Melissa's Story (a few chapters)
I am human. I am a woman, I am Melissa.
I play many roles, daughter, sister, wife, mother, colleague, friend, aunt, stepmother, massage therapist and coach. To keep a long story short I will share the most valuable turning points that have led me to where I find myself now.
Turning point #1
Becoming a single mum at the age of 26 to 3 & 4yr old girls. This 7-year period of my life is where my life changed forever. I went from having no work history for the period of 5 years I was a "stepford" wife and stay at home mum, (which made me unemployable), to studying massage at night so I could support myself and my children. I didn't rely on child support, in fact I didn’t want it because I wanted to be totally free of the person I came to learn through therapy had been emotionally and financially abusing me. It was a brave move, it took every bit of courage I had and there were times I didn't think I’d make it.
I worked hard and, after my first job, due to the qualifications I had, was invited to work with the Australian Kangaroos Rugby League team, NSW State of Origin team and Country Origin teams. I loved sport, I lived and breathed it since I was a kid and my goal with massage was to work at the highest level I could so I decided to specialise in Sports Massage for injury management and prevention. To gain more versatility in my skills I started my own business and began pitching to other professional sports to be Head Massage Therapist. Under the guidance of Physiotherapists and Sports Chiropractors I was taught a variety of techniques to ensure the highest quality treatments as well as developing my own through extensive research and case studies.
I held the role of Head therapist for A1 Grand Prix Team Australia in 2005, The Australian beach Volley Ball Tour 2006-2008, Rocket sports Racing Champ Car team from 2005-2006, as well as key roles with St Kilda AFL Football Club NAB Cup 2007, and various rounds of NRL 2007 until 2011 after I moved to Melbourne and began looking for an exit strategy for my career in sports massage.
Working across such a broad range of sports allowed me to be more proficient and achieve successful results for my athletes both with injury management and performance. Having transitioned into corporate health I won a tender to provide workplace injury management and screening for QLD Health employees, treating and managing workplace injuries. Through this experience and ongoing study I now have a very broad knowledge of health and wellness.
Turning point #2
In 2007, early cell-changes pointing to cervical cancer were found on my cervix for the second time in my life. This impacted me in ways I never thought was possible because I hadn't questioned my mortality before. This time I did; I was a single mum with two small children. For the first time I was consumed by all the "what ifs" scenarios. What if the worst case happens? Who will look after my children? How will they be provided for? It took this to realise that I had burnt myself out. This is when I started to think about winding back my massage work and thinking about what else I could do make money and provide for my family. I decided to go back to Uni and study a Bachelor of Applied Social Science Counselling with Sports Performance. I loved learning about psychology and what makes people tick. I decided I wanted to coach and always thought, due to my past experience, that this would be in field of sports. This period of my life taught me the value of being financially self-sufficient. I started to learn about money and finances.
Turning point #3
In 2015 completing a course in Speaker Training, workshop writing and facilitation. I had been soul-searching and questioning what I really "wanted to be when I grew up". I knew that continuing with massage at the level I was would be detrimental to my health. As health is one of my highest priorities, in early 2016 I began asking myself "How can put all my knowledge, skills and experience together to create something that contributes to making the world a better place and be financially viable?"
I received the answer while studying that course, after getting deep into the heart of my soul. I came up with a series of things that is being birthed under Courageous Coaching. I say "being birthed" because I’m not yet done. This is still evolving, as am I.
I have now been in my coaching role and away from the massage table since 2014. Focussing on health and wellness programs I decided that for 2017 and beyond to mostly work with women. I have chosen to do this because I meet so many women who have lost sight of who they are and it is getting in the way of them reaching their own highest level of personal significance. During a recent survey I conducted with a large group of women I asked them to, on a scale from 0-10, rate how much they felt they were being their true selves. Sadly, the average answer was 5. That's means these women are showing up as only 50% of themselves in everything they do, every role they play. This breaks my heart because I know what it is to feel lost, to not know who you are and always be wondering if there is more to life than being shackled by these roles we play.
There is a lot more to my story as I am sure there is to yours, let's share them sometime.
Enjoy the site, it's always growing with me and the team so it's not likely to be the same next time you visit us.