114 - How to Live a Big Life as a CS Professional - Melissa Bickford

How do you live a big life and achieve your full potential, both personally and professionally? That's exactly what we talk about with Melissa Bickford.

Did you know that your habits and values drive personal development and that being proactive can help you achieve your goals? Melissa shares tips on how to live a full and authentic life by exploring your passions and interests, whether it's through a new hobby or focusing on health and wellness. 

Melissa Bickford is an executive in the software industry, based in Notting Hill. Having carved out a global banking and tech career across Australia, the USA, and the UK over the past 15 years; Mel has developed a deep passion for helping others achieve their fullest potential both professionally and personally. She is excited to enter the wonderful world of podcasting to share her life experiences in the hope they’ll help others by building a safe and supportive community.

In today’s episode, you’ll hear about:

• How to push through discomfort
• Why you need to start something new
• How to enjoy what you’re doing for work

Listen now and feel the inspiration to improve your life. Here’s to a more empowered and motivated you!

Follow Melissa!

This episode was brought to you by Gainsight.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

How do you live a big life when you're intentional about your health, your career, your fitness and your relationships? What are the daily practices to incorporate and live full and authentic life that will take you from strength to strength, even if you are just a busy sales professional? Join this transformative conversation with Mel Bickford, VP of Customer Success at Sales Impact Academy. Hi everyone, this is Maria Scobepillai and you're listening to Women in Customer Success podcast, the first women-only podcast where remarkable ladies of customer success share their stories and practical tools to help you succeed and make an impact. If you want to learn more about customer success, get career advice and be inspired, you're in the right place, so let's tune in. It is such a pleasure to welcome Melissa Bickford, VP of Customer Success at Sales Impact Academy, on the Women in Customer Success podcast. Mel, welcome to the show. I'm so, so, so, so super excited to finally speak with you here.

Speaker 2: 1:17

Thank you so, so much for having me. I've been really looking forward to this, maria, and obviously we've been planning this for a little while, so it's fantastic that we've been able to slot this in, and I'm looking forward to our conversation.

Speaker 1: 1:25

I'm really excited about this conversation because I'm thinking how it can go in so many, so many different ways. But something that we both seem to be a bit passionate about is, you know, on one hand, career, but then everything else in life that makes life amazing, from wellness, fitness, running, sport, just lifestyle in general, traveling. There is so much more to life, and career is one part of it. So we want to explore today how do we just do it in a way that it is amazing. So, are you ready, mel? I would like us to have a few of very quick, rapid fire questions. Let's do it, take it away. I thought this will be an easy one, but knowing where you are today thought this will be an easy one, but knowing where you are today, this might be a bit more complex. Tell me, where are you based now, like today, where are you typically based and where are you from?

Speaker 2: 2:16

Great question and there's quite a varied range of responses to those questions. So today I'm actually in Berlin. My brother and sister-in-law live in Berlin and I'm very close to my family. Family is a huge value in my life, so I have popped over to spend a few days with them, going into the bank holiday. I'm normally based in London, in Notting Hill, and I've recently moved there after selling my home in Fulham. Absolutely love Notting Hill and London and I have lived in London for the last eight years and I'm originally from Australia, so I've sort of made my way around the world and I had a brief stint in the US for a few years prior to moving to London. So I guess I could call myself a bit of a global citizen. Travel is very much in my DNA and I feel very fortunate to have quite a global family and community, as I think you can probably relate to Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 3:10

And I think it's brilliant that you lived in so many places and you can. You know you live the life where you can literally as you're doing now just take the laptop and go wherever you want to, and everything will still be perfect. So tell us more about all the countries that you lived, starting from Australia.

