On this week's episode of Unpolished MBA, Monique is thrilled to share with listeners the story behind her new venture, Focused Innovation Group. Monique shares some of the anxiety that she has been feeling about being the public face of the group and how the lead-up to launch has emboldened her to find the courage to be confident in leveling up her game and insisting that she “can't stop, won't stop.”

Monique goes on to share the exciting news about her new role and how Focused Innovation Group is looking to acquire and rejuvenate small manufacturing and industrial businesses in and around America's rust belt by transforming their technological, marketing and digital platforms to align with today's standards. Known as FIG for short, Focused Innovation Group will be leveraging Monique’s experience as well as the networks of TPM Focus, TPM Marketing, and beyond to bring greater prosperity, equality, and diversity to one of the hardest hit sectors of the American economy. 

This venture is only getting started and Monique is excited to share with listeners the experience of growing FIG from the ground up while offering some of the lessons, insights, and inevitable roadblocks that she and her team will experience along the way!

Topics Include:

• The Importance of Tenacity in Leadership 
• Announcing the Focused Innovation Group
• Transforming Communities Through Better Jobs 
• The Importance of New Technologies in Manufacturing
• The Reality of Small Manufacturers in America
• The First Steps of a New Business Venture

Coming Soon: FocusedInnovationGroup.com

Follow Monique:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquemills/

Website: https://unpolishedmba.com/

This show is sponsored by TPM Focus the strategy and

execution consulting firm focused on generating revenue and finding

product market fit for new innovations.

Head over to TPMfocus.com to learn more.

Alright , everyone.

Let me just say it's 1:00 AM in the morning and I'm recording this

episode because I had another one set to be released today, but I

decided to change it to this one.

Why?

Well, because last week you all saw a photo shoot that was released by

Brandpreneur , like entrepreneur, that's the name of the company and

the photographer is Nick Nelson.

He released a photo shoot that I did to announce the launch of

this family venture that I have.

I never take pictures, when I say never I mean, never.

So in order for me to allow him to publicly release footage

from the shoot and all of that, I mean, that's pretty major.

It was definitely necessary and timed perfectly because Focus Innovation Group

publicly launched this past week, which basically means we've let people know

what we've already been working on.

We offered the opportunity for people to support, engage, partner, or just

follow the journey from the sidelines.

All of those things are okay.

So I received some DMS and emails wanting to know what this is all

about, and I appreciate all of the words of encouragement, and

support you all have offered.

It's so awesome to see other people want to see you win just as much as

you root and support other people, that's definitely what I do online now.

As someone who is typically behind the scenes, I'm going to

be real transparent with you here.

I had to step way out of my comfort zone to allow the public

release of that photo shoot.

Though, it turned out very well.

The team from Nick, to the makeup artist, to the stylist

Morgan Wider, simply amazing.

If you remember Morgan's episode on the Unpolished MBA was episode 46.

She was the first guest interviewed this season.

If you haven't listened to that episode with her, I really think you should

because she hit the nail on the head about some of us who had made it our

habits to blend into our environments.

I am guilty of that in all ways, especially being a woman and a black

woman in engineering, and then in tech, you try to do your best to just fit in.

Really those days are over, but Morgan described in that episode

how when you do that, it affects you, it affects your business.

Especially once you become an entrepreneur, it affects

how you're perceived and really even your performance.

So if you're following me on LinkedIn and you saw my posts

with the before and after pictures that Nick took, it's like, "whoa."

that's the only place where it's posted right now is on LinkedIn, I just

want you to know it's night and day.

Those pictures are night and day, but you know what?

Getting bolder is the theme for this next phase of entrepreneurship

for me, so it was perfect.

On the last episode of season three, which was our last season,

because we're now in season four.

I think that last episode was 45.

If you haven't listened to it, go back to it because that's where I told you

all "Hey, I'm leveling up my game."

Right now I'm just using this time to explain a little bit

more about what I mean by that.

I gave some details in that episode, but now I'm sharing a little

bit more since we've launched.

So basically, people said, "oh my goodness, what is she doing now?

She's always doing something."

Of course people will always have things to say and judge, and that's

just part of life, who cares.

You know, that's right, I'm always doing something and as P Diddy says,

back when he used to call himself Puff Daddy if you guys remember that.

