Get brave. Decide. Act. Repeat.
Welcome to my signature online coaching programs, Breakthrough & Begin, created to help you create a life you love.
As a community builder, life coach, entrepreneur and business mentor, I’m passionate about helping women make the hard and important decisions that lead to more fulfilling lives. However, to make these decisions, we need do the work of identifying the stories and patterns that have kept us stuck and get clear on what truly matters most.
I launched my Breakthrough & Begin teaching five years ago – quietly and alongside my Fellow Flowers work – and have now coached dozens and dozens of women through it.
I created it because I was heartbroken watching women almost do what they love, almost be their true authentic selves, almost own their story and almost live the life they were meant for.
I am so excited to bring this program to my Fellow Flowers community where we are all about owning our stories.
Why I created Breakthrough & Begin
I’ve had the privilege of meeting and talking with women from all over this country. Smart, talented and incredibly bright women were sharing their aspirations and fears and dreams with me, and despite vast differences amongst them, I started noticing universal themes in many of the conversations I was having. It was profound… and strikingly clear.
Women were waiting.
They were waiting for the right time, to feel more ready, more education, better financial security, for the kids to get older, approval from loved ones and so on. Of course, these are seemingly logical and practical reasons to pump the brakes and endlessly analyze our readiness, and so many brilliant women get caught here – waiting for the right time to just go for it. Yet the more I talked with women and honestly reflected on my own experience about what held me back, I realized these were actually masking the bigger conversation we should be having.
In my own entrepreneurial journey and personal story, my challenges had much more to do with old stories about who I was supposed to be. I had unknowingly let these stories define my path, and I was letting fear and self-doubt keep me from doing what I love.
Who am I to bring such a big, bold dream into this world? Who am I to demand such happiness and fulfillment? Who am I to ask for more from this life? And smart women with big dreams are also really good at telling themselves why they aren’t ready, and we hook into the narrative of why it won’t work. We want to be successful, and we want to know that what we’re leaping into will be better than what we’re leaving.
However the big realization and the shift that changed everything for me, is that our fulfillment doesn’t come when we achieve success, conquer our calling or reach the goal. We feel it when we give ourselves permission to chase what truly matters and become – wholeheartedly – who we are meant to be. It’s the decision to let go of what’s been holding us back that brings us true happiness, joy and ease.
You are worth this. You are worth this investment, time and commitment to yourself.
But you must be willing.
You must say yes.
And you must show up for you.
It has always been within you
Have you ever found yourself feeling like the answer is out there? And you find yourself in this hurried state of acquiring information, collecting validation and new ways to improve yourself? But what if the answers we seek and the self-love we crave wasn’t out there for us to learn but rather within for us to discover?
We can scaffold our way through new goals and resolutions and accountability groups and healthy recipes and hard workouts but if we’re not actually getting to the heart of what it is we’re chasing, our best intentions and plans will inevitably and gloriously crumble, leaving behind the wreckage of feeling inadequate, less than and once again, searching for answers.
I’ve needed to remind myself that we don’t need resolutions to go after what we want. We just need to embrace what truly matters and decide – in the moment that is right for us – and then act.
I know this cycle, because I’ve been there.
Burned up, resentful, frustrated and feeling so very lost amidst misguided values and scattered intentions. But, within the mess, I also discovered my magic. This restless and tough place became the necessary platform to intentionally build the foundation I knew I needed. This was true for Fellow Flowers, my health, my family, my work – everything.
My invitation to you simple: Let’s get clear on what matters to you, let’s decide what you want your life to look and feel like, and let’s do the work of getting you there.
Let’s build a foundation for your dreams and goals to stand upon.
Let’s do the work of figuring out what you are truly chasing.
Let’s get to the heart of what you really want for your life and why.
Let’s identify old patterns, resistance and fears and work with them, not against them.
Let’s surrender to the process and let go of outcomes and expectations.
And then, let’s act together with full and courageous hearts, taking small brave steps toward the life we want.
The program & how it works
Four weeks of learning and self-inquiry that gets to the heart of creating the life you love and becoming unapologetically and courageously, you.
Dates:
This program begins February 24 and runs through March 20.
All virtual
This program allows you to participate from anywhere in the world. In past years, we’ve had women from all over the country joining the virtual calls and participating on the Facebook page. You can also watch and listen to all calls if you can’t attend live.
