Building Businesses with Strategy, Purpose, and Strong Foundations – Interview with Makiya Everett
Makiya Everett is the Founder and Marketing Consultant of Vonyia Business Solutions, a business and marketing consulting firm helping entrepreneurs build strong brands, create effective strategies, and grow scalable, sustainable businesses.
In this interview, she shares the personal experiences that shaped her, the evolution of Vonyia, and her approach to helping entrepreneurs build with strategy, structure, purpose, and resilience.
Makiya Everett, Founder & Marketing Consultant of Vonyia Business Solutions
Before Vonyia Business Solutions, what experiences shaped the woman and entrepreneur you are today?
Several experiences have helped shape the woman and entrepreneur I am today, but one of the most significant was losing my brother just months before I graduated from high school and left for college. That loss changed my perspective on life at a very young age. I made a promise to myself that I would continue moving forward, pursuing my goals, and building a life that would honor him.
Professionally, my journey has also shaped me in ways I could not have anticipated. I've worked across several industries, from fast food and healthcare to corporate insurance, and each experience has taught me something different about people, business, and leadership. I've also been fortunate to learn from phenomenal women throughout my career.
One of my aunts owns a State Farm agency, and watching her lead a team and build her own business gave me an early example of entrepreneurship in action. Later, I had a corporate manager who taught me how to navigate professional spaces as a Black woman. She remains one of my biggest supporters and mentors today.
Those experiences taught me resilience, adaptability, leadership, and the importance of having people who see your potential and encourage you to keep going.
What inspired you to create Vonyia Business Solutions, and how has your vision for the company evolved since you started?
Vonyia Business Solutions has really been a work in progress since I was about 16 years old. I've always had a creative side, and as a teenager, I taught myself how to build websites, create blogs, edit videos, and create content for YouTube. Eventually, a classmate asked me to design a website for his clothing brand and paid me for it. That experience showed me that something I enjoyed doing could also become a business, and what started as VidsByKiya was born.
Over time, that vision evolved. What began as creative services like website design and YouTube intros eventually grew into something much bigger. As I earned my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and gained more professional experience, I began to understand that a successful business needs more than great visuals. You can have a beautiful logo and an amazing website, but without the right strategy and foundation behind them, growing a sustainable business becomes much harder than it needs to be.
That realization helped transform Vonyia from a creative agency into the business and marketing consulting firm it is today, helping entrepreneurs build strong brands, develop effective strategies, and position their businesses to scale sustainably.
What first made you realize entrepreneurs often need stronger structure before they need more marketing?
That realization was really twofold. Before Vonyia became what it is today, there were several times when I put the business on hold because I couldn't understand why I wasn't growing or generating the sales I wanted. I was creative, I knew how to market, and I had ideas, but I eventually realized that marketing wasn't necessarily the problem. I didn't have the proper foundation and structure in place to support the growth I was trying to achieve.
Once I recognized that in my own business, I started thinking about how many other entrepreneurs were likely experiencing the same frustration. Sometimes we assume we need to post more, gain more followers, redesign our website, or market harder when the real issue is underneath all of that.
That realization changed the direction of Vonyia. I no longer wanted it to be strictly a creative agency that simply delivered websites or marketing materials. I wanted Vonyia to educate entrepreneurs on the strategy behind what they're building and help them create stronger foundations first.
Marketing can create visibility, but without strategy and structure behind that visibility, it becomes much harder to turn attention into sustainable growth.
In your Strategize, Optimize, Scale framework, what needs to be in place before a business is truly ready to scale?
My Strategize, Optimize, Scale framework starts with understanding where you want your business to go before trying to grow it. In the strategy phase, we look at the vision and goals for the business, assess where it currently stands, and create a realistic plan for getting from where you are to where you want to be.
From there, we optimize. This is where we look at the systems and processes already in place and determine whether they can support the new direction. That might mean improving existing workflows, introducing website automations for client communication, refining marketing processes, or even building a team so the owner no longer has to manage every aspect of the business alone.
Then, we scale. At that point, growth is supported by the strategy and systems we've intentionally put in place. I believe scaling before establishing those foundations can simply create bigger problems. Sustainable growth happens when your business has the strategy, systems, and support necessary to handle the opportunities you're working toward.
You've built Vonyia while maintaining a career in corporate America and continuing your education. What has that experience taught you about building a business while life is still happening?
This experience has taught me just how resilient and determined I am. I've learned that with those two qualities, I can accomplish almost anything I truly put my mind to. That doesn't mean it's always easy, though. There are days when I'm completely wiped out and have to give myself permission to recharge, spend time with family, or simply play video games with my boyfriend, Josh, who is one of my biggest supporters and a proud advocate for me taking breaks because I can definitely be a workaholic.
