August 15, 2025 • 41 mins
In this episode of the Beyond Normal Podcast, we sit down with Monique Lewis, founder and CEO of Next 2 Native Language Learning, to explore how she’s reshaping the construction industry through language-based workforce development. What started as a conversation class at a local community college has grown into a B2B solution that’s saving lives and changing how companies invest in their teams.
Monique shares how a tragic construction site accident tied to a language barrier led her to take a bold leap into entrepreneurship. We unpack her journey from part-time educator to business owner, the challenges of moving from B2C to B2B, and how she’s helping companies understand that language isn’t just about communication—it’s about safety, retention, and culture.
Whether you’re a workforce leader, DEI advocate, or builder looking to make your workplace safer and smarter, this episode offers real-world insight into what happens when mission meets opportunity.
Thanks for tuning into the Beyond Normal Podcast!
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🔗 Learn more about Monique’s work at: https://www.next2native.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kenny (00:33):
Welcome, welcome everybody to another great
episode of The Beyond NormalPodcast.
I'm your host, Kenny Groom.
We have a very special guest foryou today on this platform that
you all know Every founder,story is a journey worth
exploring.
We have, Monique, Lewis, companyNext 2 Native Language Learning
(00:54):
is bridging the language barrierin construction so that every
single worker goes home safely.
Timely as we know that, theconstruction, just real estate
in general here in the States isa, a, a hot industry.
specifically I'm excited to havea B2B, business platform on with
(01:15):
us today.
So without further ado, let'sbring Monique to the stage.
How's it going today?
Monique (01:20):
Doing great.
How you doing?
Kenny (01:21):
Cannot complain.
I'm on this call with you.
The lights are shining bright onme.
but
Monique (01:28):
Like a diamond.
Kenny (01:29):
I'm, I'm, I'm excited to, dive into your story.
Monique (01:32):
Yeah.
Kenny (01:33):
without further ado, let's start, let's start out
from the beginning.
Before you started wearing thehat of CEO and Founder, what
were you doing, in terms ofbringing value to the world?
Monique (01:46):
real talk.
I was 43, wearing the hat of amother and wife.
at that time I was looking at 17years of marriage.
Two tiny people.
Delicious growing.
And I was working part-time at alocal community college in our
ESL department, and I waskilling it.
(02:07):
And it was, it was the one thingthat wasn't moving.
Everything else was moving, butthat's really what I was doing
before I embarked on thisjourney, which I never intended
to take, if I'm being honest.
Kenny (02:17):
Mm-hmm.
There is nothing wrong withthat.
Right.
you, you touched on a couplethings there terms of, the
little ones, being married.
Like what, you know, what was,talk a little bit about what was
going well.
In those moments and what, youknow, what were you looking for
(02:38):
in terms of opportunities thatled you to, know, wanting to
wear that CEO hat?
Monique (02:45):
Sure.
the things that were going well,which I'm truly thankful for is
my marriage and raising my tinypeople.
Those are two things that wereconstantly changing because any,
you know, you have a family, Ihave a family.
Anybody who's a parent, youknow, you gotta get used to
chaos and foolery because that'sjust what it is.
You know, that's just crazinesshappening all the time.
(03:06):
Um.
What, and I loved my jobactually.
I really did love what I wasdoing.
We were working with languagelearners.
90% of them were Hispanic.
That is my second language.
I speak Spanish fluently.
so I enjoyed that a lot.
What wasn't working was myfinances, you know, this was a
part-time job.
I was getting part-time pennies,and even though I wasn't making
(03:28):
a lot, I think what made me feelstable ish.
Is that I knew if I worked myhours, they had to pay me money,
they had to pay me a certainamount of money and, and out of
all the things that were moving,that's one thing that wasn't so
honestly, even though, it was anacademic calendar.
So every year they got breaksbuilt in, you know, spring
break, summer break.
Every time we had a break, wewould hurt financially every
(03:50):
single time.
So that's the thing that wasn'tgoing right.
But I didn't know, I wasn'tthinking of how to fix that
because I was thinking of mytime.
My time with my family and theonly way to get more money was
to give them more of my time,and I really didn't have that to
give.
So when it all hit the fan, Iwasn't sure what to do.
Kenny (04:08):
Hmm.
Show me the money
Monique (04:12):
Yeah.
Kenny (04:12):
as you were, as you were, as you were talking there.
And that's a real, like, that'sa real answer.
I appreciate you sharing thatwith us.
the, the education industry, ingeneral, right?
We know that there's someshortcomings.
You just spoke on it, right?
When there's a summer break,when there's a break in the
(04:32):
year.
Monique (04:34):
Oh yeah.
Kenny (04:34):
pay is the pay stops, right?
Like you've
Monique (04:37):
Gone.
Kenny (04:37):
for your services and, and what you're offering to the
world.
Monique (04:41):
Yeah.
Kenny (04:42):
then on the flip side of that, you
Monique (04:44):
You know,
Kenny (04:45):
teachers
Monique (04:46):
teachers,
Kenny (04:46):
they're the ones
Monique (04:47):
the ones.
Kenny (04:48):
the next generation of leaders, of business owners.
Monique (04:51):
It's true.
Kenny (04:52):
so that industry is just, even with the, the, the coming
of the robots, right?
Like that industry is one that Ithink is.
It's definitely right fordisruption because of that.
The situations that
Monique (05:05):
Situation.
Kenny (05:05):
up like you, like you just explained,
Monique (05:08):
Absolutely.
Kenny (05:09):
so.
Monique (05:09):
Absolutely.
It.
I will say it's, it'sinteresting because the impact,
impact of our educators, isdisproportionately paid.
You know, when you look at whatthey're paid and their impact,
they, they definitely don'tmatch.
you are laying the foundationfor what people will do
tomorrow, and that's the futureof everybody.
Kenny (05:29):
Mm.
Monique (05:30):
don't, pay you like that.
So it's not something that, youknow, you're happy about, but
you learn to accept and you moveon with it.
'cause most teachers, mosteducators are doing it because
they love it.
They're not doing it for themoney or, or they wouldn't be
doing it.
So it is, it is definitely aconcern.
Kenny (05:46):
So Talk.
a
Monique (05:47):
Talk.
Kenny (05:49):
I, I'm curious, were you able to, were you able to have
some sort of a minimum viableproduct While you
Monique (05:57):
While you were
Kenny (05:58):
teaching?
Monique (05:59):
still
Kenny (06:00):
That allowed you to validate if this
Monique (06:02):
this idea
Kenny (06:04):
would be
Monique (06:04):
something
Kenny (06:05):
should
Monique (06:06):
should,
Kenny (06:06):
a gamble on yourself with and start a business around.
Monique (06:09):
I didn't know it at the time, Kenny.
That's, that's honest.
I, when I was working at thatcommunity college.
I was honestly, which, which ishow I arrived to any task.
I was giving it my all because Iwas doing what I thought was
right.
I learned my second languagemore than 20 years ago.
So.
Unbeknownst to me, like I hadn'tplanned on packaging this and
putting it together, but havingbeen through it, I just kind of
(06:30):
had that experience sitting,sitting in my back pocket, if
you will.
I was noticing that our studentsat this community college were
testing beautifully.
Like they knew their grammar,they knew the vocabulary.
You could tell they werediligence students, but if I
stop them in the hall and say,Hey, how's it going?
They would freeze like deers inthe head, deer, what is this
phrase?
Deer in the headlights.
(06:51):
So I was like, mm-hmm.
They need, they need aconversation course.
They need to be able to enterinto, sustain and exit a
conversation.
'cause if you can't speak thelanguage, it is not serving you.
That's my opinion.
I stand on it.
So I talk, I talked to my boss,who is still amazing.
I, we still keep in touch.
I said to her, they're missing aconversation.
(07:13):
Can I, you know, can we do acourse?
And she's like, you canessentially go live your life.
So I was like, oh, you want meto do it?
So long story short, I created acourse.
I didn't know exactly how Iwanted it to look.
I just knew how I wanted to, toperform.
And as I was putting togetherthat course, I was shocked by
the, the result and the impactit had on our students.
(07:38):
And I was shocked at, at howpopular it became.
It got so popular they weretrying to get students from
other departments into it.
And if I can tell you one quickexample, she always stands out
to me, in her country.
She was a pediatriccardiologist.
I mean, she, she is smarter thanmost people.
She meets definitely smarterthan me, and she came to this
(07:58):
conversation course not becauseshe didn't know English, she,
she was trying to refine it andlike work out those cultural
aspects so that she wasn'toffending people.
Long story short, I met hertwice, and I say that because I
met her when she first came intothe class and she was.
Not able to speak to what sheknew.
She, she had limited English.
By the time she finished theclass.
(08:18):
I realized she was really sweet,had a nice personality.
It's like I met her for real.
When you don't have thelanguage, how do I know you're
funny?
How do I know you know that youare really good at something?
'cause you have all thisknowledge, but you can't, you
don't have the words to tell mewhat you know.
So seeing her go through thattransformation, I was like, no,
I really got something here.
I'm helping people to go from.
(08:39):
Speaking only a few words and,and having to give a survival
version of themselves to aversion of themselves that is
able to express what they think,feel worried about, advocate for
themselves.
That's a whole different ballgame when you're talking about
making a home here in the UnitedStates and living, living your
life.
Kenny (08:57):
I like that.
that's.
a
Monique (09:00):
that's.
Kenny (09:01):
story.
You, you, I mean, you touched onit a couple times as you were,
you know, telling us the fullscope of, you know, language and
why you care so much about it.
But, know, like that languagebarrier, if there's a barrier
there, a lot of things can getmisunderstood or we don't
Monique (09:19):
Yeah.
Kenny (09:19):
the original context or, you know, why somebody was
saying something a certain way.
Monique (09:25):
Right.
Kenny (09:25):
think that's powerful.
I'm curious, as you were gettingthose results, you know, did
you, were you able to do somethings to start to prepare or
like make Sure.
it was your ip, like your, yourproduct versus In a lot of
(09:45):
cases, when we work for,institutions and when we work
for companies, right?
If we're doing something on thecompany dime.
Monique (09:54):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (09:54):
theirs, quote unquote.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Monique (09:58):
That was scary.
I ain't gonna lie to you,because when I first started
doing it, like I said, my bosswas like.
