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

Melissa, appreciate you joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

My mother is an immigrant. As soon as she received her citizenship, she joined the armed forces. I watched my mother (a single parent of two) battle with every issue we as a society still battle today in regards to livable wages, affordable housing and more. All while training pilots and airmen in serving our country.

In my childhood, there were days in which I would go with my mother to work. It set a bar early. Due to her position, my behavior and actions had to be on par with the professional decorum that she exemplified. I was eight years old when my mother first said that I would own my own business. She outlined character traits that were considered assets in the adult world. Strong communication skills. Proper phone edict. Well organized with a solid understanding of prioritization. But more than anything, my mother regularly reflected that it was my ability to speak to anybody, in any room and unite conversations with grace and humor. Even though I grew up in poverty, I was taught that I am capable of achieving anything. If I applied my strengths, doors would open.

She wasn’t wrong. In ’97 I suffered a traumatic brain injury, a months long coma and spent six years in vocational rehabilitation were I was told to collect disability and sit down. That I would never fully recover. With a team of neurologists, therapists and specialists, I was saddled with the notion that at the age of 14, I would not become a productive member of society. Due to the traumatic brain injury, I had lost the ability to read and write. I also lost my sense of taste and smell for about seven years. The climb up the mountain in getting back to where I was pre-head injury, was more than daunting. It was crippling to my very existence as the goer-doer that I had always been.

My mother was right behind me reminding me that I did not have to accept that. That I did not have to play it safe and stop living, but rather this was a great opportunity to set my own destiny and succeed in ways I was told were impossible.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Through the years I had my hand in many pots. Always on the quest for knowledge that would expand my skill sets. Even though you are told you have endless potential, how often are we told how to tap into that? The best course of action was for me to build connections with as many people as I could and for many years, I floated several side jobs to provide for my family.
From cleaning and cooking to carpentry and cosmetology. It was during my years in the real estate sector that I found that I had a knack for numbers. Specifically accounting and bookkeeping. One of my employers asked me to do an overhaul on her business accounts. It seemed as though funds had been misappropriated and it was becoming a problem.
It took me about two months, but I had located tens of thousands of dollars that had gone un-paid for services rendered. The banks holding the mortgages on the properties we were restoring we going unpaid. It was a massive win for me in unearthing this. It opened doors for me in the financial sector.

As with many things in life, we are often given obstacles. Around my time with an accounting firm, I was informed that I needed brain surgery. Cranial fluid was suffocating my brain as it was attacking what it thought to be a foreign object. It is a pseudo-tumor. It was restricting the optical nerve in my brain as it was trying to eliminate the part of my brain that held the scarring from the previous head injury. They needed to implant a shunt that allowed the cranial fluid to drain into my abdominal cavity and then medications would treat the remaining symptoms.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Following a traumatic brain injury in ’97, it was made clear that I would never again be able to harness the mental stamina that is required in completing one’s education.

The month long coma resulted in years of lost memories and abilities. Not only did I lose the ability to taste and smell for about seven years, but I also did not know/remember the alphabet or how to read and write.

Being that I was only fourteen at the time of the accident, my whole life was ahead of me, but in the eyes of science and the medical team working with me, it was said that the best thing to do was simply collect disability and essentially retire from a life and career I had not started living.

My mother made it well know that the easy road was not an option that I would entertain. At the time, it created a wedge in our relationship.
From my perspective, nobody was experiencing what I was. That shear physical pain that my days were built upon. The emotional and mental rollercoaster of being a somewhat of a test subject on the matter. I became a fascinating subject in the arena of our medical practitioners.
There was and there is still so much to learn in neuroscience and the physiological changes that happen as a result of a TBI.

In order for me to complete highschool and have a chance in completing any higher education, I was placed in vocational rehabilitation for six years in which I attended a few days a week. At the same time I was placed in a homeschooling program that, at the time, was designed for pregnant teenagers to receive an education at home, with an educator that is sent to your home twice a week to conduct lessons and testing.

It wasn’t easy and I was pretty angry with the situation, but there was no way I was going to stop living before I had a chance.

I worked hard. It took time but I was able to pick up reading pretty quickly. I was not testing at my peer group, but I saw any and all progress as hope. Silver linings that all was not lost.

As graduation was in sight, my mother and I received news from the Metro Nashville public school system requesting a closed door meeting. It was one of the most devastating moments I can recall. The whole meeting was an attempted apology as the school system had made mistakes that prevented me from graduating with my class.

Their miscalculation meant I was short two credits and the program I was placed in would not be extended to cover the credits.
The only solution was duel enrollment. In my last semester of highschool I was placed in community college where I could attend online classes at the same time I completed my last semester of highschool; and the credits from the state school would transfer to my highschool transcripts, as well.

This brought more battles and expense that I knew my mother could not afford. I was in a protected class as a “disabled” student, but that did not mean that some college instructors wanted me in their class. One in particular, a technology professor refused me assess to his class citing, “If you couldn’t learn with the rest of the class, you shouldn’t be in college.”

With the collosal mistakes of the Metro Nashville public schools, it did not take much for Volunteer State community college to step in and correct course; allowing entrance to the classes I needed.

No. I did not graduate with my class in May of ’01, but I did graduate in December of ’01.
It became the first hurdle in what became years of hurdles in obtaining higher education, degrees and certifications.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Easily, word of mouth. Our clients are proud to share their experiences with their friends, family and co-workers; and we are grateful for it as that is what has consistently fueled and supported our good standing within and outside of our community.

We are not just a body piercing facility with high quality, beautiful jewelry. We put the time and resources in actually learning and mastering our craft through various programs, certifications, courses and intensives.
With that comes the knowledge that we are able to provide to our clientele. The peace of mind it provides and the respect it shows continues to maintain our strength, sustainability and integrity in the industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dahliabodypiercing.com/

Image Credits
Logo design by BettyAnn Solnosky. Piercings by Melissa Faye