Is God Speaking While You Sleep? How to Decode the Dreams You’ve Been Ignoring | Paige Collins

Are dreams just random thoughts or are they personal invitations from God?

In this episode, visionary storyteller Paige Collins, founder of Icon Media Group and author of Awaken Dream Journal: Understanding God’s Voice in Your Dreams, explores how our nighttime visions can become a language of intimacy, direction, and creativity.

Paige shares her own moment of awakening the night she heard her own voice asking for interpretation and how that question launched a season of vivid encounters and divine clarity. She explains how to set a nightly tone of peace, record what you see, and interpret your unique dream language through context and prayer.

From symbols of movement and water to warnings and promises, Paige unpacks how dreams can guide our choices, fuel creativity, and reconnect us with a God who still speaks.

Beyond her work as an author, Paige Collins is a seasoned media strategist, ideator, writer, and publicist with more than 20 years of experience crafting powerful messages that move hearts and minds. She has booked hundreds of television interviews, led publicity campaigns for major films, and produced red-carpet events and press conferences. As a screenwriter, producer, and founder of Honeybee Entertainment, Paige now develops faith-driven stories for film and television that uplift and inspire.

If you’ve ever sensed that your dreams were trying to tell you something… maybe they are.

Guest links:

iconmediagroup.com

honeybeeentertainment.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Paige Takes The Hot Seat
• 0:50 Awakening To God Dreams
• 3:45 From Dreams To The Awaken Journal
• 4:46 Building Icon Media And Film Work
• 6:23 Thriving As An Ambivert Publicist
• 7:39 How To Start Dreaming More
• 10:39 Discernment: Meaningful vs Messy Dreams
• 13:11 Warnings, Promises, And Peace
• 15:04 The Honeybee Film And Calling
• 17:04 Women, Co‑Leadership, And Deborah
• 18:53 Famous God Dreams: C.S. Lewis’s Aslan
• 19:43 Symbols 101: Cars, Water, Context
• 22:05 Why God Uses Dreams Today
• 24:10 Hopes For Readers And Impact
• 26:00 Host’s Baby Dream And Meaning
• 29:03 Courage, Success, And Books That Shape Us
• 38:26 Closing Gratitude

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Paige Collins, what a beautiful honor to have you in the OneStudio podcast. I'm usually interviewing your clients, incredible people, but this time you're in the seat, which is so different. And how does it feel?

SPEAKER_02: 0:14

Listen, for you and me both, it's different. I've spent my life helping other people tell their stories and really um share their heart with the world. And so to be able to sit in a seat and do that myself is actually really fun. And I'm enjoying it. So thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00: 0:30

Yeah. So other than a publicist and ideator, you've also are a screenwriter and been working on several different projects and recently wrote a journal awake about dreams. I'm curious to see what encouraged you to start writing about dreams and how did that come about to begin with?

