Today we’d like to introduce you to Monique Childress.
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Monique. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m originally from the South Side of Chicago. My mom is an elementary school teacher and my dad has a demolition business. My dad studied engineering and in a sense, shepherded me when it came to learning how to run a business. For him, there was a lot of trial-and-error since he never took a single business course while he was in school–he did not set out initially to have his own company. I decided to study business in undergrad at Washington University in St. Louis because I knew that no matter what route I took after school, eventually I wanted to have enough experience where I could teach business owners, like my father, about starting, growing, and maintaining their organizations. I didn’t realize it back then but I was describing consulting!
Eventually, I decided to study marketing and organizational behavior in college. My last semester before graduation, I took part in a community consulting program where the school pairs students with a local nonprofit to help them to solve a tangible problem they were facing. From there, I realized that consulting was the career for me. Poorly timed though, since I just missed the deadline to apply for a post-graduation role with a major consulting firm. So I took the next few years to hone in on marketing at a construction management firm before going back to school for my MBA. No regrets.
I started at Accenture’s Atlanta office in their Talent & Organization Strategy practice after graduating from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. While there, I worked my way up to a Manager role, building a portfolio of Fortune 500 clients who were, at that time, going through major growth transformations. I focused on developing talent, implementing leadership strategies, and helping client teams manage the changes happening in their organizations. I loved the work—it challenged me and prepared me to work with new industries every few months. An opportunity presented itself to manage one of our office’s pro-bono projects with a local human trafficking organization.
With that, I focused on bringing hundreds of stakeholders together to develop a three-year strategic plan, convening partners across the metro area to stop the demand for human trafficking. It was like a lightbulb went off. For the first time since college, I was able to do strategic work that had both a major impact on the client AND the community. I soon realized that my usual day-to-day work wasn’t fulfilling enough and maybe my purpose could run deeper. I decided to leave the big position with the big firm in early 2019 to start the Horizon Advisory Group and pursue more purpose-driven projects.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The first hurdle for me initially was the thought process around leaving a high-paying job in a larger company to going into business for myself. The next hurdle was actually betting on myself and deciding to start Horizon. The shift required new mindsets that I was not prepared for at first. Reading books like the E-Myth and listening to countless business and entrepreneurship podcasts have helped me to see that the mindset shift can happen and I’ve started to notice the progress.
Another challenge in being in business for yourself is getting used to not having a team around you at all times. I craved autonomy when I left my job but I’ve realized that, while I’m a true introvert, energizing interactions with others are critical to your sanity as a business owner. So I joined a coworking space last summer, I meet with an awesome mastermind group once a month, I started volunteering with Emory’s Start: ME Atlanta entrepreneur accelerator and the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and I try to make it out to 1-2 industry events a week.
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
Horizon Advisory Group (www.horizonadvisoryllc.com) is an organizational strategy consulting firm based in Atlanta. We help mission-driven leaders define a path to their next horizon through organizational audits, strategic planning, and coordinated stakeholder collaboration. Horizon customizes consulting methods used at the world’s largest firms for our non-profit and small business clients alike. We take on projects with organizations that are community-minded first. We offer strategic planning to help our clients answer questions like “Where is our organization going?” and “how can we get there?” Strategic planning plays a critical role in staff performance, board alignment, and donor funding for nonprofit organizations.
We also offer organizational assessments to help our clients answer questions like “What is happening in my organization?” and determine which barriers are keeping the organization from growth. Our team facilitation services help clients understand how they can make sure the time spent in workshops and retreats is engaging, productive, and efficient, and that it justifies the time spent away from the office. We also look at how teams can work more effectively to brainstorm, test, and execute on new ideas.
In a nutshell, we work with founders and executives who are receptive to change — those who want growth but need help getting there. Everything from revenue growth to employee retention and engagement is how Horizon Advisory Group helps. The most satisfying and proudest moments come from discovering a major underlying issue that’s happening in a client’s organization that could be causing attrition or low productivity or low revenue growth. That and the sigh of relief from the client when we’ve not only identified it, but we can then start to work on a plan of action.
Additionally, Horizon now offers a quarterly workshop series focused on the basics of strategic planning for nonprofit leaders who either don’t have access to the funding for a consultant to facilitate the process or they want to run their own process but they don’t know where to start. Each workshop will cover the who, what, and why of the strategic plan and process, and then we’ll deep dive into a different section of the plan for attendees to workshop together and receive feedback. Starting Friday, February 21st, I’ll be hosting the first 2020 workshop which will help nonprofit executives and board members to clarify the desired impact for their organization, which carries over to clarifying the organization’s mission, vision, and offerings. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I’ve had a lot of supporters in my network that have cheered me on from near and afar. First of which, is my family. They are usually amongst the first to like my company’s Facebook posts :).
Also, my close friends from college, business school, and even my old firm who have offered advice, referrals, and even partnerships. I’m also part of a phenomenal mastermind group of Black women entrepreneurs and it has been a saving grace for community and problem-solving.
Lastly, I cherish the relationships that I’ve built with my current and former clients, like Deborah Richardson, executive director for the International Human Trafficking Institute for example) as they’ve not only provided great feedback but also they’ve introduced this Chicago girl to the lay of the land in Atlanta. Atlanta is a city built on relationships!
There have been many others that I’m grateful to have met over the last year through my coworking space and via networking organizations and events like the Atlanta Black Chambers and the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Contact Info:
- Address: 621 North Avenue NE
Building D, Suite 160 - Website: www.horizonadvisoryllc.com
- Phone: 4049103165
- Email: contact@horizonadvisoryllc.com
- Instagram: @horizonadvisorygroup
- Facebook: @horizonadvisorygroup
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/horizonadvisorygroup/
Image Credit:
Main image – Orlando Evans
Pink blazer photo – S.Marche’ Photography
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