Go do it.
So I'm, I'm writing curricul notbeing paid extra to write
curriculum.
I'm just on my hours, writingcurriculum.
She even came back and said, whydon't you also do a writing
course?
So I'm writing all thiscurriculum when things kind of
(10:20):
hit the fan, and I don't, Idon't wanna preface that.
Like it was some dramatic, itwas just a thing that, that
catapulted me intoentrepreneurship before I really
knew I could.
Once that happened and I waslike, wait a minute.
I haven't shared this at all.
My boss never asked me for it.
She never asked me to dispenseit anywhere.
She never asked me to share itwith anybody.
(10:41):
I was like, wait a minute, thisis mine.
Physically mine, I gotta takeit.
I don't have a choice.
I gotta take it with me.
And I didn't know if there wouldbe, you know, any repercussions
or anything behind that.
I had no idea had I created itall myself.
Absolutely 110%.
so that was a risk.
(11:01):
And I think that.
As you build your skills at yourjob, like in your nine to five,
sometimes it's hard to parsethat out.
Now, legally, I'm sure they'dhave, they'd have figured out a
way to parse it out had they,you know, wanted to do a little
something with that.
But I think that's difficult.
A lot of us build our skills atthe job that we're at, but when
you built something you, it'syours.
(11:21):
When you built it, it's yours.
So that's the frame, frame ofmind that I took.
I even told my boss because Icontinued working there for a
year.
Even as I was building my owncompany, and I told her, I said,
I'm gonna continue working here,but I can no longer teach these
two classes that I created.
I'm taking'em with me and I, thesilence sat heavy for a good 20
(11:41):
seconds and hey.
Kenny (11:45):
it's, it is interesting.
I've had that experience over asimilar experience over the
last, say, five to six years,
Monique (11:56):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (11:57):
taking a gamble on myself, creating beyond normal
media.
I was like, when I, when it cametime for me to tell my boss or
the, you know, the people whohad invested in me at the
company, I was like, well.
If you feel like you've done agood job in preparing me, it, it
is only natural that I go outand do some of these things on
my own.
And so that, like that pause,that 22nd pause that you
(12:20):
mentioned.
I know exactly what you'retalking about because they gave
me that pause some of them, youknow, that initial feedback is
like, well, are you sure?
You know, like, do you reallywant to leave us?
Like, I think we got a goodthing going.
Monique (12:34):
Right, right, right.
Kenny (12:36):
you have to respect somebody for saying, Hey, I'm
gonna take a gamble all myself,right.
Monique (12:42):
Yeah,
Kenny (12:42):
start something on my own that I am solely responsible
for.
I want, I
Monique (12:47):
absolutely.
Kenny (12:47):
responsibility.
Monique (12:49):
Absolutely.
And more reward for the workthat I'm doing
Kenny (12:51):
Mm-hmm.
Monique (12:51):
because the truth is, when it comes to, you know,
there, there's a buzzword rightnow going around, building a
wealth and, and, buildingwealth.
it is very difficult to do thatat a job, a nine to five because
the only exchange you have isyour time.
And we are parents.
My family does a lot ofvolunteer work with Jehovah's
Witnesses, where we have twotiny people.
(13:13):
They're 10 and 12, so they stillneed our attention a lot right
now.
That matters to me.
All of that requires time.
How can I give you 60, 70 hoursa week?
Because that means I'm taking itfrom them and that's the only
way I can get more money.
Like there's gotta be a betterexchange for that.
And the only way to step out ofthat is entrepreneurship.
So if you're trying to buildwealth for your today or your
(13:34):
tomorrow, or to, or to make upfor you yesterday, you, you
know, the way to do that is to,I think either property or
entrepreneurship.
So.
That makes it scary.
But that is, that's the formula.
That's what it is.
Kenny (13:51):
That's a mic drop moment.
I, that, that sounded amazing.
I completely agree.
So I, I'm just gonna move on.
You said something at the endthough, where you feel like,
real estate, right.
Owning
Monique (14:05):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (14:06):
property and then.
Monique (14:09):
Entrepreneurship.
Kenny (14:10):
Like those are the ways you feel like you can get to the
point where, you know, you, youkind of own your own destiny,
right?
Like that is timely or goodsegue for this conversation,
right?
Because you actually landed onconstruction
Monique (14:25):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Kenny (14:27):
of that you're, that, that your, your end customer or
your client.
Monique (14:33):
Yeah.
Kenny (14:33):
have taken your, your curriculum right.
Maybe you could have continuedgoing down the education path
and dealing with students, kids,things like that.
Like talk a little bit about whyyou decided to apply it to an
industry like construction.
What were you seeing?
Monique (14:49):
Definitely.
I started out B2C.
I was teaching individuals.
Yeah.
because that's what I knew.
That's what, um.
That personal component, youknow, work like for example with
that pediatric cardiologist.
So while working at thecommunity college and opening
this business, that's the way Istarted.
Okay.
The community college though,they can only a address students
(15:12):
or help students within certaincounty.
So given the relationships I hadthere, because relationships are
number one, I thinkrelationships are number one in
life, but especially inbusiness, they're number one.
So given the relationship I hadthere, I said, well, hey, if you
get a student, they got callsfrom all over the world.
So I said, if you get a studentthat you can't help that's
outside of our county, can yougive them my number?
(15:33):
And they said yes, because Iwasn't trying to steal, wasn't
trying to have a conflict ofinterest.
I'm not trying to hurt nobody.
So one of the calls they sent tome, I think it was the first
one, Kenny, it was actually theeducation coordinator of of
Carolina's a GC.
That's a huge trade association.
When she called me or when, whenwe connected rather,'cause I got
(15:55):
her information.
Um.
I was asking her, you know,about the needs, why did she
call, kind of doing a discovery,and she said the reason she was
calling is that one of thecompanies under their umbrella
had a fatality on theirconstruction site.
After OSHA got involved, did thewhole investigation, it was
determined as opposed to an, youknow, a thought or, or, a guess.
(16:18):
It was determined that it wasdue to the language barrier.
In that moment, I switched fromB2C to B2B.
Because I, I, absolutely.
Being bilingual, I understandall the places where you can
apply language access.
You know, there's hospitality,agriculture, food production,
manufacturing, all those places,medical.
But when she told me that itmade an inextricable link in my
(16:41):
mind, that language is connectedwith life.
That people on these men andwomen,'cause actually women are
growing in the constructionindustry.
If you can't understand safety,if you can't understand
procedures, if you can't reporthazards because you don't have
the language for it, it couldliterally mean your life.
So I said, well, I need toswitch.
(17:02):
So in that moment when she toldme that, she opened my eyes to
something I really didn't knowexisted.
and I thought about the benefitsof going to B2B.
Yeah, there's so many.
There's so many.
Especially when we're talkingabout building wealth and all of
that.
I said, yeah, I need to make theswitch.
So I made that switch probablyFebruary 20, 24.
Kenny (17:24):
That's a, that's a definitely a gem that you just
dropped right there.
Monique, and I mean, that'spowerful like language to life.
Like that's something I thinkthat would resonate with, the,
the average person, right.
not just an executive at aconstruction company.
Monique (17:41):
Absolutely.
Kenny (17:41):
something that me, you can relate to is just basic
human beings,
Monique (17:46):
Yeah.
Kenny (17:47):
here, in the us.
So I'm curious like.
There obviously is going to besome differences in how you
deliver that message, right?
Monique (17:57):
Yeah.
Kenny (17:58):
about, your, your audience going from B2C with
students and parents
Monique (18:04):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (18:06):
to executives, right, or business owners in the
Monique (18:10):
Yeah.
Kenny (18:11):
industry.
Talk a little bit about, whatthat transition was like for
you.
going from having some of thoseconversations B2C, we'll
Monique (18:20):
Yeah.
Kenny (18:20):
way, and then going to B2B, like what, what was it
like?
Monique (18:26):
It, it, man, I was just talking about this the other
day.
It's hard.
I ain't even gonna lie to youbecause this work that I do, it
is, it is hard work for me, youknow?
I've become acquainted not justwith the language of, of
Spanish, but also the cultureand the people and, you know,
it's, like, it's a part of myheart.
(18:47):
Well, an executive don't careabout that if we're being plain.
They don't care that you'rebleeding hard or they don't care
that you just love, you know,this demographic of people.
It just doesn't matter to them.
So, let me say this, we offer ittwo ways.
We offer bottom up where we aretargeting the, what we call the
workers, where they're trying tolearn English.
I can show my heart therebecause they are hurting physic,
(19:10):
you know, they're actuallyhurting day to day, not being
able to communicate the way thatthey want.
However, top down is where itchanges because there's some
companies that.
Want HR middle management,C-suite executives, they wanna
know Spanish or they wanna, theywant you to prove that this is
worth the investment that theycan see.
The ROI.
So when I talk to them, I don'tmention, you know, it changes
(19:31):
their life.
'cause they may not care ifwe're being honest.
I don't mention the impact, youknow, outside of their jobs.
I don't mention, any of thatbecause that's not what they
care about.
So this is what I do mention.
When you have amisunderstanding, two different
languages, you have issues withrework because something wasn't
(19:53):
communicated clearly.
Four sounds like 14 sounds like40.
If it's not your language, it's,it's so minute.
The differences in the words.
So I cut it wrong.
Now you gotta do it over.
Who's eating that cost?
The gc.
If you are redoing work, thenyou're looking at cost overruns,
and then you're also looking atdelays.
All of those cost you money.
This demographic is also movingaround a lot because of
(20:15):
instability and because they'renot clearly able to communicate
to you what they can do.
You can ask either because youdon't have their language, so
they're moving around a lot.
Every time they move, you'rehaving to repost that job,
rehire for that job, and retrainfor that job all costing you
money.
So when you invest in thoseemployees, then you're getting
them not only to be moreefficient at their job, safer at
(20:36):
their job, you're getting themto stick around.
Because of what immigrant wouldleave a company that invested in
them in that way, that spread toevery aspect of their life.
So when they can see the ROI,most companies, not that I agree
with this way of thinking, butI'm not ignorant to it.
They care about their bottomline and this satisfies both.
(20:58):
It satisfies the bleeding heartand the executive who's only
looking at the numbers.
Either way, this makes sense.