SPEAKER_02: 0:49

Yeah, yeah. So it was probably about eight years ago that I really started dreaming in what I would say uh was a God dream kind of way. Um I've been a dreamer my whole life, but it there was a moment where I realized that the dreams I was having were not random and it wasn't like mind clutter, you know. Um, I remember very clearly waking up to the sound of my own voice. It actually woke me up, my own voice speaking, and I was asking God for an interpretation to the dream that I had just had. And as I woke up realizing I had just encountered him in a dream, um, I wrote it all down and I just began to pray into it. And for me, it was more of just the awareness um, he's talking to me like this that was fascinating. It sort of created this, I would say, like a holy curiosity in me where um I didn't really know what to do with it at the time, but I knew it was happening. And so um that first dream began a season of just vivid, vivid dreaming. And the Lord just awakened my spirit in that way and just began to talk to me. Um, and he really hasn't stopped. I've been a dreamer ever since. And I really um was led into a season where I would say the Holy Spirit, it was almost like a crash course. Let me teach you how to understand what I'm showing you. And I felt like a student in a classroom for several months because I would dream and then I would write it down, and then I would look at every little part of the dream, every single thing that I remembered from the dream, I would pull out and look at individually. And this is just sort of the process that the Lord put me through. Um, and it was through that process where I learned how to interpret my dream language. Um, I believe that each of us has a very personal dream language with the Lord, uh, in the same way that we might have a very unique way of communicating with our loved ones, a unique relationship with each of our loved ones. I have a unique language with the Lord in my dreams, and so would you, and so does everyone. And so he uses the things of our lives, he uses um the relationships in our lives, um, he uses um even just the way that we think about um little things, big things. He uses all of these things as he communicates with us in dreams in the way that he layers in symbolism. Um and it's just a fascinating and I think a really, really fun way to connect with the Lord, um, you know, because it all comes down to intimacy with him and really just him calling us deeper and closer to him. And when he conceals things and hides them in our dreams, we then lean in to uncover and to dig out the treasure that's there. And in that process, when we do that with him, you know, the fruit of that is intimacy and closeness. Um, and so yeah, that's that's sort of how I got started. And and, you know, my process as I was led through it really became the guts of this book, which is its equal parts, kind of a primer in how to interpret dreams and kind of the way that we look at them. But it's also a journal, which has some very unique features that are specific to understanding our dreams. It has specific space for you to pull out objects, names, places, and then allows you the space to actually dig in and kind of uncover what each of those things can be individually to kind of let you form a whole picture for what your dream might be saying.

SPEAKER_00: 4:36

That's a beautiful way to journal. So you have like the colors, like you said, you can put the title of your dream and really track your dreams and be able to interpret them further. Um, before we go into the nitty-gritty of dreaming, I'd love to for you to also share your backstory of how you even started icon media that represents some of the top movies, authors, and thought leaders in the Christian space today.

SPEAKER_02: 5:00

Yeah, no, that's great. We started icon media about 14 years ago, um, founded it with my business partner and best friend Shannon Stowe, who has 25 years in the Christian publishing business. Um, I have 25 years in the industry as well, but a little bit of a varied background. I dabbled in TV booking for a little while. I worked at a publisher for a little while. Um, so we really brought kind of our culmination of experience into icon. And once we launched um in 2013, we very quickly stepped into the film and entertainment space and began working on feature films. Our first feature film was a little movie called God's Not Dead that went on to surprise a lot of people with sort of its success at the box office. It was really fun to kind of start with a really big film. And then from there, we worked on War Room, um I Can Only Imagine, some of the bigger projects that we've seen come out of this space. And right now we're working on the sequel to I Can Only Imagine. Um, I Can Only Imagine Two, which will be in theaters in February. So it's been wonderful. It's been a great journey. We're we're kingdom um women. We want to honor the Lord with everything that we do. We pray that we're working, you know, with integral people as well. And we almost always are. Um, and so it really truly is an honor to build a kingdom through media and entertainment.

unknown: 6:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 6:23

And what's interesting is that uh from what I researched, is you consider yourself um an introvert and you deal in this really public space. So how does that work?

SPEAKER_02: 6:34

Oh my goodness. Yes, I am. I think that I what's the word for if you're both? I guess an ambivert. An ambivert, yes, that's what I mean.

SPEAKER_00: 6:43

I like need my alone time and then I need I get really filled with being with people, but I need the balance of both. I think that's true for so many people.

SPEAKER_02: 6:51

I I need to have quiet, I need to recharge. Um, you know, and like we said earlier, when you're in publicity, your job really is to push other people in front of the cameras and have other people elevated. And so it is a kind of nice mix of letting other people get the spotlight because that is where I'm comfortable in behind the scenes helping. Um, my name means helper, um, as you will find in the book, because it has an entire listing of names and their meanings. But I am comfortable helping, I'm comfortable behind the scenes. I love when other people shine and get to, you know, do what they do well. Um, you know, but yeah, I think it's it's a fun business. So we also have a really good time and I love people. So even though I'm an introvert, I enjoy people.

