We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Melanie Colon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Melanie below.

Hi Melanie, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I left my lucrative corporate job knowing that “there had to be something more to life” than making profits for someone else. I had held this position so close to my heart and in it I found my identity. I had worked so hard and sacrificed far too much- time, memories with my family, even my mental and physical health, just to climb the ladder of success and prestige. When I left, I figured that I’d find a better job. Instead, what I found was depression, anxiety and a void of identity, importance and confidence. I struggled through the next year in search of my new path and identity. I found both- but not in the same place.

Today, I am grateful to be able to use my darkest time, coupled with over 15+ years of corporate leadership to help high achieving make more money by breaking through their mindset and operational roadblocks in their business.
Best of all, I can do this while being present with my family and having control over my schedule. I’m thankful for the struggle that went into discovering who I really am and living it out boldly.

If you are feeling stuck, unconfident and unfocused, there is hope. You can find clarity, rediscover your purpose and be make bold moves. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My job as your Mindset and Business Coach is to identify habits, labels and behaviors that are holding you back from scaling your business and making money. I spent many years in fitness coaching and found that while I trained my clients in their physical health, it would be all in vain if I didn’t also train their mindset and habits too. Anytime I had the opportunity to work with a client that would be vulnerable and able to work in both areas, they saw their success skyrocket. Yes, in the physical but also in every other area of their life.

Once I transitioned out of fitness training and into corporate management, I found that I also have the ability to geek out over a good spreadsheet and find and correct inefficiencies in business operations. As a result, I ventured out into the entrepreneur world. I married the two worlds together and Voila! A perfect match. Just as combining mindset work with fitness increases result, combining mindset work with a high-achieving, powerful female CEO that is looking to scale her business, again the results skyrocket!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson I needed to unlearn was to never allow anything, any role, job, past label, lie spoken over you to dictate who you are. Many times, in life women, self- included become so engrossed in their roles (mom, wife, employee, daughter) that they lose their unique identity. I became Melanie, the District Manager, Mom and Wife, and completely forgot to embrace the things that I enjoy and wanted to become that made me unique. I had lost myself and it happened so slowly that I didn’t even know it was gone.

When I finally came to the realization that I had allowed the labels and titles to represent me instead of showing up uniquely. I fought so hard to prove that I earned my seat at the Manager table that I became a dull version of me and eventually lost all of my authentic self.

The lesson of that most women need to learn at some point in their life is that who they are, makes them a unique piece of the puzzle. No one else can fill that spot, deliver your message and connect with others the way that you can. When you embrace your uniqueness, you will attract the correct clients for your business so that you can make an impact and a profit at the same time.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

If you have the opportunity to manage a team, then you have been trusted with great responsibility. Here are the top things that you need to know to keep (or improve) morale.

1. You set the tone for your business. As a manager, your job is to be the thermostat for the employees. You regulate and dictate the atmosphere. If you are not getting out what you want from your team, check what you are contributing.

2. Your employees are human beings, with emotions. As much as we can say that personal and business don’t mix. they absolutely do! The condition of your employee’s home life will spill into how they perform for you. While you are not a therapist, please do try to remember meaningful things to them, such as their kid’s names, what they were doing for their vacation, and their career goals.

3. Talk often about their performance and goals. Nothing is more frustrating to a driven employee than not being given enough training or opportunities or just plain forgotten about until the next annual review. Connecting with your employees regularly will help stop or prevent performance gaps, keep them motivated to produce, and keep the lines of communication open for full and honest disclosure.

Employee morale can make or break your company culture, your new sales and your returning clients. That is why it should be prioritized in your business, education and financial planning.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.riseupsolutions.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rise_up_solutions
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empoweredrun

Image Credits
B & E Photography Jessica McIntosh Photography