Women's Life Coach located in San Diego, California offering services online or over the phone.
First self-help book, LMP, is in the pipeline.
Recent Feature Deborah Kobylt Live
Personal LIVE Interview
Melissa, what brought you to life coaching?
In a recent interview with former CNN reporter and now dear friend Deborah Kobylt I candidly discuss some of my life's deepest, darkest struggles and how they brought me to my life's passion, empowering women to be stronger and live the life they've always dreamed of.
Recent Feature in BuzzFeed
Why You Really Need (to) Virtual Happy Hour Quarantine
The current state we’re in is overwhelming for all of us, and for some of you, it can be isolating.
Social isolation might mean less human touch, but it does not have to mean less human interaction. In fact, with all of the devices at our hands, we can connect with anyone, at any time.
Recent Feature in Best Life: Health
Here's What to Do If You Can't Afford Therapy
Countless studies have shown that excess social media use is linked to depression and anxiety—plus spending too much time in front of a screen can disrupt your sleep schedule and make you more prone to moodiness.
Establish boundaries between yourself and your cellphone and computer.
Recent Feature in San Diego Voyager
Personal Interview
Melissa, can you briefly walk us through your story?
Sure. I’m originally from the state of Connecticut but my roots are based in Portugal. My parents immigrated to the states together in their early teens. I only tell you this because my culture has played a HUGE part in the person I was as an adolescent and the person I have become today.
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Recent Feature in Life Goals Magazine
What Suicide Taught Me & How it Led Me to My Purpose
I was 14 when I first tried to take my life. I swiped a bottle of my mother’s pills and swallowed them whole with a chaser of whiskey. Within minutes of breathing my last breath, I was rushed to the hospital and my stomach was pumped.
My life changed that day.
Recently Featured in Elephant Journal
Three Ways Trauma can Positively Change Your Life
Can you look back and remember an event that changed your life? I can. I can think of a few. We all have that one big story that we carry with us that formed us into the person we are today. It may have prompted us to step forward and take action or it may have caused us to retreat and fear it’s very existence.
Recently Featured in P.S. I Love You
Love Exists in All Forms
I don’t like to admit this but sometimes I wonder if I have forgotten how to love. It may seem silly I know. A beautiful woman in her thirties talking to you about the absence of love in her life but don’t get me wrong this is real.
Recent Contributions to Ruby Magazine
The Power Of Shame
When was the first time you ever felt shame? Do you remember what it felt like?
Most of us can’t recall our first “shameful” experience, but it’s likely one that impacts our lives to this day. So much so, that we continue to breathe it in and silently hope that, one day, the emotions will subside. But they won’t. They stay. They stay until we have the courage to sit with the feelings and confront them.
.
Recent Contributions to Ruby Magazine
Unburdening Yourself from Unmet Expectations
I can remember all of the unmet expectations that I’ve placed on others and here’s why: They’ve left scars on my heart. But expectations are just that – expectations. Too often, they’re thoughts and strong beliefs that we’ve placed on other people; ideas we’ve made up in our mind, not actual experiences that we’ve had, or requests that we’ve even communicated.
This is Your Life Live it Your Way
Melissa Fino
We crave to be loved by others, but the truth is that we need to offer more love to ourselves.
In one way or another, we all seek to fit in and ultimately be loved, but somewhere on our journey, we can slowly lose touch with our own identity. We invest in the ideas of others and forget that we may have our own ideas, our own plans, goals and desires.
Recent Contributions to Katy Chen Mazzara
Flat Broke and Ashamed to Financially Secure and Confident
Imagine yourself sitting at an intimate dinner party. You’re laughing, sipping on a glass of red wine and having the time of your life when you’re hit with it. You tense up. Your mood goes south. The dynamics in the room have changed. You find yourself searching the room for a way out but there isn’t one. You have to stay. Not only do you have to stay, you’re forced to confront the one thing you hide away, money, or your lack of it per se.
Recent Contributions to Harness Magazine
Be Still, My Love
Be still
my love
for there’s no place to be.
You mustn’t rush or
hurry about
for the best will come
Recent Contributions to Harness Magazine
Saying GoodBye to the Girl I Once Was
I’m that girl—the girl who had everything to say, but never uttered a word out loud. The one who smiled and laughed, for all to see, but also the one who was slowly dying inside. At some time or place, we’ve all been there before. Lost and confused and unaware of who we are.
Recently Featured in Harness Magazine
The Sun and The Moon
Who broke you
and left you
in such a way,
that the sun never rises
and the moon always stays?
Hidden in Shame
Melissa L. Fino
I’ve hidden in shame for years and I wonder have you too? So much time wasted chasing something that wasn’t real. So much time wasted hiding myself. Sought-after perfection kept me in the dark.
A Better Me
Melissa L. Fino
A better me is coming. One who’s not afraid to be whole. Not afraid of the judgments, the naysayers or the hecklers in the crowd. One who loves freely, laughs when it feels right and cries whenever the tears shall fall.