Kenny (21:06):
That's dope.
Like, it, it is interestinghearing you explain it that way
because you led right at the, betowards the beginning of the
call.
I felt like a lot of empathywith the way that you're
approaching it
Monique (21:20):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (21:21):
having like your education background.
But then, like you said, youknow, is business, dollars, you
know,
Monique (21:29):
Yep.
They don't care.
Kenny (21:30):
they don't
Monique (21:31):
Not necessarily.
Kenny (21:32):
Right?
Monique (21:33):
Yeah.
Kenny (21:33):
don't discriminate.
They go to where, people whowant to maximize them go, right?
Like that's where.
Where a
Monique (21:40):
Yeah.
Kenny (21:41):
dollar flow.
And so to your point, but youknow the pain points for your
audience.
And so you making that switch islike super powerful.
And again, B2B people on ourplatform are probably tired of
me talking about B2B, but,
Monique (21:55):
Yeah,
Kenny (21:56):
much opportunity in this
Monique (21:57):
there is.
Oh my goodness.
Kenny (21:59):
it just
Monique (22:00):
And I.
Kenny (22:00):
switch like you just explained.
Monique (22:03):
Let me add one other thing too.
When it comes to constructioncompanies, you know, oftentimes
they're hiring subcontractorsthat are just with them for a
project or whatever, andthey'll, they may think, those
aren't even my people.
One thing they need to keep inmind is if that, if that
individual who's not your peoplehas an accident on your site, it
goes to your name.
So when you think aboutBaltimore Bridge collapse, for
(22:24):
example, everybody knew aboutthat worldwide, that company's
name was dragged through the mudbecause they lost six lives.
On their site, their watch, andon their name.
So even companies when they'retrying to show their record of
either little to no incidents onsite, all of that factors in
when you have people on yoursite who don't speak the
language and could be in dangerbecause they don't understand
(22:45):
safety procedures.
So it's something to thinkabout.
and what any of us who are goingto the B2B space, we have got to
be able to.
You know, we think of the termcode switch in a different way,
but I'm applying it here becauseyou do need to code switch.
You need to realize who you'respeaking to and what they care
about.
It has nothing to do, I hate tosay this because no
(23:08):
entrepreneur's doing this justfor money, but you have to
recognize when to open yourheart and show them that you
have a bleeding heart and whento cover that thing up with a
suit and get straight to yourpoints.
You have to know when to switchbecause if you don't.
You are walking around sharingthe right message with the wrong
person, and that may affect yourability to make your business
(23:31):
successful.
Kenny (23:32):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, that's a, that's a skillin of itself.
I think to that point, like thatprotects you a little bit.
Like that insulates the part ofyou where you want to go home
and you want to sleep well atnight.
definitely it's okay to.
To close off at times.
Like people think the, know,there's always that idea that,
(23:55):
you know, we hear peoplenowadays say, oh, we have like a
open door policy, and it's like,well that's okay if depending on
the audience, like you may notwant to have a open door policy
with everybody.
I do
Monique (24:08):
Correct.
Kenny (24:09):
I'll be straight up with you, honey.
I do Not wanna have an open doorpolicy with
Monique (24:13):
Not with everybody.
Kenny (24:15):
Yeah, I'm certainly willing to have a conversation
with you.
Monique (24:17):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (24:19):
depending on the person, that first conversation may let
me know, at least how far opento leave the door or even to
leave the door unlocked.
Sometimes the door needs to belocked
Monique (24:31):
Absolutely.
Kenny (24:32):
conversation, if you understand.
Monique (24:34):
I mean, we only have a, a certain amount of bandwidth,
Kenny (24:36):
Yeah.
Monique (24:37):
especially as mates and parents.
I'm trying to keep my marriagehealthy.
Kenny (24:42):
Mm-hmm.
Monique (24:42):
So there's certain points I have to shut down my
job so I can focus on whomatters to me, who's building
me, you know, who's pouring intome.
this entrepreneurial thing ain'tno joke.
You know, you're wearing 50 11hats and
Kenny (24:56):
it.
Monique (24:56):
when it comes to being a mom, oh, I don't, okay, let me
look.
I understand that you're ahusband and a man, so I'm not
trying to diminish what you do'cause y'all are extremely
important to the family unit.
So I, so I'm only speaking torespect to the role that I have.
When I come home, you know, andI'm doing all these meetings,
like the, the thing I just camefrom, I just came from the ENC
(25:17):
conference.
I got up at what I call the buttcrack of dawn Monday morning.
You know, you got the crack ofdawn, you got the butt crack of
dawn.
So I got up mad early, drove toPinehurst, went to this
conference all day, stayed thenight in the hotel, got back up,
went back to the conference.
I left around three, drove home,picked up my family, and went to
a graduation of the CAGCbusiness, academy.
(25:39):
Yeah, this was 48 hours of fullon crazy.
And when it comes to when youcome home, you have to take off
all those business hats, makedinner, make sure that that
there's food in the house, andgo grocery shopping and do the
laundry.
You are wearing so many hats.
You only have but so muchbandwidth.
So if you have your door open toeverybody, what you've opened
(26:01):
the door to is burnout evenfaster than you can imagine.
And then you're not gonna beable to do anything for anybody.
Kenny (26:07):
Mm-hmm.
Monique (26:07):
So it has to be strategic.
Who has your ear and your timeand who does not?
So there's certain things,certain events I'm invited to.
I don't go to no rude, norudeness, no shade.
But I only have a certain amountof bandwidth.
So if those rooms are not, ifthose rooms are not people that
I need to talk to or could see abenefit in talking to, it's
(26:28):
gonna drain my time and myenergy.
So just'cause you invited medoesn't mean I'm gonna come.
And that doesn't, that's notmeant to be mean.
It is meant to be strategic.
Kenny (26:37):
Yeah.
I'm glad you that's, that,that's a key word.
for sure.
and I definitely think, youknow, just with, in our
community a lot, there's a lotmore emphasis on like B2C, know,
selling things to, to the massesand, and
Monique (26:53):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (26:54):
and scaling and so that model, it is much more of like,
I need to be everywhere.
I understand that.
But then in B2B, almost theexact opposite where you need to
be really strategic.
Monique (27:07):
Yeah.
Kenny (27:08):
because your customers like, you know, there's that
difference between somebodybeing a customer and then
somebody being a client.
And
Monique (27:15):
Yeah,
Kenny (27:15):
in B2B, to be treated at least like a client, right?
And
Monique (27:20):
yeah.
Kenny (27:20):
that comes with
Monique (27:21):
Yeah.
Kenny (27:23):
of time, of commitment, to your point, like it's,
there's only a certain amount ofhours in a day.
You can't be everywhere.
Especially, I'm glad you touchedon the family components,
spouses and little ones,
Monique (27:38):
Yeah.
Kenny (27:39):
because they still, gonna be right there saying, Hey,
like, I need time as well.
That's valuable.
So I'm curious, like, what doyou do, what do you do to like,
be efficient, like with yourtime?
Like what is, what is
Monique (27:56):
Um.
Kenny (27:57):
are some of the ways that you.
Minimize the amount of time youhave to work on things to the
the right amount of time youneed to work on them.
Monique (28:06):
I am not sure I have that balance down.
I'm gonna tell you what I'mtrying, because that is, even if
you get it down like one week,you'd be like, Ooh, I was
killing it with my time.
You know, management next weekyou'd be like, what happened to
me?
Killing it with my timemanagement.
so I can tell you the thingsthat I'm trying and, and you
know, as this, as this podcastis, is put out into the world.
(28:27):
I hope people will comment with,with, with their suggestions,
because I know we're not theonly ones doing this
entrepreneurial thing.
So, let me preface it with that.
The first thing I do is onething I just mentioned, I, I
really have to be careful.
There was, so I'll give you anexample.
I was invited to do a speakingevent preparing for this,
actually it's coming up soon.
It's in, Raleigh, like, thewomen's, can't think of the name
(28:51):
of it.
Women's Convention early on, oneof the ones on the board was
like, you should do this.
And I was thinking about it andthinking about it, and I was
looking at who's gonna be in theroom, who's been invited to the
room, who is this curated for?
And I was like, this is not,this would be fun, but this is
not my tribe.
Is this gonna be a revenuemaking activity?
(29:14):
And I realized it wasn't.
So I was like, as much as Iwanna do that just for fun, you
know, I love public speaking.
I was like, this is not the bestuse of my time.
So what I instead did.
I applied for constructionconferences on mental health.
I speak about that, especiallyfor this demographic,
construction conferences onwellness, that in those rooms,
(29:36):
those are curated to people whoneed what I do, who very well
may want to work with me anddon't know I exist.
Those are the places I need tobe applying to, and actually
just heard from one of themyesterday.
that I'll be, leading a breakoutsession at, this conference on
wellness coming up and I'mlooking at it now in Oregon, in
(29:57):
September
Kenny (29:58):
Exciting.
Monique (29:59):
It's exciting and, and I, you know, as much further as
I would've come to that otherspeaking thing, I'm bringing
double to this because this is acurated room.
Kenny (30:08):
Hmm.
Monique (30:08):
I look for.
Am I in front of the people Ineed to be in front of for
revenue making?
because at this point, I'm twoyears in, I'm a, you know, my
company is young.
And we got bills to pay, babe.
You know, it's always tight whenyou got a new company.
Cashflow is always something yougotta pay attention to.
You're, we are bootstrapped, no,no debt on the business.
I'd like to keep it that way.
(30:30):
So when you're looking at that,you're like, I can't be
everywhere.
Everyone don't need what I do.
What I do is very niched, butit's also extremely essential.
It's very important.
Again, language links to life.
So when it comes to that, Idon't need to be in front of
everybody.
Everybody don't need to hearfrom me.
So I have to figure out whodoes.
And then be there.
Kenny (30:51):
I like that.
I ain't mad at it.
You, you know me.
I, I think one thing that Idefinitely want to, shot you out
on,'cause we connected, as afollow up from one of our events
and then we connected some onLinkedIn,
Monique (31:06):
Yeah.
Kenny (31:06):
as well.
And just your presence onLinkedIn, it seems like you're
Monique (31:09):
Oh yeah.
Kenny (31:10):
you're really deliberate in terms of.
know, making sure you'reconnecting with your audience
there.
