Navigating mental health is crucial, yet often overlooked, especially in professional settings. Have you ever wondered, ‘Do I need therapy?’
Join our host, Porschia, and guest Melisa Alaba in this enlightening episode of the #Career101Podcast. They explore pivotal questions surrounding mental health, such as “Do I need therapy?” and the impact it can have on both personal well-being and professional performance.
They gently unpack the signs that might suggest a need for professional support and discuss practical ways to manage emotional health effectively. Additionally, they touch on how organizations can create environments that support mental wellness.
Melisa Alaba, a Breakthrough Coach and owner of Vision Works Counseling and Coaching, specializes in emotional and financial healing for women. Since 2004, she has supported women business owners and executives, advocating for women’s rights and financial liberation.
Melisa Alaba, author of Live Out Loud and featured in the movie 72 Hours, has appeared on Fox News and CBS, and her insights have been published in major outlets like Ebony Magazine and US News and World Report.
What you’ll learn:
- How to recognize if therapy might be beneficial for you and why it’s a crucial aspect of overall well-being.
- The common signs that suggest a need for professional mental health support.
- Strategies for effectively managing emotional wellness in both personal and professional contexts.
- Insights into how therapy can positively impact your professional performance and personal life.
- Steps organizations can take to support their employees’ mental health and encourage a culture of wellness.
- Practical advice for initiating the conversation about mental health support with professionals or within your workplace.
As a thank you for listening to this episode of the Career 101 Podcast, we are sharing our FREE master class – Career 911: Solving the Top 5 Challenges Executives and Professionals Have! It’s a training based on solving the common problems our clients have experienced to reach their goals. You can get access to the master class here!
Resources:
- Episode Transcript
Porschia: [00:00:00] Today we are talking about mental health 101. Do I need therapy with Melissa Alaba? Melissa Alaba is a breakthrough coach, group practice owner of VisionWorks Counseling and Coaching, speaker and podcast host. Melissa believes that true healing happens when women are emotionally and financially healed and whole.
Melissa and her team work to help women heal their entire lives through the Be Healed process. Melissa has supported women business [00:01:00] owners and corporate executives since 2004. Melissa is the author of Live Out Loud, 52 Ways to Reawaken Your Spirit and Live a Life of Purpose and was featured in the movie 72 Hours.
Ms. Alibaba’s advice has been featured in Ebony Magazine, US News and World Report, parents Magazine, red Book, and a BC Online. She has made live appearances on Fox News and CBS. Melissa is an advocate of women’s rights, equal pay, and financial liberation for women. When she is not working, you can find her on a golf course, playing with her grandchildren, or reading a good book.
Hi Melissa, how are you today?
Melissa: Hello, I am great. Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here.
Porschia: Right. Well, we are excited to have you with us to discuss mental health and do I need therapy? That question that comes up a lot, but [00:02:00] first we want to know a little more about you. So tell me about seven year old Melissa.
Melissa: Oh my goodness. I would say seven year old Melissa was curious. She was a talker. My grandmother called her radio said, Oh, my little radio has arrived. And I recently learned that from my, my one of my aunts. And I thought that was so interesting. Cause I definitely still am a talker. But I think the thing that was cool about it is my grandmother recognized that.
I wasn’t just talking. I was literally taken in the world and expressing what I was seeing all around me. Like I was able to understand how people felt. It was very empathetic at a young age and I was able to understand the dynamics of people, households, marriages, and things like that. So I would just be sharing the news of what it is that I saw.
Okay.
Porschia: Yeah. It [00:03:00] sounds like to your point, it wasn’t just talking to us to talk, but it was like a lot of processing going on. Like, yeah,
Melissa: it was a lot of processing of what was happening around me, which. Quite honestly, it wasn’t something that was taken in a positive light when I was younger. I remember all the way up until my teen years of being told not to speak as much.
Being told to hold some of my opinions back. Being, you know, cause I, I, I saw how women were being treated and I would speak up about it. And so that wasn’t something that was accepted. But I’m so glad that that internal wisdom and voice in me said that. I get to choose what life looks like for me and I didn’t let that go.
I didn’t go into being silent.
Porschia: So what did you want to be when you grew up with all of these insights that you were having
Melissa: as a child? I don’t think I had anticipated anything quite [00:04:00] honestly. I would say somewhere around 16 or 17, I decided that I was going to be a fashion designer and I was in full pursuit of that, got a scholarship and at age 19, yeah, it was 18 or 19.
