Why the Future, For Everyone, is Some Form of Entrepreneurship, with Monique Mills, TPM Focus

Why the Future, For Everyone, is Some Form of Entrepreneurship, with Monique Mills, TPM Focus

Monique Mills: [00:00:00] Corporate America has turned into a place that’s not reliable. And I think people are understanding that you hold your future in your hands. If you put it in the hands of a company, there’s no such thing as loyalty anymore. When they need to make cuts, when they need to go in a different direction, no matter how much they like you, you got to go. And so, you need to have a skillset to know how to create something out of nothing.

Monique Mills: [00:00:27] And that’s what I talked about in the beginning, about how once I received my MBA, I did it at Georgia Tech. And I took the track where we had to actually create a startup as our capstone project. So, the skillset is there. I can spin up a business literally in a week. Like, I know all the things to do, get it going, and get things set up. And so, I think that everyone is going to have to learn that skill because, whether it’s freelancing or just being a member of the gig economy, that’s still entrepreneurship in some way.

Monique Mills: [00:01:07] And as I’m noticing now, because I’m in this space of people that’s creating things and plucking talent from different things in order to create their businesses, is that, I may have a business and they may have a business and I hire their business to work for clients of my business. Does that make sense? So, it’s like it’s more of that happening where, you know, someone may have a business that does social media marketing. I have a client that needs social media marketing, so I’ll basically subcontract them to service my client.

Monique Mills: [00:01:46] But I’m still – as we say in construction – that one throat to choke. So, I’m that main person, but I make sure the work gets done. And so, a lot of that happens, especially in the small business world of people who understand how to do this. And I think it’s going to become more and more prevalent as people get laid off, and things become more automated, and just companies become less and less reliable for that paycheck.

Monique Mills, CEO, TPM Focus, LLC

Monique Mills is a degreed electrical engineer turned serial entrepreneur. She attended Rochester Institute of Technology for her engineering degree and completed her MBA, with a concentration on Management of Technology, at Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a licensed Realtor(R) as well as a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Monique began her career in the semiconductor industry then went on to hold positions in the energy, aviation, real estate, and technology industries. Monique’s earliest entrepreneurial experience began while simultaneously working in her engineering career. As a result of her love of real estate, construction, and desire to manage her personal investment transactions, she became a licensed Realtor and launched a real estate sales and consulting business to assist other investors in strategic planning and execution of their real estate ventures. Monique has expertise in buying, selling, leasing, and construction management of both residential and commercial properties. She is a Member of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors.

Monique has founded four companies, one of which was a SaaS technology startup targeting the commercial real estate and retail industry. Currently, she is the CEO of TPM Focus, a strategy consulting firm providing revenue-focused strategy and execution services to startups and SMB’s launching new products.

Monique lends her talents to startup incubators and accelerators around the country including serving as a Mentor for Founder Institute, a Startup Coach for the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech, and serving as an Advisory Board Member for Stem to Market, a Kauffman Foundation-funded accelerator of the Association for Women in Science that supports STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) entrepreneurs seeking commercialization of their research and technology. She is an advocate for the diversification of STEM careers, expanded leadership, and equitable entrepreneurial opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities.

Monique is an Adjunct Instructor of Entrepreneurship at Georgia State University in the College of Business as part of the University’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute teaching students how to apply evidence-based entrepreneurship methods to go from an idea to a sustainable business model.

Company website

Monique on LinkedIn

Listen to the full Alpharetta Tech Talk interview here.