So many names have been hurled at her: mogul, shepreneur, maven. Mona Scott-Young is all of these things. She’s made her mark in music, television, the spirits industry, and will soon lend her mark in the film industry. Married to Chris Young since the mid-2000s, and mother of two children, and the CEO of Mon Ami Entertainment, LLC, and spirits company MYX Fusions, Mona Scott-Young is many a young entrepreneur’s “goals”.
Let’s examine the five principles she applied to get to where she is.
1. Your parents gave you life and values. Strive to be more accomplished than they were to give them a better life during their golden years.
Mona Scott-Young was born in Queens, New York and, she along with her siblings were raised by her mother Jeanine. Jeanine did not have the chance to an education, but became a homeowner and raised all her children to be professionals. As the mother of Mona Scott-Young, one of the children she successfully raised on her own, Jeanine can sleep in a five-star hotel in New York if she wants to, or go on a vacation in the Virgin Islands, or sip Barbancourt in a beach-side hotel in Miami.
2. Put yourself in the environment where you’re most likely to be in the orbit of those who are in your desired industry.
Want to be a baseball player? Hang out at the baseball stadiums. And want to be mogul? Well…For Mona Scott-Young the journey begun at Radio Music Hall. She came across the hip-hop production team Poke and Tone, alias Trackmasters. They saw potential in her, and asked her to serve as their manager. From there, she created Violator Management with Chris Lighty. And they kept signing artists: LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Foxy Brown, Ja Rule, Mobb Deep, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey, Fantasia and Missy Elliot. Violator would inspire moguls like Jay-Z and his RocNation Management.
[Above: Mona Scott-Young and Kerry Washington. Photo Credit: Bryen Bedder]
[Mona Scott-Young at the Hip-Hop summit in 2008. Photo Credit: Bryan Bedder]
3. People will judge you based on how you look. Don’t sigh at how vain your fellow humans can be. Just dress the part.
For a time, baggy jeans and large blouses were the norm for Mona Scott-Young. She successfully adopted a healthier lifestyle, and opted for a more chic wardrobe. She added highlights to her hair. A new Mona was born.
[Photo Credit: Brad Barker]
4. Know that you might lose allies in your journey, but keep going.
Some lose allies due to differences in career and life direction. Mona Scott-Young lost one of her close friends to Chris Lighty. It would have been easy to lose her motivation, but she grieved, exhaled her sadness, and moved on.
5. Don’t be afraid of dipping your fingers into new territory.
How else are you going to grow? Mona Scott-Young was a well-known manager in the music business when she decided to try her hand at reality TV. Was she a wanna-be? Would she be known as one of those music industry honchos who wanted to dip in every Kool-Aid flavor? “Love and Hip Hop”, the show that resulted, was a ratings blockbuster…and spawned so many spin-offs that even die-hard fans have a hard time naming them all. Not only did Mona Scott-Young gain credibility in a new lane in the entertainment business, but she also gave new opportunities to dozens of other women to create and revitalize their brands. Behind the scenes, she gave many people jobs during recession times, and showed network brass that there was plenty of ratings to be earned, and advertiser money to be had by catering to “urban” audiences. That tifi, Mona!
There you have it folks…the 5 Success Principles We Ca Learn From Mona Scott-Young.
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