We recently connected with Maya Owens and have shared our conversation below.
Maya, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
My business is multifaceted and does a number of things. I host events to bring moms of color together through the Mom Tribe, where we connect through our journey of motherhood. I am also a business consultant, helping small brands connect with their audiences. I first came up with my business idea because as a PR professional with over 10 years experience, I have a keen understanding of what it takes to brand your business well, and get key messages to your audiences. I knew this business concept would work, because as Instagram evolved to a direct consumer selling platform, I knew small businesses would need support and expert skills, that they may not have had. Yes, they may be great at their business skill like being an author or beautician, but understanding marketing and public relations is a different kind of skill, that is necessary for your business to thrive. My unique approach to my business Everything Maya, is that there’s almost nothing I can’t do, hence the name, the name speaks directly to all I can do.
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 Maya, a wife, a mother of two, and literally Mrs. Do It All! Not only am I a business owner, but I work a traditional “9-5”, as a Public Affairs Specialist for the Federal Government, doing similar marketing as my business, I’m a college Professor at my Alma Mater, Bowie State University, where I teach an advertising class, I also serve as Vice President of the Baltimore Chapter of Bowie’s Alumni Association, President of my community HOA, and Vice President of my son’s PTA at his school. I think that covers most of what I do. Overall, I am a person who just thrives off getting the job done and doing it well! I’m very creative and strategic, so I’ll get my hands dirty in many DIY projects, home decorating and organizing just about anything around the house. From a strategic stand point, I strategize everything about my life, every aspect is a to do list, and conquering things makes me excited. With anything I do, I put my all into it, no matter how big or small.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
A time I had to pivot my business is when I transitioned out of the event planning space. I learned that the time commitment it took to plan and execute events is something I didn’t want to do once I had kids. So I focused my business more on helping brands and small businesses thrive with their marketing. I will help curate an event and bring vendors together, but planning from start to finish, is something I rather avoid. Understanding what you enjoy doing and knowing when to make a shift is all apart of running a successful business. And often while some pivots and shifts are much larger, pivots can happen all the time, and you should evaluate and make changes to your business whenever the need fits.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Reputation is everything, and building and maintaining one is important. I think what helped build my reputation in my market is the fact that people actually see and believe in what I do and know I’m just not in business for the money. They see how I carry myself and how talented I am with things I do in my own life, and they know I will do the exact same thing for their business. Trust and consistency go a long way. People tend to fail because they aren’t consistent and don’t fully commit to what they say they will do. People have to trust you to run operations in their business, and that’s something I pride myself on.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.everythingmaya.com
- Instagram: @EverythingMaya
Image Credits
KFinch Photography