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

Hi Monique, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Meilani Educational Services is named in honor of my daughter who unfortunately passed last year. I was 29 weeks but measured 27 weeks. Once it was confirmed that she was stillborn, I was given medication to help induce labor. After her arrival they let me spend time with her in my room before taking her away. Her onesie had flowers and bumblebees on it. Hence, why I do business as Bloom N’ Bee’s.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the owner of Meilani Educational services. We provide hybrid teaching and tutoring to children between the ages of 3-9. Sessions are 1-2 hours long in person or virtual. I also have a fundraiser called Bills to Books. Families, friends and anonymous donors donate one dollar and we turn it into a book or school supply for a student. During the school year I am an NC Pre-K teacher full time and part time behavior technician. I am also in school getting my master’s in reading education. In the past I’ve taught grammatical structure, spanish and college algebra. One thing that sets me apart from others is I know my life’s purpose. I moved to Charlotte from Bridgeport, Connecticut knowing that being a teacher was my dream job but unsure what I wanted to do with my life. Once I started learning more about my calling, my confidence emerged and so did my accolades.

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

So it’s kind of weird because it depends on the social media account. Thankfully I’ve had all the same accounts since high school except my Instagram. I took a break from Instagram once and couldn’t log in after that so I had to make a new one. Often times, people find my Facebook page through donors. When people donate to our fundraiser I always give them a birthday shout out and I thank them by posting their own personalized flyer every time they donate. On Instagram, people are more intrigued with my hobbies. Although I thank donors on Instagram, I am found more for my videos that I create. During my spare time I love to sing and rap. These videos have the most comments and views. People often learn about my page after seeing one of my videos and landing on my page to learn more about me.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Knowing that I have to build my reputation within my market. In the beginning, I was just happy to finally being doing what I love to do. The more I learned, the more experience and skills I gained, helped me to want to work on myself, work on my craft and work on creating my own business. Waking up every day and knowing that I represent me has helped me understand the importance of my relationships with students, families and other professionals in the field

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meekie1123/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BloomNBees/