007. Nobody Made a Seat for Me, So I Built My Own Table

007. Nobody Made a Seat for Me, So I Built My Own Table

Send me a text 💌 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2605054/fan_mail/new] I grew up wanting straight hair, green contacts, and a different nose. I wanted to be somebody else entirely. Then a boy in ninth grade told me he couldn't date a Mexican girl—and I carried that into every boardroom I ever walked into, no matter how high my title was. That was then. This episode is about what happens when you stop trying to fit into somebody else's seat—and build your own table instead. In this episode: * Growing up Latina in a town that made her feel less than—and how that shaped everything * Why comparing yourself to magazines was bad enough, but today's girls are comparing themselves to AI-generated robots * How launching 25 foundation shades (from fairest to deepest) was a non-negotiable from day one * Why nobody made a seat for Melissa—so she built her own table and made room for everyone * The chip on her shoulder that became the fuel for everything she built * How a community-led brand model changed everything—and why pulling back the curtain matters * Why online bullies didn't stay in eighth grade—and why elevating women is the only interesting act * Social media boundaries: why the pretty grid isn't real life, and why the good stuff lives in the messy 1:29 – Learning Self-Love 2:06 – Prejudice and Insecurity  3:39 – Social Media and AI Beauty  4:35 – Building Inclusive Beauty  7:10 – Make Your Own Seat 9:34 – Bet on Yourself  12:08 – Community-Led Brand 14:14 – Authenticity in the Messy  15:53 – Motherhood and Perfection  17:41 – Social Media Boundaries  19:55 – The Becoming Question The Becoming Question: What in your life has taken your joy because you've allowed yourself to compare your real world with somebody else's non-authentic one? And don't you deserve to embrace the real, messy, beautiful truth of your life? You are not late. You are not behind. You are not finished. You are in the making. Stay in the making. Connect: @melissathompson.19 [https://instagram.com/melissathompson.19] Watch/Listen: bellame.com/becomingher [https://bellame.com/becomingher] You are not late.  You are not behind.  You are not finished.  You are in the making. Stay in the making.

006. The Boardroom Moment That Changed Everything (Building Differently, Part 2)

Send me a text 💌 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2605054/fan_mail/new] I was in a boardroom presenting a compensation plan when I said we needed something for the people who just needed to pay the light bill, buy soccer shoes for their kids, or simply put milk on the table. The CEO looked at me and said: "Melissa, that's not our demographic." That was the moment that changed everything. This is Part 2 of Building Differently — what I did after I walked away from corporate, what I built, and why I built it the way I did. In this episode: * The boardroom moment that became the foundation of everything I built * Why "put milk on the table" became the North Star for my entire brand * What it means to stop waiting for someone else to come rescue you—in business and in life * Why 97-99% of social entrepreneurs are women, yet most brand founders and CEOs in this space are men * How my husband Scott challenged every "that's just how it's done" assumption—and changed everything * What the Omni Marketer Platform is and why we built it differently * Why I stopped chasing a billion-dollar brand and started chasing a billion lives of impact instead Timestamps:   1:37 – Corporate Misalignment  2:09 – The Boardroom Wake-Up Call  3:43 – Milk on the Table: The Mission  4:18 – Be Your Own Hero  5:13 – Challenging Industry Norms  6:24 – The Women-Led Business Advantage  8:17 – Pivoting Through Growth  8:40 – The Omni Marketer Platform  10:26 – Billion Lives Over Dollars  11:45 – The Becoming Question The Becoming Question: What are you being called to build if you could build differently? You are not late. You are not behind. You are not finished. You are in the making. Stay in the making. Connect: @melissathompson.19 [https://instagram.com/melissathompson.19] Watch/Listen: bellame.com/becomingher [https://bellame.com/becomingher] You are not late.  You are not behind.  You are not finished.  You are in the making. Stay in the making.