One thing that he used to say is "can't stop, won't stop.", and only those who

were into hip hop in the late nineties know what I'm talking about and that's

okay, but I would say that's the theme.

That is my theme, can't stop won't stop.

I'm not going to until I fulfilled my purpose here on earth, to have a positive

impact on people in some way, somehow.

My work, what I do in my career is really my channel to do that.

It's changed and uplifted so many lives, including my own, and

I'm really just getting started.

In this venture, I get a chance to transform communities through the

companies that will employ them.

You're probably saying, how is she going to do that?

Well, of course, let me explain a little bit more.

The name of the company, as I mentioned is Focus Innovation

Group, which we call F.I.G for short F-I-G and that's by design.

Figs are really a symbol for happiness, prosperity ,longevity, and good luck.

There are many references to the fig tree in several religions.

It's actually a parable in the Bible, but there are so many things I could point out

about the acronym and just the term FIG, but I won't belabor the point right now.

Just know it has deep and purposeful meaning behind it, and that will

be reflected in the work we do, and the positive impact we'll have.

Before anyone says, what about TPM Focus and TPM Focus Marketing,

what's happening with those?

My company's, firstly TPM Focused Marketing, if you don't know,

is a spinoff of TPM Focus, the business strategy company.

The marketing part was branched off to just focus on creating marketing strategy

for innovative teams and companies.

TPM Focus, the overall entity , the business strategy part of the company

aligns marketing, sales, technology, and customer success to ensure revenue.

We focus on revenue.

We focus on revenue, just period in the businesses, but we basically

ensure that new innovations actually make money, not just exists.

I know a lot of people like creating cool things, but if it's a business,

it should be making money right?

That's what TPM Focus focuses on.

So in this venture TPM Focus and TPM Focus Marketing are acting consultants

to get F.I.G up and operating, and as we move forward, it will also be a

major part of the digital transformation we'll do to the companies we'll acquire.

We're going to take a quick timeout and pick back up in just a moment.

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So, what is F.I.G?

What is Focus Innovation Group?

What do we do?

Well, we acquire small manufacturing and industrial businesses that have

fallen behind the technological times and we'll perform digital

transformation within them to increase their efficiency and profitability

while ensuring that they're sustainable and successful far into the future.

To clarify more, digital transformation is basically the process of bringing them

into modern times by updating their value chain with new digital technologies.

We'll have a particular focus on their supply chain and internal operations

such as marketing, sales and service.

It makes sense, right?

If you look at the team, that is the expertise of decades that we have.

What our team knows from our years in technology innovation is that

innovation helps companies elevate themselves in a competitive marketplace.

What we have right now, every industry is being disrupted.

Basically there are better or more efficient ways to accomplish the

same thing that you're doing now.

Many companies, especially small businesses that have been in

existence for a while, they have not jumped on the bandwagon yet.

So let's think of it this way, sure I can still use a script pen and ink to

write a letter, but why would I do that?

Many companies still have that mindset and they have the equivalent

to that going on internally.

They're still able to make money, but they're not anywhere near reaching

their potential that they could.

They're afraid of change although technological innovations provide

companies with a competitive edge when they activate new solutions, but we also

know that startups have solutions that small businesses need the most, but they

have the most difficult time getting them to buy in and to become their customers.

So most startups, they usually just leave them alone and they go upstream and

start to serve the large enterprises, or they go downstream and sell directly to

consumers or entrepreneurs themselves.

Just about anything is easier than selling to a stubborn, small business.

Just about anything, it's pretty bad.

We talk about it all the time in startup ecosystem.

I always say that people who need the things the most are the ones

who don't get it and can't afford it, or something of that nature.

Small businesses really fall into that because by not adopting innovation,

many of them are being left behind and will not be sustainable in the future.

Something has to change, if they're the heartbeat of our country,

something has to change because when they fail our communities fail.

So F.I.G Focus Innovation Group will be a part of that solution.

How?

Well, we will acquire businesses in the following cities; our

top city is Atlanta, Georgia.

Our second top city is Orlando, Florida.

Our third top city is Cleveland, Ohio.

Then our fourth is Rochester, New York.

And I know you're saying why those cities like they're all East Coast, let me

tell you something, all of those cities have a personal and deep connection to

us and we want to have an impact there.

We also know each of those cities quite well.

We know the workforce, the pros and cons there, and yes,

we know all about the weather.

