Nicole Laino
Hello, and welcome to the limitless entrepreneur podcast. I am your host, Nicole Laino. And I am here with a lovely and talented guest, Miss Monique white. She is the CEO and founder of Triumph Services. And Monique, thank you for being here. Thank you for being on the show. Introduce yourself to the audience, tell them a little bit about yourself.
Monique White
Well, hello, Nicole, and hello to your audience. Thank you for having me. I am Monique white, as you said the CEO and founder of Triumph Services, a consulting and coaching firm. And I also am a nurse, and attorney, international speaker and Amazon Best Selling Author. All of that sounds really, really big and allied. But that is not how I began.
Nicole Laino
So tell us a little bit about where you came from and where you started.
Monique White
Well, I started as a single, pregnant teenager, unsure of her next options, unsure of where to go next. And quite frankly, lacking in the confidence to move forward. Those were my beginnings. So I had to actually reach deep and a discover a what are my immediate needs. So that's where the nursing came from, I became a nurse because that provided the flexibility to be home with my child and still make a good living to provide for him. And my journey took a lot of you know, twists and turns ups and downs, I had the blessing and the honour of being connected with a beam when I went back for my Bachelor's program, who challenged me to be different, to challenge me to look for more in myself, and my own abilities. And she challenged me to become a lawyer. I would love to tell people, people always tell me, ask me, how did I go from one to the other, I would love to tell them that I had this big dream of becoming a lawyer. But that's just myself. That was just that was a bet. That was someone seeing in me more than I saw myself in myself. And that's just the awesome thing about how God moves. Because sometimes we don't see our own work. It takes someone he places someone in our path that feels that we can be a fee for what we can be rather than what we are at that moment.
Nicole Laino
And I think something that I want to ask you that I asked some of our guests is and because there's some places I want to go with this. But I'd love to hear what you have to say like, is there somebody who inspires you or someone who inspired you in the past? And why can you name somebody?
Monique White
Most definitely Oprah, Oprah she inspired me because when you look at Oprah, Oprah the income from a wealthy background, she didn't come from an area or a background. I mean, she came from modest background. She went through a lot of tests and trials, if you will, in her her life. But she had a dream. She had a dream. And she, again, was connected to people that pushed her. Now Oprah went into a field that was predominantly men. She, of course, came up against obstacles. But she didn't let that stop her. She continued on and she kept no matter what she went through, no matter what people said about her. She kept her eye on where she wanted to be. And she kept working toward her goal. Never really losing sight of who Oprah was in inside or where Oprah came from. But she allowed that story to empower her and push her. And she uses all of that now to where she is to help other women and to encourage other women to embrace their own power within, if you will.
Nicole Laino
She most certainly has. I think that I think you'd be hard pressed to find a woman that who said that they weren't inspired in some way by Oprah in some way in their life either to give more, to be more to embrace their story. Like she really hit on a lot of things like I grew up on Oprah, like in the house playing in the background, and it's just an inspirational figure. And I think that people like that, I think are part of the reason why women at one point felt that they Couldn't do things. And it's these examples that are put out there for us, who help us see that it is possible for us. Right? And for you, you had this Dean as well, who not only set an example, but it was a woman. Yes. Yeah. So not only that, but she's She's looking at you. And she's saying, why don't you try something different? I think, I think you're aiming for what and I always look out for this with my clients, too. It's don't shoot for what you think you can get for what you want, and have the courage to stand in what you want, or to dream bigger than what the world is telling you is where you belong.
Monique White
Exactly, exactly. And at that time, I'm probably dating myself. But at that time, being a nurse anesthetists, being a nurse practitioner, was all the rage. So everybody was being funneled into being a nurse practitioner. And that was her pet peeve. Her Pet peeve was just because you're female? Does it mean that all you can be it's a nurse practitioner? Because that Al, you're still going to have to answer to, to a man, because I be different be be you can be more powerful than that. And I'm so grateful for her.
