We were lucky to catch up with Monique Shurray recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Monique thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I came up with the name of my company I.M.A.G.E.S. Media Group because I was heavily thinking about the images we see on social media and how a lot of times, they aren’t real but we compare ourselves and make ourselves feel small based on filters. I thought to myself, if we only knew how God see’s us, our creator, we wouldn’t get caught up in social media comparison. We would love and accept who we are without feeling bad for what we are not.
So because I love a good acronym, I came up with one for I.M.A.G.E.S. It stands for I am Made After God’s Extraordinary Sovereignty.

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 back background and context?

My name is Monique Shurray. I am a Media Coach, Speaker and Communication Specialist. I empower entrepreneurs to conquer their fear of being on camera so that they can make a greater impact using video.

My love of Media began with my father who was a well-known radio personality in my city. I naturally gravitated toward speaking & broadcasting and obtained my Bachelors degree in Mass Communication with an emphasis in Broadcast Journalism. I officially started my business in October 2018 after parting ways with a radio station. I became an entrepreneur for the first time and boy, was I in for a ride! I learned a lot of lessons along the way and am still learning but it has made me a better coach and a better person.

My clients come to me for Media training. They want to know how to tell their stories because their is power in our stories. We also work on messaging, talking points, and how to interview like a pro. It’s more than “talking” its truly about BEING. Being authentic, relatable yet compelling the right clients to work with you – all while in front of a camera – is a powerful thing that I help my clients with. I work with clients one-on-one, through online courses and group coaching. I have also started speaking and doing in-person workshops with other businesses.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

For my one-on-one clients or VIP day clients, I follow them on social media. I share their posts, promote what they are doing on my email lists, give them shout outs.
I also send them a gift for their birthday with a handwritten note from me
Also, even though they are on my email list, I’ll check in with them with a direct email from me and possibly a video directly from me to them checking on them and offering my assistance with what they have going on.
Lastly, for my current clients, I offer special rates for events, etc.

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

A lesson I had to unlearn is that everything that had to be “just right” in order for me to launch or start doing the thing I wanted to do. This thinking put an undue amount of stress on me. I felt like, if I didn’t get it right, out the gate, then I was doomed! I’m so glad my mindset has changed.
What I know now is that we can always pivot or make adjustments to the first, second or even 15th iteration of a thing! It’s truly okay! It’s okay if it’s not perfect. We are not doomed to defeat. We can start over, pivot or take a different route all together. This mindset shift came after many times I thought my launch had to be perfect or my videos had to be just right and it was way too much pressure. I love this level of freedom in my mentality when it comes to this aspect of business. I didn’t have that before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.moniqueshurray.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniqueshurray
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monique.lucas.73
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniqueshurray/
• Other: Free download: https://www.moniqueshurray.com/leveragemedia

Image Credits

(photos with pink background) Sensei Brands