MBN USA

March 16, 2023

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Quinton seeks MBEs where she can make a difference

By M.V. Greene

If there is one thing to know about Terri Quinton, it might be that she is an entrepreneur who is comfortable — and confident — in her own skin.

A dictionary defines being comfortable in your own skin as the “beginning of strength.”

That seems to personify Quinton, who heads Q2 Marketing Group, a Dallas, Texas-based integrated marketing agency that specializes in combining dynamic storytelling content and cross-channel solutions to grow businesses. For Quinton, the businesses for clients she targets are those that usually and truly can use her help — small and medium diverse firms.

While the girth and scale of corporate America has its pluses, she is energized in her work by taking on clients “where I can actually make a difference.”

“The biggest thing is that it allows me to use my God-given talents in a way that assists others in being better at what they do,” Quinton said.

She said her corporate management experience with Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. before starting up Q2 Marketing Group helped her acquire requisite perspective and skillsets for her pursuit of entrepreneurship.

Quinton said she founded Q2 Marketing Group in 2014 after meeting some “amazing” diverse CEOs from across the country with vision, experience, charisma, hustle and fortitude who understood their business, but had plateaued and outgrown their ability to grow.

By targeting small and medium diverse firms as clients, Quinton is able to see tangible results “and be creative” with those types of clients. “It’s hard to do being a small business myself working within corporate America’s boundaries,” she said.

For instance, it was “fun but kind of out of my wheelhouse” when Q2 Marketing Group took on a Taiwan-based client seeking to introduce products to the U.S. market. Quinton said she was gratified to succeed in helping the client get products before audiences on the Home Shopping Network and into Walmart Inc. stores.

That kind of entrepreneurial spirit and leadership also were a basis for Quinton joining with an Asian business owner and two Hispanic business owners to establish in the 2000s the Alliance of Diversity Printers LLC (ADP-LLC), which provides printing, warehousing and fulfillment services nationally. Quinton served as CEO and said the concept of the partnership was designed in part to demonstrate that owners of minority business enterprises (MBEs) can pool their resources, work together and go after large contracts.

She said the venture achieved market success, noting that it proved it “does work if you pick the right partners. That was really gratifying.”

While running her businesses, Quinton always made sure to keep other irons in the fire that adhere to her approach of helping others to accelerate their enterprises. She is a member of the boards of directors for the National Minority Supplier Development Council Inc. (NMSDC), Dallas Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council and Women Business Council – Southwest. Quinton was honored in 2021 with the NMSDC’s President’s Legacy Award for her contributions toward minority business inclusion.

In addition, she is the author of “Give Me G.R.I.T.S – Girls Raised Intentionally To Succeed,” a title that explores how extraordinary women she knows have had a positive impact on girls and children.

While Quinton is secure in her successes, she will concede that entrepreneurship can be challenging.

“Any entrepreneur will tell you that the big challenge is always the money — finding it and keeping it. Once you can do that, everything else kind of rolls along,” she said.

To learn more about Q2 Marketing Group, visit q2marketinggroup.com.

About Terri Quinton

Hometown: Topeka, Kansas

First job: Computer room supervisor at Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. in Wichita, Kan.

Hobbies: Reading, writing, travel and sports

Last business book read: I read more for enjoyment and entertainment (mysteries, biographies), but (there’s) “Change Agent: A Life Dedicated to Creating Wealth for Minorities” by James H. Lowry and “Niching Up: The Narrower the Market, the Bigger the Prize” by Chris Dreyer

Best business advice received and from whom: From one of my early customers as an entrepreneur – “You’ve got to put legs on those dreams.”

What drives your leadership philosophy: 1. Respect for others and their abilities; 2. Continuous learning