Nicole Laino
So that led you to be an attorney, you ended up becoming an attorney. And and then that led you to becoming a coach, eventually. And what you run now you work with a similar audience, to me work with female entrepreneurs just starting out just or in that middle stage have haven't really gotten it off the ground yet, you know, but they've got the plane, but it's just not off the ground yet. Right now. So some of the things that I have, I've noticed with that particular with people who are listening to the show right now in that stage of their business is, is that belief. So I have a lot of I don't know if this is part of who you work with, as well. But there are a lot of entrepreneurs in my audience who are network marketers. And I think what that does is network marketing has such a low barrier to entry. So it's the it's that permission slip, it's that someone believing you, it's someone who comes to you and says, like, you could do this, too. And there isn't this, there's not a four year degree required, there's not a $20,000 investment required. So they they dive into it, but then they're kind of on their own. And, and then that's where the belief sets in there just can I really do this? Is this really possible for me? And swimming in that space can be can feel like a really big pool? In the beginning? What do you start people off with? In the beginning? Do you find that they're trying to build that belief in the beginning, is that the biggest hurdle for your clients? When they started out?
Monique White
It is, I say to people, you know, there is a difference between knowing and believing. A lot of us know we can do it, but we don't believe which is exactly what you said. But what I where I start my clients out, is really diving into knowing who who's and why they are, I am a faith based organization. So we start out with you know, who you are, and really diving into and letting the woman discover their own power and authority by virtue of who's they are, which is a daughter of Jesus Christ as a Christian, and all of that all of what that entails. Then we go into what are your core values because what permeates every aspect of your life, personal and professional, your core values. Once you identify what your core values are, then that is going to drive your business. That's what you're going to build upon. For example, if you don't have integrity in your personal life, you're not going to have integrity in your professional life. So identifying what those core values are, and why you are your purpose. And I think that's where a lot of people get stuck. What is your unique gifting, not trying to be someone else that you see on social media or whatever, because each one of us is invested with our own unique talents that we have been given in order to leverage so we can grab hold Hold the biblical promise of prosperity and abundance.
Nicole Laino
And I think that that, that is definitely so. So just to sort of recap that because I love this is recognizing that you are a child of God which, which, in essence is that you are perfect. That in your purest form, you are perfect. And well and correct me if I'm getting any of this wrong with that sort of when I hear something like that you are a daughter of Jesus Christ, you are a child of God, whoever you believe in as well. But you are a perfect being, as God sees you, as your maker sees you. And when we can connect with that we're invincible.
Monique White
Right? Whatever your belief system is, right, we were made in His perfect image. Net, but we're all human, but we can if we grab hold up and really become in tune with whatever being higher being Jesus Christ, that spirit, if we become attuned to that, then we can achieve and be live in the example that was set for us in power and authority. And we can control our circumstances, rather than our circumstances controlling us.
Nicole Laino
Yes, and B, I follow Dr. Joe Dispenza. As someone I've, I've studied with and, and worked in his programs, and he always says, you know, be greater than your environment. And you know, when you are when when you are fully powerful in your inner being, the outer world has very little effect on you you're unshakable at that point. And if something on the outside is shaking you, it has nothing to do with the outside, it has everything to do with the inside. And that's the work. And that's the stuff I could just go off on a whole tangent. But then you move on to core values. So once you recognize that you are a child of God, that you are that you are this perfect being in your creation in this image of him, and then connecting with your core values. Now why is that important for their business, I'd love for you to kind of dive into I know, you talked about integrity. And if you don't have integrity in your life, you won't have it in your business. But is that to solidify because we talk about values in my program, I'm wondering what your perspective is on it is it's to give that framework for what you stand for in your business and those guiding lights that that Northstar,
Monique White
right, you're guiding principles. There, as you know, in entrepreneurship, you're going to have ups and you're going to have downs, the weights are going to come and go, they are the principles that are going to keep you firmly grounded, they are going to guide you on that course. So no matter what comes or what matter what goes if that being showing up authentically.
Nicole Laino
And then the last one, you know, so it was who you are your core values and then the why your purpose. Why you are your purpose, your unique gifts. And you said this was the hardest one and I gotta say I agree with you. I think that that's the hardest one for anyone because I think the first prerequisite for for this part of the course is accepting that you have unique gifts. That that you are worthy of an affirmation and give to all of my clients is you are worthy of people's attention. Yeah, you are worthy of going out there and speaking who you are sharing what you what is inside of you. And you are worthy of people respecting that. Looking at you listening to you and taking in what you have to offer. And that can be a really difficult thing for most of us to do.
Monique White
Yes, especially women, especially women.
Nicole Laino
Yeah, I think. And let's dive into that a little bit about the psychology of women and and standing in our unique gifts and our purpose and what's been your experience with that in the people that you work with. I'd love to hear some of that perspective.
