Meet Monique Hayward

We recently connected with Monique Hayward and have shared our conversation below.

Monique, thanks for taking the time to share your lessons with our community today. So, let’s jump right in – one of the most essential skills for unlocking our potential is self-discipline. Where does your self-discipline come from?
I’ve always been a self-disciplined, self-motivated, “get-it-done” person who sets clear goals and objectives for myself so I can achieve success in all aspects of my life and career as a corporate marketing executive and an entrepreneur. I learned it from my late maternal grandmother, who spent most of her adult life in New York City. She worked the night shift as a nurse at a hospital in Queens and then would battle morning rush-hour traffic to make it in time to open the beauty salon business she owned in Manhattan. When she closed the salon for the day, she’d drive to her home in the Bronx, devote some time to herself in the evening, get in the bed for a few hours of sleep, and then start the cycle all over again.

Grandma set a clear example of self-discipline that inspires me to this day. Certainly, no one does anything in isolation, but I can’t count on other people’s support and help on this journey if I first haven’t committed to do the hard work, sacrifice when necessary, make good decisions, and pursue the right opportunities to get where I’m going.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m pursuing a dual career as a corporate marketing executive at Microsoft and an entrepreneur with my own companies, Nouveau Connoisseurs Corporation and DRISCOLL Cuisine & Cocktail Concepts. At Microsoft, I’m the Senior Director of Business Applications Ecosystem Marketing, leading a team that drives growth for Microsoft Business Applications through our partners. We focus on building partner capabilities, crafting go-to-market strategies, investing in key initiatives, and fostering strong relationships to ensure our partners’ success in the industry.

With Nouveau Connoisseurs, I’m dedicated to developing current and aspiring entrepreneurs and business professionals with writing, publishing, teaching, and speaking on various topics, including personal brand, communications, public speaking, networking, mentoring, and coaching. DRISCOLL is my personal chef venture with co-founder Brian Driscoll, and we deliver creatively conceived, exclusively tailored, and professionally executed in-home dining experiences for our clients in the Phoenix metro area.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
When I look back, I’ve benefited most from the following:

1. Growth Mindset: Approach your life and career with a growth mindset. Be a “learn-it-all” vs. a “know-it-all.” Believe that your own ability and intelligence can develop and improve over time through hard work, perseverance, and learning from failures and mistakes. Instead of seeing challenges, setbacks, and failure as negative, embrace them as opportunities to learn and grow.

2. Communication: Learn how to be a good storyteller. It’s not enough in your career to have the work “speak for itself.” Rather, you need to always be sharing your story in a way that’s clear, consistent, and compelling so you’re able to persuade and influence people to take the right action and pursue the desired outcomes you want to see.

3. Be Yourself: Show up as you are. You know instantly when the “clothes don’t fit” because you’re not comfortable and something’s not quite right. Others see that, too. Authenticity starts with being true to yourself and what you believe and stand for.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Right now, my business partner Brian Driscoll and I have a huge challenge with achieving scale for DRISCOLL Cuisine & Cocktail Concepts, our personal chef business. Personal chefs typically operate as “solopreneurs,” but we’ve successfully expanded that notion to offer chefs a platform to showcase their talents without having to invest in their own infrastructure and can gain exposure with clients who they wouldn’t be able to reach on their own.

Now we want to take our company to the next level with a “Culinary Bed & Breakfast” concept. This concept builds on the personal chef service to give us our own on-site kitchen, and at the same time, it will include a traditional B&B hosting overnight guests and space to host small parties for B&B guests and local clientele – e.g., cooking classes, private events, and business meetings.

The obstacles we face are three-fold: 1) Identifying and investing in the right property at a time when the real estate market is in turmoil; 2) Collaborating with city and county regulators on the proper permits to allow us to operate all aspects of the business we’re envisioning; and 3) Securing the funding required to launch the concept.  In fact, we’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign with Honeycomb Credit to raise capital for our expansion plans, and you can learn more about how you can support our business at our campaign page.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.moniquehayward.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquehayward
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/moniquehayward