My name is Monique Stoner and I am a woman who ... - Zars Media

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It took faith, hard work, and a great strategy, but today, I am the President/CEO of Monique Stoner. Enterprises, the parent company to Global Management ...
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Adventures of Monique Stoner President of Monique Stoner Enterprises LLC and the MBA Center for Women My name is Monique Stoner and I am a woman who believes in the Power of a Dream. Twenty-four years ago I made a daring leap to move my dream from the pillow of my imagination to a present reality in my life. Although I was a pregnant, high school dropout, working as a convenience store cashier – I had a much higher calling on my life and I was determined to reach my destiny. It took faith, hard work, and a great strategy, but today, I am the President/CEO of Monique Stoner Enterprises, the parent company to Global Management Strategies and the MBA Center for Women. The journey hasn’t been easy, but it was well worth all of the ups and downs. I have worked in the business arena for over 23 years serving as an executive leader for Health Plans and Government Agencies, as well as a Business Strategy Consultant for 2 National Consulting Firms. I also founded my first non-profit organization before the age of 21. I had to take the non-traditional pathway to educate and position myself for business leadership, but I’ve learned that on the journey to success, it doesn’t matter where you start – you simply have to stay the course and make it to your final destination! 8 years ago, I decided to capitalize on all of my business strategy experience and launch myself as an Independent Management Consultant for large corporation. And beyond my wildest dreams, I have had the opportunity to lead large scale business development projects with some of today’s largest healthcare, life sciences, financial and telecommunications organizations. Ironically, once I began working with corporate clients, I also found myself unofficially coaching and mentoring friends and former colleagues who either had their own small business or wanted to turn their dream into a profitable business. Friends would call me and say, “Monique, you teach national, billion dollar corporations how to grow and increase their revenue, so I want you to help me to launch and develop my small business”. Subsequently, I found the demand for business coaching among small business owners and solo entrepreneurs, particularly women, to be incredible. So I began to take on small & mid-sized business owners as clients. Today, what started as a consulting service has expanded into a suite of comprehensive, targeted coaching & training programs for entrepreneurs and professionals. I provide coaching, training and consultation services to entrepreneurs and professionals in the areas of business mastery, financial acumen, branding, strategy, leadership and personal effectiveness. I conduct training programs for corporate teams, executives, small business owners, and solo entrepreneurs through webinars, teleseminars, live seminars, conferences and one-on-one coaching sessions. I also provide web-based, interactive training services and subscription-based coaching programs through my website. I travel for a living to client sites and conference centers all over the USA. I typically fly out on Monday and work remotely through Wednesday or Thursday. My role also involves a number of telephonic and online interactive engagements with individual clients and corporate teams. I spend several hours per week reading, conducting research, writing and developing deliverables for my clients. I work about 9 – 11 hours per day and average about 55 – 60 work hours per week.

