Facilitating connections by removing communication barriers

While Monique Russell initially transferred to St. Cloud State University to save on tuition, she found much more than an affordable education at the University. She found a home.

Originally from the Bahamas, Russell came to central Minnesota to attend an area university. She transferred over to SCSU for its affordability as well as its mass communications program and the hands-on opportunities it provided. A teen mother, the Lindgren Early Learning Center was also an invaluable resource for Russell.

“My son was on campus at Lindgren Childcare Center, and he felt so loved and so supported,” she said. “That is the place where I truly learned what it first was like to be in community. I really didn't feel alone.”

While on campus, Russell was involved with UTVS, the African Student Association, Council of African American Students and was a graduate assistant with Multicultural Student Services. She earned her bachelor’s in broadcast journalism in 2002 and her master’s in public relations and advertising in 2004.

“I was thousands and thousands of miles away from my family, and I got family by plugging in and staying,” she said. “I think that really helped shape me, and the fact that Multicultural Student Services was there — my pillars of what I teach are on cross-cultural communication, emotional intelligence, public speaking — and those pillars have been formed and shaped right there at St. Cloud State. So it's a significant portion of my foundation and my life.”

Following graduation, Russell worked in executive support roles but was actually supporting communications initiatives — working to improve communication within the team, and creating manuals and processes.

“It gave me a lot of insight into what I'm doing today. And during the course of my journey as a mom, as a wife, as a professional finding my way, I also started doing speaking engagements on the side,” she said. “I started teaching in the science of communications at two universities, and I did that for well over a decade as I was doing my other responsibilities. Then they asked me to be a subject matter expert, and I ended up rewriting their public speaking curriculum for them. So that made me feel really special, because when a university asks you to rewrite their curriculum, you’ve got credibility.”

When Russell became involved with the organization Women Aspiring Together to Succeed, she was inspired to start her own business and register her company. She is now founder and CEO of Clear Communication Solutions LLC. The global firm provides training and leadership development, Russell conducts keynote speaking engagements and her team offers coaching in those specific areas. She has worked with companies such as Amazon and Google, and has worked all across the world — including the Caribbean, Middle East, United States and across the continents of Africa and Europe. In addition, she wrote the book “Intentional Motherhood: Who Said it Would be Easy” and hosts the podcast “Bridge to U.”

It is Russell’s hope to help others communicate more effectively, no matter the cultural or generational differences in their lives.

“When we can really understand ourselves and each other, we can have better communication,” she said. “When we can learn more about ourselves and we can get the barriers to communication out of the way, we can truly have relationships that are adding value to our lives. And we're feeling fulfilled. And when we're fulfilled, we are better employees and we're better parents and we're better wives and husbands. I guess the impact is connection; I'm facilitating connection among people at home and at work.”

Russell plans to keep expanding her company’s impact and exploring more virtual opportunities. She wants the company to have enough reach to remove barriers to access for those in need.

She credits SCSU with providing a foundation in communication and public relations for Russell to build upon.

“I use everything that I have learned to create my own story. I became my own project. I put together my own narrative. And every single time that I have developed myself into another layer or another level, it's because I use those skills and those tools for myself,” she said. “So that's why my brand is globally recognized and respected. It's not from someone else's company or someone else's brand of ‘I worked my way up to VP or C-suite’ — no. It is from raw skills that I got from St. Cloud State.”

Russell was asked to return to her alma mater as a keynote speaker for the 2025 Power in Diversity Leadership Conference. It was a full-circle moment. When talking with others about her college experiences — working multiple jobs and activities, being a mother and having a full class load, all while maintaining a 3.8 GPA — she had many people comment on how exhausting that must’ve been. Russell never felt exhausted, and she believes that was because she felt fulfilled in all that she was doing.

“It meant everything in the world to me like. Do you know how it feels to give back to a community that helps shape you?” she said. “To come back to St. Cloud State and serve not just the keynote, but the keynote and the workshop, to share the gifts and the expertise that I've developed from the skills that I got and serving the community that really, really, really helped me and my son … I just can't put into words how much it means to me.”