Blessings Found in the Storm
Melissa L. Fino
Every time you’ve felt the reason that makes you want to run, just stop for a moment and think of how far you’ve come. There’s always a blessing in the storm.
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A Hand to Hold
Melissa L. Fino
My whole life I’ve been closed. Lost. Uncertain. And confused. Blanketed by layers. Hidden from them all. My life was different. What you saw wasn’t me. A facade. An illusion. A blanketed ghost.
Recent Contributions to Women on Topp
Four Reasons to Stop Caring About What Others Think
Why do we care what others think? So much so that it stops us from living the lives we want to live. We don’t speak our mind when we clearly have an opinion because we fear we will be judged. We don’t make that hasty decision that is probably really good for us because well what would our mother think. We don’t make the first move on that guy at the bar because well we don’t want to be labeled a whore.
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High on Power – How Do We Produce More of it?
Melissa L. Fino
At a young age your parents may have told you that anything is possible. Or they may have been realistic and told you that only when you work hard do your dreams come true. Whatever they told you I’m sure you believed them and you took those words and ran with them. You worked hard.
Do You let Opportunity Pass By?
Melissa L. Fino
Are you letting opportunities pass you by? Like most people, I’ve had numerous opportunities in my life. Some of them I’ve taken while others I’ve completely missed. But sometimes all it takes is that one opportunity to make an ordinary life become extraordinary.
Lonely at the Topp
Melissa L. Fino
An all to common struggle amongst women professionally is finding balance between being powerful and being likable. While men find security and ultimately likability in being powerful, women find that it is impossible to have both.
Four Things to do Right Now if you are Losing Control
Melissa L. Fino
Why is it that when one thing goes wrong everything else seems to follow? We’ve all had that moment in life where it seems like life has taken a turn for the worst and we’ve lost control. Panic mode sets in. And then all of a sudden your inner voice creeps in and reminds you that everything in your life is horribly wrong.
When did Busy Become a Competition?
Melissa L. Fino
Amidst the holiday bustle we all get lost in the shuffle. It’s almost as if we blink our eyes and all of December is gone. Before we know it Christmas has arrived. We unwrap the gifts, load the children into the car, drive an hour to our families, run in and help cook dinner. Than we wash the dishes, have coffee, share some old memories, load the children back into the car, drive back home and load them into bed.
Four Signs your Client is Toxic
Melissa L. Fino
Yay! Your business is flourishing. Sales are through the roof and you’re no longer struggling to get clients in through the doors. But alas here comes the client from hell. The one who always has a problem, drains you financially and emotionally, and wholeheartedly believes that there will never be a solution to their problem. You wonder why did they come to you in the first place?
What to Do When You've Changed Your Evil Ways
Melissa L. Fino
Recently a friend reached out to me and told me that personally they had made some positive changes in their life and they were feeling amazing. I replied with “That’s great!” and “I’m so proud of you!” They were consciously making efforts to change the current trajectory of their life. They eliminated the need to judge others. They replaced negative thoughts with positive ones.
Qualities all Powerful Women must Possess
Melissa L. Fino
The most powerful women, CEO’S, Entrepreneurs, or the go to women at the top continue to guide us into unchartered waters as they throw caution to the wind and inspire us to chase after our dreams. They are fierce women who command attention without seeking it. Filled to the brim with self-confidence, desire and ambition.
Recently Featured in Ladies-Who-Launch
Recent Personal Interview
DOES DIVERSITY MATTER TO YOU?
Oh my! Yes. Being that I have spent decades of my life working with women of diverse backgrounds and various ages I can’t say enough how important it is to immerse yourself in a community of like-minded individuals. However like-minded, clearly means a shared vision or goal, but this is best met by not excluding others based on religion, sex, race or sexual preference.
Recently Featured in January Wellness
The Perfect Body Myth
Melissa L. Fino
Women are obsessed with the perfect body. Our obsession with the perfect body is almost impossible to ignore, as we are inundated by images of beautiful women throughout social media & advertising. Our own inner critic incessantly repeats in our ear “look at how beautiful that woman is”, “you will never have her abs”, or “well I guess that means no lunch for me today”.
Recently Featured in Dames Collective
The Importance of Surrounding Yourself with a Like-Minded Community
Melissa L. Fino
If you want to make a woman smile, talk to her about other women. Yes, it may seem odd but it's true. Talk to them about their closest girlfriends, their mother, sisters, daughters and mentors. Why do I say this? Because strong, confident women are excited when other women succeed. They are at their happiest when they can see those closest to them be successful. The truth is when those closest to us are successful, we are successful.
Recently Featured in The Possibility of Change
How Losing my Father Brought me Back to Life
Melissa L. Fino
I lost my father unexpectedly. My father suffered from a brain aneurysm and passed away immediately. My father was my rock, my world. I was crippled. He was the only person in my life who loved me unconditionally. I was paralyzed. Paralyzed with fear.