We recently connected with Monique Melton and have shared our conversation below.

Monique , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?

From day one it was just me working within the business but I’ve always had help at home with the support of my husband. Overtime, I was able to hire help at home and in my business which made all the difference. When you have a long list of responsibilities and task you want to get done in order to achieve anything, you need help in one way or another. So we started with getting help with the kids by hiring a nanny just one day a week for a few hours. Gradually this increased to the point where I had help a few days a week which allowed me to have more time to focus in the business and to also leave the house and attend networking events because I had support at home with the kids. I began making enough money to hire an assistant and that worked out for a while but it took a few hires to find the right team that I have now. My current business manager and executive assistant we’re placed on my radar by a direct referral. I hired them to do one project and they nailed it! And after that we discussed more long term support and they started soon after I went viral in 2020 and have been with the team ever since. They have helped me create and refine systems in my business which allow hiring contractors to be a more streamlined process. If I was starting today, I would hire a team in the business just as I did because I needed to have the support at home in order to focus and grow the business to be able to hire the help within the business. At the time, when I started my business I was home full time with two kids so I worked early mornings, during naps and late at night. Hiring the nanny to care for the kids during the day allowed me to take on clients and be more focused. I wouldn’t change how I did things because I’m really happy with the support I had with the kids and the support I have now with business.

Monique , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been an entrepreneur since 2004, so Ive explored multiple industries and learned a lot a long the way. Right now my focus is on building the Shine Bright School. I am an educator, published author, content creator, international speaker, and host of the Shine Brighter Together podcast. As the founder of the Shine Bright School which is a global community of people dedicated to doing the work from the inside out for our liberation, I focus on creating resources and community for folks to commit to this life long work. We help people learn and develop tools and courage to identify and eliminate racism while staying committed to Black liberation.
We provide resources for the everyday person who wants to be a part of change and we also offer support and resources for corporations who want to commit to anti-racism in the workplace.

The school offers education on topics such as anti-racism in the workplace, equitable business development, anti-racism parenting, inner work/personal growth, committing to anti-racism as a daily practice, and healthy relationships. She also provides support via consulting and public speaking. All of this is undergirded by my BA in social science with an emphasis in sociology & psychology and two years of graduate school education in Clinical Counseling from Johns Hopkins University.

Having been published in publications such as Forbes, Fast Company, NBC, and more, I has positively impacted the lives of people all over the world.

I am a wife to my high-school sweetheart and a loving mother to two little ones. I am a natural big, bold dreamer and a joyfully unapologetic Black woman who believes we shine brighter together.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think one of the things that has helped build my reputation in my industry is that I am unapologetically authentic about who I am and what I believe. I am honest and real about the whole picture so folks don’t just get the highs but they also get a glimpse into the lows and challenges. I also love to add my personal style into my work and share my whole self, not just me as an educator but Monique—the whole human. So you get the style, the beauty, the joy and the education and fierce commitment to Black liberation all at once.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

After I had our first child I knew I wanted to do something that would allow me to work from home. At the time, I was doing makeup professionally as well as working for a non-profit. But I wanted to be at home with our son and I still wanted to build my career as an entrepreneur so I got creative and started exploring my strengths, skills, education and opportunities and decided to start offering brand strategy and coaching and that changed everything for me. In offering this, I was able to support a lot of business owners in their growth but I also gained a lot of experience and networks that helped me when I was ready to pivot into teaching anti-racism solely.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.MoniqueMelton.com
• Instagram: Moemotivate

Image Credits
Laurent Leger Adame image 1, 2 and 4 Image 3 with the orange suite F. Newberry