SPEAKER_00: 7:39

You're like, I love people. Okay, so let's get back into dreaming. And I love to do that. You are a big dreamer. Like you are not afraid to dream big. You have tried so many different things, which we'll can get into a little bit later. Um, but I would love to know if for someone listening who may not resonate, who's like, uh, what is she talking about dreaming? You know, I don't really have dreams. How can I tell the difference between if a dream is really significant, what is the secret to dreaming more? So, can you tell us a little more about those things? Yes, I can.

SPEAKER_02: 8:11

I love this because I had this exact conversation with one of my best friends who um is a book agent and happened to agent this book. So, as we were talking through the concept of the Awakened Dream Journal, kind of what it would include, he commented to me, you know, I've never dreamed. I'm really not a dreamer. And my response to him was, Well, have you asked for them? And he said, Oh, no, not really. I haven't. I said, Well, why don't you try that first and then come back to me? So he goes and he starts praying. He asks the Lord for dreams. And within a couple of weeks, he's dreaming regularly. And I love that story because look, the Lord says to us, ask, knock, and seek. If you're not dreaming and you want to dream, ask the Lord for dreams and keep asking. Um, it's really just that simple, right? We're we spend a third of our lives sleeping. It it would make no sense for that time to be wasted. You know, the Lord isn't, he's not in the business of wasting our time. He wants all of us, he wants every part of us. And this is a season of our lives in the night where we can hear clearly and not hear, but just have adventures and see, you know, see things that we can't see any other time. So I think, you know, for me, I just tell people ask for dreams. If you want to dream, ask for dreams. Yeah, you can see like that's it's that simple. Just ask. It really is. You know, I had a party the other night, um, a book party when the book came out, and I had just had a group of, you know, family and friends there. And I probably had five testimonies from that evening of people who were not dreamers who later that week began dreaming. And there's something about being in proximity, um, and your spirit kind of opens up and and shifts posture-wise to kind of think and consider about something maybe you haven't, where the Lord will just come and fill that space. So I just would encourage, you know, anyone who's listening, if you want to hear from the Lord in dreams, just ask him and then be ready to steward what it is that he gives you and shows you.

SPEAKER_00: 10:26

Yeah, that's so beautiful. And also I think about this that through the Bible, the number one way that God has spoken to people is through dreams, which I think we don't really think about often. You think about speaking through, say, reading a Bible or having someone say something over you or something along those lines, right? I think in our modern world, anyways. And so I love that you've written this journal because you're kind of bringing this to people's minds of, hey, dreaming with God is actually something really big and beautiful, and it's something that's accessible to you as well. So it's like, do we not want to be connected with our divine creator, the one who made us, the one who uh crafted us on purpose and for purpose, and like really be in tune with that and also while you're sleeping, because you're doing it anyways.

SPEAKER_02: 11:15

That's right. That's right. And it got to the point for me where I can't wait to go to bed at night because I don't know what I'm gonna see. I don't know what he's gonna show me. It becomes this really beautiful part of your life that um my desire is that people would say yes to dreams and then be open to receiving them and then begin that process with the Lord of understanding what it is that he's saying. Um, because you know, he will tell you if he's showing you something, he will tell you what it means. Yeah, he will reveal to you. Just like with the prophet Jeremiah, he calls Jeremiah as a prophet. The first thing he does is give him a lesson in how to interpret what he's gonna show him. You know, they he walks him through the paces, he shows him a vision. Jeremiah identifies what he's seeing, he says it out loud, and then the Lord gives him the revelation on it. He takes him through that process. It's the very same with us, right? Well, give us a dream, it's our responsibility to write it down, to journal it, to acknowledge it, and then to bring it back to him for the revelation. And he's very consistent.