Speaker 2: 3:27

Yeah, absolutely. So you know I was actually born in the UK. My dad was on a surgical residency in, dare I say, hull and I know it's not maybe the most popular UK destination, but I was born there and then, before I'd even set foot in Australia, I lived in San Francisco, edinburgh and the UK, and so I believe that it was ingrained in my DNA from a very young age to be a sort of global adventurer. Eventually my parents, who were both Australian, moved back to Australia. So when I was two or three I grew up there. So all of my schooling, all of the sort of hobbies that I developed great passions for like athletics, tennis, drama, things like that that will happen through my schooling in Australia.

Speaker 2: 4:08

I went to university in Australia, and specifically in Melbourne, and then I started my career in Australia. So I started on a graduate program at a bank called ANZ so Fortune 500 Company, I think. If there are any sort of younger, earlier career listeners to this podcast today I think graduate programs is such a fantastic way to get your foot in the door because you're effectively like continued learning that you get paid to do and you can kind of rotate around different departments. So I worked for about five years in Australia and then in my mid-twenties I decided to pack up my bags and move to New York City because I had been fortunate. Just like that. Just like that. I love that, yes, just like that, I think. Much to my mother's dismay she was like sorry what? You're going with no job and two suitcases and you're leaving everything. But you know what I think? The greater the risk, the greater the reward. And I think I've always definitely been one to chase my dreams and it has been one of the best decisions that I've ever made. And by really sort of following my intuition, that's something that I really believe is so important. You know, sort of when you've got a gut feeling, when you've got an intuitive feeling that you should do something and you really want to do something, and it doesn't go away.

Speaker 2: 5:27

And it was obviously a move that I had planned out over a number of years. I didn't sort of just, you know, handed my notice, then move the next day. I had been building my network for years. I had actually studied briefly in New York. I remember sitting as part of a university scholarship program.

Speaker 2: 5:39

I was fortunate to be able to travel the world in my very early twenties and I was sat around the board table at Google in New York and I just remember thinking this is where I want to be, and so, yeah, so packed up, moved to New York at 25.

Speaker 2: 5:56

And that's really where I landed in the wonderful world of customer success and marketing technology and I think that was a really exciting turning point for me, sort of going from being the client, which I love, to being on sort of one of the other side, I suppose, where you could consult to such a diverse range of brands being really passionate about marketing, being really passionate about relationship building and customer experience.

Speaker 2: 6:22

Being able to grow yeah, I suppose, grow my experience in that direction and work with brands such as Airbnb, work with brands like Apple, work with brands like Coty Diageo, was just so exciting in being able to, yeah, to really further my understanding of business but also try and drive value for all of these different brands and companies but also build these relationships. And I think I'm, by nature, such a networker and absolutely just love learning from people and connecting people. And I know that's how we came together, actually through a networking event held by Gainsight, who, I want to bow, you know, has been a great partner that I've worked with over the years. So yeah, so 10 years ago is really where I entered the world of customer success in MarTech and I haven't really looked back since. So I'll pause there because that's the story. Yeah, at that point I'm still in the US, but I'll pause to see if you've got any questions on the kind of journey to date. Oh, I have so many questions.

Speaker 1: 7:27

But I just love your story about traveling and just going for it. Like I remember when I was even a little girl and in my teenage years I'm from Croatia originally I just knew that I will go somewhere. I never knew where. I knew it's going to be like Europe most likely, but it was just the fact. Yeah, yeah, of course I'm going somewhere else to study.

Speaker 1: 7:49

I went to Italy for exchange student to be there for a year and then when I finished, my friends told me about you know England, someplace where you can go and just do English. And I was thinking that's cool, like I'm done, I can do my gap year. And I, just as you said, packed my bag and I came. I even got a scholarship to spend a year in one college doing English only and I just loved it so much and I was supposed to go back in a year.