I started, people started coming up to me and just sharing different things that had happened to them. And I remember the third time that that had happened, and it probably happened over the course of a week or so, I was like, I’m not going to study fashion design. I think I’m supposed to be a counselor.
And that’s how I went into counseling.
Porschia: So tell us about some of the highlights or pivotal moments that you had in your career, I guess. As you were making that transition or perhaps before you started your own counseling business. Mm
Melissa: hmm. Well, like I said, because that happened to me at such a young age, I was 18.
I literally went straight into counseling. [00:05:00] So I, I was licensed at 24. So I started seeing folks at 24 opened up my own center, I think at 25 and which when I, by the time I closed it, which was like eight years later, I had 18 therapists that worked for me. So I, you know, Have always, you know, done business in this sense and, and, and knew I wanted to support people and their families.
So my first practice was families and children. And then in 2011, I moved to Atlanta and I opened up my second practice, which I currently have, which is VisionWorks Counseling and Coaching, and then we started to direct services towards professionals, because that’s who was, you know, in Atlanta, professional black folks and that was really exciting.
It was a big turn in my career.
Porschia: So what would you say has been your biggest career challenge so far?
Melissa: Oh, definitely [00:06:00] owning your own practice. Managing folks is always, you know, like, so we work to get the best people, but, you know, you’re also working with different personalities. We’re to bring a team together.
I’ve had a business through Al through almost every economic crisis, . So the 2 0 2, 0 0 7, I could tell you about what that looked like. 20, you know what I mean? Like
Mm-Hmm. .
Melissa: How that wind up turning out for folks, what it looks like for people that we served. And now, you know, pandemic again, you know, practice and that shift that our whole profession took, where it went from in the office to online, we were already there.
Thank God. We were already there. People. I was already certified as a distance learning therapist, but now telehealth was like a big scene. So pandemic took us from out of the office to virtual all over the [00:07:00] country. As well as all of the legislation that’s gone along with that, where we’re now going to be able to be certified in each state to be able to practice versus state to state.
So, I think it’s just been interesting having a business, the challenges has been, to go back to your question, meeting the challenge of the time. Because the times always changing like business looks one way when things are good, and then it looks another way when, you know, the economy is different, people are making different decisions and things like that.
And so as a business owner and leader, you have to be able to pivot and shift for what’s happening currently, as well as keeping your base of who it is that you want to serve and how you’re going to serve.
Porschia: Wow. I, I love what you said, Melissa, and I want to follow up on a few things. So from the, the business angle that you were just referencing, you know, kind of meeting the challenge at the time and pivoting I think that [00:08:00] is so important to highlight because from my perspective, when I’ve seen other entrepreneurs and even clients that we have that are entrepreneurs During COVID.
So I would say, you know, 2020 to 2022, 2023, it just seemed like things were booming. It seemed like I wouldn’t say easy, but more clients were coming. People were spending, I think a bit more freely than they are now. And I realized Last year and into this year, there are a lot of people who have closed their businesses because ending and getting clients is not the same as it was during COVID when everyone was at home and purchasing more.
So we
Melissa: had a lot of more money in the economy. So I think we have to also think about that, like those stimulus packages, the loans that people were getting the monies that were going out to families, all of those stimulated the economy and kept people in a spending [00:09:00] mode. And like you said, because people were at home, they weren’t spending on other things as well.
So they could focus in on these things that they weren’t necessarily focused in on before. So as that starts to dissipate and we go back into now that money is gone and then people, businesses are making different cuts and things like that. So now people are starting to fill it more in their pockets.
So when they’re making decisions now, usually when that starts to happen, this is, and this is kind of where I was going back to. Reference in 2007 when the bubble happened, you don’t see the immediate effect of when they say, Oh, we’re in recession. You never see it the year that happens or the next year.
It’s always the third year. So this is the, and so that’s why I say it like even before we started, I was like, yeah, this has been a very different year. Because it really is like, okay, so what do we do now? Or how do we pivot our service now? Because, Again, when people feel that tightening, they [00:10:00] start to limit a lot of the things that they do.
And so even like the bigger companies, so we’re looking at like Deloitte and different things like that, because I know you’re in consulting. One of their top line items is they’ve cut back because the people who usually hire them have cut back on getting consultant services. So when you look at that, it’s like, well, what are the things that people are actually buying now?
And so you do have to be able to. think about in any time, especially like this time, what is something that my company is going to be able to sell? What is something that people are willing to purchase or really need at this moment? Because during times like this, they’re just different than when they are booming.
