We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Monique Russell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Monique, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

I’ve been working for a number of years helping high potential employees to improve Emotional Intelligence and Executive Presence. The issues tend to be the same globally; however, I noticed an increase in the desire of many employees who want to start a business, and test their skills in the market, especially women. The uptick could be a post-pandemic outcome. I remember a scenario where a high performing employee was bringing in a significant amount of business to the company, but wanted to have more work-life integration. Eventually, she left the company and the client she supported started to look elsewhere because they were so comfortable with her service. They didn’t want to deal with someone new, and eventually, this cost the company a client.

The first trend is that customer loyalty is up for sale.

Without providing skill development to new hires, and providing a more seamless handoff among employees to educate customers, they leave. Women leaders require innovative learning environments and support to stay engaged. People leaders need continous skill upgrades to foster supportive and engaging work cultures. (https://www.td.org/atd-blog/creating-learning-communities-to-increase-and-retain-women-in-leadership) A 2021, Upskilling Study reveals that close to half of American workers would change jobs if they offered opportunities to gain new skills, and most of them want it from their employee at work.

The second trend is the rise of the Intrapreneur.

Intrapreneurs aren’t necessarily starting a business, though some might. They demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit and are always looking for ways to upgrade their role, work environment, and team. They aren’t afraid to speak up, and have a high level of passion for internal projects. Employers that engage top talent through Intrapreneurship increase retention and recruitment. Not all employees want to leave. And it’s not just about money. Highly engaged employees want opportunities to merge their interests and passions to feel fulfilled at work. I interviewed Anthony Cole, Black Employee Network (BEN), Employee Resource Group (ERG), leader at Amazon on the Bridge to U podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bridge-to-u/id1525102010) to share his story and impact on merging his passion of music and being an artist, and leveraging that work. When employers get this right, they create ripple effects in almost aspect of the business, but the challenge is that many are afraid to embrace this door because they feel it will be something they cannot control, and it goes against the status quo.

I love advising global leaders and teams on how to engage their top talent, and provide upskilling training and coaching to help them achieve these goals.

Monique, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

The communications training and consulting industry chose me. I started speaking at the age of 8 years old in the front of an audience of 100 people. Later, my mother exposed me to activities that allowed me to nurture my gift of communications such as acting, and debate. So, when I left for college, I studied the science of Communications. I completed 3 degrees, one undergraduate and 2 graduate, found myself teaching at the University for 7 years, while simultaneously working in corporate America.

Through a women’s empowerment organization called W.A.T.T.S.(Women Aspiring Together to Succeed), my desire to start freelancing was born.

Today, my team and I provide advisory services, training workshops, keynote speeches, and group coaching.

We teach leaders and teams how to keep their top talent engaged so they don’t walk out the door and take their customers with them. The work we do is specific to countries, communities and companies to stop the brain drain.

We primarily service tech industries and management consulting firms. Clients work with us when they have an increase in hiring, want to promote and retain women leaders, and are experiencing improved performance. We teach them how to use leadership development strategies to connect with their customers more effectively, and how to improve internal communication.

What sets me apart personally is 1. the holistic approach to my expertise which includes 2 decades supporting leaders either administratively, training or coaching, 12 years of formal study in the discipline and science of communications, 10+ years of training others at the University level in the discipline, and 30 years of multi-cultural immersion. I live, connect and communicate in multi-cultural environments every single day of my life and as a result, it gives me a competitive advantage to see things from different perspectives and provide innovative solutions to my clients. Many clients who engage me personally cite this as one of the primary reasons they engage in addition to my expertise. This clearly sets me apart.

I am most proud of 2 bodies of work, my book, Intentional Motherhood: Who Said it Would be Easy, and the Bridge to U podcast. These bodies of work have been used to facilitate conversations that break barriers for mothers in leadership, and foster diversity and inclusion among Black cultures. They demonstrate my thoughts, passions and position on how to live an awakened way of life, against all odds, as human beings.

What you should know about me:

I am passionate about empowering mothers to profit from their own wisdom. When a woman can do this, the quality of her choices, friendships, relationships, career, and clients elevate. When she elevates, her community elevates because she is no longer making decisions from lack, but of power.

I am passionate about empowering nations to create self-sustaining communities and to make choices for the betterment of their citizens. This stops the brain drain and makes for a more equitable world.

I am passionate about empowering families to communicate and connection with each other. The liberation and freedom for so many people is held captive in a genuine, and honest conversation with one another.