Speaker 1: 8:16

But then life happened and it was like a decade ago even more. I met my husband. You know, life just changed, but it was all with that idea of, yeah, of course there is something out there, of course we want to go and explore, and that's also been like a theme until today. I have two kids and we travel, I guess every single time, and they have school holidays and they do many in this country, but it's just a natural way of being and I know that you love traveling. You obviously demonstrated by the countries where you lived and you've been so adventurous. Tell me more about your most recent travel destination, because I think you've been doing something very cool and I would like the audience to hear about it. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 9:05

I think this comes back to something that I think is so important when you do build lives in different countries, and that's community. And I think community comes about by your passions and hobbies and interests, and so I think, as you know, I was recently in Portugal on a tennis training camp, and tennis is a huge, huge passion of mine, I think for many reasons. I find that it is so brilliant for my mental health, because when you're playing tennis, you have to stay present in that moment, one point at a time, and you can't think too many points ahead, otherwise you're going to lose your flow. And then, obviously, it's a fantastic way of staying physically active being in Portugal this was a few weeks ago now, so London hadn't quite warmed up just yet, so getting that guaranteed hit of vitamin D was fantastic, and I think being a part of a tennis club is something that has really been a huge part of my London existence and I guess, yeah, fast-forwarding now to the London chapter where I moved in 2016, so about eight years ago joining a tennis club was one of the first things that I did, alongside run clubs and, as you know, I've got a few other hobbies and being in Portugal and playing tennis for five days and playing for five hours a day with coaches and with my community is something that I find I find it so rewarding because I think by joining clubs and having hobbies like that, you actually get access to people of all different ages, from all different backgrounds, and some of my best friends from the tennis club are in their 60s and I'm in my mid 30s. I find it so brilliant to have these mentors who you know you bond over a shared hobby and they, you know, sort of call one of them my London mummy, because my mum's all the way back in Australia and to be able to have that support nearby is fantastic and build that community wherever you are.

Speaker 2: 10:56

I think if you've got those, if you're, you know you're putting yourself out there and you're staying healthy and active and joining these communities you'll always be supported and you never know where those you know, where those relationships can develop, whether that's into friendships, whether that's into business opportunities, whether that's into romantic you know relationships. I think it's all about kind of putting yourself out there, and I'm a big connector and a big believer in just getting out there and staying active and being really healthy, because I think that in turn, you know, from tying it back to career that allows you to show up as your full self and your best self. When you are in your day job, when you're feeling like great, you know I've got, you know I've done my tennis match or I've done my big run before work. Now I'm here and I'm present and I'm feeling really good.

Speaker 1: 11:48

I mean there is so much benefit on the work culture, on the mental health, on your overall fitness, obviously, the ability to concentrate when you're having enough physical exercise.

Speaker 1: 12:00

I find you so inspirational in so many aspects and from the way you speak about communities you know, related to sports clubs or to career. It's all about those little connections that you're making. But when you told me recently that you were going on a tennis club in Portugal, I was so inspired and I'll tell you why. Maybe because, since I'm having kids, like you get to be focused almost every half term, every holiday, about what are the clubs, what can kids do, and I'm one of those moms that are a driver. I'm constantly driving them to sports, to activities, and I do lots of running, I do gym, but nothing that I can call my own club. And you really inspire me to start looking more into our next destinations and what is next for us and when we are going. Where do I get something like a club for myself? And I'm really going to do it. I'll let you know how that works out, but thank you really for that inspiration, because I forgot about doing something like that for myself.

Speaker 2: 13:01

So thank you Well you've got a lot on your plate and I think being a mum is the most important job and significant job in the world. So, yeah, obviously you've got a lot to juggle, but I do think if you can make that space to find time to want to do whatever it is you find to be a hobby, then you'll hopefully only show up better and more present for everyone in your life and also feel strong and yeah, and fulfilled.

Speaker 1: 13:30

That is so true. Just, I think last weekend we had a local 10K run and I was participating and my kids now know already for a few years that I'm doing those runs and when we come home they're looking at my medals and I'm thinking, now cool, when is your turn for the medal? Because you will start doing it soon and I'm, in a way, so happy as well that they can at least see that. Yeah, you know our parents are doing different things and they see there are some medals in the house that they can think for getting one day. Mel, you told me already about loads of your sports activities and you being a connector. What are the typical hobbies that you do? Typical favorite ones?