Porschia: Yeah. And I, I love that you touched on the differences in, you know, the recession, because I was going to go back to that perspective. How do you think, you know, the time that we’re in now is different than like 2007, 2008, nine kind of recession time.
Melissa: It’s [00:11:00] interesting because I think it is It’s different in some ways.
You’ll hear people in real estate say it’s different because although the housing market has been impacted, we’re more so looking like at inflection, but instead it’s still a steady housing market. I say that is somewhat true. I feel like what the overall truth is, is the way it affects black and brown people is the same as it did then as it is now.
And I feel like that is because economically, we’re usually like, again, the last ones to get hired, the first ones to get fired. And so that stability is not always there. And so, of course, if, if you’re having job issues, that’s going to put housing in a crisis for you. So we, we definitely know that when those loans went out and people were able to get that, I forgot the name of it, but that particular loan where they didn’t have to pay their mortgage for a certain amount of time during COVID and they were able to put that, those are coming to an end.
So we [00:12:00] definitely are seeing more foreclosures and things like that. So I definitely, I, in my opinion, It looks pretty much the same. Only difference is you don’t have as many houses on the market like you did before. But I, I still think a similar thing happened when we took those loans down to two and 3%, and now people are in homes they can’t sell or move.
So I, and then I think that inflation that happened. So rapidly, I think a lot of things happen. So I think that still puts us in a tough situation because now you have people who are not even able to afford to purchase, even if they have great job, things like that, because inflation happens so quickly.
And it just did not keep pace with people’s salaries and where they are. So I think people are really just trying to figure out where they’re going to land and still working to get the American dream. And I think that’s your average everyday [00:13:00] American. I also think that there are folks who were making 200, 000 and above either as a family unit or solo or however, but their family, then those people, those are your higher income earners.
They’re doing okay. Okay. And so, but they also are concerned and not spending as much either because of just the news itself and want to make sure they have enough stocked away in case something happens. So I think it just has a trickle effect on everybody.
Porschia: Yeah, and thank you for sharing that because I think it’s helpful for us to think about from an economic perspective, because we know that that in turn affects mental health, which is the topic of today.
So you know, all of those kind of external economic factors. you know, people process those in different ways. In my years as a coach, I’ve referred clients to therapists, you know, when they need therapy services from your [00:14:00] perspective, how might someone know if they need therapy?
Melissa: Absolutely. So anytime that your mental health is being affected or impacted in, in one area of your life where you can’t function.
So if you are facing a crisis at work about to lose your job and you’re stressed, you don’t know what to do. A counselor can support you, you know, folks who are going through a divorce or separation have issues in their marriage and they’re not able to resolve them. Counseling can help you. You’re working to support kids who have, you know, disabilities or, you know behavioral issues.
Again, counseling can support you. So I say anything that is impacting your life you can go to a counselor and get some support around. A lot of times it’s just being able to walk through the situation with someone who is caring, empathetic and can give you some advice on how to move. Thank you. And also just calming down your body.
So what we know is, is a trauma informed [00:15:00] therapist. Anytime I talk to someone and I’m able to help them just to relax and to calm down, I can get them out of their emotional brain over into their intellectual brain, where decision making is taking place and where we can both figure out what’s next for us, because when we’re high on emotion, It’s hard for us to see ourselves unstuck.
It feels like this is going to last forever and nothing lasts forever, including including what we’re talking about in terms of economics. Nothing lasts forever. I mean, we’ll go through this flow and this will happen like every 10 to 12 years. And then, you know, you’ll have a couple of years where people are like surprised and then innovation, a change will happen in the market.
And then next thing you know, like we’ll pick it up and next thing you know, like we’re bam, we’re back in boomtown again. So it’s, it’s a rapid, you know, turnaround of us always moving through. [00:16:00]
Porschia: Yeah, I think that’s a great segue to my next question. Why do you think embracing mental health and therapy is important?
Melissa: We’re going to be here a long time, you know, so there was a time when people would retire at 60 and quite honestly be dead at 65. [00:17:00] That when social security was engineered, that’s what it was built around the fact that people weren’t going to live long. Now we know if a person makes it to 60 chances are, I think I forgot what the number is, but it’s a really high statistic that they will live to 90.
If you make it to 60. So we’re going to be here a long time. That means that we’re going to go through a lot of life transitions and in different scenarios in which we can have people support us. We also know like now more than ever, people are more isolated in their work than they’ve ever been. So, you know, because of COVID and that rapid turnaround with work from home.
