Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Barr.
Melanie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m the Founder and CEO of She Built It™. I like a challenge, technology innovation, and masterminding business strategy. I love our twins, family, tea, wine, and binging on a good show after a long day to wind down my entrepreneurial mind.
I launched She Built It™ in 2015 after years of experience selling millions in products and services for Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurs – Marriott Hotels, AT&T, and the Los Angeles Dodgers to name a few. I also have led Boards and assisted organizations with female-focused missions such as Step Up and the Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) at the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
After years working in a career I loved, I met my wonderful husband, got married and we were eager to start a family. IVF became part of my vocabulary and the roller coaster ride that ensued. The process left me feeling great one day and awful the next, all while trying to maintain a career, a marriage, and a personal life. I know I’m not alone in this and that many of you – women and men – have been through incredibly challenging experiences to have children. I hear you and I am with you. Since we became the parents of twins, “Mom” is one of my most favorite titles. When our twins turned one, I realized my drive for my career was stronger than ever. I craved the progress of business development, collaboration, intellectual conversation, and technology innovation. It was then – after hours to think and plan in the nursery – I created and launched She Built It™.
Please tell us about She Built It™.
I have a passion for career growth, encouraging and empowering others to discover and follow their wildest career dreams. Our community includes entrepreneurs buying, launching, and growing businesses, and leaders in the corporate world. She Built It™ facilitates growth and progress through membership, mastermind groups and events – both virtual and in-person – business consulting, a She Built It™ Shop, advertising and sponsorship opportunities, and a podcast. We all want to have a career that we love and to create and sell more of our products and services – I’m here with our community to support and empower you to do that.
Some favorite messages I’ve received from the community are – “thank you for inspiring me to grow my business and make leaps that I might not have otherwise taken. Thank you for the connections and business referrals, the positivity, and for introducing me to the incredible women and men that I’ve met through the community.”
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Influenced by my parents, my entrepreneurial spirit developed at a very young age. My mother taught elementary school for 29 years and my father, a successful Business Development VP, inspired me, from the age of five, to play the role of CEO/entrepreneur in our home. My two favorite things to own and operate at the age of five were a nail salon and an art gallery. At least I had culture! I displayed my art and tried to sell it to my parents. If there was a lemonade stand in our neighborhood, I was all over that too. A career-driven spirit is in my DNA.
Growing up, I took endless dance classes. My senior year of high school I wanted to audition for the Missouri State Dance Team, where I would be attending college in the Fall. The night before auditions, I was petrified, but during tryouts, I persevered through multiple rounds of cuts from several hundred girls to the final 25. Then at the final cut, I wasn’t chosen. My 17 year old self was devastated.
A week later, I was invited to audition to sing, dance, and act in a show at a local theme park as a summer job before starting college. I was not in great spirits, but my mother asked “if you don’t try, will you regret it?” I auditioned and was chosen to perform in 6 daily shows all summer – I loved it. When college started, I learned that one of the dancers had broken her leg and the college team was hosting auditions again to add one more dancer for the season. I heard my mother’s voice inside my head and despite the struggle to go through the tryout all over again, went back to tryout a second time. I was chosen for the spot on the Dance Team, earned an athletic scholarship for dance, and we placed in the National Championship.
Sometimes You Just Have To Leap – After two years of college in Missouri, I was ready for more. At 19, I told my parents I was moving to Los Angeles. When they said “you don’t know anyone there,” I told them “I’ll meet people.” When I moved to LA, I didn’t know anyone. I remember someone telling me before I left that “everyone who moves to LA doesn’t make it there a year before they move back home” and thinking – that’s not going to be me. I was determined to support myself and even though I was fearful, I found my confidence and made the move. I’m so happy I did. The early experience of overcoming obstacles and learning how to navigate a new city completely by myself has given me the confidence to believe in myself and know that even when faced with a challenge I’ll be able to figure it out. I take this outlook with my clients and my business daily.
Contact Info:
- Website: SheBuiltIt.com
- Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/shebuiltit/?hl= en - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/SheBuiltIt/ - Other: https://www.linkedin.
com/in/melaniejbarr/
Image Credit:
Molly Marler, Amy Tierney, Jen Coleman
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