So I definitely
Monique (31:15):
Very.
Kenny (31:16):
out there.
and you're not afraid to justhop on the camera, like hop in
front of the camera and speakyour mind.
Monique (31:23):
You gotta be.
I would tell, I mean, you didn'task me this, but let me, let me
throw this in here.
Kenny (31:27):
Throw it in.
Monique (31:28):
This is important.
I feel like as entrepreneurs, weare so worried about how is this
gonna live or what they gonnathink about what I gotta say.
You forget what they're gonnathink.
You need to focus on yourmessaging.
That's what you need to getdown.
Stay figure out what your brandis, what your messaging is.
Get it tightened concise and youneed to get to a point where you
(31:50):
can say it in your sleep becausethere are people who will see
your post today.
There are people who won't seeyour post until three weeks, a
month, two months from now.
You need to be saying the samething every time so that they
know who you are, what yourepresent, and what your brand
is.
and what better way to get on apodcast with somebody like you
who puts it out there and itlives forever on the internet.
(32:12):
It lives forever.
So somebody could see thispodcast two years from now Kenny
and be like, I never heard ofher.
And now they on my LinkedIn, youknow, profile.
So when it comes to that, I feellike if they don't see you, how
do they know you exist?
Kenny (32:26):
Mm.
Monique (32:27):
If you're not in the room, how do they know you
exist?
If you are amazing at what youdo, how do I know if I've never
seen you?
So you're not gonna come to myhouse and see me?
Kenny (32:37):
Mm-hmm.
Monique (32:38):
to put myself out there in such a way that you could be,
you know, like we always do.
We, all of us be scrolling, youknow, as you scrolling, living
your life and you go, h thatlooks interesting.
Oh, she said somethingintelligent, or whatever the
case may be.
And something I said made youwant to go click on my profile
and check me out.
I'm gonna tell you somethingthat exciting that happened that
(32:58):
I hope will be like a big deal.
this construction companyreached out to me on LinkedIn.
I hadn't connected with them.
He was like, I saw you onLinkedIn.
We need to talk.
Kenny (33:09):
Hmm.
Monique (33:10):
And I was just like, are you like, in my own mind, I
was freaking out.
I didn't say that, but I waslike, oh my goodness.
Because your goal on LinkedIn isto do a slow pull in.
You're not pushing, you'rereeling in so that the people
who you need to see your stuffsees your stuff.
You don't know if they see it ornot, but you need to be, you
know, saying the same messageover and over again.
So we had a meeting, I need tolook at my calendar two weeks
(33:33):
ago.
Presented a proposal and I justtalked to him today and he said,
we wanna move forward.
We'd wanna go ahead and schedulethe demo,
Kenny (33:43):
Hmm.
Monique (33:43):
what that was, all from doing this on LinkedIn.
So any B2B people get your yourprofile in order.
Let it speak for you, make sureit says what you want it to say.
That if they don't get to meetyou yet, that they're meeting
you on LinkedIn.
So by the time they have aninteraction with you like this,
it's all on brand.
Kenny (34:02):
Hmm.
Monique (34:02):
But it needs to be, you know, a lot, I notice a lot of
B2B people don't have theirLinkedIn set up.
It's just, you know, pictureplain background.
Your banner is youradvertisement, beef it up and
make it look like what you wantit to look like.
So yeah, I'm, I'm big onLinkedIn now.
Do I spend my time on TikTok andall that?
No, I ain't got time.
All that.
My people ain't over there, youknow, like my people are on
(34:25):
LinkedIn.
So figure out where your peopleare and be there.
Kenny (34:28):
Yeah.
that's super powerful, superimportant.
I mean, you touched onsomething, even a platform, a
professional platform, likeLinkedIn
Monique (34:36):
Yeah.
Kenny (34:36):
the, the, the scrolling motion now, and
Monique (34:39):
Yeah.
Kenny (34:40):
it's just everywhere.
When you Google people now shortreels pop up on Google it, I, I
always remember this.
There was a interview one timewith LeBron James, and they were
saying how cheap he is,
Monique (34:54):
Hmm.
Kenny (34:55):
he was like, well, I still, I have Spotify with ads.
And so people were like, well,that's really cheap of you, Mr.
Billionaire.
Like you, why do you need ads?
Monique (35:05):
Yeah.
Kenny (35:06):
But I think, and kind of.
A diabolical kind of way.
Monique (35:13):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (35:14):
sense for somebody like him who was his brand, is on
display, on these, on theseplatforms.
don't want to, I don't want togo away.
I don't want to have a Hulu or aNetflix without commercials.
I want to see what my audienceis seeing of me.
and there's that, there's likethis way you, you, you're always
in the game, like keeping itkind of like a sports reference
(35:37):
and you
Monique (35:38):
Yeah.
Kenny (35:38):
put in when you're putting out content, check it
out, see what people are saying.
Like it really is, you can makeit a sport.
And I always go back to thatexample with La John, LeBron
James with people saying, oh,he's just being cheap.
He does.
He can go without the ads.
And it's like, no, like the adsis the, the, the ads part of the
business, how people see hiscontent, that's more valuable to
(35:59):
him being on the court,honestly.
you gotta like, you gotta beconnecting with people wherever
Monique (36:05):
You do.
Kenny (36:06):
is.
I'm glad you said you ain'tgotta be on TikTok, Instagram,
Twitter, you name it.
You don't have to be on allthese platforms.
Just pick your platform.
And start posting, and you'vedone a great job of that.
I just want to shout
Monique (36:19):
Oh, thank you.
Kenny (36:20):
I notice your stuff.
I look for your stuff when I loginto LinkedIn now.
Monique (36:24):
That means a lot to me because you don't always know if
it's hitting or not.
You don't always know if it'sgetting where you want it to
get.
So yeah, you check engagementand all of that, and I don't
think you should drown in it.
It should not be your part-timejob.
but again, your messaging needsto be on brand and often.
I never want, you know, peopleto get sick of seeing me.
That can certainly happen.
(36:45):
But for people who need what Ido, they wouldn't get sick of
hearing me.
They, you, you like to get moreof what you want to hear.
Do you know what I mean?
that's how they get you, that'show the algorithm gets you.
It gives you more of what you'vepaused on.
So if you pause on my content, Iwanna, I wanna almost take it
like a diamond.
And turn it so you can seeanother facet every time you
(37:05):
pause on me.
so that I'm giving you value.
And if you really need what Ido, eventually you're gonna send
me a message like the, like thegentleman did LA a couple weeks
ago.
And that's what, that's what'sup.
Like, that's what, who, whodoesn't wanna call from a
potential client?
Like,
Kenny (37:21):
Yeah, we all want that.
Monique (37:23):
you know what I'm saying?
So
Kenny (37:24):
want that.
Monique (37:25):
I think that makes sense.
And, and honestly, I, if I mayshare one other tip.
I, when I'm on LinkedIn and youknow, you get those suggestions
of people you can connect with.
I remember the, in the beginningI'd be like, they don't even
know me.
Why would they accept myconnection request?
Well, baby, why wouldn't they
Kenny (37:41):
just
Monique (37:41):
try it,
Kenny (37:42):
Hey,
Monique (37:43):
send it.
That has made it so, because ifso-and-so, CEO of X, Y, Z gc,
you know, general contractorconnects with me.
He might be friends with anotherone who sees, oh, he, my friends
connected with her.
Maybe I should be too.
Now, even if I never call you,you're now you're seeing my
content.
What if it resonates with youagain, it's this slow pull in.
Kenny (38:05):
Yeah.
Monique (38:06):
so I think that engaging on LinkedIn, for B2B is
extremely important.
I just think that if yourLinkedIn is not set up in your
B2B, get your life together.
Now, this, this isn't important,for your business presence.
People do check, they do lookyou up.
Give them something to see.
Kenny (38:27):
I love that.
I love that.
Well, you've dropped, when youdropped a couple.
Heavy hitter gems for us.
I appreciate it so
Monique (38:34):
Sure,
Kenny (38:35):
how can folks connect, like what's the easiest way for
them to connect with you next tonative language and just keep up
with how you're building out thebusiness?
Monique (38:44):
definitely connect with me on LinkedIn.
That is my home, like that'swhere I hang out.
You wanna see my stuff?
You wanna see me speakingSpanish?
You wanna see what we have tooffer?
LinkedIn would be the firstplace to go.
You see kind of a body of work,if you will.
Our, our, visual resume.
Or now they say capabilitystatement.
You see our visual capabilitystatement in the things that we
do.
(39:05):
Our website, obviously awonderful place to get a
snapshot of us.
Next to native, the word next,the number two, the word
native.com, whereas we say toour Spanish ones.
so yeah, those are the best twoways to get in touch with us.
If you go to the website,there's a contact form at the
bottom you can fill out to getto us directly.
yeah, those are the best ways toget in touch with me.
(39:25):
If you wanna just shoot me anemail, old school
monique@nexttonative.com.
Again, native, the number two,the word, excuse me.
Next, the word number two, theword native.com.
Monique at the front.
I'm happy to talk to anyone whowants to know more about what we
do.
Kenny (39:40):
Appreciate that.
I checked the, I Googled next tonative, you got that home screen
on lock, so that's always a goodthing to see.
Easy
Monique (39:49):
Happy to hear it.
Kenny (39:49):
do that.
Right?
Monique (39:51):
Yeah.
Kenny (39:51):
lasting thought.
How do
Monique (39:52):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (39:53):
you know, how do you want to close us out?
What's that?
What's that thought that ourlisteners should be taking away
as the final thought as you'vegiven them all these gems,
throughout the conversation?
Monique (40:06):
We talked a lot about entrepreneurship.
Yeah.
Kenny (40:10):
Mm-hmm.
Monique (40:11):
Try all of us have a zone of genius.
Figure out which zone ismonetizable and try.
Yeah, you just never know.
The amount of things that I'velearned in, in just two years
has been nuts.
if you'd asked me even threemonths before I did this, I
would've told you, you crazy.
I'm not opening a business.
(40:32):
And here we are and I can't seemyself going back.
So you've got something, you'vebeen, you know, nursing got it
in your back pocket.
what harm is there to try andsee what could happen?
What could happen?
You're strong enough to fall andget back up.
But what if you don't fall?
What if you fly?
