Melissa helps purpose-driven leaders to experience more joy and balance in their lives and health while developing their capacity to lead and succeed as executives and entrepreneurs. Melissa believes each of us has the power to create a healthy, joyful, purpose-driven life. For most of us, there’s a gap between our current experience of life and our highest aspirations. When we are supported and open to exploring this gap, new resources and possibilities emerge.
Melissa began her coaching journey when a leadership program she was part of offered an ICF coach certification program. What she thought would be a new set of tools to enhance her work as a director in a non-profit organization turned out to be the inspiration for a career pivot into professional coaching. Melissa owned a yoga studio with a couple of her friends at the time and began offering wellness coaching to her yoga & meditation students. As she built her private coaching practice, Melissa was intuitively drawn to coach women to live their life’s purpose and thrive through a combination of wellness and leadership coaching. When Melissa’s sister, Amy (also on Annie’s coaching team!), introduced her to Tara Mohr’s book, she found that Tara’s Playing Big tools really resonated with her clients and accelerated their progress in powerful ways.
Melissa is an International Coach Federation Certified Coach, as well as a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. In addition to her work with Annie Ricci’s Coaching team, Melissa’s practice includes health & wellness coaching, executive & leadership coaching, and peer advisory groups for health and wellness entrepreneurs. From her prior career in non-profit leadership, Melissa has 20 years experience in organizational development, community engagement, instructional design and facilitation.
Melissa’s approach is empathetic and action-oriented. Friends and clients alike are drawn to her ability to lovingly listen to and accept them for exactly who they are, while challenging them to become more of who they are meant to be. Her clients often say that her zest for life, joyful presence, and infectious laughter help them feel at ease, with a sense that something wonderful is about to happen.
Find out more about Melissa at www.illuminateguidance.com
Melissa’s Clients’ Kind Words:
” Coaching is an amazing tool – truly a gift that I’m extremely grateful for. It has positively impacted all aspects of my life. The guidance and coaching that Melissa bestowed on me was the catalyst that got me to move forward. I tend to only see the unfinished work and don’t recognize the accomplishments. She was able to walk me through the “cloudy mess” and helped me to see the wins along the way. I am more confident in my ability to communicate and contribute effectively to the team and the company.”
L.C., Client
Senior Sales Manager, Cepheid
“Through coaching I have learned how to work with feedback, I have found my inner mentor and know how to reach her, and I have learned how to calm my inner critic. My coaching experience has been an eye opener for me. I am definitely using everything I have learned on a daily basis. I wish I can continue coaching forever. The lessons and techniques I have learned and the epiphany moments I shared with Melissa are priceless and I am proud to say that I will carry them with me for life. Melissa was amazing all through this journey. How she remembered every small detail of our conversation and gave me a very personalized experience all along. All of her advice and techniques are great and have worked wonders for me. I looked forward to our conversations always and it has definitely given me a positive outlook about life in general.”
N.R, Client
Supply Chain Analyst, Molecular Devices
“I have enjoyed having Melissa as my coach. She is an experienced professional and has insights that are valuable to me in my role. Through our work together, I discovered that as a leader, I am unique and have my own unique sets of strengths and skills. I lead differently and feel differently towards my work/my team/my role. I learned that everyone really needs a “Melissa” to help work through areas of executive leadership. It isn’t easy and having someone to safely talk to has made a big difference in my life both professionally and personally. I am celebrating that I now recognize my wins, address my feelings and take a proactive approach with my leaders to help them become better leaders. Melissa helped me see that the challenges I was working through aren’t easy for anyone, regardless of their title, role, tenure. During our coaching term, I had a lot of personal loss. Melissa became a coach that helped me express the loss, how it was impacting my work life balance and really helped me put into words my feelings and grief during this time. I like that Melissa always met me emotionally where I needed to go, and was there to laugh with me too. Melissa, I honestly don’t know if you appreciate how much you helped me during our time together. 🙂 Thank you!”
R.L. Client,
Vice President, Cepheid
“Before starting coaching, I felt so confused, lost, and frustrated with all the changes in our organization that I knew I needed help but I didn’t know who to ask and what questions to ask. Coaching with Melissa has been an incredible experience. I wish the sessions could continue! I have loved learning about myself with the help of a coach and learning that there are tools to help me get out of bad habits, reframe negative thinking, etc all while finding and staying true to my core values. Now that I have completed our sessions, I feel like a different person! I now know that I can be an effective leader and still hold true to my core values. I feel centered and focused and capable of taking on the challenges that face me.”
H.C., Client
Senior Global Manager, Sciex
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