005. When Success Doesn't Equal Happiness (Building Differently, Part 1)

Send me a text 💌 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2605054/fan_mail/new] My son hit his first home run. He knocked it out of the park. And I wasn't there to see it. I was in a hotel room in Manhattan, in my pajamas, eating room service chicken. I had the title. I had the career. I had everything I thought I wanted. But I didn't have the life I wanted anymore. This is Part 1 of a two-part series on building differently—about the moment I realized success doesn't equal happiness, the vision that changed everything, and why I walked away from corporate to start over. In this episode: * Why I started selling Blow Pops in eighth grade (and got called to the principal's office) * The whisper I felt my whole life that wouldn't go away—even when corporate was working * The phone call that changed everything: my son's home run moment * The question that broke me open: "If time and money were no object, where would you be right now?" * The gray sweatshirt vision—and why I cried in front of a room full of people * Why I resigned a few weeks later and started completely over * Why comfort can keep you paralyzed—and fear can be your fuel Chapters: 1:23 – Born to Build: The Blow Pop Era 2:26 – Corporate Success, But Something Wasn't Right 5:41 – The Home Run Moment 7:51 – The Question That Changed Everything 10:18 – The Kitchen Vision Breakthrough 11:13 – Resign and Restart 12:32 – Fear as Fuel 13:48 – The Becoming Question The Becoming Question: Where have you been successful but not fulfilled? Connect: @melissathompson.19 [https://instagram.com/melissathompson.19] Watch/Listen: bellame.com/becomingher [https://bellame.com/becomingher] You are not late.  You are not behind.  You are not finished.  You are in the making. Stay in the making.

004. How Discipline Leads to Freedom

Send me a text 💌 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2605054/fan_mail/new] Back when my little babies were small, I was a size 18. I didn't take care of myself because there were no checkoff sheets—and even if there were, I would have been last on that list. I didn't even have that. So taking care of myself became a form of discipline—to give me the freedom to live. This episode is about how discipline isn't restriction. It's freedom. It's about boundaries, learning to say no, the Big Rock Theory, and understanding the difference between rubber balls and glass balls. It's about creating systems that give you peace—not more pressure. In this episode: * Why self-care isn't selfish—it's discipline that gives you freedom * The checkoff sheet I didn't have when my babies were small, and why I had to create one * The Big Rock Theory: how to prioritize what actually matters instead of filling your life with pebbles * Why saying no is powerful—and how little girls are raised to say yes and take care of everyone but themselves * Boundaries and phone habits: how to protect your time and energy * Rubber balls vs. glass balls: knowing what you can drop and what will shatter * Why discipline creates the space for the life you actually want to live Chapters: 0:54 – Why Discipline Matters 3:07 – Checklists for Peace 3:56 – Self-Care as Discipline 4:35 – Lessons From the Past 6:21 – Big Rock Theory 8:12 – Saying No to Pebbles 9:08 – Boundaries and Phone Habits 11:22 – Rubber vs. Glass Balls 13:13 – Reset and the Becoming Question 13:55 – Stay in the Making The Becoming Question: What would change if you gave yourself permission to say no? And what glass balls are you carrying that you're afraid to name? Connect: @melissathompson.19 [https://instagram.com/melissathompson.19] Watch/Listen: bellame.com/becomingher [https://bellame.com/becomingher] You are not late.  You are not behind.  You are not finished.  You are in the making. Stay in the making.

003. When Life Breaks You Open

Send me a text 💌 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2605054/fan_mail/new] To see divorce through the eyes of your children in a way that affects them when it shouldn't—that'll break you as a mama. That'll break you. And it almost did. Till I realized what was trying to break me was truly shaping me in every single way. This episode is about the seasons that break us—and how they actually shape us. For me, that season was divorce. Three little ones depending on me to be strong while my entire world was shattering. Losing my identity. Picking up the pieces. And realizing years later that what felt like the end was actually the beginning of who I'd become. In this episode: * The moment my youngest came home from the neighbor's house and I realized how divorce had changed how others saw my children * Why losing your identity in divorce is about more than just losing a partner—it's losing who you thought you were * How the hardest season of my life taught me survival—and became the tool I'd use 20 years later when diagnosed with lupus * What it means to turn something messy into something powerful * Why bad things happen to good people—and why it's okay to hurt * The difference between breaking and shaping, and how you get to choose which one happens 1:06 – Divorce Shattered My Identity 2:39 – Lonely Nights and Shame 3:09 – The Neighborhood Rejection Moment 4:00 – Broken Pieces Shape You 5:24 – Fueling Future Strength 6:43 – Message From the Mess 8:42 – Lupus Diagnosis and Fear 9:39 – Thriving: The Survival Engine 10:55 – Learning Limits and Discipline 12:36 – Stop Comparing Your Pain 13:45 – Breathe, Give Yourself Grace 14:59 – The Becoming Question Connect: @melissathompson.19 [https://instagram.com/melissathompson.19] Watch/Listen: bellame.com/becomingher [https://bellame.com/becomingher] You are not late.  You are not behind.  You are not finished.  You are in the making. Stay in the making.