PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
The EVENTS PLANNER
It is obvious when you step into her office that
Dawn Martin is an ultra-organized and professional
businesswoman. She has built her two companies from
the ground up and is leaving her mark on the Treasure Coast
as an exceptional mixologist and passionate events planner
and designer.
“My father was in the Navy for 35 years, so that militant
mind-set was around when I was growing up,” Martin says,
“and after my parents divorced, my mother managed several
bars on her own, so I think that’s where I learned to be very
organized and was also taught to work hard for what I want.”
While Martin mentions she had a tough upbringing, she
attributes much of her success to that very fact. Alongside
her two older brothers, she was raised in Long Island and
Brooklyn by an American father and a Puerto Rican mother.
Although her parents divorced when she was 10 years old,
she says she had a good childhood.
“My dad was well-off, but he never gave us a handout,”
Martin says, “He made sure we knew the value of a dollar
and learned to save for things we wanted.”
Martin remembers starting work at 14 as a server at a local
banquet hall. She and her brothers also worked alongside
their dad when he would buy and sell houses.
“I can pretty much build and repair almost anything after
helping my dad with house renos for so many years,” Martin
says, “That’s a pretty good skill to have, especially as a
woman, most people don’t expect it.”
To help pay for college, Martin started working in the mid-
90s at bars her mother managed on Long Island. Her passion
for mixology began at 21, when she started managing the bar.
Mixology is the art of creating well-balanced and rich cocktails,
rather than just pouring a $5 well drink.
After college, Martin worked for her brother in the medical
billing field and continued to bartend in the evenings. But
after 9/11, the company lost everything.
“My brother’s company was located in the twin towers so
that was a tough time for our family,” Martin says, “At the
time, his company was looking to expand into Florida, so I
took my 3-year-old son and moved down to Port St. Lucie,
where I worked remotely for a while.”
Martin was familiar with the area because her father, who
was a snowbird, owned a home there. She moved down in
2004, bought a home and started to settle into her new life.
She continued to bartend at a few local spots and in 2006, met
42 Port St. Lucie Magazine
>>
ANTHONY INSWASTY
While the pandemic has slowed down Dawn Martin’s event planning business, she is seeing a huge uptick again.
BY RACHEL CUCCURULLO