We still have half of the workforce that’s working from home. And so you don’t have as much interaction as you typically have, which can also cause, you know, person to be isolated or depressed and people don’t make us. And again, this is not even the work from home, social media, all of those different things.
People don’t get out and make friends and have the [00:18:00] close networks that we once had. So having somebody that can support you can help you through so many different things. And I just, I feel like it’s just something that’s here to stay and it should be a part of everybody’s wellness team.
Porschia: I agree with that, everything that you said. And I was also thinking about, you know, social media. And. You know, different people and, and sometimes different generations put, you know, different emphasis levels on social media. But I do think that there is a correlation with kind of how much time someone spends on social media and, you know, their feelings of, you know, isolation or loneliness.
So.
Melissa: Yeah, and I also think, you know, so for the younger generation, one of the things that they have to grapple with that we didn’t necessarily have to grapple with is the comparison factor. So, this is interesting because I [00:19:00] know you know that one of my specialties money trauma and that intersection of money trauma.
And mental health. One of the things that I’m curious about and I and I pray that unfolds well is that so people who are 50 and older, their idea of a great living right now is 200 K in a household. And so the latest research showed that folks who were 35 and younger, right? That generation believed that 500, 000 a year.
is what their household needed to make in order to be happy. So think about it. This is happiness scale that we’re talking about, right? That same happiness scale prior to COVID, that happiness scale in 2010 is when I 2012, when I first started doing this work and it’s a book called happiness, something I can’t think of a name, but when it came up to this, this statistic, it was 75, 000.
So because of inflation that went up to like 150, 000, right? [00:20:00] Which basically said it. Meeting our needs, making sure we had health insurance, going on a family vacation, if a family made that amount of money. The 150 is relative to inflation, then they were going to be okay there. It’s enough for us to be happy.
Anything over that doesn’t tip the happiness scale. So imagine my generation saying now 200, 000 is where we are because of inflation, everything to be okay to retire. And then you have, you know, my kids, my, my, my oldest daughter is 28. They need 500, 000. Like, so it was like, okay. That is such a huge jump.
So where do we get that 500, 000? That number came from people comparing themselves on social media. So looking at the folks with the huge homes, the Bentleys, the cars, it’s really interesting because at one point, you know in, in my community that was like, you know, looking at like basketball stars or rap, rap rappers [00:21:00] life, right now it’s influencers.
It’s, it’s different people who like show you their standard of living. I remember watching this one woman and every week she was unboxing a Chanel purse. She’s unboxing, right. Like, like literally, right. And I’m like, well, you know, So if you are, if only thing you’re plugged into is social media and you’re watching this, you feeling bad about your life.
If you’re, if you’re, and so that is where getting unplugged from that is so important and getting plugged into what really lights you up and what really you are here to do. And then coming up with How you want to design your life versus how you feel like other people designing it for you, because, again, I’m not saying that you can’t make 500, 000 or produce that.
What I’m saying, though, is I’ve seen people where their skill set and aspirations don’t match that. And [00:22:00] then, and, and so they have a high level of anxiety, depression, because they don’t have the things or not able to tap into how they can get what they, you know what I mean? And so that is where a lot of the dissatisfaction is coming from.
You see people on there and they’re with their husbands and they’re vacationing and they’re drinking drinks and, and then you’re single, right? And you’re trying to get, it is like, it feels like it’s not attainable. And so unfortunately social media creates. comparison and it creates self doubt. It creates a lot of things when you overdo it.
And so we do see a lot, a lot of folks coming in depressed around things that they’ve seen or witnessed and comparing themselves to where they think they should be at this point in their life.
Porschia: I wish I could echo
all of
Porschia: that to, I don’t know where, but beyond. Because yes, I have seen some of that. I think that [00:23:00] happiness scale information about, you know, the income of 200, 000 to 500, 000 and how that, you know, was completely different than You know, what a decade ago is very interesting.
And when it comes to career coaching clients that I see a lot of them are so plugged into LinkedIn or Facebook or Instagram, and they are comparing themselves to your point. And what I hear a lot of is I just don’t feel like I’m doing enough. Yeah. Yep. And they say, Oh, you know, I get on LinkedIn. I see these people I went to college with these people I went to school with and they work here and they work there and I only do this.
And it is such a cycle of Kind of negativity, I think that people can go into. So I’m glad that you proactively, you know, discuss that with your clients because it is, it is a [00:24:00] very, very big deal. So Melissa, a lot of people think there is a stigma with going to therapy. What would you say to someone who feels that way?
