For The Marketing Arm’s series on stellar employee accomplishments outside of the office, Mel details how she founded two businesses, got the attention of Rihanna & produced two conferences - all while nabbing a promotion to Associate Creative Director.

Melanin Minds founders LaGina & Mel were chosen as one of three #SavageXGameChangers Duos to spotlight the work we’re doing to change the game for BIPOC communities.

sparks & honey’s Cultural Strategists connect with actual agency employees talking about the types of job opportunities they’re presented with and on whether to stay in advertising or help build more diversity into other industries.

How are you sur-thriving in life? Mel and LaGina open up about the humility of learning from people that are different from you by just listening, the amazing joys of solo traveling, and the true challenges of constantly relearning a relationship with food. There is nothing like continuously learning yourself.

Leaving burnout behind starts with reframing states of being like rest, joy, play and love from lazy inaction to really the best actions we can take for ourselves. Taking time to recharge, find your joy, prioritize play and lead with love are the new States of Doing that we should be activating at least once a day for optimal wellness.

Melissa Mel embodies the engaged artist of 2021. Savvy and entrepreneurial without sacrificing tenderness or soul, she creates arresting personal art while serving as a creative director and member of initiatives like Do the WeRQ and In for 13, and creating her own app, WoMi — all while holding down a gig as an agency art director.

For the past year & a half I’ve been shouting out, showing love to & supporting women & minority owned small businesses on Instagram. This was born out of inspiration from so many entrepreneurs I’d met & discovered since moving to LA, as well as an effort to be more conscious with my own spending & who that spending supports.