Coach Melody: Nurturing Workplace Wellness

Most people know what needs to be done to lead a life of wellness, like eating a balanced diet, getting regular exercise, prioritizing sleep, stress reduction, and maintaining a positive outlook. Yet, these simple things seem to elude many in this fast-paced, post-pandemic world. Enter Coach Melody, Health and Wellness Transformation Strategist and Executive Coach, and a Dynamic Speaker whose mission is to educate and improve health disparities by altering lifestyles and making people better versions of themselves.

Unwrap You: Decoding Overall Well-being

Coach Melody’s passion for health and wellness besides an undying love for helping people prompted her to take a leap of faith, and launch ‘Unwrap You’ in 2013. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing besides a certification from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, Coach Melody specially curated her programs to ensure workplace wellness and teach life skills to assist companies and individuals in transforming their mindsets and living healthier, more productive lives by implementing sustainable and effective goals. “I don’t believe in fads or a quick fix to wellness. My goal is to educate, inspire, and motivate people around the world to prioritize being well over doing well, and, most importantly, have accountability. Through a proven system, we create a strategic plan for busy professionals that leads to sustainable lifestyle changes.

Coach Melody believes that wellness programs positively impact workplace culture. Moreover, with the pandemic wreaking havoc on the overall well-being of people including productivity at work, organizations are now focusing on employee wellness to survive and thrive. Her personalized corporate wellness programs and workshops focus on behavior modifications that incorporate healthier habits, including stress management, mindfulness, nutrition, mobility, and self-care for increased productivity.

When asked about the meaning behind the name ‘Unwrap You’, Coach Melody decoded it in the most interesting manner. “People come to me in a box. They are constricted and not feeling their best. I start coaching them and after an introductory period, they are unwrapped, excited, and ready to take on the journey with full vigor,” Coach Melody quipped.

Need for Corporate Wellness

With healthcare costs and work-related stress on the rise, corporate wellness is more important than ever now to achieve work-life balance. A wellness professional empowers individuals to quit procrastinating and bring about changes that can be difficult alone. Mental health and well-being are paramount in maintaining employee engagement, motivation, and overall business performance. Most people do not understand the concept or benefits until they try it for themselves. If employees are not involved in the process, success can be difficult. Extended work hours and never-ending stress call for organizations to offer wellness strategies to retain staff. This added service can motivate them to keep performing at their best. Staying active and relieving stress can be daunting at times, and that is where wellness programs come in like a breath of fresh air. Earlier, these initiatives were just looked at as perks, but now, they have gone one step beyond and are helping teams become more of a community than a company.

No business comes without challenges, but Coach Melody was lucky since wellness coaching started as a side hustle. Now she is a full-time entrepreneur, her own boss, that uses multiple skillsets to enhance the lives of others. She specializes in corporate coaching, summits, retreats, speaking, and other areas of wellness. “As a transformation strategist, my primary focus is to create and implement programs that motivate people not to put off their own well-being. It is an ongoing investment in you, which requires constant engagement, motivation, and support to bear fruit. No two individuals are the same, and that needs to be understood and addressed to reap maximum benefits,” said Coach Melody, who also has authored three books to her name – Unwrap the New You Interactive Wellness Journal, Releasing the Superwoman Mentality, and Your Dreams are Possible.

Wellness And Women

In her book Releasing the Superwoman Mentality, Coach Melody talks about how women readily multitask but conveniently forget to take care of themselves in the process. “I always tell my women clients that you have to be good first, and only then can you be better for someone else. I have been there, done that, and it made me realize that my well-being comes first and that it cannot be ignored. Now, I encourage women to pay attention to signs and make their physical and mental health a priority. This will allow them to show up and provide for their families and at the workplace,” said Coach Melody.

Her stellar work has not gone unnoticed. Coach Melody is the recipient of the MAPO Business Award, 2022, besides bagging the St. Louis American 2017 Salute to Excellence in Health Care Award. She is also an Ambassador for the American Heart Association, a Health Contributor for I Am ESL Magazine, and a Life Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Coach Melody encourages more women to get into entrepreneurship and live their dreams without feeling constricted or bogged down. “It has been amazing being the author of my life and schedule. No day is the same, and I enjoy being in control,” she said.

The Road Ahead

Behavior changes can be a lengthy process and pose different results from person to person. It can only be successful when reinforced consistently with different programs, multiple touch points, strong leadership, and steadfast commitment. Speaking of her desire to have customized programs that would go beyond the set timelines of the existing models, Coach Melody said, “I want people to continue taking care of themselves beyond the one-week or one-month program. The execution is challenging but worth it. I am taking Unwrap You’s programs to the next level, including a new product line and online courses. Patience is key in growing the business, and I consider myself blessed to have come so far. My work ethic, commitment, and passion have been the driver.”