SPEAKER_00: 12:24

So, how do we tell the difference between dreams that have meaning or dreams that were just like, you know, because of indigestion or something that we're processing? Because at the end at the end of the day, when we go to bed, right, from what I understand in neurosciences, our thoughts and everything is like being organized and filing systems somehow, right? So that's part of it too, the things that we're thought about through the day and so forth. So, how do you discern between those two?

SPEAKER_02: 12:55

Yeah, I think the first thing is pray before you go to sleep, right? So ask the Lord to clear your mind and your heart and just to speak in the night. If we just do that every single night, that doesn't mean that every night you're gonna have a life-changing, God-encountered dream. But it is one thing that we can do before we go to sleep to just bring it quiet. And we can set a tone for dreaming by quieting our spirits. You know, I recommend a media fast for anyone who really wants to lean into dreaming. I would do media fast to kind of declutter your mind and what you've seen and what you've taken in throughout the day. Um, it doesn't mean that the dreams you have when you're consuming media are not from the Lord. It's just a helpful tool to know that there's a bit more of a purity in what you're seeing in your dreams. So that was the first thing that I would say. Um, there are things we can do to set the tone for ourselves. Um, you know, the other thing is, and and there are mixed feelings about this, but I believe that every dream is worth exploring and every dream that we have is something for us to look at, right? There's a difference between walking into a Nordstrom and finding a beautiful dress or going to a garage sale and picking through a bunch of crap and to find like the one thing that's cool. So I mean, sometimes our dreams are like that. Sometimes they're big and bold and beautiful, and it's clear that there's something powerful being spoken here. And sometimes they're strange and bizarre, and you're like, what is this? Is any of this worth looking at? But what I would say is that write it all down. Write down everything that you remember. You might be really surprised at what's hidden, um, even in the most obscure dream. I have found that um, you know, time and time again, sometimes what the Lord wants to show you, even if it's something you're processing through the day, which by the way, is still worth talking to the Lord about, right? The little things of our day, he still wants to be involved in talking through those things. Um, it's that intimacy piece. Sometimes he just wants to reveal what's hidden in your own heart when you're processing the daily tasks and fears and thoughts and all of that. Um, any dream, whether it's a warning or promise or a flash of something to come, every dream is meant for your good. So even in a warning dream, it's meant for your good. A promised dream, obviously, speaking destiny over your life or your situation. Um, or even if it's just kind of revealing something that might be buried and hidden in the darker places of your heart that you haven't surrendered to him? It's all worth exploring. Bring it all to him, is what I would say. Um, and I think you just can't go wrong with that.

SPEAKER_00: 15:53

Yeah. How has dreaming impacted your life and journaling through your dreams in their practical sense? Like, have have you used your dreams? Can you give us some examples of that?

SPEAKER_02: 16:05

Yeah, sure. So um I would say, you know, I've had every kind of dream you can possibly have. I've had the warning dreams that have helped me navigate chaotic seasons. Um I think that is one of the most profound ways that the Lord speaks is to show you something that might seem unsettling, but with the intention of allowing you to feel anchored when that season of chaos comes. Does that make sense? So I've seen seasons to come, not knowing when they would come, but some chaos. Um, and anytime I've dreamed about something unsettling, I I know where I am in the dream, is my feet are on solid ground and I'm okay. And that's the take home from a warning dream. Where am I? Am I okay? Yes, am I taken care of? Yes. So when these things swirl around me, I can feel steady and I can say no to fear. Fear comes so quickly in the chaotic seasons of our lives. Yeah, we have just seconds to either agree with it or say no, I'm gonna stand in faith. And so I think one of the most beautiful ways that the Lord has spoken to me is to give me an opportunity to say yes to um faith and confidence in what he's doing in my life when things around me feel chaotic through dreams. So that's one way, you know, that that I have loved. Um, you know, on the flip side of that, promises, um, calling me into really my destiny and my calling in the earth, that has all come through dreams. Um and that has been a really beautiful thing. You know, one of the things that I dreamed early in my journey with the Lord was I kept dreaming about being on the set of a movie. And it was the story, the movie was the story of the honeybee. And I didn't know what that meant at first. I prayed through that and um was just in conversation with the Lord. And, you know, I was talking to him, like, okay, Lord, like if you want me to make this movie, this story of the honeybee, you're gonna have to show me what it is. Um, but if I were to choose, I would love to tell the story of Deborah from the book of Judges. That's a story that I think our world needs to hear right now, women need to hear right now, especially. Um, you know, and a few hours later, one of my girlfriends called me and she was reading a book about Deborah and she referenced Deborah's honeybee anointing. And I said, wait a minute, what? And she said, Yeah, no, they the author calls it a honeybee anointing. And I said, Why? And she goes, Well, the name Deborah means honeybee. And what I realized is that the Lord had been preparing me to say yes to making a film about Deborah, the honeybee, the origin of the honeybee. So I began to pursue that um shortly after that dream and just to see that the Lord has just kind of been with me every step of the way and brought all of the right people around me. Um, you know, I asked him for more dreams about that story specifically, and so much of that story did come to me through dreams. Um, so that's been a really fun thing, too, is just to see him creatively use dreams to inspire creative works. Um those have been some of the ways that I've really enjoyed dreaming with the Lord.

