IAM934- Consultant Helps Professionals Scale Their Companies and Careers

Monique Maley is an experienced, sought-after Consultant, Coach, and Speaker who works in Leadership helping professionals scale their companies and careers through the turmoil of Rapid Growth.

Her experience as a successful entrepreneur, investor, and advisor informed the development of her dynamic programs: Command a Room and Rapid-Growth Leadership, as well as the Investor Pitch Formula course for startup founders.

As Vice-Chair and Founding Board member of DivInc, a startup accelerator and community focused on supporting underrepresented founders, Monique actively works to support an ecosystem where women can scale their businesses and themselves as leaders.

Bilingual and bicultural, Monique is a fluent Spanish speaker and currently lives in Washington DC with her teenage son.

• CEO Hack: Segmenting and color-coding my week
• CEO Nugget: Avoid avoidance
• CEO Defined: Conductor of the orchestra

Website: https://articulatepersuasion.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/articulatepersuasion/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoniqueMaley

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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[00:00:15.69] – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

[00:00:42.89] – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Monique Maylee of Articulate Persuasion. Monique, it's awesome to have you on the show.

[00:00:51.89] – Monique Maley

Thank you so much for having me.

[00:00:53.60] – Gresham Harkless

No problem. Super excited to have you on. And before I jumped in, I want to read a little bit more about Monique so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Monique is an experienced sought after consultant, coach, and speaker who works in the leadership helping professionals scale their companies and careers through the turmoil of rapid growth.

Her experience as a as a successful entrepreneur, investor, and advisor informed the development of her dynamic programs, command a room, and rapid growth leadership, as well as the investor pitch formula course for start up founders. In her role as vice chair and founding board member of Div Inc, a startup accelerator and community focused on supporting and under supporting underrepresented founders, Monique act actively works to support an ecosystem where women can scale their businesses and themselves as leaders.

Bilingual and bicultural, Monique is a fluent Spanish speaker and currently lives in Washington DC with her teenage son, Monique. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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[00:01:45.09] – Monique Maley

I am indeed. I'm excited.

[00:01:46.79] – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. I'm excited as well too. You're doing so many phenomenal things. So I wanted to kick everything off by rewind the clock a little bit, hear a little bit more on how you got started. Could you take us through your CEO Tory and we'll let you get started with the business?

[00:01:56.70] – Monique Maley

Yeah. Actually, you know, I've been, when I was growing up, the term entrepreneur wasn't thrown around as often as it is now. But I realized now that I was an entrepreneur from a very young age. And whenever I saw a problem, I, I went out and did something, whether it was, you know, considered it a business or not to go fix it. So really the company I have today, what started really as a side hustle, when I was a working professional actor. And I started a business working in those days with attorneys, and really focusing on areas around communication and influence and persuasion for, those who were gonna go to court.

And when I restarted this business many, many years later, what I found was that, nobody goes to court. Everything settles out of court now. So, the direction of the company was different. But in the intervening years, I started a couple of different businesses, each getting bigger, both in terms of scope, in terms of the size of the teams, and the challenges that were presented. So when I started Articulate Persuasion, I was very, very intentional about making sure that I was creating a business that I really got to spend the majority of my time on the things that I really not only love doing, but think I add the greatest value to my clients and customers. Because my last company was very big.

There was a lot of employees. There was a lot of revenue. But I kind of, after eight years, realized I hated my job, which sucks. Like, a job I created for myself, and I hated it. And who wants who wants to do that? And sometimes it just happens. I do think there's a difference between the the joys and excitements about early stage or companies, which is what I love, and then the day to day that happens when you're the CEO of a bigger company. And I realized that my real love is starting things, staying small, and getting to spend more time one on one with customers, clients. That's what I love to do, and it's what I do best. And that's what I get to do with my business now.

[00:03:58.80] – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I absolutely appreciate that. And, you know, I I I love you know, so many times we we think success, you know, means one thing. But I think when you're able to kinda look within and get that answer and make those pivots or changes into what it is, you know, that the the company ends up being, whether that ends up being a big, huge business or whether that is a small, more nimble, startup type business as well too. I think we have, you know, basically at our forefront, the opportunity to make those decisions. So I commend you for doing that. It gives us a reminder that we can do that as well too.

[00:04:25.69] – Monique Maley

And we all have different skill sets. Right? There are people who are just who really row better in certain types of organizations, certain sizes. You just wanna find a place where you are constantly rowing with the current and not against it. Not because you can't and not because you can't be successful in that, and I have been very successful, by all sort of the metrics, except for the main metric, which is that I hated my job. And that was just like, I've hated jobs that other people have given me, but I would be damned if I was gonna hate a job that I made for myself.

