Welcome to The Make Life Work Podcast! In this episode I speak with Jenna Cooper, Founder and President of C3 Collective and SpeakYou.

A public relations professional and former TV personality, Jenna is truly an expert in how to present yourself most effectively, and in the very best light.. and our chat is filled with many great tips -- for both in person and virtual meetings and presentations -- and is sure to help  take your presentation game to the next level and really connect with your audience.

Cheers for a great week and I hope you enjoy the episode!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, which provides workspace, community and tailored services for entrepreneurs, families and organizations to help them create balance, find joy and excel in their personal and professional lives. Learn more at vidacoworking.com #MakeLifeWork

This episode is supported by  VIDA Business Services, Virtual Assistance and Consulting Services for Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs + Independent Contractors. Book a 30-minute call to learn more!

Welcome to The Make Life Work Podcast! In this episode I speak with Amy Jermain, the Executive Director of the XXcelerate Fund, which provides a uniquely powerful combination of business education, peer support and a pathway to financing for womxn in the Pacific Northwest. It's a model that has been proven to produce higher rates of success.

Amy's career has taken her all over the world and her commitment to improving the resiliency and self-sufficiency of underserved groups. Her work at the United Nations World Food Programme, the International Finance Corporation, International Planned Parenthood Federation and is now helping Womxn-led companies create a new layer of economic power in our country.

Amy and I enjoy a truly engaging conversation about the state of women + business, what we've learned from Covid and what the future of work can look like.

We also take a moment to share our love and respect for Sara Batterby, the Founder of the Equity Capital Collective and an advisor to countless women entrepreneurs and an evangelist for equitable access to capital. Sara was a consultant to me in the early days of VIDA and her work has helped launch many a female-founded company. Last month, Sara died suddenly at the age of 49... may her memory be a blessing and her expertise live on.

Cheers for a great week and I hope you enjoy the episode!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, which provides workspace, community and tailored services for entrepreneurs, families and organizations to help them create balance, find joy and excel in their personal and professional lives. Learn more at vidacoworking.com #MakeLifeWork

This episode is supported by  VIDA Business Services, Virtual Assistance and Consulting Services for Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs + Independent Contractors. Book a 30-minute call to learn more!

Welcome to The Make Life Work Podcast! In this episode I speak with Caitlin Crocker, an early childhood educator and Director of the VIDA SCHOOL program. This summer she will also lead our newest offering at VIDA, Summer Camp @ VIDA SCHOOL, which begins on June 14th.

Caitlin has been an integral part of helping our onsite kids integrate back into a social setting -- and she's had a front-row seat to their challenges, the big feelings and also their amazing resilience.

Caitlin joins me in the VIDA Podcasting Studio to talk about what the year has been like for so many kids, what has piqued their interest over the last nine months and what they are craving for summer -- and also some helpful tips for what to expect when kids start back to in-person school.

Cheers for a great week and I hope you enjoy the episode!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, which provides workspace, community and tailored services for entrepreneurs, families and organizations to help them create balance, find joy and excel in their personal and professional lives. Learn more at vidacoworking.com #MakeLifeWork

This episode is supported by  VIDA Business Services, Virtual Assistance and Consulting Services for Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs + Independent Contractors. Book a 30-minute call to learn more!

In this episode of The Make/Life Work Podcast I am excited to speak with Amber Grubenmann, a dating and confidence coach who teaches women how to attract men without playing games or overthinking their every move. She is also the host of the Women's Dating And Confidence Podcast -- one of the most popular podcasts in the genre!

She joins me in the VIDA Podcasting Studio to talk about what dating looks like in the post-pandemic world, tips for dating at any age and why sometimes you just need a vetted script and a supportive crew to help you get through the early stages of dating.

Cheers for a great week and I hope you enjoy the episode!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, which provides workspace, content and tailored services for entrepreneurs, families and organizations to help them create balance, find joy and excel in their personal and professional lives. Learn more at vidacoworking.com #MakeLifeWork

VIDA Coworking Community // VIDA Business Services // VIDA Coaching Services

In this episode of The Make/Life Work Podcast!

I am excited to share more about the work of Dr. Michelle Gerbi, a local chiropractor and postpartum mothering mentor. Dr. Gerbi is known locally in the Portland area as the owner of her respected practice, Hood River Chiropractic and she is also a Certified Prenatal and Postpartum Health Coach, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and Tummy Time Method Educator.

She has worked with hundreds of women and families throughout her career and has a keen sense of what is missing for women in the current healthcare model and how this can affect moms and babies in the short and long-term.

In her newest venture, Dr.Gerbi.com, she has taken all of her best tools and knowledge and packed them into online courses so that women can -- anytime, anywhere --  benefit and thrive during the tricky, ever-changing times in the 16 weeks postpartum.

In this episode we talk about Dr. Gerbi's ideas for designing a better healthcare system to support women after birth, as well as her personal tricks for making life work to support herself and her family.

Cheers for a great week and I hope you enjoy the episode!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, which provides workspace, content and tailored services for entrepreneurs, families and organizations to help them create balance, find joy and excel in their personal and professional lives. Learn more at vidacoworking.com #MakeLifeWork

VIDA Coworking Community // VIDA Business Services // VIDA Coaching Services

On this episode of The Make Life/Work Podcast, we are excited to share more about the newest offering in the VIDA family... VIDA Business Services, Virtual Assistance for Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs + Independent Contractors.

I speak with Kaitlyn McConnell, lead of our Client Success Team, about the origin of VIDA Business Services, the role of a virtual personal assistant, how we can help individuals and businesses with a range of needs + why this new offering further supports VIDA's overarching goal to Make Life/Work for all.