Monique White
I think women struggle with this a lot based on the world paradigm that we've all grown up in. It's also a cultural thing. And this expectation that we put everybody before ourselves that we're all and we're people pleasers, because of that we always want to put everyone is ahead of ourselves. We went to please other people. And in doing that. We give people power over us and we kind of give our power away. And doing that we diminish our own selves and our own power. So then you have this tension, if you will, of what we feel in our gut, that that power that we need to show up and to be truly happy. And then we have this tension pulling on the other side of the world paradigm of what a woman is supposed to be, and how a woman is supposed to be. And that in the middle is where you get that frustration. And that that powerlessness? So the conundrum is how do you resolve it? How do you because it's either going to, if you look at it as, as a rubber band, it's either going to pull pull one way or the other to release that tension. And that's, a lot of us are still struggling with that. But yeah, I think it's really taking the time to do some introspection. I mean, everybody is at different stages in their life, what is most important to you, you can't make other people happy, if you yourself are not happy. That's what and really deciding based on what your core values are, there you go again, how based on that, which way you're going to go.
Nicole Laino
Yeah, and so when something that just kind of resonated pretty powerfully with me, there was, you know, you can't make others happy, if you're not happy. And so that goes to challenging this belief, and challenging this paradigm in the way that we operate, of people pleasing, of putting ourselves last, putting everybody in front of us. And that might seem like the, you know, the plan the way that a lot of us operate, and it might seem like the right thing to do. But I think it's also what's leading to sort of this little female revolution that we have going on is that there's part of us that's saying, and I always say that, you know, the, your, your subconscious, you're the inner voice that's calling out to you, if you have a calling, it's gonna start off knocking on the door, like a soft little knock. And then it's going to knock a little louder, and then it's going to knock a lot louder. And until it tears your house down, you either and you either answer the door, or it's going to huff and puff and puff and blow your house down. And that can be in health that can manifest itself that can manifest in divorce, and all sorts of things. And it comes usually from not listening to ourselves and not answering the deeper calling that we have from within. And I think that's addressed so many. And it's just been your experience as well. It's just drawn a lot of women to entrepreneurship. Because it's like this profit making journey to owning your stuff. And for you know, climbing your own like mental mountain.
Monique White
Exactly.
Nicole Laino
So, so tell me a little bit about your you have something called the startup Academy, right, that is your program. And, and they tell us a little bit about what you offer to people and what what, what the framework is that you walk people through in your programs.
Monique White
Okay? The night the startup Academy is a 90 day program is designed to take you from an idea to a viable business. So we start off with who's who and why you are. We started off into validating an idea. Not every idea is a good idea. And we talk a lot about gifting you and I are and everyone is has been created with talents and gifts. As I said earlier, many of us more than one. I tell people the clues are in your past. How do you take that gift thing and leverage it. We also talk about your different business entities. Having a strong foundation too many people go out and start a business without laying that strong foundation and then they end up getting in trouble. I also leveraged my background, and we talked about different things like contracts, the difference between them, and then we go through taking that business within nine as taking that idea and having you come out at 90 days with a viable business.
Nicole Laino
That's amazing. And it's something that that kind of sparked a question so Once you've embraced your unique gifts How do you know? Which are the ones to share? How do you know? Which is like, what is that part look like? Where are they like, Okay, so these are the things that I that I have these are the these are the talents that I have, how does that translate into something that I can profit from? How can I how can I turn that into a business? A lot of people might look at it and say, Well, yeah, but I think that we discount a lot of the things that we are good at and innately good at. Because we think that there's no money to be made in it. What do you say to somebody who has that right now who's thinking that
Monique White
there could be money to be made on anything? I mean, if anybody takes a look at Facebook these days, especially during this time, some of these ads, you're like, What in the world is that? There's got to be a, what is for you is for you. What God has for you is for you. There is somebody waiting on what it's something that you have to deliver. We in my program, we do go through a whole validation process. The goal is to pick that which you can monetize now. And you probably have more than one thing. But what is the easiest thing that we can hone down? We can polish up and get you out there to monetize now. Because actually, like I said, I saw something the other day, and I'm like, Oh, my goodness, what in the world is that? But I guarantee you it's sold to somebody. So we have to get past that's an obstacle that we place in our own pathway. Yeah, we prejudge things. And it's not for us to prejudge, because we're not the ones who are going to be purchasing it or consuming it. It's for the market to judge and you're not going to have that information if you don't put it out there.