Oh my gosh.

We know about Cleveland and Rochester having nine feet of

snow at times during the year.

We know about all of that.

We also know that the workforce there in these locations need better paying jobs.

We know that being in the rust belt, many jobs have left that area.

We know that the quality of life for many can be better with improved

wages and access to job training.

For modern and marketable skills and buying businesses in these

communities enable us to play a part in improving the lives of as many

people in growing businesses that already provide value to customers,

but being able to do it much more.

Now, let me give you a few of the criteria we're looking at, right?

The companies we'll buy must be manufacturing or industrial, which I

mentioned, and it must supply basically a physical product to the market.

Nothing fancy, just something that is made or produced and sold to customers.

Also, they must earn revenues between 2 million and $15 million and have

been in business for at least 30 years.

Actually, the older, the better those small companies have been the hardest

to keep up with innovation because they haven't invested in it or had

leadership that was open to change.

The old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

well that rings true in many of these businesses that fit our criteria.

However, it is broken and it will be severed completely

if changes aren't made soon.

Also, we want businesses where the owners just done they're over

it, ready to move on and retire.

They're ready to divest and exit the business and sit back and enjoy the

fruits of their labor from over the years.

Now, everything I'm saying y'all, everything I'm saying can be found on

FocusInnovationGroup.com, all of it.

Plus, there's a way to get in touch with us there.

If you're interested in investing with us in these communities, we're

an experienced family owned business with corporate and startup experience.

It's about to go down and it's an exciting time to embark on these

kinds of transformations within businesses and within communities.

Let me tell you right now, I'm scoping out a family owned company, and I'm

not going to give you all of the details, but I'm going to give you an

idea so that you can paint a picture.

So, I've already identified a company that I think will be a great fit.

It's a family owned company and it's been in existence since the early 1900's.

Now I know I said the companies need to be at least 30 years old, and this

is over a hundred years old, as I said, the older, the better, but this company,

it meets so many different criteria.

I just know that things that I can do to help it be all just so much greater.

So they're a manufacturing company handed down through generations

and they're really struggling right now, like really struggling.

Unfortunately, the patriarch of the family is terminally ill and he's

having difficulty keeping leadership in place to run the place, and the

employees motivated and all of that.

People quit every day, it's like a revolving door there.

They have about 8 million in revenue and based upon their product line,

I know they can be so much more.

I've of course scoped out all of their marketing and things

online, which is hardly anything.

It's basically a non-existent digital footprint, there's

so much that can be done.

Also, as I mentioned, we'll be looking at their supply chain.

There's so much opportunity to really help this business and really get

the workforce engaged again too.

I just really feel like the potential of this one is bursting at the seams,

but you know what, this type of situation and this type of venture

that I've started, you can't get your heart set on any particular business.

It's similar to shopping for a house, right?

You don't get your hopes up cause it's a long process and it's actually not

yours until it closes and the paperwork is signed and the money is in the bank.

Now as a licensed real estate person here, I'm telling you, even at the

closing table things fall apart.

It's not yours until the money's in the bank.

Right now with this particular business I've identified, we're

nowhere near that far in the process.

I'm just in the beginning stages and I'm still learning about the company,

so I want you to continue to listen to episodes of Unpolished MBA to follow

the journey and learn more about the businesses we're scoping out, as well as

all of the ups and downs we're going to be having, that's just part of the journey.

That's just what it is, and I want to share that with you all too.

I plan to give it to you straight so make sure you subscribe to our channel.

As we drop episodes about the journey, the title we'll start with is "F I G uring

it out" I know it's kindof corny but you know, that's who I am F I G uring it out

. So when you are scrolling through the

ones about this topic, because this topic won't consume all of Unpolished

MBA podcasts, I still want to share with you the amazingly smart, intelligent

people I've encountered with hopes that you'll be inspired or build courage

or just learn something new, you know?

The podcast is not going to be overly consumed with this journey, but I

will be sharing it with you because it's another entrepreneurial pursuit

that I think will be interesting to many people who are trying to learn.

I really want to, if not anything else, have someone to share the

journey with that's not within the family business, and that's you all.

You can also reach out to Focus Innovation Group, to learn more

about what we're doing, or just go to FocusInnovationGroup.com

or DM me on LinkedIn.

I'll hit you back.

Thank you for listening to the Unpolished MBA podcast.

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