Speaker 2: 14:16

Typical favorite. I'm huge, I would say. I've kind of really undergone a huge transformation in my life for the better over the last year or so, and my main passion is health and wellness in all I do. From the moment I wake up, so I practice what's called Miracle Mornings, and I don't know. There's a great book by Hal Elrod. So I wake up crazy early, and so he's got this principle and I'll kind of ground it in this before I go into the other hobbies.

Speaker 2: 14:44

Other hobbies, but he starts the day with this acronym called SABERS, s-a-r-b-e-r-s, and so you start with silence and then you say your affirmations, and then you visualize how you like the day to go, and then you exercise, even if it's, you know, 10 minutes obviously everyone's got different time constraints on them. You're a mother. You might only have five minutes that you can dedicate to yourself in the morning on a good day, right, and so being able to make sure that you've done something for yourself. The R stands for reading, and then the S stands for scribing, and so all of that, I suppose, because I think it starts.

Speaker 2: 15:28

It's one thing to have these physical hobbies, but I think it's so important to sort of get your mindset right at the beginning of the day, and it's something that I've really focused on over the last year or so, as I've been on a really intentional health and wellness journey.

Speaker 2: 15:35

So it's in Miracle Mornings, and with that comes a lot of meditating, comes a lot of writing, has come a lot of reading and a lot of personal and self-development. That's a huge passion of mine and something that more and more I think we've chatted about this I'm starting to, I guess, on the side think about creating content, think about my own personal platform and how I can use that to not only help myself but hopefully help others, because I think you know, no matter where you are and if you find yourself in a tough spot, you've always, you know, there are always various tools out there to get yourself out of whatever challenge you're in. It's just about finding what those are and finding what works for you. So I would say that that's a big aspect of who I am and what I'm interested in.

Speaker 1: 16:23

Absolutely running Mel can we go a bit down on this Miracle Morning.

Speaker 1: 16:28

I'm very, very interested in that.

Speaker 1: 16:31

I would like to know what have you realized in this past year, like, what are the differences and the benefits that you're seeing in your life in many different aspects, from your career to wellness and fitness, just by doing that practices?

Speaker 1: 16:44

And why am I asking is because probably a year or two ago I took part in one class where it all started with how do you start your mornings and I was never thinking about it previously, especially when kids were younger, like how you wake up. When they wake up, you know it's not very mindful thing to do. You just go with the flow, and it didn't sit with me the whole idea of waking up super early and I thought, gosh, I'm so tired, I go to bed very late, so it just wasn't my thing until a few months ago, where I just started doing it consistently very early but I'm not journaling yet, I'm doing other things but also completely stopped drinking coffee, taking my green tea, and I see a few benefits, but it has been just very early on in my journey. So I'm so much interested to hear what happened with you in this one year because it just sounds incredible.

Speaker 2: 17:38

Yeah Well, I mean congratulations. It sounds like you've made some incredibly transformative and positive changes through your morning routine as well. I don't even know where to begin. I mean, I am showing up as my most authentic self in all I do, and I think it's so important to sort of bring your whole self and also bring your present self to every interaction. I think if you start your day diving into your iPhone and the cortisol starts pumping through your body, you're sort of instantly.

Speaker 2: 18:09

I was finding, prior to adopting this routine, that I was frazzled, that I was coming from a place of being on the back foot. I wasn't owning the day, I wasn't winning the morning, it was owning me. So, certainly, by having that intentional space in the morning to practice, okay, what is it that I want to get out of today and what is it that I want to visualize? You know how I might have a really difficult conversation coming up with a client, with a family member, with a you know whoever, and really thinking about well, how do I want to show up in that conversation intentionally, you know, with grace, humility, understanding, active listening. So what has changed in my life? I mean what hasn't changed? Everything has changed for the better. I would say. My career has certainly gone from strength to strength over the last sort of six to nine months, since I've been really diligent about this, my health. So I actually, you know, just under a year ago, because mornings became so important to me, I completely cut out alcohol and so waking up with a clear hand and being able to be so intentional and so clear and so calm and so present, so that's been a really positive thing for me.