Nicole Laino
Yeah, and I always say that, that sometimes we put up walls in our way that they don't really exist except in our head. So we think of something we think of an idea. And then we say, Oh, nobody would buy that. And that's a wall that we put up. And I always say like when there's a wall, like, you know, when when we've created a wall, like my first question is like, well, what's the window that we can create? Here? What's and the windows are usually created by questions that you can ask. So you'd say like, who would buy who's the right buyer for this product? And I feel like that changes your energy with how you're approaching the problem. You're saying like, Okay, well, how can I how can I sell this product? You're saying like, nobody will buy this? And then instead of that, you're saying, Well, who is the right buyer for this product? And maybe it is nobody, maybe that's not it. But chances are that conversation that you have is going to lead you to the slight pivot to the product that's just to the right of the one that you started out thinking about. And, and that's the one that people will buy. And that's the one you're like, that's it. That's the one. They say I come from the tech startup world, like I started a small software company. And there's there's such a different mindset of, of the way that you approach your business like they're just like, they're like no expect to pivots, it's actually worse, if you don't pivot, it shouldn't be your first idea that you should come out with an MVP, you should put out your minimum viable product tested in the market, that's not going to be the one that you move forward with. You're going to slightly pivot, and that might be the one it's probably going to be your next pivot. Right. When you have that in your mind, then you're not crushed by the failure. You're looking at that first one truly as a test.
Monique White
Right, look, look at 409. Yeah, 409 is not just the name. That's how many tries it took to get it right. Yeah. That's how many tries it took to get it right. And I think we need to just change our mindset. We're always looking at something as a failure. But it's not a failure. It's a lesson. Yes, that's valuable data that you can now go back, make adjustments and come back at it again.
Nicole Laino
Mm hmm. Absolutely. Well, I love this. I this was such a great discussion. I think that it really helps people when you're in that beginning idea stage and you're trying to figure out does this exist is this I think you're living proof of you were working with what you had, making the most of what you had every step of the way. Someone challenged you to see beyond the next obvious step or the one that People were dictating to you and told you like, let's expand your vision a little bit here, right? Humor me indulge me, let's think about I know you're thinking nurse practitioner because that seems like the next one. But what if I said lawyer? What does that make you do? I love that. And I love that you help people step into that possibility as your business now I think that that's just what a gift to the world like you using your unique gifts, your unique talents and your story is such an example for everyone.
Monique White
Yeah, and I'm truly honored every day when I when I interact with the ladies that they trust me with with their next step into the elevation and into looking higher and farther into all that they can be. Yep,
Nicole Laino
absolutely. Well, Monique, everybody's going to want to stay in touch with you, they're going to want to know where they can learn more about your startup Academy, learn more about what you teach and how you teach it and, and keep in touch with your content and the value that you have to offer. So where can they do that? Where can my listeners keep in touch with you and and stay up to date on what you're up to.
Monique White
They can connect with me in my Facebook group www.facebook.com forward slash the transformed entrepreneur. The startup Academy will be open for a moment, and I guess about four weeks. We do open enrollment on a rolling basis. So the best way to stay connected with me is [email protected] forward slash the transformed entrepreneur. And they can keep you know, get all the free content and keep up to date with me. They're
Nicole Laino
awesome. Yeah, and we'll link that up in the show notes. So if you weren't able to grab that or write that down, we'll have a link for you just hop on over to the Show page, and then click the link and that'll take you right over to Monique's group. And that's where so the startup Academy when enrollment opens, you'll let that that group know that will always be where you're updating people letting them know when enrollments open what you're offering. And you also offer other regular content in that group as well. So they'll get something even in between enrollments.
Monique White
Correct? Correct. We actually run shows every once in a while series within that group, but and all the announcements will be posted within that group.
Nicole Laino
How awesome so guys, you definitely going to want to stay in touch with Monique. And so if you are thinking about taking your idea, bringing it through a process in 90 days to have an a viable business at the end of it, definitely check out Monique's group, the transformed entrepreneur and the startup Academy. You can get all of the details for that within that group. So hop on over there, click the link in the show notes. Monique, thank you so much for being here. This was such a pleasure to have you with such a great conversation. I appreciate you taking the time and sharing your story and your energy with us.
Monique White
Thank you so much for having me. And thank
Nicole Laino
you to everybody who's been listening. Thank you for staying till the end. Guys. This show is a reminder every single week, I want you to remember that you are limitless you are only limited by the limitations that you accept. And when you stop accepting those limitations. You are a limitless entrepreneur. So thank you so much for being here. I will see you on next week's episode. Stay tuned for that. Bye bye