SPEAKER_00: 19:42

Yeah, that is a film that I'd be looking forward to watching for sure, as probably a lot of women as well.

SPEAKER_02: 19:49

Yeah, no, that's been a fun journey. I feel so passionately about that story right now. Um, where we are in the earth, you know, we're waiting for women to understand their authority in the kingdom and to um arise as, you know, leaders, mothers, um, you know, instigators of change and justice and the hand of God in the earth. So it'll be exciting when that comes out.

SPEAKER_00: 20:16

Absolutely. And I think the rise of women doesn't need to simultaneously be the um like oppression of men or diminishing men. I think together we can create such greater impact in the world by stepping into who we're meant to be uniquely in our positions and our uh strengths. And so I think yeah, there's something so beautiful about that. And women are the nurturers, we're the incubators, right? So we incubate ideas and dreams too and nurture the people around us and speak life, and we're the multipliers too. So there's so much that um can be, you know, can be beautiful that can come from that.

SPEAKER_02: 20:56

Yeah, I could not agree more with that. I love that story for many reasons. One is I feel like it's a really great model for women and men working together, going in shoulder to shoulder um to advance the kingdom. You know, there's a strong male uh, you know, figure in that story with Barak, the leader of the military, and they really go in shoulder to shoulder. They go together to do what needs to be done. And I think it just models such a healthy dynamic of co-leadership that our world really needs to see right now.

SPEAKER_00: 21:30

Yeah, I couldn't agree with more as well. Um, in your book Awaken, you reveal that many Christian world changers had their lives impacted by a god dream. I'd love for you to share one of your favorites from that.

SPEAKER_02: 21:43

Okay, yes. Okay, speaking of movies, so one of my favorites is actually C.S. Lewis, who Aslan, the character Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, came from a dream. And I love that so much because how much do we love Aslan? How much do we love? He's the central character in some of in those all of those stories, as really that Jesus figure. And if it weren't for dreaming, we wouldn't have him. And so I love that story.

SPEAKER_00: 22:12

Wow, I I never knew that. I knew he worked with like J.R. Tolkien and they would go and write together and kind of more of that backstory. Um, but I never knew that that's where the character originated from. That's so beautiful.

SPEAKER_02: 22:27

He was dreaming about lions. And dreaming about lions and dreaming about lions and dreaming about lions, and so he created this character because of his dreams.

SPEAKER_00: 22:37

Yeah. What are some can you give us some common symbolisms or things that people can use to interpret? I know it's in your book, but um and yes, for sure. Go get the Awaken Dream Journal, but uh we'll give you some insights here now.