[00:05:00.00] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That that makes so much sense. And and in true entrepreneurial form, you you saw that problem, so you decided to to create it Fix that. To to solve that. Absolutely. Well, so, I I know you touched on it a little bit. I wanted to drill down a little bit more into how you're working with your clients and how you're serving them. Can you tell us a little bit more on what you're doing with Articulate Persuasion?

[00:05:17.10] – Monique Maley

Yeah. Absolutely. Actually, I just celebrated ten years. And, as with any organization, it has really evolved, over that time. And while I started when I started, people really saw my value in more presentational. My background, as I had mentioned previously, was as a professional actor. I worked in the industry for fifteen years. So people thought that public speaking presentations and that was low hanging fruit for me. That was actually really just a Trojan horse to get inside organizations.

And over time, both I and my clients realized that the real value is the deeper work for, for leaders to really level up in ways that they hadn't thought of before, realize where they were getting in their own way or in the way of their organizational growth, and help them really identify ways to grow in ways they hadn't considered. We don't often think about communication as as a skill we need to develop other than, you know, being a great presenter. That's what we think about. But my work is really much more holistic.

It is verbal and nonverbal. It is what we say. It is what we don't say. And, it is really a new way of framing communication. Every conversation you have, throughout the day requires effective communication. And if you think about how many conversations you have in a day, I don't care if it's an employee, if it's a client, if it's a board member, It's just it pervades your day.

So if you're not doing those effectively, which is really the foundation, then everything else kinda starts to topple off from there. So there's a million ways in which you can really develop a leader and, by extension, the organization by really working in that area. So that's what I do. It's a I'm a consultant and coach, and I I go in and serve organizations to really, both for the individual and the culture of the organization, really level up in that area.

[00:07:15.39] – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I absolutely, you know, love, you know, that phrase especially level up. And I I love how you talked about that communication piece because I think so many times we don't see it as a skill, as you said so well, that you can develop. And not only is it developed for speaking, you know, in front of a large room of people, but it's also for having, you know, communications with your team members or your potential clients or even your maybe clients as well too and everything in between and all around. And I think if you're able to, understand that and you're able to level up your communication skills, it can have a tremendous impact in so many different aspects of your business, especially as as leaders.

[00:07:47.80] – Monique Maley

Absolutely. Absolutely. Because a lot of people don't think of those things as communication, really, as needing great communication skills. They don't think you need great communication skills to make sure that your job descriptions are going to truly attract the kind of individuals that you need for your organization. They don't think that communication skills are really fundamental to how you articulate the culture of your business. They don't think of it as the storytelling that has to happen in a staff meeting or in a sales pitch. So it's all part of that same sort of foundational skill set, which can just make so many other things go so much smoother.

[00:08:27.10] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. And I and I almost believe that there's people that have some really, you know, phenomenal or or creative ideas and inventions and things. And a lot of times, they're not able to communicate them, the effect that they can have, the impact that they can have as well too. And sometimes that's to the detriment. Probably it might even be more important than actually creating that widget or whatever the thing might be.

[00:08:45.70] – Monique Maley

Oh, my God. That is so heartbreaking. I I mentor a lot of, startups through, accelerators like Techstars. And there is nothing worse than somebody who has, a great idea but just can't articulate it effectively to investors or to potential customers. And it's also heartbreaking actually for me to see people get investment just because they're great at articulating and there's actually no there there. That freaks my heart. That's awesome funding that can go to somebody who's gonna build something that lasts. But, you know, some people have the skill, and we know those, those types. They can sell anything. You know, what is it? Ice to an Eskimo. Right? Well, that's a communication skill, but I'd rather that money go to people who are actually making something substantive and that's sustainable.

[00:09:29.89] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That's why I love what you do. I used to Eskimo Waters to a whale. So, why not be able to create something and also be able to communicate and then sell it as well? That's a perfect win, so I love, that you do that. And so would you consider that to be what I call your secret sauce, the thing you feel kinda sets you apart and makes you unique? Is it that ability to not just do it yourself, but also to empower and help people do that in so many different ways in their business businesses and organizations. Yeah.

[00:09:53.29] – Monique Maley

I think that it that it is. I mean, I I one of the four founding values of my own company really drive my business is, create ripples. And the reason why I've chosen to work, sort of more one on one with individuals or small leadership teams rather than doing large group work is because I would rather give the leaders the tools and have them go out and then share those tools with their teams.