Melissa: I would definitely say a lot of the stigma has been lifted. I would say 70 percent of the folks that come to therapy now are coming for mild issues, what we call like adjustment issues. So transitional issues, meaning like going through a divorce Cancer survivors such as myself and I need to walk some, you know, somebody walk that through with me changing jobs getting married, even good things people come because sometimes your first marriage and you didn’t know what you were expecting or signing up for.
And now you and this person, I get the love and you thought it was gonna be happily ever after, you know, or I’ve also had folks who got the job that they always dreamed of. And now are. Working to get skills on how to show up in [00:25:00] that job, you know, with full confidence and not feel like they’re imposter how to ask for what they want from upper management and not feel bad or feel like they’re going to be stigmatized and things like that in the workplace.
So folks, a lot of people are coming for. reasons other than depression or anxiety, although those are definitely good reasons as well. But I think it’s, it’s very normalized to just get some support.
Porschia: I think that’s really interesting that you say about, you know, 70 percent of people coming for, you know, more mild issues. I think, And this is just my thoughts. I would love to hear yours. I think some of it also With the stigma lifting is kind of. generational. So I was reading some things years ago about millennials specifically being more open to coaching and feedback and wanting to collaborate versus boomers who were not as open.
I mean, I remember when I started [00:26:00] getting my certification to become a coach, I was telling my dad and he said, a coach, like who needs that? He said, you know, I’ve lived my whole life without a coach, you know, and he just, it just didn’t. And he’s a boomer and it just didn’t connect for him until about five years later.
And he saw more coaches popping up and really understood it. But his kind of first reaction was like, you know, is this, Helpful or necessary. And I’ve seen a lot of people in, in my generation as millennial and definitely Gen Zers who just kind of embrace it. Yeah, I know anyhow. And they may or may not hire a coach, but they’re not as resistant to that idea.
Melissa: Absolutely. And I think that’s because they were raised with therapy. They were, they were raised with therapy and, you know, I know my kids. You know, each one of them have a therapist. One, their mom is a therapist, but two, they had school counselors who were therapists. They had their own therapist when they were in high school.
I mean, you know, they had a therapist when they were in college. [00:27:00] So they were raised with that concept. They’re very comfortable with it. I do, I do believe that, you know, when you think about boomers, new boomers, my daughter told me the other day, I was a new boomer. And I was like, Where did you get this from?
Like, I’m gonna need you to look this up because I think I’m a millennial, but go ahead. Like, I think I’m the, the last leg of it. And then she’s like, look, let me show you. It’s a new terminology. And I was like, what? No, what? Go put that, go put that back. Like, I was like, I don’t know who’s sitting down with this research, but it’s crazy.
I’m not even going with this boomer thing, but okay. But I say all that to say, we learn from people in our age group. So me as a coach, I’ve had boomers. As clients who, and they trusted me because I’m closer to their age group. So I definitely believe like once, once, once it levels up, just like Facebook, you think about it, I was looking at my Facebook posts and I was like, Oh my God.
Like I went 2008, 2009 was like the very first time I got on. Remember it first started off as college students and all the college students had [00:28:00] that, and then next thing you know, they left it to all the people, my age, like we’re over there, right? Yeah. Parents had it. Your parents have it now. It’s like, because my daughter, neither one of my daughters is on Facebook anymore.
They’re like, that’s your lane. But it’s interesting. We get the information, just like you said, it might be a little later. But once our friends start to have it and work with it, we’re taking it and we’re becoming coaches too. And now they’re like, Oh, okay. The other thing that I think is really interesting when you think about learning across generations is that because we’re living longer and more healthier, people are going to have multiple careers.
So one of the things that we know for sure is that in our lifespan, especially if you live to 80, you may have five different careers. And so that’s exciting. You know, again, you know, past generations, they’re going to live to 60, 65, definitely going to retire at 65, and then they’re going to live out to 75.
looked old. I look at my grandparents, that 75 looked old, but now I look at 70, [00:29:00] 75, and I’m looking at Beyonce’s mom.
Okay,
Melissa: 72. I’m looking at Oprah, 70. Like 70 look good now. It looks really good. You know, it’s really healthy. Like this, like, look, look, look, they just stretching out for their next leg. So it’s like, that is very much where we are coming up under them is we’re going to live so much longer and we’re going to have so many other things they’re going to do.
Like that might be the year that you become an artist. That might be the year that you start your, your first new company. And I’m seeing that with a lot of my clients in their 60s, creating products for the first time and, and getting, you know, trademark. I’m seeing clients become speakers at this age.