So that would be my, partingthought.
(40:53):
Obviously if you wanna work withme, hit me up, you know,
obviously.
But when it comes to thatmindset, I think being an
entrepreneur has a lot to dowith your mindset.
Try get on out there and seewhat happens.
You might surprise, you willsurprise yourself and those
around you.
Kenny (41:08):
Appreciate that, Monique, for those listening in, tuning
in.
Thank you for, sticking with usand listening to Monique dropped
these gems today.
Peace.
Welcome, welcome everybody to another great
episode of The Beyond NormalPodcast.
I'm your host, Kenny Groom.
We have a very special guest foryou today on this platform that
you all know Every founder,story is a journey worth
exploring.
We have, Monique, Lewis, companyNext 2 Native Language Learning
(00:54):
is bridging the language barrierin construction so that every
single worker goes home safely.
Timely as we know that, theconstruction, just real estate
in general here in the States isa, a, a hot industry.
specifically I'm excited to havea B2B, business platform on with
(01:15):
us today.
So without further ado, let'sbring Monique to the stage.
How's it going today?
Monique (01:20):
Doing great.
How you doing?
Kenny (01:21):
Cannot complain.
I'm on this call with you.
The lights are shining bright onme.
but
Monique (01:28):
Like a diamond.
Kenny (01:29):
I'm, I'm, I'm excited to, dive into your story.
Monique (01:32):
Yeah.
Kenny (01:33):
without further ado, let's start, let's start out
from the beginning.
Before you started wearing thehat of CEO and Founder, what
were you doing, in terms ofbringing value to the world?
Monique (01:46):
real talk.
I was 43, wearing the hat of amother and wife.
at that time I was looking at 17years of marriage.
Two tiny people.
Delicious growing.
And I was working part-time at alocal community college in our
ESL department, and I waskilling it.
(02:07):
And it was, it was the one thingthat wasn't moving.
Everything else was moving, butthat's really what I was doing
before I embarked on thisjourney, which I never intended
to take, if I'm being honest.
Kenny (02:17):
Mm-hmm.
There is nothing wrong withthat.
Right.
you, you touched on a couplethings there terms of, the
little ones, being married.
Like what, you know, what was,talk a little bit about what was
going well.
In those moments and what, youknow, what were you looking for
(02:38):
in terms of opportunities thatled you to, know, wanting to
wear that CEO hat?
Monique (02:45):
Sure.
the things that were going well,which I'm truly thankful for is
my marriage and raising my tinypeople.
Those are two things that wereconstantly changing because any,
you know, you have a family, Ihave a family.
Anybody who's a parent, youknow, you gotta get used to
chaos and foolery because that'sjust what it is.
You know, that's just crazinesshappening all the time.
(03:06):
Um.
What, and I loved my jobactually.
I really did love what I wasdoing.
We were working with languagelearners.
90% of them were Hispanic.
That is my second language.
I speak Spanish fluently.
so I enjoyed that a lot.
What wasn't working was myfinances, you know, this was a
part-time job.
I was getting part-time pennies,and even though I wasn't making
(03:28):
a lot, I think what made me feelstable ish.
Is that I knew if I worked myhours, they had to pay me money,
they had to pay me a certainamount of money and, and out of
all the things that were moving,that's one thing that wasn't so
honestly, even though, it was anacademic calendar.
So every year they got breaksbuilt in, you know, spring
break, summer break.
Every time we had a break, wewould hurt financially every
(03:50):
single time.
So that's the thing that wasn'tgoing right.
But I didn't know, I wasn'tthinking of how to fix that
because I was thinking of mytime.
My time with my family and theonly way to get more money was
to give them more of my time,and I really didn't have that to
give.
So when it all hit the fan, Iwasn't sure what to do.
Kenny (04:08):
Hmm.
Show me the money
Monique (04:12):
Yeah.
Kenny (04:12):
as you were, as you were, as you were talking there.
And that's a real, like, that'sa real answer.
I appreciate you sharing thatwith us.
the, the education industry, ingeneral, right?
We know that there's someshortcomings.
You just spoke on it, right?
When there's a summer break,when there's a break in the
(04:32):
year.
Monique (04:34):
Oh yeah.
Kenny (04:34):
pay is the pay stops, right?
Like you've
Monique (04:37):
Gone.
Kenny (04:37):
for your services and, and what you're offering to the
world.
Monique (04:41):
Yeah.
Kenny (04:42):
then on the flip side of that, you
Monique (04:44):
You know,
Kenny (04:45):
teachers
Monique (04:46):
teachers,
Kenny (04:46):
they're the ones
Monique (04:47):
the ones.
Kenny (04:48):
the next generation of leaders, of business owners.
Monique (04:51):
It's true.
Kenny (04:52):
so that industry is just, even with the, the, the coming
of the robots, right?
Like that industry is one that Ithink is.
It's definitely right fordisruption because of that.
The situations that
Monique (05:05):
Situation.
Kenny (05:05):
up like you, like you just explained,
Monique (05:08):
Absolutely.
Kenny (05:09):
so.
Monique (05:09):
Absolutely.
It.
I will say it's, it'sinteresting because the impact,
impact of our educators, isdisproportionately paid.
You know, when you look at whatthey're paid and their impact,
they, they definitely don'tmatch.
you are laying the foundationfor what people will do
tomorrow, and that's the futureof everybody.
Kenny (05:29):
Mm.
Monique (05:30):
don't, pay you like that.
So it's not something that, youknow, you're happy about, but
you learn to accept and you moveon with it.
'cause most teachers, mosteducators are doing it because
they love it.
They're not doing it for themoney or, or they wouldn't be
doing it.
So it is, it is definitely aconcern.
Kenny (05:46):
So Talk.
a
Monique (05:47):
Talk.
Kenny (05:49):
I, I'm curious, were you able to, were you able to have
some sort of a minimum viableproduct While you
Monique (05:57):
While you were
Kenny (05:58):
teaching?
Monique (05:59):
still
Kenny (06:00):
That allowed you to validate if this
Monique (06:02):
this idea
Kenny (06:04):
would be
Monique (06:04):
something
Kenny (06:05):
should
Monique (06:06):
should,
Kenny (06:06):
a gamble on yourself with and start a business around.
Monique (06:09):
I didn't know it at the time, Kenny.
That's, that's honest.
I, when I was working at thatcommunity college.
I was honestly, which, which ishow I arrived to any task.
I was giving it my all because Iwas doing what I thought was
right.
I learned my second languagemore than 20 years ago.
So.
Unbeknownst to me, like I hadn'tplanned on packaging this and
putting it together, but havingbeen through it, I just kind of
(06:30):
had that experience sitting,sitting in my back pocket, if
you will.
I was noticing that our studentsat this community college were
testing beautifully.
Like they knew their grammar,they knew the vocabulary.
You could tell they werediligence students, but if I
stop them in the hall and say,Hey, how's it going?
They would freeze like deers inthe head, deer, what is this
phrase?
Deer in the headlights.
(06:51):
So I was like, mm-hmm.
They need, they need aconversation course.
They need to be able to enterinto, sustain and exit a
conversation.
'cause if you can't speak thelanguage, it is not serving you.
That's my opinion.
I stand on it.
So I talk, I talked to my boss,who is still amazing.
I, we still keep in touch.
I said to her, they're missing aconversation.
(07:13):
Can I, you know, can we do acourse?
And she's like, you canessentially go live your life.
So I was like, oh, you want meto do it?
So long story short, I created acourse.
I didn't know exactly how Iwanted it to look.
I just knew how I wanted to, toperform.
And as I was putting togetherthat course, I was shocked by
the, the result and the impactit had on our students.
(07:38):
And I was shocked at, at howpopular it became.
It got so popular they weretrying to get students from
other departments into it.
And if I can tell you one quickexample, she always stands out
to me, in her country.
She was a pediatriccardiologist.
I mean, she, she is smarter thanmost people.
She meets definitely smarterthan me, and she came to this
(07:58):
conversation course not becauseshe didn't know English, she,
she was trying to refine it andlike work out those cultural
aspects so that she wasn'toffending people.
Long story short, I met hertwice, and I say that because I
met her when she first came intothe class and she was.
Not able to speak to what sheknew.
She, she had limited English.
By the time she finished theclass.
(08:18):
I realized she was really sweet,had a nice personality.
It's like I met her for real.
When you don't have thelanguage, how do I know you're
funny?
How do I know you know that youare really good at something?
'cause you have all thisknowledge, but you can't, you
don't have the words to tell mewhat you know.
So seeing her go through thattransformation, I was like, no,
I really got something here.
I'm helping people to go from.
(08:39):
Speaking only a few words and,and having to give a survival
version of themselves to aversion of themselves that is
able to express what they think,feel worried about, advocate for
themselves.
That's a whole different ballgame when you're talking about
making a home here in the UnitedStates and living, living your
life.
Kenny (08:57):
I like that.
that's.
a
Monique (09:00):
that's.
Kenny (09:01):
story.
You, you, I mean, you touched onit a couple times as you were,
you know, telling us the fullscope of, you know, language and
why you care so much about it.
But, know, like that languagebarrier, if there's a barrier
there, a lot of things can getmisunderstood or we don't
Monique (09:19):
Yeah.
Kenny (09:19):
the original context or, you know, why somebody was
saying something a certain way.
Monique (09:25):
Right.
Kenny (09:25):
think that's powerful.
I'm curious, as you were gettingthose results, you know, did
you, were you able to do somethings to start to prepare or
like make Sure.
it was your ip, like your, yourproduct versus In a lot of
(09:45):
cases, when we work for,institutions and when we work
for companies, right?
If we're doing something on thecompany dime.
Monique (09:54):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (09:54):
theirs, quote unquote.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Monique (09:58):
That was scary.
I ain't gonna lie to you,because when I first started
doing it, like I said, my bosswas like.
Go do it.
So I'm, I'm writing curricul notbeing paid extra to write
curriculum.
I'm just on my hours, writingcurriculum.
She even came back and said, whydon't you also do a writing
course?
So I'm writing all thiscurriculum when things kind of
(10:20):
hit the fan, and I don't, Idon't wanna preface that.
Like it was some dramatic, itwas just a thing that, that
catapulted me intoentrepreneurship before I really
knew I could.
