Meet Monique Blokzyl, the Guide to Solopreneurs!
An awarded international speaker, trainer, coach and published author, Germany- based Monique Blokzyl has too much on her platter yet she is calm and in full spirits to acknowledge your queries. “It’s all in your heart and mind, if you plan to achieve something, it will surely be true,” says Monique who runs mySpeakerBusiness, to support professional speakers from around the globe to exchange with and support each other.
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Monique worked for almost 15 years in different international leadership positions in marketing and change management. With a mission today to help people realize their business dream, so they speak up, scale up and make a bigger impact, Blokzyl spoke to us while she was in India to attend the Women Economic Forum. Excerpts:
What is your source of inspiration?
I grew up in communist Eastern Germany, where people were state employed and resources state owned. I did not know any entrepreneurs. We grew up with the message: get good grades in school, so you get a good job and you live a good life. I followed that advice and eventually I lived a life many would have loved to have; I had an impressive corporate title, a big monthly salary check and I drove a shiny company car. At some point I was the Global Head of Pricing and Yield Management for DHL worldwide. It was a good life, but I was not happy. I was missing a purpose that was bigger than just earning billions for someone else. I was limited by the glass ceiling that so many women in corporate leadership positions know so well. I wanted more! My kick in the butt by destiny was losing a close soul mate and my manager within one year, when both of them suddenly died at the age of 46, both leaving a 5-year old child behind. It was then that I started to ask myself the big life questions again. Being in my late thirties, I asked myself what I’d like to still achieve if I also had to leave this world at the age of 46. That was when I took the courage to step out of the corporate world and follow my dream of starting my own business.
The first business I built with 5 partners failed big time. I burnt lots of money and I spent 18 months of my life until I realized this was not working. Today I call this time the ‘kindergarden of entrepreneurship’. I had learnt the 10,000 ways of how not to build a business.
Today, I know what it takes to turn an idea into a profitable enterprise. In the last 6 years, I’ve helped entrepreneurs from more than 20 countries to start their own business. I also guide solopreneurs (single entrepreneurs) to build multiple streams of income and to gather teams around what they do, so they can make more money, gain their time back and make a much bigger difference.
I also have a passion for speaking. Therefore, I teach entrepreneurs and speakers to tell their story in an irresistible way, so they touch people’s mind and heart. We support them to become much more visible, on stage and online. Our business slogan is ‘Speak up. Scale up. Make a bigger difference!’
How do we make the workplace more equal for women leaders?
We need to take the gender bias out of the way we treat people. We want to educate, hire and promote people for who they are and what they contribute to the success of a business and not based on their gender. Let’s appreciate our differences and not condemn them. Men and women can learn so much from each other. We need to stop putting a gender tag on people when we hire. We need to listen more to women’s opinions and innovative ideas. We need to provide the same amount of startup capital to female as to male entrepreneurs. We want to honor our individual strengths and appreciate certain needs men and women have at work. There is a long way to go until we have a truly balanced workplace. We can only close the gender gap by becoming more aware of our own biases, attitudes and behaviors towards men and women. Only when we treat everyone as a human with their own personality, skills and style independent of their gender, we have equal workplaces for all.
What can change in the next decade for women?
Not so long ago, certain jobs could only be done by men as they required muscle power. Today, in a world where machines and robots are taking over, there are not many jobs anymore that women cannot do. In contrary, in our digitalized global world ‘female skills’ like communication, collaboration and conflict resolution become much more important. Men need to learn how to collaborate better. Women need to step up, in offices, on stages and in their homes. They already are claiming their space. Change is no longer created at the top but ignited at the bottom. Today, an individual woman can create a movement. More and more women get together, support and connect each other and m their multiply their power and influence. Women will become more visible, accountable and unstoppable.
What is the driving force for women today?
Today, there are many women support networks, educational programs and mentors available that guide women step by step to make their dreams come true. The internet provides powerful resources to learn and to grow. Many apps, tools and systems help women get things done faster, easier and cheaper. Conferences like the Women Economic Forum provide women with a platform to exchange, encourage and connect each other. Women build partnerships. They build and accelerate businesses through partnerships. And, most importantly, women love to help others. A big driving force to start and grow any business is the ambition to make a bigger difference.
How do you support women entrepreneurs?
To start and to grow a business, entrepreneurs need 3 critical ingredients: step-by-step guidance of what to do and how, accountability and a bubble of love. We provide all three. We teach entrepreneurs how to craft an innovative business concept, how to create a magnetic product, how to tell their story in an irresistible way, how to attract clients online and in the ‘real world’ and how to build their dream teams. We offer programs, trainings, exchange platforms and more to help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into a profitable business. Once they start making good profits, we help them grow their business, so they 10X their profits while they gain their time back and they start making a bigger difference. We especially support coaches, trainers, consultants and speakers to create multiple income streams and to build a team to bring their business to the next level. We also make sure people don’t just make plans, but they get things done. We also provide a space where entrepreneurs can exchange and learn from each other, where they get the encouragement they need in tough times and where they simply meet like-minded business owners to have honest deep-dive conversations. We provide everything it takes to make entrepreneurs speak up, scale up and make a bigger difference.
What is your advice for young entrepreneurs?
If you want to start or grow your own business, don’t wait! Take the first step today! Believe in yourself and your business dream. You might fail at first. Keep in mind, failure is the best teacher. You cannot learn much if everything always goes as planned. Enjoy failure as you always fail forward. Check out the Business Launch Portal where you find the step-by-step guidance, accountability and entrepreneurial family you need to start and grow your business. And, don’t just do things on your own. Build your business in a way that it can keep growing also when you are not around. Be bold! Ask for help and share your story. You will be surprised how many people around you are happy to support you. Don’t be shy. Speak up, scale up and make a bigger difference!