Speaker 2: 19:20

I think the meditation is just quiet and that internal chatter in my mind, and I think, you know, as humans, I don't think we can ever fully get rid of our inner critic, but we can certainly challenge it and we can try to silence it and we can try and almost work with it, because it's ultimately there to try and protect us. So I think, by writing about it and trying to explore, you know what is this, you know what is this emotion trying to tell me, and so, by sitting with your thoughts and feelings and not running away from them, I think that's been a huge learning process for me as someone who used to just be so busy and so on the go, and so you know, racing from, you know, the minute I woke up to the minute I went to bed, sort of just being distracted and not really wanting to just be present and sitting with myself because I was scared of what might come up. I think by actually addressing a lot of that and some of those underlying, maybe uncomfortable emotions and experiences, you can heal and that has really brought me back to my authentic self and that has opened up this incredible world of deeper, more authentic relationships with existing people in my life. And also it's brought so many new connections yourself included into my life by just being who I really am and being really intentional about well, who do I want to be, what kind of life do I want to have, and making that happen, and I'm a really big believer in manifestation. Six months ago I was trying to sell my old house that I was living in and so I wrote down on a board what would my dream home look like, and it was pretty much what I've ended up in Notting Hill. And so I think, just by taking that time to really be intentional and I think reading too like I think something that's helped me a lot is realizing that you know it's common humanity.

Speaker 2: 21:14

Everyone struggles. Being a human is hard, and so by reading about others' experiences you can take what resonates and kind of weave it into your own narrative and into your own day. And it's inevitable that we're going to come up against tough moments in the day, tough moments in our life. But it's completely out of our control what happens to us. What's entirely in our control is how we respond to what happens to us, and so I think just by having that time in the morning it allows me to feel like I am ready to take on whatever the day can throw at me. And I think a couple of other sort of hacks that I've got my mornings are ice plungers, saunas and stretching.

Speaker 1: 21:57

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Speaker 1: 23:54

Firstly, you're passionate about your morning routine with incredible reasons, because you are seeing so many benefits and so many outcomes in your life. Reasons because you are seeing so many benefits and so many outcomes in your life. Before we move on, just a few things. I wanted to go from your responses. Being intentional is absolutely fantastic. I think that it took me some years to almost give myself permission to be intentional, to feel that, yes, we all can own our career destiny. We all can own the life that we want to. I'm thinking about it in a way that you have to intentionally design that life that you want to live in the next 10 years, in the next five years, and then you try to work towards it and you can really be intentional in so many things without thinking that the day has to own you, that everything is a rat race, even in your career.

Speaker 1: 24:47

Very often it looks like that, but it doesn't have to be the only response to your reality. So I really love how you are framing it all in a way that, how you respond to basically every situation. It is your decision and you can always choose it, no matter where you are in which position. I really love that. Thank you so much for sharing this morning routine that it seems that it's been incredible. But I hear you speaking about something else. That is amazing and I want to find out more. How do you do it? You talk about the big life. Yes, what do you mean by big life and how does it look for you?

Speaker 2: 25:27

Yeah, look, I think probably on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day each year, I will build and a lot of my friends will know this about me that I love to build vision boards and I love to sort of sit down and think, okay, what is it this year that I want to achieve in home, health, family romance, whatever that looks like and sort of? I have always been, I think, since again, my mum will attest to this since I was very little and I was, you know, I run a lot and I was running races and I always liked being goal oriented, and so it's, I think, always raising the bar in your own life, whether that's your career, whether that's, you know, the people you're surrounding yourself with, whether that's where you're living, whether that's again like how you're showing up, like I think I've put, I want to continue to elevate, and you know, I think the more you are acting as your higher self, the more you become a magnet for great things, and I sort of feel as though that process is unfolding in my life. How do I live a big life? I think it's coming back to your values, right, and I think family is such a strong value of mine, even though I live on the other side of the world to mine. We're a really close family, so I'll often come to Berlin and see my brother and sister-in-law. My dad was recently over from Australia.