I’m seeing, you know, because they’ve had all these skills over the years, now they’re taking those skills and doing different things with them. So we’re definitely growing. It just may look different from how the other generation is doing it, but they’re doing the things they’re coming to therapy as well.
Porschia: Yeah. And I [00:30:00] love that you touched on that cycle or shouldn’t say cycle, but that, that point in time where those different age ranges and kind of thinking about what they mean. I know that you talk about managing mental health as we age. Can you tell us a little more about that?
Melissa: Sure, I think it’s just all about taking care of yourself, taking care of yourself and taking care of yourself through transitions.
So when we think about good mental health, really what we’re thinking about is a circle of how we take care of ourselves in each area. So that’s like our nutrition, our wellbeing recreation, getting out, having hobbies, friends. relationship, you know, with your intimate partner, family, how you get along with those people, professional life your work, your business and professional development, how you grow yourself.
So these are all the areas that impact us in terms of like our mental health. When we have two or more of those areas that we’re not doing well in, we start to feel [00:31:00] symptoms of like depression and anxiety. So Taking that information and managing that through lifespan is just understanding as I get older, my friends get older, right?
I may have some friends who pass away, who, you know, I have to always be cognitive of ensuring that I have a good, healthy friend circle. And that I’m continuing to get out and I’m continuing to do things around brain health, exercise, and learning new skills. We don’t die when we get older, we get better if we decide to.
But if you start speaking deaf to yourself retirement, all these different things, your body will age as well. And again, that’ll cause you to have more mental health issues. And so, you know, if you have parents that are older, encourage them to continue to do things, whether they’re volunteering in the community or at their church, encourage them to read every day, encourage them to look at their food choices, because food and nutrition has such a big impact on how we [00:32:00] operate every day.
So those are, because all of that impacts our mental health. You know, so I could go, go so much deeper, but I’m gonna stop there, but it all impacts our mental health. You know,
Porschia: I, I do. And I love that you mentioned all of that. You made me think about a recent client who signed up and is working with us now, signed up a couple of weeks ago and she’s 71.
Yeah. He asked me, you know, directly, Portia, do you think I’m too old? Do you think people are going to think, you know, I’m too old to, you know, really be on the job market and get these jobs. And I told her, absolutely not. We just have to remove, you know, the graduation years from college and whatnot, but it’s all about positioning herself and showing that she has been growing and developing to your point and learning new skill sets and all of that.
So, yeah. Great. Yeah,
Melissa: absolutely.
Porschia: Tell us more about VisionWorks Counseling and Coaching. [00:33:00]
Melissa: Sure. So VisionWorks Counseling and Coaching, I started this practice in 2012. We are based out of Atlanta. We’re also in Florida and you know, we provide services to professionals. as well as their families and their kids.
That’s our thing. And it’s just really exciting. I have a great team of women that I work with therapists. We would like a man, hasn’t happened yet though, but we would like a man on our team. And we get to work with people virtually and it’s amazing work with individuals as well as couples.
Porschia: That is great.
So we’ll be providing a link to your website and social channels in our show notes so people can find you online. But what is the best way for someone to get in touch with you?
Melissa: Absolutely. You can reach out to us directly at visionworkscoaching. com. So that’s www. visionworkscoaching. com. You can also find us on LinkedIn and Facebook at VisionWorks Coaching.
Porschia: Great. [00:34:00] So now I want to ask you our final question. How do you think executives or professionals can get a positive edge in their career?
Melissa: I think having self confidence is, it’s the most beautiful edge that you can ever have. And I think that comes through understanding yourself more more intuitively and being in tune with the skills. And the things that make you uniquely you. And I also think, obviously I’m going to say this, you know mental health and wellness is so important.
I feel like when we’re in total alignment where our life reflects who we are, then that reflects how we show up, you know, and I say that because I’ve met people who’ve been like amazing on stage or amazing presentation. And then you start talking to them and you realize like their home life. Their self care routines like they’re [00:35:00] not really all there, but they’re there for other people But I feel like when it’s all in alignment Life is just so good.
It’s just so good. And you can’t help but to win in every area when you show up authentically yourself.
Porschia: I agree. I agree that alignment is important and so is confidence. We have a series on confidence on the podcast as well. Well Melissa, you have shared a lot of wisdom with us today and I’m sure our listeners can use it to be more confident in their careers.
We appreciate you being with us. Thank you so much for having me. This was
Melissa: wonderful. [00:36:00]