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

My platform of choice is LinkedIn. I have built a community of beautiful connections and observers over the years; however, like most people, it first started off as a resume site. It was dry, bland and boring. Now, I am often told how exciting, engaging and thought-provoking my posts are.

The first thing I did was update my profile to reflect my business goals.

Then, I started to share my position, thoughts and interests on a variety of topics. I’m interested in a number of topics locally and globally because I am multi-cultural and work with clients all over the world. Because of this, it often sparks conversation and interest and clients often tell me my diversity is one of the reasons they choose to engage with me.

Next, I became intentional anytime I spoke professionally to direct people to connect with me on LinkedIn. It is a great way to stay connected with new people, and keep a dialogue going.

Finally, I became consistent with my online presence.

For anyone starting out building a presence on social media, there are 7 critical mindsets you must keep in mind.

1. It is not easy to be genuine in a world that is primarily fake. Social media rarely tells the full story, but you get a chance to share more than promotional posts and engage in meaningful conversation with your audience.

2. Be clear about who you are, what you offer and your position on topics. As a leader, nothing is more frustrating that someone who is playing the fence, or trying to appease everyone. Your job is to take a stand so that those who align with you are attracted, and those who do not align, are repelled. You cannot please everyone, nor should you try.

3. Share your own science. Many times on social media, people simply regurgitate other speakers, and thought leaders. This does nothing to tell your audience your own science. What have you discovered from the leaders? How does it apply to you personally? Do you agree or disagree? People are afraid to take a stand because they aren’t equipped to handle the response of others if they don’t like what they share. I can help you with this.

4. Have a visually appealing presence. Image, words, and consistency create perception. Don’t confuse being genuine and authentic with showing up without preparation.

5. Avoid the comparison trap. It is very easy to see what someone else is doing, and think or feel you are not measuring up or keeping up. When you start to engage in social media with intention, you must be grounded in order to preserve your energy.

6. Do not argue or waste time with those who want to troll, or make negative remarks about you. It requires a lot of emotional energy to be a content creator. You are creating content, sharing and engaging with others. If you are not careful, you will burnout quickly.

Have a specific goal about why you are doing what you do. If you are engaging just because you heard you should, don’t do it. Be clear about what you want the outcome to be, and work from there. Success must be personally defined.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Bias must be acknowledged in business, and successfully navigated in order to get ahead.

When I was in high school in the beautiful islands of The Bahamas, my mother allowed me to watch television, one hour per week. Things we listened to would be categorized in the area of personal development as I come from a family of educators. While that may seem extreme, what it did for me as an adult is that it gave me a more optimistic mental slate when I left the islands at 17, by myself, to start my academic and entrepreneurial journey in the United States of America.

As I advanced in my academics, and later on in my career, I wasn’t riddled with limiting thoughts of bias, racism, or discrimination. It made me more open to connect with people from different backgrounds, religions, beliefs and education easily. I believed that if I put in the work, and built good relationships, doors would open and success would follow. This is not entirely true.

I remember working in a corporate company for a senior leader prior to my starting my business, and wanting to move to a different department. After meeting with my manager several times, receiving a “blessing”, and applying to several internal opportunities with no success, I had a green light moment. Up until this point, I simply believed the timing wasn’t right, or there were other issues at play. It just wasn’t my time. But one day, a gracious lady in Human Resources called me and asked me to go to a conference room to take her call. She revealed to me that my manager at the time specifically blocked each application despite being told I was being supported. She wanted to release me from the dead-end effort.

Later, in another meeting, I personally witnessed leaders discussing which employee should and should not receive opportunities based on their biased views while publicly lying to their face. I was shocked, but informed.

In my business, I had the opportunity to experience more moments like this that were either related to my age, or my race. I had 2 specific moments where white male mentors shared with me comments said in my absence which hindered business opportunities. During those times, I rarely promoted my business with my face. I hid “behind the scenes”. Because of these enlightening moments, I decided to promote my face more visibly in order to repel those time wasters quicker, and attract those who would be more likely to engage and do business with us. I also began to intentionally call out the areas of bias I knew would limit someone’s engagement with me.

The truth is, bias, racism and discrimination is a part of human life. To ignore, be unaware of, and deny it is to set yourself up for failure. Instead, acknowledge it, and make a plan to intentionally navigate it. I remember meeting billionaire, Michael Roberts and subsequently reading his book, Action Has No Season where he shared several stories of how racism entered business deals, but how his strategic, intentional insights gave him a comparative advantage and allowed him to win deals and close business in spite of.

Contact Info:

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