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Monique Hayward: A diva doing business.
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Monique Hayward is a Diva Doing Business. At least that’s how she describes what she does in her new book,”Divas Doing Business: What the Guidebooks Don’t Tell You About Being A Woman Entrepreneur.” She earned an M.B.A. in marketing and has 15 years of experience in public relations and business development. Currently, she is the President and CEO of Nouveau Connoisseurs Corp., which owns and runs Dessert Noir Café and Bar in Beaverton, Oregon, a successful establishment that features delectable desserts, cocktails, scrumptious savory dishes, and an occasional celebrity or two. Why write a book? Hayward is intelligent, outspoken and knows the ins and outs and the ups and downs of being a woman entrepreneur. She has experienced first-hand the hardships and prejudices faced by women when trying to start and run a business.
Her desire for entrepreneurship began with the idea to create an all-inclusive restaurant. In her book, she writes: “I had… the completely insane concept of a combination restaurant, cocktail bar, cigar room, wine cellar and nightclub in one of the trendiest parts of Portland, Oregon.”
In order to realize her dream, she needed to raise at least $1 million. “[Then came] September 11, 2001. Need I say more?”she recounts.
Several years later, a series of fortunate events occurred that inspired her to create Dessert Noir. And once again, she was faced with raising the capital. “You have two options when trying to raise venture capital for your business,” she says. “You either approach a bank or find an investor.
“Banks are predominantly male run, and my first investment banker was this stodgy older gentleman. I remember sitting before him as he stiffly flipped through my proposal. I knew my work was well-researched, and my strategy was sound. I was very confident.
“He finally looked up at me and asked some ridiculous question in an attempt to test my credibility. I gave him the appropriate answer. Then he told me to research some additional information, saying I should contact my accountant. He couldn’t fathom the fact that I did the research myself. I told him that I prepared my own financial statements and that I don’t pay my accountant to do things I can do myself!” She did get the money she needed.
In 2006, Hayward was going through a particularly difficult period when she decided to write a book. “I had been in a dark place, emotionally, when it hit me. ‘I know how to write and I know how to talk! I felt obligated to bring to my fellow divas the story behind the story of being a woman entrepreneur… a story of hope, courage, purpose and resolve,” she states.
In our next article, we will meet some of the inspirational women entrepreneurs in Hayward’s book. We’ll also find out how Dessert Noir Café and Bar’s famous patron, Morgan Freeman, came to write the book’s Forward.
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