We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maya Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Maya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Is there a lesson you learned in school that’s stuck with you and has meaningfully impacted your journey?
As a graduating senior, I only had one more semester to complete before earning my Bachelors degree. I was enrolled in the course: “The Civil Rights Movement.” I must admit, as a history buff, I expected to pass this course with flying colors, especially with a working knowledge of most of the lessons in the syllabus. This all changed when I walked through the door of the class. The Africana Studies and Sociology Departments at the University of South Florida offered courses in a variety of topics where I learned about religion, race, power, and gender. While taking these courses individually, there was a common thread that I learned: social progress is a multi-generational and cross-racial movement that interconnects us all in deeply personal ways. Throughout that semester we learned about the simultaneous and multi-faceted components of the Civil Rights Movement. Everything I theoretically learned over the last 4 years intersected with history I was already familiar with which forced reexamination through a new lens. I learned the most valuable lesson in that moment: social movements are complex and necessitates the involvement of different types of equitable leadership to perform different roles. To speak plainly, there isn’t just one strategy for revolutionary change. We need policymakers, agitators, protestors, educators, etc. to collectively move our work forward. This realization shook me to my core; politics is personal. For anyone to achieve greatness, there will always be a need for political and systemic change. As a sociologist, this lesson of cultural history and connectivity frames my advocacy work and how we lead electoral engagement. The idea that voting isn’t something that we do, but it frames who we are – whether we cast a ballot or not. This lesson has been imperative to me as it allows me the space to openly engage folks into the political process where they are and provides the facilitation tools to build consensus towards a common goal.
Maya, 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 am a strategist, organizer, advocate, and communicator. I use these skills to solve problems and transform communities through my businesses and civic engagement. MB Strategies is a political and public affairs consulting firm that specializes in strategic communications, electoral campaigns, lobbying, and public engagement. Having grown up in a family active in their church and community, accompanying my family members to vote, and being involved in youth leadership programs focused on Black history and empowerment, I always had an interest in community development and making a difference in the lives of our most marginalized. After participating in USF’s Tallahassee Internship Program through the School of Public Affairs. I began my career in advocacy, government, and electoral campaigns. Nearly 10 years later, I have worked on many candidate based and ballot campaigns across the state, lobbied state and local government, and developed messaging for complex and pressing issues. I am proud that this firm has shattered glass ceilings with our clients’ historic elections and excited for the opportunity to make history in communities across the country. I’ve been honored to receive awards and recognitions for my expertise and leadership in politics. Outside of my work, I am actively involved in my community with civic groups and alumni associations. A lifelong learner, I am a proud graduate of the University of South Florida and Florida International University.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I am still building my audience, but three key takeaways are information, relatability, and consistency. The news cycle for social media has rapid turnover, and users are consuming more content about breaking news in shorter times. Understanding this framework helps influencers find their niche of providing information and establish themselves as a trusted thought leader. My brand largely educates and raises awareness about politics and civic engagement. I share content so my followers are aware of changing legislation and ways it will impact their everyday lives. My goal is to be a trusted resource to conveniently explain sometimes confusing information in a digestible format and speech without users having to leave their favorite social media apps. Additionally, audiences on social media want to get to know you outside of your subject-matter expertise. As part of my brand, I share content relative to my faith, being a dog-mom, and my love of music. This helps break-up the monotony of the content, attracts new followers to your brand, and invites a new level of engagement. I think everyone on my social media knows my puppy by name and my Sunday routine of church, gluten-free brunch, and puppy-snuggles.
With the amount of information on social media and the ever-changing algorithms, consistency is key. Keep me in prayer that I will practice what I preach! When I created my social media accounts, my goal wasn’t to intentionally share purposeful content – I wanted to keep up with my friends and post cute selfies. However, when I started posting content about my work and sharing my thoughts on the political climate, my followers loved it and were truly engaged. During this transition, I honestly struggled with the concept of content creation (and still sometimes do) because of its time-consumption and the new level of access the internet has into your life. With the different elements of my brand, I post about different topics in different outputs (images, videos, etc) to make sure I am posting regularly.
Some folks will say there’s only one proven formula to growing your social media audience and brand, but I think you have to research best practices and start a content creation rhythm that works best for you.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Having worked in a few roles without high-morale, I made a list of things I did not want MBS staff to experience. I have to admit our firm’s team management style has several nods to Olivia Pope & Associates from Scandal – despite the crime and violence of course. That fictional firm provided a vision of a team that trusted each other deeply, was immensely talented in a cross-section of skills, and shared common goals. I look for these qualities when I am attracting talent to our team and provide development opportunities to ensure we are retaining the best of the best. I also know that there should be a workplace culture of work-life balance and the opportunity for personal privacy if they so choose. Office culture should also demonstrate that leadership is interested in staff beyond what they can produce and who they are outside of work. This is a priority for me in ensuring a high morale. You’re performing locally? Drop it in Slack so we can get a group to go. Team culture management is a daily exercise and a conscious choice. My goal is to show up authentically as a communicative leader and show out for my team to establish a trust and a commitment to this work to do and be better. As they say at OPA, “over a cliff.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MayaBrown.net
- Instagram: @MsMayaBrown
- Facebook: @MsMayaBrown
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayabrown1/
- Twitter: @MsMayaBrown
- Other: TikTok: @MsMayaBrown
Image Credits
FotoBohemia