Although I’m happy with my personal career journey, I wish that I had sought out the support of a coach or mentor earlier in my career. I believe that women need a mentor or someone with expertise and experience to guide them and advocate for them in order to take the right pathway to success and make the right career moves. I believe that I would have reached certain milestones faster and avoided certain mistakes if I had received the guidance of someone with more experience than I had at the time. I love what I do and believe that I have served in the career field and business in which I was destined. However, the only professional opportunity that I have always desired to explore, but haven’t, is being an anchor for a news show such as Good Morning America or the Today Show. Yes – I’ve always had BIG dreams! And who knows what may happen in the future. My biggest career obstacles were lack of education and balancing my life/career. I started my career as a high school dropout and was at a disadvantage in relation to my peers. I had to work much harder and more diligently to perform my job as well as others while simultaneously attending night classes to educate myself. Knowledge is power in the corporate world and it’s particularly important for women to have an education to advance to the higher ranks within an organization. I had to challenge myself to become well-read so that I could speak intelligently and present myself as a confident, educated woman who could add value to any company for which I worked. Additionally, I married and had children at a young age and I had to learn to balance work, home and school. Being a mother and a wife requires time and attention to your family which often takes away from being able to socialize with colleagues and participate in networking events after work hours. I had to learn how to prioritize my time and participate in the essential events & activities both with my family and with my co-workers. I also had to perform my duties at work with a high level of quality and be a stellar performer to offset negative opinions that would come as a result of not being present at company networking events. If I had to rate my success on a level of 1 – 10, with 10 being the highest, my rating would be an 8. I have accomplished much more than I ever thought possible considering the odds that were against me throughout my entire career. I celebrate my current success, but I also recognize that there’s more that I need to achieve and the Best Is Yet To Come. I don’t believe that I have a “secret” to success, but I do credit my current success to three things: 1. Faith – I believe in God and in a power that’s bigger and stronger than the obstacles and challenges that I face in my life. I rely on my faith to help me see what’s possible, even when things in my life, career or business look bleak. 2. Hard Work – I have always been a hard worker and recognize that nothing ever comes easy. I don’t mind rolling up my sleeves, digging for information and putting in the work required to build a successful career or business. 3. Strategic Thinking – Most people know “what” they want in life or business, but they don’t know “how” to get it! That’s the benefit of having a strategy! Thinking strategically has helped me to figure out “how” to do things. I’ve never believed in chance and I have come up with a strategy for everything that I’ve ever want to do or achieve. I have come to the realization that a woman will probably never find complete “balance” with all of our roles and responsibilities. Life and business change so rapidly that it’s almost impossible to give equal time & attention to every area of our lives – hence the end goal of balance. I have learned over the years to focus on prioritizing the key areas of my life and mastering the time that I have available to me. Women are confronted with a barrage of tasks every day. We spread ourselves too thin trying to accomplish every task. I have taught myself to identify and focus on my priorities (the Big Picture of my life) so that I can figure out which tasks are really important and then concentrate my efforts on those tasks. Some days my family may need all of my time, other days it may be work, and then there are days where the priority needs to be having fun with girlfriends. Every woman has a unique set of gifts and talents that she brings to the table. I believe that women can be most effective when we recognize our gifts and strengths and utilize them effectively in the work place. Women must seek to be team players, innovators and mentors to others at work. Someone once told me to “bloom where you’re planted”! Women can make a difference whether they are in an executive role or a middle management role, if we use our gifts to the best of our ability in our organizations or our private businesses. Helping other people to reach their full potential is motivating and fulfilling for me. Coaching women and men in business is not only my passion, but it’s what I’ve spent more than 20 years doing in my career. I have always wanted to help other

people and solve problems. In my business, I get an opportunity to do both – every day! There’s never a shortage of people to help, encourage or empower and I am able to see the fruit of my labor every day. For someone who is just getting started in Management Consulting or Coaching, I would recommend obtaining as much knowledge, training and mentoring as possible. People often enter into the consulting field with a tremendous amount of zeal and excitement, but zeal must be coupled with knowledge. The more you know, the more you’ll be able to grow and contribute to your clients and your firm. Business school provides the basics for being a good management consultant, but there are a number of “soft skills” that one can only learn through experience. I would also stress the need to be patient with yourself and others. The world of business is challenging and ever changing. It will take time to learn everything that you need to know and learning will be a life-long process. You will undoubtedly work with people who are difficult and won’t always agree with your suggestions or approach, but part of being a good consultant is to learn to be an even better listener and advisor. I think it’s imperative for a woman to first get to know herself – what she wants and what she has to offer the world or her new company. It’s been said that we spend more time planning our next vacation than we do planning our life or career. This is a real tragedy because it results in reaching a certain stage in our careers and thinking, sadly, about things we should have done differently. With a little forethought and preparation, a woman can map out an exciting future for herself. Its best at the start of your career or business to figure out what you want to accomplish so that you can live your life in a way that is wholly consistent with who you are and who you want to become. My hope is that people remember me as being a woman who made a difference in the lives of others. I am using my life’s story and my success to help others and this is what I strive to be known for. I want my legacy to be “the woman who helped women & men fulfill their destiny”! For 2013, I have a motivational tagline, “Think Big, Get Strategic & Be Profitable”!

Monique Stoner, MBA, CPT President & CEO Monique Stoner Enterprises, LLC & The MBA Center for Women [email protected] www.moniquestoner.com

“Coaching Todays Leaders, Creating Tomorrows Legends”