Monique Velásquez and her wife, Piper Kessler, have been working together as a filmmaking duo since 2003. Now, she helps other BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women-owned businesses make their plans a reality through visual and audio media as well as business coaching.

Velásquez and Kessler co-founded Velásquez Media, North Carolina’s first Latina-owned production company, in 2003. Their short film repertoire includes lesbian love stories with fantasy and sci-fi twists and documentary filmmaking meant to shine a light on those who need it most.

“We’ve been told for a long time by the gatekeepers, you know, the white men in Hollywood, what being black in America is or isn’t, or being Native in America, or Hispanic in America, and it was never my experience,” Velasquez said.

Their 2008 documentary Milagros: Made in Mexico, a Spanish-language production which offers a Mexican perspective on migration in America, won both the Diamante Arts & Culture award and the Berlin Black International Cinema award for Best Film/Video on Matters Relating to the Black Experience/Marginalized People. 

In recent years, a series of health problems have put the couple’s creative goals on hold. Their last original film, Queen of Hearts, won an award from the Teadance Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 2016. 

“For me, it becomes, all right, what are my skill sets? What are my strengths? And I’m really good at figuring out tech and helping people find the right technology tool,” Velásquez said.

So, Velásquez Media pivoted. With their 20+ years of expertise in the film industry, the couple put their expertise to work helping others to promote themselves through visual and audio media. With Velásquez’s production experience and former musician Kessler’s audio expertise, they’ve spent the last several years consulting primarily women business owners and non-profit leaders. 

Velásquez Media was making “good money,” Velásquez said, but the company’s growth had stagnated. It was Rachel Rodgers’ 2021 book We Should All be Millionaires that inspired her to look into new ways to meet her financial goals.

“I never believed in business coaching before. I just thought it was, you know, ‘what do you mean, you’re going to tell me what to do?’” she recalls. “I know what to do, it’s my business.”

Velásquez started Rodgers’ Hello Seven Coach Certification with hopes to grow her own business, but over the course of the program, she realized that she had hit the limit of how many clients she could take on with the business in its current state. In January, she launched her Lavender Launch-O-Rama program as a division of Velásquez Media to help marginalized business owners, particularly women, understand where they are in their journey and expand their business. 

As a long-term business owner herself, she understands what makes a company tick. Business owners at different points in their process need to set different goals to succeed, and can’t always see ahead as beginners. With her decades of experience, Velásquez is able to understand the full picture. 

“For instance, an entrepreneur that is about a year into their endeavor has to save money and do all the things, and a lot of times they are stuck in the busy work. ‘I’m gonna get a website, I’m gonna get a business card,’” Velásquez said, “when really what they need to do is get clients.”

But according to Velásquez, it’s not all about the money. It’s about the concept of “each one reach one.”

According to Velásquez, business coaching is about “pulling the person behind you forward so they can stand on your shoulders and help propel them in their careers, especially younger folks.”

Velásquez has done what just 6% of women business owners have achieved: exceeding $250,000 in revenue from her business. She hopes to help others realize that they can do the same with the help of her know-how in business and media.

“I think that helps the community in general, having the technical know-how on how I did it, and then the shortcut cues from the coaching also helps the community, because it creates a path out of generational poverty, or it creates a path for independence for mothers that need to be home more with a child that has an illness,” Velásquez said. 

In addition to the usual Hello Seven coaching strategy, which focuses on business growth and mindset coaching, Velásquez brings her technological expertise to bear for her clients. For example, incorporating video rather than in-person appearances can give clients with children the opportunity to work without having to spend as much time away from their families.

However, Velásquez Media’s work in original film isn’t necessarily over. Now that both partners’ health has gotten better, Velásquez said, “I think we have a couple of things that we’re, you know, rubbing our hands together, saying ‘what can we do next?’”