SPEAKER_02: 22:50

Yeah, I think it's um again, it's very personal. And every symbol is going is going to depend upon the context in which it's represented. So a lot of people, you know, common dream symbols are transportation, modes of transportation. So cars, boats, planes, um, we find ourselves in a vehicle of some kind. Um, so if you're dreaming about being in a plane or being in a car, there are lots of follow-up questions that I would have for you if we were going to talk through a dream um involving you in a in a mode of transportation. And that would be where are you? In are you are you in the driver's seat? Are you in the passenger seat? Are you in the backseat? Where you are in that vehicle will be partially um connected to what that vehicle needs. Um typically a mode of transportation is going to be sort of that thing that is gonna get you sort of transported in your destiny to where you're, you know, from one place to another. It's the journey that you're on. Um it's the it's the provision to get to where you're going. Um so you know, if you're in a boat that will kind of have its own meaning and is the sea choppy? Is it calm? What does the water look like? There are all these like sub-questions, and that's why each of these individual items they are worth exploring the context, um, the full context that's wrapped around them. Does that make sense? I had a dream the other night. I was in a car, uh, my father was driving, and it was a steep road, it was slippery, and I I'm afraid of heights. And so um I just remember putting my head down because I just didn't want, I didn't want to see how steep the road was. Um, I just kind of put my head down in the seat. That to me was so beautiful because what this tells me is if you're if you're dreaming about your father, most of the time that's your heavenly father, and my heavenly father was driving the car. And so all I needed to know when I woke up was he's driving this car. The road looks a little bit treacherous, but he's got it. Just rest in that. You know, that's an example of being in a car, the symbolism of my father driving, the road looking a little bit dangerous, but everything's okay, right? That just it's it's a dream to give you peace. Um sometimes people will dream about water. I would say water is another um common dream symbol. And again, all of the questions about water, right? Is it raining? Um, is it a lake? Is it a river? Is it flowing like a river? Is it the ocean? Is it a tidal wave? Is it a flood? Like water can take so many different forms, and every single one of them is gonna speak something very different. Um, you know, the flood narrative in um the book of Genesis with the with Noah and his family, that is an example of you know, water being both terrible and destructive, but also cleansing. Um, that flood meant destruction for some. It meant uh it was also you know the means of lifting the ark and moving it to where it needed to be. And so you can kind of see where a flood can both kind of have this dichotomy of um great and terrible at the same time. And so what's important when we um are able to identify each of the things that we remember from our dreams is that we write them all down and then we look at them individually, and then we look at them as a whole. Almost the way you would step back from an abstract piece of art and kind of try to get a very different um understanding of what it looks like with the whole picture. Um and so that's sort of how I recommend looking at your dreams and considering them.

SPEAKER_00: 26:51

That's beautiful. Yeah, I have a few friends who are really into interpreting dreams. So anytime I have something that I feel is like really significant, I'll, you know, run it by them. And it's been really interesting. I'm curious to know from your perspective, why do you think that God uses dream as a way to speak to us?

SPEAKER_02: 27:10

Um well, as you pointed out earlier, he always has, you know, from the beginning of you know, time people have dreamed, his prophets have dreamed, he's given dreams and visions. Um, the prophet Joel says, you know, I will pour my spirit out, and your old men will dream dreams and your young men will have visions. You know, dreams and visions um are in many ways a byproduct of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Um, I think today we're seeing and we're hearing about more dreams than ever before. Um, you know, the Google analytics show that the searches for the spiritual meaning of dreams spiked in 2020 and it's just been straight up ever since, and that's global. We're hearing about them more and more, we're hearing people talk about them. Um, I think we're busier than ever before. Our minds are so cluttered and busy during the day. Um, we are constantly engaging with media and entertainment. And I just think number one, I think that we're just in a time where God is doing something with dreams, but I do believe it's because he's trying to get our attention. And sometimes when we're sleeping, it's the best time to get our attention. The only time else competing for our time in that in that time. So that's really what I think it's going on. But you know, I was just listening to um a friend of mine sent me this sermon from Church of the City here in Nashville from this weekend, and Pastor John Tyson was in from New York, and he opened his um sermon by saying, We are seeing more than we've ever seen before, people coming into our church because they had a dream. Wow. So atheists coming to church, wandering into church because Jesus appeared to him in a dream, Muslims wandering into church because Jesus appeared to him in a dream, Jewish people wandering into their church because Jesus appeared to them in a dream and they don't know what else to do. So I just know that the that um he is moving in that way. So if you want to be a dreamer and you want to hear from him in that way and you're ready to steward what he shows you, like jump in because now's the time.