I think sometimes, organizations bring people in for the mid level managers or even the the, you know, entry levels, and they train them. But the leaders don't have the skills. And this is about the leader sharing the tools, the leaders exemplifying the tools, and then having those ripples sort of radiate out. And then it becomes a part of the culture of an organization and not just one person's way of doing things. So, for me, it really is fundamental to bring tools and strategies. I believe in being really tactical.

I like reframing things using metaphor. So it's sometimes easier to approach a situation if we think of it in a very different context. So I love to do that sort of thing. And then finally, I think what makes me different from a lot of people who do work similar to to what I do is, some people come from corporate, which has one perspective, which is valuable. Some people actually come from journalism or media, which is a different perspective. I really married two things which seem diametrically opposite, but I think are incredibly valuable, which is the fact that I have started and scaled businesses myself.

So I understand the challenges of an entrepreneurial leader, But also my actor's toolkit. It is shocking how many things about, either the training, the professional training of being an actor, or the work of being an actor and the business of being an actor has really served me and, by extension, my clients.

[00:11:52.60] – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

[00:12:01.50] – Monique Maley

It's a tool that I find I share with a lot of clients. I segment my week. And I not only segment it, I color code it. So let me kind of share what I mean by that. So for me, Mondays are my admin days. I have come to realize that I am one of those people, and there are very few people that I found that are actually very good at this. I'm not great at switching hats multiple times throughout a day. I like to be able to focus in on one thing and then switch a hat and spend a good amount of time working on another.

[00:12:34.39] – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client, or if you hop into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

[00:12:43.39] – Monique Maley

I think it's one of the biggest challenges that we have, in organizations. And in some ways, it is the easiest fix to the biggest problem. So I call it avoiding avoidance. And by that, I mean, we tend to avoid, as we were just talking about, right, the stuff we don't wanna do. We but more importantly, we avoid the conversations or the individuals that we that either make us uncomfortable, that we're that we think maybe a conversation we think isn't gonna go well or we think is gonna be hard, or maybe a board member that we think just is never gonna buy in. And what happens when we avoid this is that a hundred percent of the time, we make whatever situation worse.

[00:13:26.29] – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. Absolutely. And, I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quotes, unquote CEOs on the show. So Monique, what does being a CEO mean to you?

[00:13:36.29] – Monique Maley

So what does this mean I thought about this one too. And, as I mentioned before, I like using sort of metaphors or reframing things. And the way I would like to reframe thinking of a CEO, at least for me, is a successful, constructive, effective CEO, which is not really about the title as much as about what you achieve. But I think of it as like a conductor for an orchestra. They have to know every part, that is going to be played. They have to understand every instrument and how it works best. They have to work with every musician to get the very best out of them.

[00:14:12.00] – Gresham Harkless

Appreciate that. And and what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know, and, of course, how best people can get a hold of you and find out about your book and all the awesome things that you're working on.

[00:14:23.50] – Monique Maley

Yeah. I I guess, the only thing I I leave you with is sort of my own mantra, about all of this. And anybody who works as a consultant or coach will have some version of this. And I think that, especially as leaders, we have to keep iterating along with our businesses, whether it's, you know, due to outside forces, like, you know, market changes, I don't know, with global pandemic or whatever, or just the realities holding on to is that if you want things to be different, you have to do things differently.

And I think if we keep that in mind, a, it doesn't seem change doesn't seem so overwhelming. And the occasional plateaus that you can find either in a business or in a career, kind of go by the wayside. Being open to to different, not for the sake of different, but you just have to keep working on it. There's never a point where we stop learning. There's never a point where as individuals or as leaders, we stop growing. And for me personally, that's the most exciting thing about being an entrepreneur and the most exciting thing about the work that I do and helping people get there. So that's what I leave you with.

[00:15:41.50] – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I definitely appreciate that. And for people that wanna get ahold of you, what's the best way for them to do that?

[00:15:45.20] – Monique Maley

So you can find me on LinkedIn, Monique Maly, or you can go to my website at, w w w dot articulate persuasion dot com, and you can reach out to me that way.

[00:15:55.89] – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. We'll have the links and information in the show notes as well too. And I I love that last reminder as well too because, often we forget the only constant to change. And if we accept that and we take that on, you know, not, put that on the back burner as we talked about before. That allows us the opportunity to start to create those solutions to see the world as we wanna see it, but that starts and begins with who we are what we do, and how we lead. So

[00:16:17.20] – Monique Maley

That's it.

[00:16:17.89] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I truly appreciate you, Monique, for doing that and reminding us about that, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[00:16:23.10] – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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