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

Alright, Que thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

My business didn’t hit success until year two and that was the beginning of the pandemic. I wasn’t really advertising my business per say, but I was being active on my business page. Posting quotes, offering encouragement, giving tips and tidbits on how to make your business work. My mutuals made had a hand in helping with scaling my business, by sharing my post and recommended me to people who needed my services. So many people started their business in 2020 that needed a graphic designer or a business coach. From there I started putting things in place to make sure that it was definitely up . I revamped, started networking more and advertising myself. I’m not one who likes the spotlight, but you can’t be a business owner and be shy. It took a lot of planning, strategizing and even getting a business coach just to make sure I was doing everything right to elevate my business.

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?

I started out as a life coach. I wanted to help those who were dealing with childhood trauma, loss of loved ones and being a single parent. I loved being a life coach. We all have experienced things that we don’t know how to put into words or make sense of and it was good to be able to help people sort out their feelings and such. Then friends started asking me to help them with their businesses. Then they were sending people to me to do the same. I started taking business classes at Strayer university and it just went up from there. I’ve always had a thing for graphics and even got my certificate while I was waiting to be accepted into Nursing school. I wanted to be a one stop shop for clients. I also networked with other coaches and designers to build my team. I offer web development, business coaching, branding creation and so much more. I also assist with helping you become in tuned spiritually, mentally and emotionally because entrepreneurship can be a very tedious profession. You have to have ways to reset when things get tough. The thing I am most proud of was being nominated for small business of the year last year. It just showed how much of a difference my business is making in the my community. People actually see me. I help clients bring their dreams to life. By helping them find their target audience, structure theirs business, create a business plan and more. I’m their cheerleader. I make it so they don’t have feel alone or when they don’t understand something they have heard or researched. The one thing I want potential clients to know about me is that no matter what, we are going to make your dreams a reality. I go above and beyond and I think completely outside of the box. I help your brand standout even in a saturated market.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In October of 2021 I was diagnosed with cancer. After overcoming the initial shock. I still continued to show up for my clients. I still made sure we hit deadlines and also made sure I kept them in the loop of everything. When I first found out I was ready to give up. I didn’t feel like I would be able to focus and give them my best. They were so encouraging. From praying with me, to offering meal plans and more. I just wanted to show up for them like they did for me.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

What helped build my reputation within my market is staying consistent and being an active listener. Clients want people they can trust, but also who listens to them. Your best advice will come from your client if you accept their constructive criticism. When they don’t agree with a design or they know exactly what they want. It helps to make you better at what you do.

Contact Info:

• Website: fhqdesignandconsulting.com
• Instagram: que_da_coach
• Facebook: FHQ Designs and Consulting
• Linkedin: Que Maxwell