Once that happened and I waslike, wait a minute.
I haven't shared this at all.
My boss never asked me for it.
She never asked me to dispenseit anywhere.
She never asked me to share itwith anybody.
(10:41):
I was like, wait a minute, thisis mine.
Physically mine, I gotta takeit.
I don't have a choice.
I gotta take it with me.
And I didn't know if there wouldbe, you know, any repercussions
or anything behind that.
I had no idea had I created itall myself.
Absolutely 110%.
so that was a risk.
(11:01):
And I think that.
As you build your skills at yourjob, like in your nine to five,
sometimes it's hard to parsethat out.
Now, legally, I'm sure they'dhave, they'd have figured out a
way to parse it out had they,you know, wanted to do a little
something with that.
But I think that's difficult.
A lot of us build our skills atthe job that we're at, but when
you built something you, it'syours.
(11:21):
When you built it, it's yours.
So that's the frame, frame ofmind that I took.
I even told my boss because Icontinued working there for a
year.
Even as I was building my owncompany, and I told her, I said,
I'm gonna continue working here,but I can no longer teach these
two classes that I created.
I'm taking'em with me and I, thesilence sat heavy for a good 20
(11:41):
seconds and hey.
Kenny (11:45):
it's, it is interesting.
I've had that experience over asimilar experience over the
last, say, five to six years,
Monique (11:56):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (11:57):
taking a gamble on myself, creating beyond normal
media.
I was like, when I, when it cametime for me to tell my boss or
the, you know, the people whohad invested in me at the
company, I was like, well.
If you feel like you've done agood job in preparing me, it, it
is only natural that I go outand do some of these things on
my own.
And so that, like that pause,that 22nd pause that you
(12:20):
mentioned.
I know exactly what you'retalking about because they gave
me that pause some of them, youknow, that initial feedback is
like, well, are you sure?
You know, like, do you reallywant to leave us?
Like, I think we got a goodthing going.
Monique (12:34):
Right, right, right.
Kenny (12:36):
you have to respect somebody for saying, Hey, I'm
gonna take a gamble all myself,right.
Monique (12:42):
Yeah,
Kenny (12:42):
start something on my own that I am solely responsible
for.
I want, I
Monique (12:47):
absolutely.
Kenny (12:47):
responsibility.
Monique (12:49):
Absolutely.
And more reward for the workthat I'm doing
Kenny (12:51):
Mm-hmm.
Monique (12:51):
because the truth is, when it comes to, you know,
there, there's a buzzword rightnow going around, building a
wealth and, and, buildingwealth.
it is very difficult to do thatat a job, a nine to five because
the only exchange you have isyour time.
And we are parents.
My family does a lot ofvolunteer work with Jehovah's
Witnesses, where we have twotiny people.
(13:13):
They're 10 and 12, so they stillneed our attention a lot right
now.
That matters to me.
All of that requires time.
How can I give you 60, 70 hoursa week?
Because that means I'm taking itfrom them and that's the only
way I can get more money.
Like there's gotta be a betterexchange for that.
And the only way to step out ofthat is entrepreneurship.
So if you're trying to buildwealth for your today or your
(13:34):
tomorrow, or to, or to make upfor you yesterday, you, you
know, the way to do that is to,I think either property or
entrepreneurship.
So.
That makes it scary.
But that is, that's the formula.
That's what it is.
Kenny (13:51):
That's a mic drop moment.
I, that, that sounded amazing.
I completely agree.
So I, I'm just gonna move on.
You said something at the endthough, where you feel like,
real estate, right.
Owning
Monique (14:05):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (14:06):
property and then.
Monique (14:09):
Entrepreneurship.
Kenny (14:10):
Like those are the ways you feel like you can get to the
point where, you know, you, youkind of own your own destiny,
right?
Like that is timely or goodsegue for this conversation,
right?
Because you actually landed onconstruction
Monique (14:25):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Kenny (14:27):
of that you're, that, that your, your end customer or
your client.
Monique (14:33):
Yeah.
Kenny (14:33):
have taken your, your curriculum right.
Maybe you could have continuedgoing down the education path
and dealing with students, kids,things like that.
Like talk a little bit about whyyou decided to apply it to an
industry like construction.
What were you seeing?
Monique (14:49):
Definitely.
I started out B2C.
I was teaching individuals.
Yeah.
because that's what I knew.
That's what, um.
That personal component, youknow, work like for example with
that pediatric cardiologist.
So while working at thecommunity college and opening
this business, that's the way Istarted.
Okay.
The community college though,they can only a address students
(15:12):
or help students within certaincounty.
So given the relationships I hadthere, because relationships are
number one, I thinkrelationships are number one in
life, but especially inbusiness, they're number one.
So given the relationship I hadthere, I said, well, hey, if you
get a student, they got callsfrom all over the world.
So I said, if you get a studentthat you can't help that's
outside of our county, can yougive them my number?
(15:33):
And they said yes, because Iwasn't trying to steal, wasn't
trying to have a conflict ofinterest.
I'm not trying to hurt nobody.
So one of the calls they sent tome, I think it was the first
one, Kenny, it was actually theeducation coordinator of of
Carolina's a GC.
That's a huge trade association.
When she called me or when, whenwe connected rather,'cause I got
(15:55):
her information.
Um.
I was asking her, you know,about the needs, why did she
call, kind of doing a discovery,and she said the reason she was
calling is that one of thecompanies under their umbrella
had a fatality on theirconstruction site.
After OSHA got involved, did thewhole investigation, it was
determined as opposed to an, youknow, a thought or, or, a guess.
(16:18):
It was determined that it wasdue to the language barrier.
In that moment, I switched fromB2C to B2B.
Because I, I, absolutely.
Being bilingual, I understandall the places where you can
apply language access.
You know, there's hospitality,agriculture, food production,
manufacturing, all those places,medical.
But when she told me that itmade an inextricable link in my
(16:41):
mind, that language is connectedwith life.
That people on these men andwomen,'cause actually women are
growing in the constructionindustry.
If you can't understand safety,if you can't understand
procedures, if you can't reporthazards because you don't have
the language for it, it couldliterally mean your life.
So I said, well, I need toswitch.
(17:02):
So in that moment when she toldme that, she opened my eyes to
something I really didn't knowexisted.
and I thought about the benefitsof going to B2B.
Yeah, there's so many.
There's so many.
Especially when we're talkingabout building wealth and all of
that.
I said, yeah, I need to make theswitch.
So I made that switch probablyFebruary 20, 24.
Kenny (17:24):
That's a, that's a definitely a gem that you just
dropped right there.
Monique, and I mean, that'spowerful like language to life.
Like that's something I thinkthat would resonate with, the,
the average person, right.
not just an executive at aconstruction company.
Monique (17:41):
Absolutely.
Kenny (17:41):
something that me, you can relate to is just basic
human beings,
Monique (17:46):
Yeah.
Kenny (17:47):
here, in the us.
So I'm curious like.
There obviously is going to besome differences in how you
deliver that message, right?
Monique (17:57):
Yeah.
Kenny (17:58):
about, your, your audience going from B2C with
students and parents
Monique (18:04):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (18:06):
to executives, right, or business owners in the
Monique (18:10):
Yeah.
Kenny (18:11):
industry.
Talk a little bit about, whatthat transition was like for
you.
going from having some of thoseconversations B2C, we'll
Monique (18:20):
Yeah.
Kenny (18:20):
way, and then going to B2B, like what, what was it
like?
Monique (18:26):
It, it, man, I was just talking about this the other
day.
It's hard.
I ain't even gonna lie to youbecause this work that I do, it
is, it is hard work for me, youknow?
I've become acquainted not justwith the language of, of
Spanish, but also the cultureand the people and, you know,
it's, like, it's a part of myheart.
(18:47):
Well, an executive don't careabout that if we're being plain.
They don't care that you'rebleeding hard or they don't care
that you just love, you know,this demographic of people.
It just doesn't matter to them.
So, let me say this, we offer ittwo ways.
We offer bottom up where we aretargeting the, what we call the
workers, where they're trying tolearn English.
I can show my heart therebecause they are hurting physic,
(19:10):
you know, they're actuallyhurting day to day, not being
able to communicate the way thatthey want.
However, top down is where itchanges because there's some
companies that.
Want HR middle management,C-suite executives, they wanna
know Spanish or they wanna, theywant you to prove that this is
worth the investment that theycan see.
The ROI.
So when I talk to them, I don'tmention, you know, it changes
(19:31):
their life.
'cause they may not care ifwe're being honest.
I don't mention the impact, youknow, outside of their jobs.
I don't mention, any of thatbecause that's not what they
care about.
So this is what I do mention.
When you have amisunderstanding, two different
languages, you have issues withrework because something wasn't
(19:53):
communicated clearly.
Four sounds like 14 sounds like40.
If it's not your language, it's,it's so minute.
The differences in the words.
So I cut it wrong.
Now you gotta do it over.
Who's eating that cost?
The gc.
If you are redoing work, thenyou're looking at cost overruns,
and then you're also looking atdelays.
All of those cost you money.
This demographic is also movingaround a lot because of
(20:15):
instability and because they'renot clearly able to communicate
to you what they can do.
You can ask either because youdon't have their language, so
they're moving around a lot.
Every time they move, you'rehaving to repost that job,
rehire for that job, and retrainfor that job all costing you
money.
So when you invest in thoseemployees, then you're getting
them not only to be moreefficient at their job, safer at
(20:36):
their job, you're getting themto stick around.
Because of what immigrant wouldleave a company that invested in
them in that way, that spread toevery aspect of their life.
So when they can see the ROI,most companies, not that I agree
with this way of thinking, butI'm not ignorant to it.
They care about their bottomline and this satisfies both.
(20:58):
It satisfies the bleeding heartand the executive who's only
looking at the numbers.
Either way, this makes sense.
Kenny (21:06):
That's dope.
Like, it, it is interestinghearing you explain it that way
because you led right at the, betowards the beginning of the
call.
I felt like a lot of empathywith the way that you're
approaching it
Monique (21:20):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (21:21):
having like your education background.
But then, like you said, youknow, is business, dollars, you
know,
Monique (21:29):
Yep.
They don't care.
Kenny (21:30):
they don't
Monique (21:31):
Not necessarily.
Kenny (21:32):
Right?