SPEAKER_00: 29:30

Yeah, that is so good. How do you hope the Awakened Dream Journal will impact readers and um where can they get a copy of that?

SPEAKER_02: 29:38

Yeah, you know, I think that um that's twofold. Number one, I just I love when people have personal encounters with the Lord and they understand that He's a very personal God and He's involved in every detail and wants to be involved in every detail of their lives. And so that um on an individual level is is gonna be so rewarding. If even one person begins to dream and understands the richness of the relationship with the Lord that's available. Big picture, the world changes, right? Dreamers change the world. Someone, you know, who's listening right now is going to have a dream about a business idea that they would not have had the courage to start otherwise. The Lord's gonna confirm it in a dream. And the ripple effect of people who hear from the Lord in that way and are bold enough and courageous enough to walk out the big things that He's showing them to do, that's gonna change the world as Christian dreamers have always changed the world, have always impacted. We are all living within the impact of a Christian leader who has been shaped by dreams. And so more of that, more of that, all of the impact of big, big, big, bold Christian dreams, um, Christian dreamers, just I get very excited thinking about if he's gonna give me a movie to birth into the earth through a dream, what is he gonna show you through a dream? You know, there is no end to what will happen in the earth if people awaken to the voice of God in their sleep.

SPEAKER_00: 31:18

I love that so much. I hope you, as a listener, walk away and get unlocked with that aspect that maybe you've never thought about or never explored of dreaming. And so, as Paige said, the first step is just ask and explore, write down, get the journal to help you really track it and discern it further. Um, I love that. Well, Paige, I usually wrap up my podcast by asking three questions. And before I do that, I'd love to know if there's anything else that I've asked you or anything else you'd love to relate to the listener.

SPEAKER_02: 31:52

You know, I think that I've said most of what's on my heart, but I am also curious for you. Is there a dream that you've had in your life that's impacted you?

SPEAKER_00: 32:02

Yes, I actually had a series of dreams. I'm like, I'm not sure how much I want to go into that in the podcast. But um, yeah, and so I had a series of dreams about a baby that was handed to me, and I didn't know if it was my baby or not. Um, because it was, you know, placed in my hands. And in the dream I was trying to figure out how to nurse the baby. And I then the next dream, and it was like awkward, you know, it's like as if you're holding the baby for the first time, you're not sure what's going on, and all of that. Um, and then the next dream, I was nursing the baby, and the milk supply was like just so overflowing that I didn't know what to do with it. It was it was crazy. Um, and then the next dream I had about this baby is it was a room full of milk supply, just like shelves and shelves of the supply milk everywhere. And this room was filled with women who were supporting this baby and this supply. And I was like, okay, um, now you got my attention guide because like, you know, this isn't the first, like, this is a third dream. And I think there was one baby dream in the middle there somewhere that I just didn't write down. And you have to write down your dreams, right? Um, and so the third dream was so unique because they were just it was just shelves and shelves stocked to milk. And they're and I walked in the room and I remember, and like it's as if that place was functioning without me. Like they were taking care of all the you know, logistics of it. And I walked in and I was like, should I nurse the baby now that I'm here? kind of deal, you know? And um, so that was interesting. And I wasn't sure what to relay that with. Um, at that time, my husband and I were considering building a nonprofit, but I also had this book idea that was like really birthing my heart, and I'm like, nah, that's too small, like that can't be it. Well, we're like five years down the road from that, and I am a hundred percent certain it's the book, and it's I know that God's gonna do something really, really big with it.