Speaker 2: 26:47

I make sure that I'm very connected to nature. I think that's another really big thing. I'm really fortunate to be next door to Hyde Park. I think sort of being really grounded and really calm again allows you to live a really big life, and I think you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. So, whether that's in your career, just finding like-minded people who will help push you to achieve the goals that you've got for yourself. So, for example, like, whilst I've got my day job, I'm the VP of CS at SIA, and that continues to be a brilliant experience. I've also got lots of side interests too. So, whether that's learning how to DJ, whether that's you know, I really want to launch my own health and wellness platform. I would say that you know the DJ stuff's gone a little bit on the back burner while I really figure out what it is I want to create with my own health and wellness brand, and I've actually got this accountability buddy who we've agreed to publish something within the month, whether that's, you know, a monthly sub stack, whether that's getting melissabigfordcom live like.

Speaker 2: 27:56

I think big life for me is doing what you love, um, so you sort of feel like you never have to work a day in your life and so being, you know, making your life right.

Speaker 2: 28:05

So making sure that you're enjoying what you're doing from a career standpoint, but also exploring your passions and interests on the side, because obviously sometimes you know we all need to be able to eat, we all need to be able to pay the bills, and so if there are certain aspects that maybe your day job isn't fulfilling, making sure that you're creating other ways you can be satisfying that. You know that creative within you and I think that's really what lights me up is sort of creating alongside. I would say. The other piece of my big life is I absolutely love leadership, I love business, I love growing my teams, I love working with customers and I absolutely love, you know, really working with customers, team members and really myself to take steps to thrive and realize real value, not just in a business and commerce sense but in their lives, and that's what really drives the, you know, the greatest sense of purpose for me. So that's sort of a long-winded way of giving you a few little nuggets of what a big life looks like to me.

Speaker 1: 29:07

It looks fantastic, and now I am even more motivated to live my big life. Just listening to you, I can see so many ways where I can relate, and I hope that the listeners can relate as well. Last year, after I felt I was burned out a lot, I took another career decision where I told myself I'm going to have what is how we call it, a portfolio career, meaning I can do different things at the same time, things that light me up, things that I don't need to say. You know I'm this and that Maria is. You know X, y, z. I can be Maria podcaster, maria content writing, maria a mom. I can be Maria customer success strategy. I can be so many different Marias at the same time and at the end of the day, I will feel so full.

Speaker 1: 29:59

And that decision really took so many different forms and allow me to do different things from podcasts, from doing so many different events and creating content, things that really light me up, but also taking on kids choir in the community and preparing the big Christmas concert because my kids are there and I want them, for them Starting running even more quit coffee, doing some big bucket list travels, and I also felt how so many things change just by becoming a bit more intentional, and I would really like the listeners to realize that your career is great. It's great. We are always here on podcast talking about customer success. Yes, we all are passionate about you know customers Perfect. Yeah, it's great, but that shouldn't be your whole life.

Speaker 1: 30:50

Exactly, I love your idea of a big life and I would like you also to speak to the listener who maybe still feels like they are in a nine to five rat race. Not saying that anything is wrong with that. It's just that how do you start incorporating those little bits of that big life? How do you start out if most of what you have is just your job?

