PR Professional Monique Farmer’s Unique Approach to Problem-Solving

By Tiffany Brazda

PR expert, business owner, and now published author Monique Farmer has pulled insights from her 20 years of experience in public relations and put her best advice to getting “unstuck” in her new book “Chart Your Path.” 

The self-help book guides readers through a nine-step process to reach their full potential. A culmination of Farmer’s natural love for educating and professional experience, each step advises on how to achieve an upward trajectory toward a more fulfilling life. 

Farmer’s career path started as an undergrad in college. She was recruited by the Army Corps of Engineers and nine days after graduating, she found herself working in government public affairs. Farmer’s extensive training led her to managing media relations during the 2011 Missouri River flood. Finding herself at a crossroads when her career path was leading her to Washington, D.C., she chose to remain in her home state of Nebraska. She moved on to leading communications to Conagra and Omaha Public Schools. Each of these positions had the same thing in common — while highly valuable, they were highly stressful. 

“I was really wanting to get back to a normal pace and get to spend more time with my kids,” she said. 

Farmer switched gears and began teaching at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the College of Journalism. 

“Concurrently, I was building a communications firm and wanted to be able to focus on it full time,” she said. 

Each step of the way, Farmer has made a lasting impact on every organization she’s worked for. While she worked tirelessly, she always had a strong sense of what she needed for herself. More in control of her trajectory, she founded Avant Solutions, a PR, marketing and communications consulting agency, as well as Anvil Ready, a digital planning tool for PR professionals. 

“As you can imagine, with a career background heavy in communications and PR, making the leap into entrepreneurship was scary,” Farmer said. 

She found a fix for that, too. Farmer was accepted into a national cohort through the investment banking company Goldman Sachs. Connecting with other entrepreneurial minds, it was later that her connection and mentorship from life and career coach Julie Landi brought on the inspiration to write a book. While having one-on-one meetings with Landi, Farmer realized that she was getting stuck in places of tension in her life. Those meetings led her to move through her process of dealing with these stressful situations. 

“One of [Landi’s] signature approaches is to help us individually identify our unique problem-solving approach to things in life,” Farmer said. 

If it’s not already apparent, Farmer is a connector. In her book, she shares insights and stories from other professionals from authors to entrepreneurs. The individuals she interviewed for the book will also join Farmer to officially launch the book with a webinar on April 25. 

“I'm really hoping that when people read it, they can identify whether they're one of those people who maybe is stuck and they don't realize it, or if they challenge themselves, are they really living out their own life, making use of their own talents and sharing those with the world?” Farmer said. “I want people to realize that they have more power than they think to create a life that they want, and I encourage them to direct their lives instead of watching them like movies.” 

Register here for the official launch webinar: https://lnkd.in/gZ-3r7Z2. The book is now available in paperback and e-book formats, https://lnkd.in/gMbegUJi. #CountdownToLaunch #NewBeginnings