SPEAKER_02: 34:02

I love that. I love that he's also kind of shown you and confirmed for you um not just that something starts with a little bit of um I like how you kind of described that when you were handed the baby, you were not sure what to do. If you were to you know, if it was like mine too.

SPEAKER_00: 34:22

Like I didn't know, like, is this my baby? Like, did I birth this baby? Because I don't remember being pregnant, you know, that type of thing. Right.

SPEAKER_02: 34:29

Right. But then the promise is not only will you nourish this, but there is abundance coming that's going to connect with other other women as well. Um, and that's beautiful. That's a that gives me chills, actually. That's a really cool, that's a really cool series of dreams. Those are those are promises.

SPEAKER_00: 34:50

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I was really now I'm starting to understand. And as I went back, I was like, oh, this makes sense. Because I remember talking to a friend about and she's like, maybe it's the book. I'm like, no, that is so small, like that is so relevant to this thing. We're like trying to build this big nonprofit. And um, that's what I thought it was about. But I'm yeah, I'm 100% certain that's what it's about. And it's uh been growing and growing. And um, so yeah, it's like we're just on the brink of launching it into the world. Um, but um, I know there is just gonna be so much impact that's gonna come from that. And it is more specifically targeted towards women than men, even though it will impact men as well. I'm also writing it for my sons. Um, but yeah, that's that's one of my dreams.

SPEAKER_02: 35:36

That's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that, by the way, because that's also personal. Yeah. It's it can be kind of tricky to know when to share and how to share those personal dreams. But thank you for doing that. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: 35:49

Well, I'd love to know from you, Paige, what is the most courageous thing that you've ever done? Because this is the Once Or Dare podcast, and you're a daring woman, which is why you're on here.

SPEAKER_02: 36:00

I think the most courageous thing that I've ever done, um, I've actually always been a bit of a risk taker. And so when I started icon, I left a salaried position to start a new company. Um, and it felt a little scary at the time, but I just knew in my heart that it was gonna, it's gonna be something that the Lord would bless. And so um starting this business um nine months pregnant was definitely something that took a risk, but it has been very fruitful, and we have um we have really enjoyed the journey. So that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00: 36:37

What is the best advice that someone gave you?

SPEAKER_02: 36:41

Oh, yeah. My dad, I remember instantly where I was. I was sitting, I was 18 years old, um, sitting with my dad, and he said to me, Um, do you know what success is? And I said, Well, I don't know what. And he said, Success is finding God's calling for your life and doing it. And it's just that simple. What is God calling you to do? Do it. And that's what success looks like. And so that is what I have um, that's what I have followed since I was a teenager.

SPEAKER_00: 37:14

That's beautiful. And the last one is what are three pivotal books that impacted your life?

SPEAKER_02: 37:19

Oh my goodness. Well, obviously, not to be lame, but like the Bible. I love the word of God so much. I could put every book away and just have my many, many different translations and be very, very happy. Um, I would say um, you know, there's a book that I loved in college because I am a writer, and it's called If You Want to Write by Brenda Ewand. It's from the early 1900s, and it was written by this woman who was teaching others how to be a creative writer, and it's just beautiful. And for anyone who um even just has a creative spirit to create, um, but especially for writers and aspiring writers, I highly recommend If you want to write by Brenda Ewand. Um, and then um Gift of the Sea, um, and Mara Lindbergh is probably just one of my guilty pleasure. I could read it again and again and again. It's just this beautiful, beautiful book and just um has a lot of calm and peace um that it brings to me when I'm reading it just to decompress.

SPEAKER_00: 38:24

So that's beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that. It's been such an honor to talk to you, Paige. Thank you so much for your time.

SPEAKER_02: 38:32

Thank you so much for having me. It's been really fun.