Guest Mellini Monique has done it all. Starting from age 12, she worked as a camp counselor and in car washes and pizza shops, and then went to marketing research, drama therapist at an inpatient psychiatric facility, medical missionary, and founder of multiple companies. We don’t cover this in the episode, but she’s even worked as a clown!

Currently, Mellini is a pitch coach for South by Southwest (SXSW), runs her own vocal coaching consultancy, organizes luxury wellness retreats, and has her own popcorn company called Herby PoP. She's also a mother of 6 children that all have their own businesses!

In the episode, Mellini talks about what she did in her different careers, how she navigates the messy middle, how she learned about business from her grandmother, networking, work-life balance, turning passion into a business, what it’s like being a founder, and much more. She also gives valuable advice about aligning your vocal image with your visual image, how to gain the confidence to change what you're worth, and shares a helpful rebranding exercise.

------

Highlights from the episode include:

0:00 - Intro

2:29 - Mellini’s career journey

5:08 - Braces

5:47 - What it was like working as a medical missionary

8:50 - Family life

9:48 - Drama therapy

11:48 - Turning passion for voice into a business

16:36 - Watching pitch competitions and pitching to SXSW

20:08 - Communicating value

21:05 - Navigating career changes and identity

28:04 - Learning how to start a business

31:18 - Work life balance with a large family

34:44 - What it’s like being a founder

37:09 - Challenges of going through a rebrand

39:38 - How to advocate for and charge what you’re worth

48:00 - Networking approach and advice

54:27 - Navigating the messy middle

------

🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari.

------

🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms

📺 Subscribe on YouTube

📸 Follow on Instagram

In the last part of the intro series, hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari talk about their day-to-day lives in their new careers. Emily is a senior AI content and conversation designer and Allegra is a senior consultant in transformation, focused on workforce modernization. They give an overview of what they do, explain what a typical day looks like, share details about the skills they use, talk about how they approach learning and professional development, feedback, and promotions, and more.

------

Highlights from the episode include:

1:07 - Quickfire round of questions

3:47 - Overview of what Allegra does as a consultant

6:49 - Overview of what Emily does as a content and conversation designer

9:42 - What a typical day as a consultant is like for Allegra

12:39 - What a typical day as a content and conversation designer is like for Emily

15:01 - Difference between working at a smaller company vs. a big company

15:35 - Weekend work now vs. at our previous jobs

17:01 - How we set our schedules

18:43 - How often we travel

20:49 - How we use skills from music and other jobs

23:01 - Skills we use the most

27:00 - Learning and professional development

29:34 - Feedback

31:58 - Promotions

34:57 - Things we like and don’t like about our jobs and the industry

------

🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari.

------

🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms

📺 Subscribe on YouTube

📸 Follow on Instagram

Service and helping people is at the core of everything guest Nick Co does. After serving as a Cryptologic Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy, he transitioned into tech, working as a product manager and founding Veteran Timeline to help make the military transition into civilian life easier for others. He also served as Virginia State Leader for Veterans for All Voters, leading a team that successfully implemented ranked choice voting in Charlottesville, VA.

In the episode, Nick talks about his experience growing up in the Philippines, moving to Seattle, and the importance of service, family, and impact. He also talks about the challenges he faced when transitioning from the military, which is what inspired him to found Veteran Timeline. He also shares helpful tips about how to maximize informational interviews and the importance of learning the language of whatever field you’re going into.

------

Highlights from this episode include:

0:00 - Introduction

1:43 - Nick’s career journey

4:02- Inspiration and decision to join the military

7:59 - Nick describes his time in the Naval Academy and Navy

11:37 - Importance of service, family, and impact

15:02 - Involvement in local politics

19:04 - Transferable skills

22:47 - Informational interviews

26:31 - Veteran Timeline

35:10 - Challenges of building something from scratch

40:01 - Vision for Veteran Timeline

42:11 - Solving problems

44:38 - Malleability and making an impact

46:30 - Call to action and closing

------

🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari.

------

🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms

📺 Subscribe on YouTube

📸 Follow on Instagram