We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mona Dixon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mona below.
Mona, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I was always a person who enjoyed sending and receiving nice note cards and greeting cards! When the pandemic started, I realized that while being quarantined, a lot of people were losing out on personal contact and communication. I wanted to give people a special way to show that they still care for another person and they are thinking of them. I think the pandemic took us back to understanding what truly matters in life, and that is our family and friends! People needed to know that we were all in this together. I started my greeting card line in June 2019.
My first card was themed “Sending you a socially-distanced hug!”This was a top seller. Because people couldn’t see each other in-person as much, my cards were allowing people to stay connected all over the world! My most exciting order was from a lady in Germany on the military base! Although we love technology, there’s something special about receiving a card in the mail!
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
My family and I lived on the streets and moved from one homeless shelter to another until I was 13. A few short years later I received my coveted Boys & Girls Clubs of America “National Youth of the Year Award,” and was honored by the President of the United States in the Oval Office. This has all led to me being awarded over $100,000 in scholarships, sharing the stage with “A” list celebrities, being featured in the national media, and starring in a national campaign commercial with Mark Wahlberg.
Later, I was appointed to serve as the youngest member of a U.S. Presidential Community Service Committee alongside four other distinguished individuals. At 18, I was named one of the “Most Influential Black Women,” alongside Oprah and Michelle Obama, by Essence Magazine.
At 29, I am currently pursuing my doctorate in Organizational Leadership and empowering others while speaking for corporate companies, schools, youth organizations, fundraisers, graduations, parent organizations, and homeless shelters.
I’m all about being inspirational and showing love and just another way for me to do that was by creating greeting cards. Inspired By Mona creates unique and diverse stationery. We started with notecards and greeting cards in June 2020 and we have expanded our products to include custom products, planners, calendars, stickers, blankets, shirts, towels, invitations, announcements, dry erase magnetic sheets, bags, canvas wall art, postcards, notepads, sticky notes, washi tape and scrapbook sheets! The list goes on!
I remember only printing a couple cards here and there at Office Depot (16 miles from my home), sometimes for just one card, and then folding/scoring them myself and putting a stamp on it and taking it to the post office! I probably was losing money at that point if I considered all of the costs. In March of this year, I received the keys to my new office space! It is truly a blessing!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Because I grew up homeless, I felt as though I should share my story on stages as a speaker for free to help make a difference. This caused me to be really busy speaking and it costs me money to attend events by paying for my accomodations and taking time off from work. However, I have had plenty of people tell me that I bring a valuable service to the table and I need to charge what I am worth! I am still working on that!
Even in my stationery business, I keep the prices pretty low and every time I add a product line, I’m always worried about not charging too much. However, again, my friends tell me that my products are of great quality and I put a lot of time and effort into them and I should charge accordingly.
I have to realize that I am trading my time to create products for others and I do have to make a living as well! To be truthful, I never want to be homeless again and if I gave everything away for little to nothing, that is exactly where I would end up.
It’s definitely a mindset shift I am working on!
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
When I first started out, I was using my credit cards to fund my business. Here and there, I still fund my business that way. I don’t have very large limits so I make it work with what I have. Gaining funding is pretty difficult but I am just trying to grow as much as possible so I have more access to funding so I can expand! One of my greatest issues is that I have audiences who want my products but I don’t have enough product or staff to help me grow. Having funding up front is very important!
Sometimes, I will ask my friends and family for small investments and I repay them with interest! It’s a win-win situation!
One thing I want new entrepreneurs to know is instead of using credit cards to go into debt buying things that decrease in value, use them to make more money!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://inspiredbymona.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inspiredbymona/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspiredByMonaOfficial
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mona-dixon/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MonaDixonSpeaks
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/monadixon
- Other: https://monadixon.com/
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