Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Monica Mitchell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Monica, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

The story behind my mission is simple. In 2020, when the lockdowns were put into place and many small businesses had to close, I personally experienced how difficult it was for both customers and small business owners. I watched as larger corporate stores, liquor stores, and in my state, marijuana stores, were allowed to stay open while smaller businesses such as nail salons, hair salons, restaurants, and everyone else not deemed essential had to close. Many families that had put their entire lives into their businesses lost everything. I decided it was time to gather all small businesses in one place so they could be found by those of us looking to support them and shop small and local. My goal is to provide a platform for small businesses so they may avoid the potential dangers and devastation of any other similar situation that may arise.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My very first office job was as a receptionist at a plumbing company. Prior to this, I had worked as a waitress and a physical therapy assistant, the latter being what I went to college for. I didn’t know the first thing about working in an office in any administrative capacity. Regardless, I excelled at my position. Soon after, I was offered a job as a bookkeeper, something else I had never done. It was in this position where I learned the real world experience about all administrative aspects of running and owning a small business.

Growing up I never knew being a business owner was a possibility. I always thought it was something other people did. I didn’t realize it was open to anyone who dreamed to do it for themselves. After meeting and befriending different business owners during my bookkeeping years, I realized it was possible for me too. I set my goals and got to work. I experienced all of the planning, hard work, and sacrifice it took to become a small business owner. This is something you can only learn through experience.

I grew to love this group. It is a community all on its own. I’ve met wonderful people on this journey who all want the same thing – success for themselves and others.

I’ve been involved with small business in various administrative positions and ownership for the past 25 years. As a self proclaimed small business advocate, I wanted to create a space to bring unity to the small business community. During 2020, life changed for a lot of us. Some pivoted and were able to make it work. Others lost everything. The stark contrast between Main Street and Wall Street was glaring, and unfair in my opinion. I couldn’t understand why local boutiques were forced to close while big box stores were allowed to stay open. It made no logical sense to me.

That’s when I decided to create a website for all small businesses to come together. We need a place to be listed and found by those wanting to spend their hard earned dollars at places that give back to the communities we live in. The Small Business Alliance Network was formed to do just that. It creates an online platform that provides inexpensive advertising for businesses, in addition to providing a well organized location for consumers to search who and what they need when shopping. My goal is to become the largest online platform for small business listings while building a community of connection and collaboration amongst our members. In doing so, we will be able to give back to the members of our small business community, benefits and resources that we sometimes struggle to find, or at least find affordable.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Social media, personal contacts, and referrals. While I am still building my social media following, I have two different sets of audience. On Facebook, I have mostly family and personal friends, friends from school, and friends of friends, as well as many groups I have joined or followed.  Instagram, on the other hand, started for me at a business conference I went to where I seemed to be the only one there not on the platform. We were encouraged to share and follow each other’s Instagram accounts. This set me up with a completely new audience – other business owners or entrepreneurs from all over the country. I’ve really taken advantage of the features Instagram provides to follow other small businesses and create an organic growth from that. Most small businesses rally around each other because almost all of them want to see the other grow and prosper. This has helped with referrals to the Small Business Alliance Network. We are just beginning with Twitter, and starting TikTok soon.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I think we can all agree 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic forced many of us to pivot.

We had just closed on our house at the end of February 2020 in a new area, and our kids had started a new school. They were in school for three weeks when the lockdowns forced everyone to stay home. That was a very difficult time for us. All of a sudden, we were running a business and homeschooling/online schooling our kids. My husband was still working out of town where we had moved from in what was deemed an essential position (he owns a plumbing and HVAC company). In our new town we hadn’t had the time to make new connections or routines. It was chaotic to say the least.

This period forced me to get clear on what was really important to me, and where I wanted to spend my time and energy. I had to figure out a new way to do life, business, shopping, homeschool, parenting…everything. I was overwhelmed. I decided to learn strategies to help reduce my stress and increase my focus. I started meditating, journaling, and prioritizing. I became much more intentional about how and where I spent my time. I kept my focus on what showed itself to be really important, and changed the action to make them match. This resulted in an abundance of clarity on what I wanted and how to achieve it. Thus, the Small Business Alliance Network was born.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.smallbusinessalliancenetwork.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/smallbusinessalliancenetwork
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/smallbusinessalliancenetwork
• Twitter: @smballiancentwk

Image Credits
Simpson Portraits