Speaker 2: 31:15

Yeah, I think that's such a great question, and I remember being there too when I first moved to London, thinking, okay, this is really scary, and you know what? I think you've got to define your values and then realize that, ultimately, doing anything worthwhile is going to be uncomfortable, like, and so I think it's sort of realizing that discomfort is just a part of living the life in service to who you are, and it's going to do. You think I you know I was as confident as I am today, six years ago, when I first showed up at the tennis club or when I first showed up at the run club. No, I was terrified. And so I think that you've just got to take one step and kick off the process, whatever that looks like. Sign up to a meetup there are so many, whether you live in London, whether you live in a tiny city somewhere else. Either create a community or join an existing community. There's so many different options, whether that's, you know, a book club, whether that's a yeah, a running club, whether that's a cooking club, whether that's simply you saying I'm going to set my alarm for five minutes earlier tomorrow and I'm going to take it one step at a time, and I'm going to take it one step at a time and I'm going to do a meditation before the day starts, and I think it's really important to set yourself really small, incremental, achievable goals and then ultimately, over the course of the year or even a quarter, then when you reflect, you can really see how far you've come. And that's what I actually find my journal. I would highly recommend journaling to any listener. I find that so fulfilling really to look back on, maybe, where I was on January 1. And I was in a very different place, not to say it was a bad place, but the amount of growth that has happened since now in May, I think, is, yeah, it's really great when you can just set yourself little, tiny, achievable goals and also be kind to yourself.

Speaker 2: 33:08

Don't beat yourself up. Like you know, it might not be every single day that I get to do the full on morning routine, but I do my best and if that's, you know, a reduced attempt at it some mornings or some mornings I have to skip it. That's okay, you start again tomorrow, and I think it's just. You know, every day is a new day, one step at a time. Do your best today, show up as best as you can, because you know it's you're not going to do something to the best of your ability, what's the point in doing it at all? So, wherever you are today, make the best of it.

Speaker 2: 33:39

And you know, I think there's there's always a way to carve out five minutes for yourself. And I think I read somewhere that even if you read 10 to 15 pages a day, that equates to 20 books per year. So it's sort of just thinking about these little habits define your thoughts. Your thoughts define your reality. Your reality is who you become and who you end up spending your time with. So I think it's sort of taking it, you know, trying not to get too overwhelmed with.

Speaker 2: 34:08

You know, I don't have the house or the partner, or the dog, or the career or the house that I want yet. Well, it's like. You know, neither did Steve Jobs when he first started out, you know, neither did any of these amazing people that we look up to. But just get started. And you know what? The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. So take this as your inspiration to do something for you today, even if it's just a five minute walk around the block where you would normally not take that space for yourself in your workday. Set one intention or one affirmation for the week and go from there. I think start really small and make it work for your lifestyle. It's different for everyone.

Speaker 1: 34:51

That's wonderful advice. I really like how you're emphasizing five minutes because when you think about it, even five minutes if you can do 10, even better but five minutes or anything new every single day. I don't know a person who really can make an excuse and say I don't have five minutes in a day, you definitely have In five minutes. Compounded interest of those five minutes in a day, you definitely have In five minutes compounded interest of those five minutes every single day will make a huge difference at the end of the year. Whichever new activity or thing you're starting to do, as you said, is it book, is it affirmation, is it walking or running around the block? You easily can do it and it takes just a very small step you easily can do it and it takes just a very small step.

Speaker 2: 35:34

Yeah, I think sitting with discomfort and realizing you're not alone, like everyone feels uncomfortable starting something new and self-doubt is just the nature of being human. And if you can just sit with that, push through that and realize, well, by doing this thing, I'm going to be aligning myself to my values and that's in service of being my higher self, it makes it easier to push through the discomfort and you know it's always the hardest things that reap the greatest rewards. I've found in life in career, in personal life, in hobbies and I think, yeah, just the other key piece is trying to make sure that you're looking after yourself and your health. I feel like that's always going to be number one, because I think if you're not working, then not much else can work, and I definitely have been on a huge journey with my health and that's really what's driven this intentionality around being proactive on the wellness front so I don't have to make time for illness later on.