Monique (21:33):
Yeah.
Kenny (21:33):
don't discriminate.
They go to where, people whowant to maximize them go, right?
Like that's where.
Where a
Monique (21:40):
Yeah.
Kenny (21:41):
dollar flow.
And so to your point, but youknow the pain points for your
audience.
And so you making that switch islike super powerful.
And again, B2B people on ourplatform are probably tired of
me talking about B2B, but,
Monique (21:55):
Yeah,
Kenny (21:56):
much opportunity in this
Monique (21:57):
there is.
Oh my goodness.
Kenny (21:59):
it just
Monique (22:00):
And I.
Kenny (22:00):
switch like you just explained.
Monique (22:03):
Let me add one other thing too.
When it comes to constructioncompanies, you know, oftentimes
they're hiring subcontractorsthat are just with them for a
project or whatever, andthey'll, they may think, those
aren't even my people.
One thing they need to keep inmind is if that, if that
individual who's not your peoplehas an accident on your site, it
goes to your name.
So when you think aboutBaltimore Bridge collapse, for
(22:24):
example, everybody knew aboutthat worldwide, that company's
name was dragged through the mudbecause they lost six lives.
On their site, their watch, andon their name.
So even companies when they'retrying to show their record of
either little to no incidents onsite, all of that factors in
when you have people on yoursite who don't speak the
language and could be in dangerbecause they don't understand
(22:45):
safety procedures.
So it's something to thinkabout.
and what any of us who are goingto the B2B space, we have got to
be able to.
You know, we think of the termcode switch in a different way,
but I'm applying it here becauseyou do need to code switch.
You need to realize who you'respeaking to and what they care
about.
It has nothing to do, I hate tosay this because no
(23:08):
entrepreneur's doing this justfor money, but you have to
recognize when to open yourheart and show them that you
have a bleeding heart and whento cover that thing up with a
suit and get straight to yourpoints.
You have to know when to switchbecause if you don't.
You are walking around sharingthe right message with the wrong
person, and that may affect yourability to make your business
(23:31):
successful.
Kenny (23:32):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, that's a, that's a skillin of itself.
I think to that point, like thatprotects you a little bit.
Like that insulates the part ofyou where you want to go home
and you want to sleep well atnight.
definitely it's okay to.
To close off at times.
Like people think the, know,there's always that idea that,
(23:55):
you know, we hear peoplenowadays say, oh, we have like a
open door policy, and it's like,well that's okay if depending on
the audience, like you may notwant to have a open door policy
with everybody.
I do
Monique (24:08):
Correct.
Kenny (24:09):
I'll be straight up with you, honey.
I do Not wanna have an open doorpolicy with
Monique (24:13):
Not with everybody.
Kenny (24:15):
Yeah, I'm certainly willing to have a conversation
with you.
Monique (24:17):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (24:19):
depending on the person, that first conversation may let
me know, at least how far opento leave the door or even to
leave the door unlocked.
Sometimes the door needs to belocked
Monique (24:31):
Absolutely.
Kenny (24:32):
conversation, if you understand.
Monique (24:34):
I mean, we only have a, a certain amount of bandwidth,
Kenny (24:36):
Yeah.
Monique (24:37):
especially as mates and parents.
I'm trying to keep my marriagehealthy.
Kenny (24:42):
Mm-hmm.
Monique (24:42):
So there's certain points I have to shut down my
job so I can focus on whomatters to me, who's building
me, you know, who's pouring intome.
this entrepreneurial thing ain'tno joke.
You know, you're wearing 50 11hats and
Kenny (24:56):
it.
Monique (24:56):
when it comes to being a mom, oh, I don't, okay, let me
look.
I understand that you're ahusband and a man, so I'm not
trying to diminish what you do'cause y'all are extremely
important to the family unit.
So I, so I'm only speaking torespect to the role that I have.
When I come home, you know, andI'm doing all these meetings,
like the, the thing I just camefrom, I just came from the ENC
(25:17):
conference.
I got up at what I call the buttcrack of dawn Monday morning.
You know, you got the crack ofdawn, you got the butt crack of
dawn.
So I got up mad early, drove toPinehurst, went to this
conference all day, stayed thenight in the hotel, got back up,
went back to the conference.
I left around three, drove home,picked up my family, and went to
a graduation of the CAGCbusiness, academy.
(25:39):
Yeah, this was 48 hours of fullon crazy.
And when it comes to when youcome home, you have to take off
all those business hats, makedinner, make sure that that
there's food in the house, andgo grocery shopping and do the
laundry.
You are wearing so many hats.
You only have but so muchbandwidth.
So if you have your door open toeverybody, what you've opened
(26:01):
the door to is burnout evenfaster than you can imagine.
And then you're not gonna beable to do anything for anybody.
Kenny (26:07):
Mm-hmm.
Monique (26:07):
So it has to be strategic.
Who has your ear and your timeand who does not?
So there's certain things,certain events I'm invited to.
I don't go to no rude, norudeness, no shade.
But I only have a certain amountof bandwidth.
So if those rooms are not, ifthose rooms are not people that
I need to talk to or could see abenefit in talking to, it's
(26:28):
gonna drain my time and myenergy.
So just'cause you invited medoesn't mean I'm gonna come.
And that doesn't, that's notmeant to be mean.
It is meant to be strategic.
Kenny (26:37):
Yeah.
I'm glad you that's, that,that's a key word.
for sure.
and I definitely think, youknow, just with, in our
community a lot, there's a lotmore emphasis on like B2C, know,
selling things to, to the massesand, and
Monique (26:53):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (26:54):
and scaling and so that model, it is much more of like,
I need to be everywhere.
I understand that.
But then in B2B, almost theexact opposite where you need to
be really strategic.
Monique (27:07):
Yeah.
Kenny (27:08):
because your customers like, you know, there's that
difference between somebodybeing a customer and then
somebody being a client.
And
Monique (27:15):
Yeah,
Kenny (27:15):
in B2B, to be treated at least like a client, right?
And
Monique (27:20):
yeah.
Kenny (27:20):
that comes with
Monique (27:21):
Yeah.
Kenny (27:23):
of time, of commitment, to your point, like it's,
there's only a certain amount ofhours in a day.
You can't be everywhere.
Especially, I'm glad you touchedon the family components,
spouses and little ones,
Monique (27:38):
Yeah.
Kenny (27:39):
because they still, gonna be right there saying, Hey,
like, I need time as well.
That's valuable.
So I'm curious, like, what doyou do, what do you do to like,
be efficient, like with yourtime?
Like what is, what is
Monique (27:56):
Um.
Kenny (27:57):
are some of the ways that you.
Minimize the amount of time youhave to work on things to the
the right amount of time youneed to work on them.
Monique (28:06):
I am not sure I have that balance down.
I'm gonna tell you what I'mtrying, because that is, even if
you get it down like one week,you'd be like, Ooh, I was
killing it with my time.
You know, management next weekyou'd be like, what happened to
me?
Killing it with my timemanagement.
so I can tell you the thingsthat I'm trying and, and you
know, as this, as this podcastis, is put out into the world.
(28:27):
I hope people will comment with,with, with their suggestions,
because I know we're not theonly ones doing this
entrepreneurial thing.
So, let me preface it with that.
The first thing I do is onething I just mentioned, I, I
really have to be careful.
There was, so I'll give you anexample.
I was invited to do a speakingevent preparing for this,
actually it's coming up soon.
It's in, Raleigh, like, thewomen's, can't think of the name
(28:51):
of it.
Women's Convention early on, oneof the ones on the board was
like, you should do this.
And I was thinking about it andthinking about it, and I was
looking at who's gonna be in theroom, who's been invited to the
room, who is this curated for?
And I was like, this is not,this would be fun, but this is
not my tribe.
Is this gonna be a revenuemaking activity?
(29:14):
And I realized it wasn't.
So I was like, as much as Iwanna do that just for fun, you
know, I love public speaking.
I was like, this is not the bestuse of my time.
So what I instead did.
I applied for constructionconferences on mental health.
I speak about that, especiallyfor this demographic,
construction conferences onwellness, that in those rooms,
(29:36):
those are curated to people whoneed what I do, who very well
may want to work with me anddon't know I exist.
Those are the places I need tobe applying to, and actually
just heard from one of themyesterday.
that I'll be, leading a breakoutsession at, this conference on
wellness coming up and I'mlooking at it now in Oregon, in
(29:57):
September
Kenny (29:58):
Exciting.
Monique (29:59):
It's exciting and, and I, you know, as much further as
I would've come to that otherspeaking thing, I'm bringing
double to this because this is acurated room.
Kenny (30:08):
Hmm.
Monique (30:08):
I look for.
Am I in front of the people Ineed to be in front of for
revenue making?
because at this point, I'm twoyears in, I'm a, you know, my
company is young.
And we got bills to pay, babe.
You know, it's always tight whenyou got a new company.
Cashflow is always something yougotta pay attention to.
You're, we are bootstrapped, no,no debt on the business.
I'd like to keep it that way.
(30:30):
So when you're looking at that,you're like, I can't be
everywhere.
Everyone don't need what I do.
What I do is very niched, butit's also extremely essential.
It's very important.
Again, language links to life.
So when it comes to that, Idon't need to be in front of
everybody.
Everybody don't need to hearfrom me.
So I have to figure out whodoes.
And then be there.
Kenny (30:51):
I like that.
I ain't mad at it.
You, you know me.
I, I think one thing that Idefinitely want to, shot you out
on,'cause we connected, as afollow up from one of our events
and then we connected some onLinkedIn,
Monique (31:06):
Yeah.
Kenny (31:06):
as well.
And just your presence onLinkedIn, it seems like you're
Monique (31:09):
Oh yeah.
Kenny (31:10):
you're really deliberate in terms of.
know, making sure you'reconnecting with your audience
there.
So I definitely
Monique (31:15):
Very.
Kenny (31:16):
out there.
and you're not afraid to justhop on the camera, like hop in
front of the camera and speakyour mind.
Monique (31:23):
You gotta be.
I would tell, I mean, you didn'task me this, but let me, let me
throw this in here.
Kenny (31:27):
Throw it in.
Monique (31:28):
This is important.
I feel like as entrepreneurs, weare so worried about how is this
gonna live or what they gonnathink about what I gotta say.
