What does it mean to own and share our own stories? Why would other people want to hear our stories?
In today’s episode of About your Mother, we answer those questions with our special guest, Melanie Spring. Melanie is a vibrant speaker, an approachable bad-ass woman, and the facilitator of both personal and brand stories. Today, she shares her struggles and triumphs that made her who she is now. Melanie also discusses what it’s like to own our stories and how everyone should walk into a room and think ‘you’re welcome’.
Break The Barriers
Melanie takes us through her favorite memory with her mother and how she managed to break down barriers and reunite with her after being estranged. It wasn’t easy for both of them, but through a letter on Mother’s Day, they were able to reconcile and leave the past behind and move towards a better relationship. She encourages everyone to own their story by taking that one step into sharing one’s authentic self.
“It took a big shift for the two of us together to reunite. We had to accept each other as who we are. We can talk about the hard things and it’s not going to ruin our relationship forever. We can sit and cry about it and talk through it and take a minute with it and come back to it. We won’t let it just get swept under the rug again. ” – Melanie Spring
Life is About Integration
People often say that life is all about balance when on the contrary, it’s always off-balanced. Melanie discusses how life is about integration and figuring out how things can be more aligned, in sync, and woven together in a way that allows everyone to find peace. Especially during the pandemic, everyone’s lives have changed drastically and it has to be about integration and finding out how to make it all work together.
“It’s not about working all the time and then finding time to do some yoga and then some writing. It’s about sitting down with my husband for lunch for 30 minutes, those kinds of things. It’s the integration of all of them. It’s us choosing how we want our lives to be integrated. It’s us choosing what things we want to say is work versus life. Do I really want to put a clear line on that and do I have to?” – Melanie Spring
Own Your Presence
[bctt tweet=”Confidence comes when one chooses to be confident. – Melanie Spring” username=”AYMPodcast”]
Melanie shares the connection between owning our stories and being confident. It may take a long time to believe, but being able to own one’s confidence and allow oneself to share and own their stories is an incredible journey. Melanie reminds us that not everyone is for everyone, and unapologetically owning your presence is about allowing yourself to exist and become more confident in the space you’re in.
[bctt tweet=”“The constant reminder to not apologize unless you’re actually sorry for something. If you did something terrible, please say you’re sorry. Otherwise, don’t apologize.” – Melanie Spring” username=”AYMPodcast”]
“Every time you walk into a room or get don’t get back to me within five minutes to do something. Don’t apologize and rather say ‘hey, I forgot about that’, ‘here’s the thing’, ‘thanks so much for understanding’. There’s a big difference in a shift and apology versus you’re welcome when it comes to owning your presence.” – Melanie Spring
To learn more about Melanie Spring and how you can own your presence and your story, download and listen to this episode.
Bio:
INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER & BRAND STORYTELLER, MELANIE SPRING
When we share our stories, we connect with each other at a deeper level. When we make friends with our fear, we can step into who we’re meant to be.
Working as a brand strategist with businesses of all sizes – from big brands like Five Guys to brand new entrepreneurs – for the past two decades, Melanie once drove 7,000 miles in 3 weeks on the Live Your Brand Tour to find out why great brands work. The HUMANS were at the center of everything.
Along the way, she noticed that every human had a personal story to share along with their brand story. Diving into the methodology of writing branded talks, she saw an even bigger pattern – people wanted to write their talks, yet focused on what they had to do at their “real job” instead of their bigger impact in the world. She knew she had to change this.
As an international keynote speaker, brand storyteller, and public speaking trainer, Melanie took all of her corporate & personal branding experience and created a safe place for Kickass Humans to write the talks they needed to write so they could share it with the world through her course, SPEAK With Confidence.
When Melanie’s not playing with speakers & corporate folks or rocking the stage, she’s living the vacation life – bouncing between Denver, a lake in Western New York, and coastal Florida chasing sunrises with her husband and her pup.
Connect with Melanie!
Web: Melanie Spring
Facebook: fb/MelanieSpring
Instagram: @melaniespring
Twitter: @melaniespring