Get ready to move up to that corner office or start your own enterprise. JETmag.com is partnering with the award-winning The BOSS Network to bring you BOSS UP every week. This feature will highlight movers, shakers and rule-breakers across different industries, plus offer you career and entrepreneurial advice.
Monique Caradine is an award-winning TV and radio personality and a certified income and influence coach for emerging women in business. Using her nearly two decades as a producer and on-air personality and 10 years as an entrepreneur, she helps women in business drop fear and excuses to become highly visible high-earners.
The BOSS Network: Walk us through your journey to success. How did you get to this point?
MC: Actually, my journey is still in progress. I am no where near where I intend to be. However, I’ve come a very long way. After receiving my degree in radio-TV-film, I had a tough time getting a job in the industry once I returned to Chicago. Still committed to working in the media, I attended every networking event I possibly could. I introduced myself to Chicago broadcasting greats like Art Norman, Cheryl Burton, Mary Mitchell and others. I wanted them to know me! I was a go-getter and I was not going to give up on my dream. So anytime an unpaid internship came up, I took it, as long as it would get me in the door of anything related to media.
Eventually, Art Norman suggested I connect with Melody Spann-Cooper of WVON radio. I interned at the station one summer and was trained as a producer and news announcer by Keisha Chavers and the late Valerie Landon. These two took me under their wings and unselfishly taught me much of what I know today. The rest is history. I was eventually hired as WVON’s news director, I later became their youngest ever midday show host and that started my awesome journey as a nationally recognized media personality.
TBN: What do you do to stay on top of your game professionally?
MC: I do several things. I seek God first in everything I do. Every morning, before I do anything related to business, I connect with my Source through studying the Word, prayer and meditation.
My next priority is to study the wealthiest, most successful people in business. They have very unique values, habits, beliefs and mindsets. I love to deconstruct success so I can fully understand what it takes to achieve it at the highest level. This allows me to create trainings, workshops, speeches and programs to help my clients achieve high levels of success and wealth as well. So essentially, I take my most profound learnings about success and mix them with my experience as a media professional and that helps me attract brilliant clients who desire more influence, greater visibility and a higher income. It’s a unique skill set and it sets me a part from others in the game.
The last thing I do to stay on top is invest in myself through coaching. Every winner has a coach. That’s why I always partner with a high-level coach who strategically pushes me past my comfort zone. This is why I am never stagnant. Instead, I am always elevating to a new level in my business.
TBN: How do you balance your personal life with your professional?
MC: This is one of my greatest challenges, but I am learning how to separate business and personal life. My family is my treasure, so certain things I make a priority, such as picking up my son from school, making dinner, finding at least an hour during the week to watch a show with my husband…every moment counts!! My coach also pretty much demands that I take time for self-care. This is key because I cannot serve my clients or my family if I am exhausted and overwhelmed.
TBN: What advice would you give to a budding entrepreneur or career woman?
MC: The most important advice I would give to a new entrepreneur or professional is develop a strong brand. In today’s marketplace, your name has to have positive ideas, experiences and emotions attached to it. When people hear Monique Caradine, they know I am a person of integrity, commitment, high-character and results for my clients. I am not perfect, but I have always been very intentional about making sure that my brand was trust-centered and results-focused. When people hear your name in the marketplace, it’s got to bring good energy with it otherwise it will be tough to succeed in business.
TBN: What does being a BOSS mean to you?
MC: I am so honored to be a member of the BOSS Network! Being surrounded by women who are smart, successful, beautiful and determined means that I can achieve ANYTHING! No dream is out of reach. Anything I want, I can just go to the BOSS Network and say, hi ladies, I need “XYZ” and before I know, I’m connected to the resources to make it happen. Every woman entrepreneur should be a BOSS!
TBN: You believe that every woman has the potential to earn multiple six or seven figures in her business. Explain this in more detail.
MC: Truth be told making seven figures is a lot easier than most people think! However, many of us hold on to a disempowering mindset around money that keeps us stuck or struggling to move from one income level to the next. Here’s the real deal: Everyone reading this right now not only has the potential to be a millionaire, they have a responsibility to be a millionaire. I believe that women are the wealth revolutionaries of our generation. We are going to be the ones who help our culture (and the family) overcome the many challenges we face. The only way will do this is by creating more income and leveraging that income to create change. This is my message and the focus of my work. This is what I am so passionate about helping women understand. This is what I was born to do. I am on a mission to create millionaires!
Connect with Monique Caradine and view her member profile at The BOSS Network. Her OverFlow Women’s Business Retreat is being held in San Juan Puerto Rico June 4-6, 2014.
Connect with us on Twitter @TheBOSSNetwork. For more information, visitTheBOSSNetwork.org.
