We recently connected with Maurice Valentino and have shared our conversation below.
Maurice, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.
One of my clients said that she felt me encouraging her during her ACT Test after our months of studying. She would go to score 25 points higher than her last exam and gain almost full ride scholarships to Howard and Hampton University.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Michaelangelo Maurice Valentino Hayes, a social entrepreneur of many hats and talents. Social Entrepreneurship is engaging in the core aspects of standard entrepreneurship, but gearing profits and initiatives towards community as much as personal profit. Not all entrepreneurship or business models incorporate community uplifting as a key part of their business model.
I currently run a full-time tutoring/consulting business called Valentino;s Workshop LLC as a CEO, an Esports and Gaming Events company called Four4Three Gaming as a COO, and a nonprofit called Valentino’s Requiem. With Valentino’s Workshop, we provide high-grade but affordable tutoring services, small/local business consultation, marketing for creatives needing funding, and public speaking. Four4ThreeGaming provides quality Esports commentating, hosting of Baltimore community gaming events, and minority centered Esports tournaments and opportunities. Valentino’s Requiem is a mirror of Valentino’s Workshop, just the non-profit arm.
Additionally, I run an All-Black International Pokemon League with over 1100+ members.
I graduated from Morehouse College in 2017, and my experiences from when I started there in 2012 to now have made me the entrepreneur I am. My friend Princess died in 2017 through an accident where money was the issue. From then, I swore to create economic resources within underserved communities in every industry with my knowledge of knowing how to build and organize things.
With Valentino’s Workshop, which has created Four4Three Gaming, Valentino’s Requiem, and more, myself and my team have worked full-time to manage a $1.5 million portfolio with 130 clients across 5 years.
We have raised clients SAT/ACT/GRE/Praxis scores by 85% on average per test retake, and helped
fundraise over $100,000 in scholarships on average for clients.
Have you ever had to pivot?
COVID was an incredible catalyst for my business, ironically. 2 years and a half into my business, I had already had experience tutoring online with Google Hangouts. By the time the pandemic happened, my business model was already prepared for online communication and kept evolving from there, with double the yearly profits and me even having to expand my staff. I even had enough money to travel later and help jumpstart Four4Three Gaming. It pays to stay ready so you don’t have to pay the cost of getting ready.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Customer service is king. I have gotten the profits and community building that I have because word of mouth is still the King of Marketing in my opinion. The name of my company is in people’s mouths at cookouts, dinners, book clubs, sorority chats, and more. By being a king of service, the good energy is returned back to me and doors opened that I never could have conceived before.
Contact Info:
- Website: valentinosworkshop.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mauricevalentino/
- Facebook: Valentino’s Workshop
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelangelo-hayes-99117184/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ValsRequiem
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdSzIw5enf4_LtcO6hA-5zQ
Image Credits
RileyEscobar Myself