We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melissa Lombardo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Taking the risk of speaking out about difficult topics has supported my continued healing and thriving post trauma.
I was sexually assaulted as a college student at the age of 21. After months of silence, I decided to tell a trusted friend who helped me find the supports I needed to begin my healing process. One of these supports was the local crisis center. The counselor at the crisis center validated me and helped me process my experience. She also encouraged me to journal and write about my feelings via writing and drawing prompts.
At the end of my counseling sessions, and subsequent graduate school studies where I took on the task of planning activities for Sexual Assault Awareness Month, I felt “healed”.
It wasn’t until years later upon returning from living outside of the United States, my home country, that I realized I had not healed in the way I had hoped and had in fact blocked out the hurt through disassociation.
It was at this moment in time I began taking the biggest risk of my life; the journey inwards to resolve and heal from past trauma.
Most of my family and friends hadn’t known I had been assaulted; it was not something I spoke about publicly. Little did anyone know, my story would become not only public but also published and spoken about on podcasts, television, the radio, and even in-person events all to support healing and thriving of others who had faced similar trauma.
Every step of the way was a risk. I became consciously aware of the immense hurt I had been carrying and the effects it had on my entire life, from the way I walked, talked, raised a family, and even in the state of my health. It was for all of this and more that I knew I needed to do what I was meant to do to support my own healing and that of others. What I did not realized is how my own risk taking would impact all of those around me.
I began by joining a writer’s group and then after 3 emotional attempts, took training to become a Sexual Assault Crisis Advocate. Each of these steps became a new entry point to healing that were beyond difficult but filled with people that supported me in my journey. As time passed, I continued healing, shared my story with family and friends and began letting people know I would be publishing about my experiences. My thought at the time was to publish my story and help at least one person know that they too could find healing.
Up to this point everything about my journey was risky and continued to be risky up until the book launch. I knew I would be speaking in front of people, most of them my family and friends. I was not sure if I could go through with it but knew in my heart that I needed to do this. My mother, my godfather, people who held me as a baby, or met me in first grade, middle school, high school, college, were all in attendance. It was an incredible outpouring of love and support and community healing. I spoke and didn’t even recognize my voice and the effects of the healing process can be seen in my entire life. Healing has transformed relationships, health, and everything that takes place.
The path to healing was scary and risky because I did not know what was going to happen.
I took that risk and continue to move forward and encourage others to take the same risk for their own future.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Melissa B. Lombardo. I am a trauma-sensitive author, inspirational speaker, crisis advocate, and founder of the Write, Heal, Thrive LLC. Ever since I was a child, I have always ben curious about the world around me. Reading books, writing in my journal, trying different foods, visiting new places, learning about people from different cultures are just a few examples of what resonates with me. Being a lifelong learner, imparting knowledge via teaching and mentoring, and connecting people to their next steps comes naturally to me.

Healing began for me as community support and then went on to include journaling, drawing, using my voice, learning about natural healing and holistic practices, and then following up my experiential learning with professional certifications.
Write, Heal, Thrive comes out of these same principles of supporting others.

As a business, Write, Heal, Thrive offers individuals the opportunity to begin or continue their healing journey to healing, thriving, and well-being via books, materials, and other print materials.

On the author and speaker side, I acknowledge and understand those I work with because of trauma in my past including sexual violence. I use this understanding to help guide me in crafting unique and engaging presentations that speaks to listeners uplifting them and at the same time informing them and giving them tools to take home with them to either continue healing, start healing, or support and encourage others to do the same.

One of the interesting aspects of my work is bringing “Hurt, Healing, and Hope: Thriving beyond Sexual Assault” to a wider audience. Hurt, Healing, and Hope is a book, a 3-act interwoven monologue production as theatre for social justice, and a resource and education tool for colleges, community theater, group and individualized coaching type sessions. There are even original illustrations by Nicaraguan artist, Eduardo Arias Cruz who co-teaches with me on occasion via therapeutic art sessions with participants.  

It is my hope that I can support and encourage someone to take crucial steps to healing and thriving through something I may have written, spoken, or helped them accomplish via a workshop or presentation. I have went through so much to achieve healing and cannot imagine my life without it.

I am proud of myself for having taken these steps. The confidence I now have in my own abilities is beyond measure. I truly feel limitless and want everyone to feel the same. My struggle and journey has not be easy but I have been able to take the mess that my life once was, rise, and soar. I am authentic, real, hope for healing and beyond for anyone I come into contact with and teach by example so that others can feel this same authenticity. I want people to know and sense that they need to contact me and see how we can work together and bring a message of healing and thriving to their lives and that of their own stakeholders.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission aligned life is to heal, thrive, live joyfully and become a person that actively advocates for marginalized voices and encourages all individuals to find their own healing. We are meant to live joyfully. I believe you can have negative things happen to you and still find a path to live your best life.
I love to create, find new ways of doing things, improve upon or change an existing way of completing a task. Many times, this contributes to flow and synchronicity. I find the more I align internally, the more my creative journey expands and flows naturally into the next steps.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

One of the most rewarding aspects of being an author and speaker is being able to include a variety of different perspectives and techniques into my writings and presentations. Recently I presented to the CT Author and Publisher Alliance on my journey to publishing. My goal was to be creative, engaging, provide my audience with practical content while also sharing a part of my story and how I was able to heal and thrive. My presentation began and I juggled for the audience and while juggling told them how juggling was connected to publishing and told them a story of my 10-year-old self, learning to juggle in her grandmother’s kitchen. This story is just one example of what makes my job so rewarding, positively impacting someone in the audience to achieve their own dreams or goals. One such individual approached me at the end of the presentation and complimented me on my presentation. It is for people like this gentleman named Douglas that I am inspired to continued doing the work I am doing and continuing to live and carry out a mission of healing and thriving for myself and others in ways that fit with Write, Heal, Thrive as a business and myself as an individual.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.melissablombardo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissablombardoauthor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissablombardoauthor
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissablombardo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MelissaBLombardoAuthor
• Other: http://etsy.com/shop/writehealthrive

Image Credits

Alicia Ann Daw: Profile photo Melissa in blue dress with plant on left
Eduardo Arias Cruz: photos of Melissa presenting