We recently connected with Monica Gibbs and have shared our conversation below.

Monica , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s go back in time a bit – can you share a story of a time when you learned an important lesson during your education?

In college I was a young mom so my focus was on balancing family and my academics and in the back of my mind was always my future career. I was in the top Journalism program in the country at the time which came with a lot of pressure to do well. Although I had a natural gift for journalism, I worked extra hard to maintain and because of that I didn’t take as much time to network or take advantage of enrichment opportunities. The lesson I learned is that connections and relationships are so important. I was often in rooms with exceptional people who had knowledge and access to other spaces that could have been beneficial to me. Fortunately, I was able to build professional relationships along the way. I have shared with students about the power of networking and how much easier it helps our journey when we learn that we can rely on others and them on us, to share thoughts, ideas, and opportunities. I would say that more than half of my business inquiries come through networking. So the lesson I learned is to build relationships everywhere you land and to always know who you are connected to!

Monica , 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?

Most of my early community service and political affairs work has been done here in North Carolina. I got started after college by volunteering public relations and marketing services in nonprofits and small businesses. While looking for news jobs, I began volunteering public relations services to nonprofits, ministries, and small businesses. I had no intention of starting a business but I loved what I was doing. During this time I was also getting invites to join boards. I attended my first Democratic Party meeting and was elected to the board and the same thing happened again at a Democratic Women’s meeting. From there I learned leadership and how to serve on the local, regional, and state levels. I learned about elections, candidates, and elected officials which led into heavy campaign work. A few years later, I developed an LLC that would offer services related to campaigns and media relations.
I have evolved some since then. I now offer community engagement, advocacy, government relations, and consulting services. All of what I do is tied to strengthening the community and giving others a voice to advocate. What I would say sets me apart is being a black woman working in this field. Representation is crucial today and my business marries two closely aligned areas which are politics and media, which is a plus for me when it comes to marketing and telling stories about the work that I do. Nonprofits and individuals contract with me to help organize around an issue, connect to legislators, or build partnerships.

I am proud of my consistency and willingness to make shifts when I’ve needed to and I am most proud about being able to provide for my family and support myself through my business. I am a single mother of five so it is not easy but I am still working hard to one day have a team and be able to provide other women with jobs. I travel to do a lot of this work and I am still in the early stages of entrepreneurship so I know that there are more great things in store, if I keep going. Overall, even on the most difficult days, I am thankful I am doing what I love.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

For me social media has been the main way for me to market and build my audience. Any opportunity whether big or small, I create a message behind it. I highlight the people I connect with to share the platform and I always show gratitude to whomever I am working with in my posts.

I have a separate instagram for my personal life and business so that there is a clear distinction. I pay close attention to what my followers like for me to post and my audience has helped identify my brand.

I learned in journalism school that people love to see other people, so pictures and images have always been helpful for me. Hashtags have worked for me too.

The main piece of advice I would give is to market, market, market your work! Do some research to add some educational facts and add it to your message. I have had more opportunities that I can count that came from social media. My first national webinar that I participated in as a panelist came from me merely making a comment on someone else’s post. So do not shy away from sharing about what you are doing. I post everything from board meetings, conferences, business meetings, to big events. In between events, I post my professional images and/or logo and share a tip or just a message to remind my followers that I am still working. Each platform is different but a combination of all of this is what has been successful.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.monicargibbs.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monicargibbs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monica.r.gibbs
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/monicargibbs

Image Credits
Photo credits for the two professional shots (green dress) Bobby Lamont of B. Lamont Photography