom and quarterly in-person to network, support one another, and learn from suppliers. In addition, Nowlan devotes her time and energy to community organizations and her children’s school activities.

“I am so incredibly humbled and honored to receive the 2023 OPAL Award for Dream Vacations,” said Nowlan. “To be recognized among so many other amazing women in our network is overwhelming and I celebrate this award with all of the superheroes in the network that wear many hats needed to serve their communities, peers, and clients. Thank you so much for this honor. The support from my peers and HQ means the world to me.”

Dream Vacations is committed to being “Rich in Diversity” and empowers all owners, agents, and employees to reach their highest potential.

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Retail (sector)
- franchise ownership (topic)
- award recognition (topic)
- community service (topic)
- women in business (topic)
- Dream Vacations (company)
- Debbie Fiorino (person)

---
Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20230309_franchise_owner_wins_national_business_award_in_celebration_of_womens_histo.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/b772c824-e155-442b-aeca-9f8f58c82f82).