You forget what they're gonnathink.
You need to focus on yourmessaging.
That's what you need to getdown.
Stay figure out what your brandis, what your messaging is.
Get it tightened concise and youneed to get to a point where you
(31:50):
can say it in your sleep becausethere are people who will see
your post today.
There are people who won't seeyour post until three weeks, a
month, two months from now.
You need to be saying the samething every time so that they
know who you are, what yourepresent, and what your brand
is.
and what better way to get on apodcast with somebody like you
who puts it out there and itlives forever on the internet.
(32:12):
It lives forever.
So somebody could see thispodcast two years from now Kenny
and be like, I never heard ofher.
And now they on my LinkedIn, youknow, profile.
So when it comes to that, I feellike if they don't see you, how
do they know you exist?
Kenny (32:26):
Mm.
Monique (32:27):
If you're not in the room, how do they know you
exist?
If you are amazing at what youdo, how do I know if I've never
seen you?
So you're not gonna come to myhouse and see me?
Kenny (32:37):
Mm-hmm.
Monique (32:38):
to put myself out there in such a way that you could be,
you know, like we always do.
We, all of us be scrolling, youknow, as you scrolling, living
your life and you go, h thatlooks interesting.
Oh, she said somethingintelligent, or whatever the
case may be.
And something I said made youwant to go click on my profile
and check me out.
I'm gonna tell you somethingthat exciting that happened that
(32:58):
I hope will be like a big deal.
this construction companyreached out to me on LinkedIn.
I hadn't connected with them.
He was like, I saw you onLinkedIn.
We need to talk.
Kenny (33:09):
Hmm.
Monique (33:10):
And I was just like, are you like, in my own mind, I
was freaking out.
I didn't say that, but I waslike, oh my goodness.
Because your goal on LinkedIn isto do a slow pull in.
You're not pushing, you'rereeling in so that the people
who you need to see your stuffsees your stuff.
You don't know if they see it ornot, but you need to be, you
know, saying the same messageover and over again.
So we had a meeting, I need tolook at my calendar two weeks
(33:33):
ago.
Presented a proposal and I justtalked to him today and he said,
we wanna move forward.
We'd wanna go ahead and schedulethe demo,
Kenny (33:43):
Hmm.
Monique (33:43):
what that was, all from doing this on LinkedIn.
So any B2B people get your yourprofile in order.
Let it speak for you, make sureit says what you want it to say.
That if they don't get to meetyou yet, that they're meeting
you on LinkedIn.
So by the time they have aninteraction with you like this,
it's all on brand.
Kenny (34:02):
Hmm.
Monique (34:02):
But it needs to be, you know, a lot, I notice a lot of
B2B people don't have theirLinkedIn set up.
It's just, you know, pictureplain background.
Your banner is youradvertisement, beef it up and
make it look like what you wantit to look like.
So yeah, I'm, I'm big onLinkedIn now.
Do I spend my time on TikTok andall that?
No, I ain't got time.
All that.
My people ain't over there, youknow, like my people are on
(34:25):
LinkedIn.
So figure out where your peopleare and be there.
Kenny (34:28):
Yeah.
that's super powerful, superimportant.
I mean, you touched onsomething, even a platform, a
professional platform, likeLinkedIn
Monique (34:36):
Yeah.
Kenny (34:36):
the, the, the scrolling motion now, and
Monique (34:39):
Yeah.
Kenny (34:40):
it's just everywhere.
When you Google people now shortreels pop up on Google it, I, I
always remember this.
There was a interview one timewith LeBron James, and they were
saying how cheap he is,
Monique (34:54):
Hmm.
Kenny (34:55):
he was like, well, I still, I have Spotify with ads.
And so people were like, well,that's really cheap of you, Mr.
Billionaire.
Like you, why do you need ads?
Monique (35:05):
Yeah.
Kenny (35:06):
But I think, and kind of.
A diabolical kind of way.
Monique (35:13):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (35:14):
sense for somebody like him who was his brand, is on
display, on these, on theseplatforms.
don't want to, I don't want togo away.
I don't want to have a Hulu or aNetflix without commercials.
I want to see what my audienceis seeing of me.
and there's that, there's likethis way you, you, you're always
in the game, like keeping itkind of like a sports reference
(35:37):
and you
Monique (35:38):
Yeah.
Kenny (35:38):
put in when you're putting out content, check it
out, see what people are saying.
Like it really is, you can makeit a sport.
And I always go back to thatexample with La John, LeBron
James with people saying, oh,he's just being cheap.
He does.
He can go without the ads.
And it's like, no, like the adsis the, the, the ads part of the
business, how people see hiscontent, that's more valuable to
(35:59):
him being on the court,honestly.
you gotta like, you gotta beconnecting with people wherever
Monique (36:05):
You do.
Kenny (36:06):
is.
I'm glad you said you ain'tgotta be on TikTok, Instagram,
Twitter, you name it.
You don't have to be on allthese platforms.
Just pick your platform.
And start posting, and you'vedone a great job of that.
I just want to shout
Monique (36:19):
Oh, thank you.
Kenny (36:20):
I notice your stuff.
I look for your stuff when I loginto LinkedIn now.
Monique (36:24):
That means a lot to me because you don't always know if
it's hitting or not.
You don't always know if it'sgetting where you want it to
get.
So yeah, you check engagementand all of that, and I don't
think you should drown in it.
It should not be your part-timejob.
but again, your messaging needsto be on brand and often.
I never want, you know, peopleto get sick of seeing me.
That can certainly happen.
(36:45):
But for people who need what Ido, they wouldn't get sick of
hearing me.
They, you, you like to get moreof what you want to hear.
Do you know what I mean?
that's how they get you, that'show the algorithm gets you.
It gives you more of what you'vepaused on.
So if you pause on my content, Iwanna, I wanna almost take it
like a diamond.
And turn it so you can seeanother facet every time you
(37:05):
pause on me.
so that I'm giving you value.
And if you really need what Ido, eventually you're gonna send
me a message like the, like thegentleman did LA a couple weeks
ago.
And that's what, that's what'sup.
Like, that's what, who, whodoesn't wanna call from a
potential client?
Like,
Kenny (37:21):
Yeah, we all want that.
Monique (37:23):
you know what I'm saying?
So
Kenny (37:24):
want that.
Monique (37:25):
I think that makes sense.
And, and honestly, I, if I mayshare one other tip.
I, when I'm on LinkedIn and youknow, you get those suggestions
of people you can connect with.
I remember the, in the beginningI'd be like, they don't even
know me.
Why would they accept myconnection request?
Well, baby, why wouldn't they
Kenny (37:41):
just
Monique (37:41):
try it,
Kenny (37:42):
Hey,
Monique (37:43):
send it.
That has made it so, because ifso-and-so, CEO of X, Y, Z gc,
you know, general contractorconnects with me.
He might be friends with anotherone who sees, oh, he, my friends
connected with her.
Maybe I should be too.
Now, even if I never call you,you're now you're seeing my
content.
What if it resonates with youagain, it's this slow pull in.
Kenny (38:05):
Yeah.
Monique (38:06):
so I think that engaging on LinkedIn, for B2B is
extremely important.
I just think that if yourLinkedIn is not set up in your
B2B, get your life together.
Now, this, this isn't important,for your business presence.
People do check, they do lookyou up.
Give them something to see.
Kenny (38:27):
I love that.
I love that.
Well, you've dropped, when youdropped a couple.
Heavy hitter gems for us.
I appreciate it so
Monique (38:34):
Sure,
Kenny (38:35):
how can folks connect, like what's the easiest way for
them to connect with you next tonative language and just keep up
with how you're building out thebusiness?
Monique (38:44):
definitely connect with me on LinkedIn.
That is my home, like that'swhere I hang out.
You wanna see my stuff?
You wanna see me speakingSpanish?
You wanna see what we have tooffer?
LinkedIn would be the firstplace to go.
You see kind of a body of work,if you will.
Our, our, visual resume.
Or now they say capabilitystatement.
You see our visual capabilitystatement in the things that we
do.
(39:05):
Our website, obviously awonderful place to get a
snapshot of us.
Next to native, the word next,the number two, the word
native.com, whereas we say toour Spanish ones.
so yeah, those are the best twoways to get in touch with us.
If you go to the website,there's a contact form at the
bottom you can fill out to getto us directly.
yeah, those are the best ways toget in touch with me.
(39:25):
If you wanna just shoot me anemail, old school
monique@nexttonative.com.
Again, native, the number two,the word, excuse me.
Next, the word number two, theword native.com.
Monique at the front.
I'm happy to talk to anyone whowants to know more about what we
do.
Kenny (39:40):
Appreciate that.
I checked the, I Googled next tonative, you got that home screen
on lock, so that's always a goodthing to see.
Easy
Monique (39:49):
Happy to hear it.
Kenny (39:49):
do that.
Right?
Monique (39:51):
Yeah.
Kenny (39:51):
lasting thought.
How do
Monique (39:52):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (39:53):
you know, how do you want to close us out?
What's that?
What's that thought that ourlisteners should be taking away
as the final thought as you'vegiven them all these gems,
throughout the conversation?
Monique (40:06):
We talked a lot about entrepreneurship.
Yeah.
Kenny (40:10):
Mm-hmm.
Monique (40:11):
Try all of us have a zone of genius.
Figure out which zone ismonetizable and try.
Yeah, you just never know.
The amount of things that I'velearned in, in just two years
has been nuts.
if you'd asked me even threemonths before I did this, I
would've told you, you crazy.
I'm not opening a business.
(40:32):
And here we are and I can't seemyself going back.
So you've got something, you'vebeen, you know, nursing got it
in your back pocket.
what harm is there to try andsee what could happen?
What could happen?
You're strong enough to fall andget back up.
But what if you don't fall?
What if you fly?
So that would be my, partingthought.
(40:53):
Obviously if you wanna work withme, hit me up, you know,
obviously.
But when it comes to thatmindset, I think being an
entrepreneur has a lot to dowith your mindset.
Try get on out there and seewhat happens.
You might surprise, you willsurprise yourself and those
around you.
Kenny (41:08):
Appreciate that, Monique, for those listening in, tuning
in.
Thank you for, sticking with usand listening to Monique dropped
these gems today.
Peace.
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