Balancing my corporate career, education, business, relationships, and personal life has taught me how to prioritize what matters and become intentional with my time. It has also taught me to take risks. There is no reward without some level of risk, and I've realized that we can't keep waiting for life to become perfect before starting something that has the potential to change our lives.
Life will probably never be perfectly convenient. Sometimes, getting something we've never had requires us to do something we've never done. For me, that has meant learning when to push myself, when to rest, and when to take the leap anyway.
Where do you see entrepreneurs most often mistaking activity for meaningful business growth?
One of the biggest areas where I see entrepreneurs mistake activity for meaningful growth is social media. Social media is one of the greatest tools we have for gaining exposure and building awareness, but I think many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of believing that thousands of followers automatically translate into thousands of dollars in revenue. That simply isn't always the case.
I encourage my clients to focus less on reaching everyone and more on clearly defining their target audience and marketing directly to the people who are most likely to need, value, and ultimately purchase what they offer.
Of course, having a video go viral or seeing your follower count grow is exciting, and that visibility can absolutely create opportunities. But I wouldn't measure the health of a business by those numbers alone. Only a fraction of the people who view your content may actually fit your ideal customer profile.
Meaningful business growth happens when visibility begins translating into things like qualified leads, paying customers, repeat business, stronger revenue, and sustainable demand. I'd rather help a business build an engaged audience of the right people than simply chase the biggest number on the screen.
How has navigating personal loss while continuing to build your career and business changed your understanding of resilience and success?
Resilience, to me, means refusing to let life's difficult moments keep you down. As a Christian, my faith has been one of my greatest anchors. One of my favorite scriptures is Romans 8:18, which reminds me that the pain we experience now cannot compare to the joy that is coming. I carry that perspective with me because life has taught me that painful seasons and joyful ones can coexist within the same story.
I lost my brother, but I continued forward and graduated high school a year early. I worked full-time while attending college full-time and ultimately earned my degree at 25, even though my journey didn't follow the timeline I originally imagined. I fell in love, then took a leap of faith and moved to another state for a career opportunity while navigating a long-distance relationship.
Those experiences taught me that life isn't linear, and success doesn't require a perfect journey. What keeps me going is my faith, knowing I'm making my brother, grandfather, and great-grandmother proud, and having an incredible support system here with me. My family, my nana, and my boyfriend, Josh, have continued to love, support, and cheer me on through every version of my journey.
For me, resilience is trusting that a difficult chapter isn't the end of the story.
As Vonyia continues to grow, what kind of company are you ultimately working to build?
My ultimate goal is to build Vonyia into a full-scale business and marketing consulting firm with a team that spans everything from customer service and business strategy to marketing, website development, and UX design.
I want Vonyia to be known as the firm that gives new businesses and entrepreneurs the education, strategy, and support they need to turn their ideas into sustainable businesses and, ultimately, their dreams into reality.
As a Black woman, I also understand that we don't always have access to the right mentors, resources, or advice when we're starting out. I want to help change that. I don't believe in gatekeeping information that could help someone move forward. If I've learned something that can make another entrepreneur's journey easier, I want to share it.
My vision extends beyond Vonyia as well. I plan to create nonprofit initiatives centered around giving back because I believe we have a responsibility to help others as we grow.
One day, I envision Vonyia with its own office, an incredible team, and an impact that reaches far beyond Dallas. I want to travel the country speaking to young people about entrepreneurship, taking calculated risks, and building the right foundation for their dreams. I want them to understand that where they start does not have to determine where they finish.
What do you want entrepreneurs to understand about building a business that can grow without losing its foundation?
The first thing I would ask any entrepreneur is, "What is your why?" Building a business has to be about more than making money, gaining followers, or having a lot of customers. Why do you do what you do? Where does your passion come from? Who or what are you ultimately trying to impact?
Years ago, my aunt asked me a question that has stayed with me, "What is something you could do for the rest of your life even if you weren't getting paid to do it?" I believe the answer to that question can tell you a lot about where your purpose lies.
Before worrying about scaling, I encourage entrepreneurs to discover their why and build from there. Your why becomes part of the foundation that everything else sits on.
There will be early mornings when you don't feel like getting up. There will be slow months, disappointing results, mistakes, and moments when you question whether it's worth continuing. Revenue alone won't always be enough to carry you through those seasons.
Your strategy may evolve. Your branding may change. Your business may grow beyond what you originally imagined. But through every stage, always remember your why.
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