What this program includes:
– 4 weeks of live coaching and support with Mel
– 2 weekly ZOOM group coaching calls with Mel per week (60 min each)
– 2 guest speaker Q&A sessions with outstanding women leaders
– Breakthrough & Begin book, delivered via electronic PDF
– Weekly email check-ins from Mel
– Closed Facebook group for community support with Mel
– Priority access to Mel’s B&B retreat this October 10-13, held in Emerald Isle, NC
Simple expectations:
– be open and be you, flaws and all
– be willing to consider and listen to new ideas, ways of thinking
– have a sense of readiness that you want more
– appreciate humor and laughter
– bring your true self to all activities, questions and discussions
– be willing to do the work – remember, you get out what you put in
Week by week glance
Week 1
Sunday February 24th
Coaching call focus: Owning your story
Focus areas:
– Owning and stepping in to your true story
– Understanding and recognizing behavior patterns and habits
– Naming your limiting beliefs and working with them
Wednesday, February 27th
Special guest interview with Theresa D’Ambrose, founder of Intentional Nourishment
I will dive DEEP into how and when we create behavioral patterns and how our life experiences shape our (perceived) realities. Theresa is an expert on energy patterns and will talk us through four key patterns that we adopt at a young age and carry with us (often unknowingly.) She will shed light into how we can develop greater self awareness, work with these patterns and strengthen our capacity to resolve emotional, personal and relationship issues.
Week 2
Sunday, March 3
Working with fear and your inner critic
Focus areas:
– What is behind the fear that keeps you stuck
– Understanding your inner critic (and her motives)
– Dropping the shield (and letting go of roles and expectations)
– Recognizing mirrors, triggers and projections
Wednesday, March 6
Continue discussion on fear and inner critic, plus LIVE Coaching with Mel
Week 3
Sunday, March 10
Getting clear on what matters
Focus areas:
– Learning the tools to get unstuck
– What gets in the way + permission to move through
– Joy/fear/obligation – a new roadmap to making decisions
– What really matters and identifying your core values
Tuesday, March 12th
Special guest interview with Toni Carey, founder of Black Girls Run!, Entrepreneur, Writer, Yogi
How do you make the tough decisions that get you closer to where you want to go and who you want to become? How do you manage change and tough shifts? Toni is a mentor and friend whose path has inspired me to live braver and more authentically. Her journey of creating, leading and eventually walking away from Black Girls Run! is beyond inspiring. In this Q&A session I’ll be asking her how she made tough decisions, leaned on her values and inner beliefs and worked through the fear to gain freedom and fulfillment.
Week 4
Sunday, March 17
What are you willing to do? Where do I go from here?
Week four is all about identifying a first step that gets you closer to the woman you want to become. And very often, we think our first step is one thing, when it turns out, if you ask a couple more questions and go one layer deeper, you realize there’s more to it. In this call, Mel will turn it over to you and take questions throughout the evening with the goal of live coaching and working through challenges and that ‘what next’ feeling. This will be a great opportunity to observe and reflect on your story as well. And, if coaching is something you are interested in, you can take notes on how to guide and ask women important questions.
Wednesday, March 20
Wrap-up + what’s next
Group reflections
Investment & Program Details
Helping women make decisions aligned with who they want to become is what makes my heart come alive, and just like with Fellow Flowers, I believe there is nothing more powerful than a woman owning her story.
I currently coach a handful of incredible women in a 1-on-1 capacity, and my wait-list continues to grow for these spots. Part of why I LOVE offering Breakthrough & Begin once a year as a virtual option is it 1) allows me to coach and connect with more women and 2) gives you my most impactful content and questions so you can take action today.
Is it worth it? Yes, it is.
Do you need to show up and make this a worthwhile investment? Yes, you do.
Correspondence
Every week, we will email your materials for the week ahead. You will not receive all four weeks of materials at once. You will receive each week as it comes.
ZOOM video chats
Every Sunday and Thursday evening, we will convene online for our virtual coaching calls. You can opt for video or phone, whatever is most comfortable for you. These are tentatively scheduled for Sunday and Thursday evenings, starting at 7:15 pm. All calls will be recorded and available for later viewing if you can’t attend live.
Connection via our closed Facebook page
We will do the majority of our connecting and sharing on the private Facebook group. Please be brave and share here, even if it’s out of your traditional comfort zone. I will be in there a LOT and will be asking and answering questions as we go along.
Your time commitment
I strongly encourage you to carve out the time on Sundays and Thursdays, with the addition of a couple hours to journal and write. I will also say, many women go through the course just focusing on the calls and then go back later and visit the materials. Show up in the way that makes you feel like you’re connected and getting what you need out of the program.
Is Breakthrough & Begin for you?
The truth is, only you can answer that.
And here’s what I’m betting – in THIS moment, if you’ve read everything above, you already know.
So, you will likely do one of two things – listen and act on that immediate and powerful intuition or find a reason why it can’t happen. (Or close out of this page and get lost in the hustle of life.) If you know you need this and want this and NOW IS THE TIME, register. Make it happen. Let this be the one thing you do today that gets you closer to the woman you want to become.
And if you know me, you know my motto: YOU DECIDE. You decide all of it – where you put your energy, who you surround yourself with, whether or not you make the time, if it’ll be a priority – ALL OF IT.
So decide you’re worth this time and investment. Decide the time is now. Decide to breakthrough the chaos and clutter and begin living the life you were meant to live.
Because we are all meant for more.
Because we are not the sum of our mistakes.
Because we deserve to be lit up, happy and strong.
Because we are so, so very worth it.