We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maya Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Maya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.

When I started MB Strategies, I was more focused on the professional delivery of services than the operational components of running a business. Like most entrepreneurs, it was just me until capacity constraints required scaling up. The good problem was that I was landing clients, but I had to simultaneously build the plane while flying it. Scaling up for this firm meant recruiting talent to assist with client management and building out the administrative side of the business, which required me to manage a unique balancing act of time and resource management.

Growth also meant constant introspection to identify which aspects of the business weren’t successful, allowing me to cut back and explore new opportunities to roll in. I learned that scaling entrepreneurship requires tough and game-time decisions and trusting that it will all work out; even when the path isn’t clear – being agile enough to problem solve crises, but having the creativity to begin building and implementing long-term vision.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I launched MB Strategies in 2019 to help solve some of our most pressing issues disproportionately impacting minorities through elections and advocacy. While attending the University of South Florida, I earned degrees in Sociology and Africana Studies which helped frame my approach to political organizing; simply put that government works at its best when it is representative. I also participated in the Tallahassee Internship Program in the School of Public Affairs and was able to immerse into Florida’s 60-day legislative session to learn, develop a passion for, and be involved in issue advocacy.

MB Strategies is a Black-owned and women-run political consulting firm that supports candidates and organizations who aren’t the status quo, and look like or are trying to better the communities they are vying to represent in public office. One core value we believe is that politics and government should be collaborative where we can work with politicians, nonprofit leaders, and advocates to provide strategic support to address our state’s issues of inequity impacting Floridian’s quality of life. Whether it be handling communications, organizing fundraisers, or developing public policy plans, my team and I work to provide our clients with the resources they need to win on Election Day and on the dais.

One of my biggest priorities since I got involved with politics has been increasing representation. When I say this, I don’t mean electing a person of color or woman or someone in the LGBTQ community just to increase diversity. We need to elect minorities who understand the issues their communities face and actively work to resolve them. One of the best parts of my job is getting to help them through their campaigns, as well as help them reach their voters so they know that this representative hears their needs. This way, not only do I get to help with electing those representatives, but also with encouraging minority groups to vote and let their voices be heard.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

It begins with being very intentional on who you work with and then all about building a genuine relationship with your clients- getting to know their goals, their personal story and issue priorities – and going beyond just winning a race. My clients, like me, share the same passion for representation and equity. We have a mutual understanding that the work we do is deeply personal and goes beyond us as individuals– it impacts every resident in communities across the state. These shared values lay a solid foundation for building a relationship that is beyond just client-consultant. Moreover, I work to strengthen that relationship through maintaining constant communication with my clients. They know that I will always be accessible to them, whether they need something done for their campaign, or as their greatest ally, cheerleader, safest space for vulnerability, and motivator to push them through limitations to their greatest potential.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

That the traditional matriculation of professional development with age is the sole path to entrepreneurship. I always knew I wanted to own a political consulting and public affairs firm. I did not believe that would be so before the age of 30. Politics like most industries validates your subject-matter expertise predominately on age. Yes, length of experience does matter, but it isn’t an apple-to-apples comparison when it comes to being a Florida Democrat compounded with “hustle culture.”

With limited long-term government employment opportunities due to losses up and down the ballot by Democrats, I was able to almost-double my political experience in half-time because the talent was (and still very much is) in demand. Even though I was raking up experiences, I was still pigeon-holed into very specific and lateral roles. Because I was young, it was assumed that I wasn’t prepared for greater levels of leadership. However, hustle culture demands cross-sector and deep-engagement of roles and I have always been fully committed to the grind, yet still believing the limitations others were placing on me.

It wasn’t until I searched for jobs in the traditional route to be told “not yet” again, that I began to question if this was the only way to reach new heights. I decided to take a risk to start my own firm and am grateful for the few who believed in my talent as my first clients. To be honest, I wasn’t totally convinced this risk was right. I knew I had to deliver wins on Election Day, but would that mean I no longer had to eat at the kids’ Thanksgiving dinner table? With zero losses during my first election cycle in the consulting business, I proved to myself and others that my talent proved viable to be considered like that of my peers. There’s so much that I am yet learning, but my seat at the table is earned.

Contact Info:

• Website: mayabrown.net
• Instagram: @msmayabrown
• Twitter: @msmayabrown
• Other: Email: [email protected]