Speaker 2: 36:43

So, yeah, I think, whether it's signing up to something that scares you a little bit or just finding five minutes or 10 minutes in the day, delete Instagram for a day and spend whatever time you would have spent scrolling, spend that on writing or spend that on reading, and it only takes 22 days for a habit to stick. So I think having accountability buddies is really helpful and I think just also making sure that you kind of get rid of that victim mindset of I'm here, I've ended up here. It's like no hang on, I'm in charge of my life, I'm the only one who can make these changes, and everyone in my life who cares about me is going to be so excited that I'm progressing towards the life of my dreams. And don't ask, don't get, I think is another big, big piece of advice, because you'll be amazed at how many people probably are willing to help you.

Speaker 1: 37:37

You just need to ask for it oh, melissa, so many great wisdom here and I feel we can have entire new episode about the health and things to do during the day that will really be healthy for your brain, for your body, for your mental, spiritual well-being. But as we are wrapping up, I would love to hear from you what have been some of your proudest moments in your life or in your career.

Speaker 2: 38:05

I think there's a couple, I think, actually packing up and moving to New York and taking that leap. That was a big moment because that's what spurred this whole last 10 years of international, both career and, you know, personal experience and adventure. I think from a business standpoint, so I worked at a company called Yanks, which was fantastic for seven years and actually being a part of an IPO was a sort of monumental milestone in my career and that was, you know, somewhere where I've spent the big bulk of my tech career over the last several years. I think from a personal standpoint, you know, honestly, just I ran the Hackney Half Marathon on Sunday with very little training, but I got a personal best and I think what that shows me is that my body is in a good place, my mind is in a good place, so that has been a real achievement.

Speaker 2: 39:03

And then I think, just you know, having, you know, the most incredible family and sort of friendships around me is, yeah, sort of aspects that I feel really, really proud of and I'm excited for what's next. You know, as I think about, yeah, both life, career, you know, I just want to keep growing and keep raising the bar and keep, you know, doing things that can have as much impact as possible, because probably the final piece there is what has made me feel most purposeful in my career is when I maybe hire someone or inherit someone on a team and I'm able to grow them and work with them on defining where is it that they want to go and help them get there and seeing them thrive is ultimately what brings me the greatest satisfaction as a people leader. And yeah, and sort of helping others live their best life while trying to live my own.

Speaker 1: 40:00

I can't wait to see what is next for you. In some of the aspects you mentioned, you have accountability buddy and in 30 days something needs to happen Will be published. Something will be published. We will see what Something will be live. We will see what Something will be live. Where can people find out about it? Shall they just follow you on LinkedIn to get the updates, or until whatever it is is published, how?

Speaker 2: 40:23

Tell us? I think probably both, like I would say, my Instagram platform is more, both LinkedIn and my Instagram platforms becoming more and more geared around health and wellness and a lot of this stuff that I've mentioned today. I'm also a real sucker for an inspirational quote, so if you start following me, be prepared You're going to get inspirational quotes aplenty. But I will be launching a website, melissabickfordcom. That's kind of under production at the moment and I will be launching a sub stack newsletter. So more to come on that, but at the moment I would say LinkedIn and Instagram, so I can share those and we can put them in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 40:56

Wonderful. I can't wait to just start consuming the content that you're having based on this conversation today. If you're doing Conchi tomorrow, I will be there. Whatever you do, I will be there. I just love everything that you're doing and I love seeing your growth and so many different strengths that you're having. So I wish you all the best in those next endeavors, and I seriously can't wait to see how it's going to look like.

Speaker 2: 41:22

Thank you so much and I really appreciate all your support. You've got such an inspiring platform here. I love everything that you're doing and I'm so grateful that we've connected and I look forward to more collaboration in the future, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 41:36

Thank you so much for coming to the show and giving us such an amazing overview of a big life.

Speaker 2: 41:43

Thank you, Maria. Here's to living our biggest and best lives. Here it is.

Speaker 1: 41:49

Thank you for listening. Next week new episode, Subscribe to the podcast and connect with me on LinkedIn so you're up to date with all the new episodes and the content I'm curating for you. Have a great day and talk to you soon.