VIDA Business Services is now available to those outside of the VIDA Coworking membership -- if you'd like to learn more about how we can support you and your business, please schedule a time to chat further.

Cheers for a great week!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, which provides workspace, content and tailored services for entrepreneurs, families and organizations to help them create balance, find joy and excel in their personal and professional lives. Learn more at vidacoworking.com #MakeLifeWork

VIDA Coworking Community // VIDA Business Services // VIDA Coaching Services

On this episode of The Make Life/Work Podcast I speak with with Aaron Labadie, husband, father of two and Vice President, Senior Commercial Relationship Manager of Umpqua Bank.

Aaron and I chat about the recent opening of the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program -- which opened to applicants on January 13, 2021 -- plus he gives us a behind-the- scenes look at what was happening during the first round of PPP, and some sound advice for those who haven't yet applied this round and aren't sure if they qualify.

Cheers for a great week!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, which provides workspace, content and tailored services for entrepreneurs, families and organizations to help them create balance, find joy and excel in their personal and professional lives. Learn more at vidacoworking.com #MakeLifeWork

VIDA Coworking Community // VIDA Business Services // VIDA Coaching Services

Happy New Year!

As many people are partaking in Dryuary this month (not drinking in January), I am excited to share this episode of a first-person sobriety journey with Staci Pfeffer, a wife, mom of three and founder of Staci Pfeffer Interiors, warm, minimal design for the curated modern home. She is also my longtime bestie!

Staci and I have known each other since the 6th grade and we have experienced many foundational aspects of life together, including our first sips of alcohol. In this episode she openly and bravely shares her story -- about why she started drinking, how she used wine to manage her anxiety, when she realized it had become unmanageable -- and then how she was able to quit. She's been sober for eight years.

In the episode we have an honest chat about what disordered drinking can look like, and I promised to share some resources. Here and these are my fave books (and blog):

• Nothing Good Can Come From This 
• Quit Like a Woman
• Blackout
• The Sober Lush
• The Sober Glow (Blog)
• Plus, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

Here's to a most fabulous 2021!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, which provides workspace, content and tailored services for entrepreneurs, families and organizations to help them create balance, find joy and excel in their personal and professional lives. Learn more at vidacoworking.com #MakeLifeWork

VIDA Coworking Community // VIDA Business Services // VIDA Coaching Services

This episode of The Make Life Work Podcast is supported by our friends at ArtKive, -- the easiest and most beautiful solution for preserving and celebrating your kids artwork. Our listeners can get $20 off their first book or mosaic by visiting https://www.artkiveapp.com and using code Make Life Work at checkout.

Wowza, 2020! What a year, and now it is almost over, yippee. This year was not like any other, but like always, I learned a few things along the way.

In this episode I share the Top 5 Things I Learned, as well as my five favorite books I read in the last year.

I also share more about where VIDA is headed in 2021. My #1 learning of the year is that Diversification is Key to a successful business in this new reality -- and so we will be focused on growing the new business service lines we established in late 2020, including:

•  VIDA Business Services, which provides administrative assistance + business consulting for entrepreneurs and small business, starting at $199/month.
• VIDA Coaching Services, which  works with companies to offer workplace coaching to their employees and executives.
• VIDA SCHOOL – our onsite remote learning and extracurricular program
• VIDA Media -- this podcast, our new YouTube Channel, VIDA TV and our revamped newsletter
• And of course, Coworking! Dedicated Desks and Private Offices for all members.

All of our offerings are rooted in our mission to help professionals Make Life/Work so they have the time and tools necessary to pursue their ambitions and create ease and success in all facets of their lives.

I am beyond ready for 2021 and I am feeling hopeful about the future... so, I raise a glass of bubbly water to each of us and say, Cheers! Here’s to 2021 and the next chapter for us all.

Enjoy!
~Melanie Marconi

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, a coworking community and professional services firm in Portland, Oregon designed to support modern life. Learn more at vidacoworking.com #MakeLifeWork

This episode of The Make Life Work Podcast is supported by our friends at ArtKive, -- the easiest and most beautiful solution for preserving and celebrating your kids artwork. Our listeners can get $20 off their first book or mosaic by visiting https://www.artkiveapp.com and using code Make Life Work at checkout.

Welcome to Episode #18 of The Make Life Work Podcast!

This week I am excited to have on the show Day Bibb, fellow #PDX entrepreneur, mom of two, Founder of Helen Rose Skincare, an organic skincare line + Founder & Executive Director of OM Thrive, which creates equitable access to wellness resources for survivors of abuse and under-served communities of color.

This year, Day formally launched her skincare line -- and watched it soar. She successfully completed an iFundWomen campaign, raising $43,101 to support the company's growth, and then last month was named as one of 100 Black women entrepreneurs selected as part of American Express's “100 for 100” program, which provides grants of $25,000 and 100 days of business resources (three other Portland-based founders were also selected, including Drink Mamey, The Fab Lab and Go Girl Ride)!

In this episode we learn more about Day's journey to founding OM Thrive, and then Helen Rose Skincare, which she started to support the nonprofit and is named for her mother. We also hear more about her mom-first philosophy to business, which I love and wholly support.

This episode of The Make Life Work Podcast is supported by our friends at ArtKive, -- the easiest and most beautiful solution for preserving and celebrating your kids artwork. Our listeners can get $20 off their first book or mosaic by visiting https://www.artkiveapp.com and using code Make Life Work at checkout.

Enjoy!
~Melanie Marconi

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, a coworking community and professional services firm in Portland, Oregon designed to support modern life. Learn more at vidacoworking.com #MakeLifeWork