(North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 459)
With deep curiosity and a breadth of experience, Monique Mills, CEO of TPM Focus, is uniquely qualified as a tech startup consultant. She and host John Ray talked about the knowledge and wisdom she offers, and how her firm helps companies with revenue-focused strategies and honest, transparent business advice. Monique also shared how she got into consulting, the pitfalls she sees entrepreneurs get into, those who go back to corporate, dealing with investors, how to work with software developers, and much more.
Monique’s podcast is Unpolished MBA and can be found here.
North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.
TPM Focus is an innovation strategy consulting firm providing revenue-focused strategies and tactics that align sales, marketing, technology, and customer success with financial goals for startups and SMBs launching new, innovative products.
Focused Innovation Group, is a family-owned company created to acquire small businesses that are ripe for innovation and digital transformation to increase their efficiencies and profitability.
Company Website |LinkedIn | Facebook
Monique Mills is a degreed electrical engineer turned serial entrepreneur. Having experience in everything from building software companies to building power plants, she’s worked in multiple industries including water, semiconductor, aviation, construction, and real estate.
She’s founded 5 companies and focuses on business innovation through her consulting and acquisition companies.
Monique currently serves as the CEO of TPM Focus, an innovation strategy consulting firm, and as President of Focused Innovation Group (FIG), a family-owned acquisition company. Monique serves as a Mentor, Advisor, Consultant, and Strategic Partner to several entrepreneurial and innovation organizations such as Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech (ATDC), STEM to Market, Founder Institute, Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), National Minority Diversity Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), Winston Starts, and Operation Hope.
She is also an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at Georgia State University. With an electrical engineering degree from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from Georgia Institute of Technology, she is an advocate for the diversification of STEM careers, expanded leadership, and equitable entrepreneurial opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities.
Questions and Topics in this Interview:
- How starting a company is not necessarily the same as founding a startup.
- What advice would you give to someone with a tech startup idea who does not have a tech background?
- What advice would you give to those who are trying to create an entrepreneurial environment to drive innovation and growth in their city?
- Why did you start Focused Innovation Group this year?
- With all this talk about certifications over degrees, especially with the rising costs of tuition, were the degrees necessary for achieving success in my career?
North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
Special thanks to A&S Culinary Concepts for their support of this edition of North Fulton Business Radio. A&S Culinary Concepts, based in Johns Creek, is an award-winning culinary studio, celebrated for corporate catering, corporate team building, Big Green Egg Boot Camps, and private group events. They also provide oven-ready, cooked from scratch meals to go they call “Let Us Cook for You.” To see their menus and events, go to their website or call 678-336-9196.
