In this episode of the Make Life/Work Podcast, I chat with Tia Coachman, single mom to two boys and founder and principal of Affirma Consultancy, a human resources consulting firm based in Portland, Oregon that works with clients across industries to help to affirm what is right, what is productive, and what is fair within their organizations. 

Tia founded Affirma in September of 2019 after working for creative agencies Laundry Service and Wieden & Kennedy, where she implemented innovative campaigns and strategies, particularly around diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

Tia is also a woman of color and our interview took place during the week of nationwide protests following the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor -- and the nationwide awakening to the systemic racism that has been centuries-long in the making. As such, Tia agreed to speak about her experience as a black woman in work and life, and the process she uses to work with clients to create equity throughout an organization. Though, as she notes, first it begins with personal work.

To this end, we must look within, and then "look left and look right" to start our own personal transformation in order to create change. Then we must continue to use our voices, dollars and time  -- and any other privileges we may have -- to keep pressing on, and to demand the policies, laws and systems that make our country equitable for all. 

In the show, we talk about the need to "be the change you want to see in the world," which was attributed to Ghandi. 

I hope you find this episode as enlightening as I did, and I send a big appreciation to Tia for her graciousness and willingness to take off her daily armor and allow the personal exposure so that we can learn more about why this matters so much.

~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, a coworking community in Portland, Oregon designed to Make Life/Work for women and families.

Welcome to Episode #5 of the Make Life/Work Podcast!

In this episode I chat with Dulcinea Myers-Whitcomb, a mom of two and an award-winning real estate agent with Living Room Realty, a full-service real estate brokerage in Portland, Oregon and also a certified B-Corp.

A former teacher, Dulcinea shares about the schedule she designed for her kids' homeschooling, as well as the state of the real estate market and how she has designed new ways to work in real estate now that she can no longer meet with people in person.

This show was inspired by my gratitude for my own home during this time of quarantine, and I'd like to give a big shout out to Jennifer Raynak who found and fought for the most perfect house in which to build a life for me and Ellie.

Enjoy!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, a coworking community in Portland, Oregon designed to Make Life/Work for women and families.

In this episode of the Make Life/Work Podcast, I chat with Terry Wilcox, mom to twin 6-year old boys and founder of Patients Rising, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to providing support and education to people with chronic and life-threatening illnesses.

Terry cofounded Patients Rising five years ago with her husband, and after a career path that had pivoted many times along the way -- from a musical theatre actress to celebrity coordinator to media network exec to owner of a video production company, and finally to working in patient advocacy.

Pivoting is all the rage right now as we all work to figure out what's next for our lives and businesses in this new reality, and Terry and I talk about her willingness to embrace pivoting throughout her life and career and how it brought her to the exact right place for her personally and professionally.

I met Terry in 2002 when we worked together in LA (my first career stop and her second), and we've had the pleasure to work together again in recent years as I've been consulting on the launch and growth of the organization's newest offering, Patients Rising Concierge, a free program that supports patients and caregivers by connecting them to free or reduced-cost services that are personalized to each person's specific needs.

Enjoy!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, a coworking community in Portland, Oregon designed to Make Life/Work for women and families.

In this episode of the Make Life/Work Podcast, I chat with Lauren Ross a mom of two, an educator and school social worker whose personal struggle dealing with the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic inspired her to launch the leading family-friendly Facebook community, Project Quarantine 2020.

This online community, now 42,000 members strong and from countries all around the world, offers daily community challenges, including activities for kids to complete that are available to anyone, free and/or very low cost. Her goal is to encourage creativity, joy, and family connections despite the crazy and stressful circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Here is a link to the very first project on Day 1 -- and a link to the Facebook Group Page if you'd like to join this delightful community.

Enjoy!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, a coworking community in Portland, Oregon designed to Make Life/Work for women and families.

In this episode of the Make Life/Work Podcast, I chat with Tera Hurst, single mom, clean energy advocate and candidate for Portland City Council. 

Tera has had a long career in political and community organizing, first working as an organizer with Basic Rights Oregon, fighting to pass Marriage Equality in Oregon, then working in the State Legislature, followed by serving as Chief of Staff to Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, and currently as Executive Director for Renew Oregon. She is actively campaigning for the open seat of position two of the Portland City Council.

We discuss similar experiences we've had as solo parents, plus addiction and recovery, what it's like to a campaign during these times of Coronavirus, and how supportive communities are at the core of connection and change.

Finally, to all the moms and mom figures, Happy Mother's Day!

Enjoy!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, a coworking community in Portland, Oregon designed to Make Life/Work for women and families.

For this episode of The Make/Life Work Podcast I was excited to chat with Anna Mackay, the Director of Development for Guerrilla Development, "Portland's Most Daring Developer." She is also a married mom of two boys, under the age of five.

Anna has had an impressive career as an intern architect, carpenter, educator, and developer. She also led the first Regulation A crowd-investing effort for new construction in the United States for Guerrilla's Fair-Haired Dumbbell. She then followed that project  with a crowd-invested equity raise from everyday Oregonians for a sustainable homelessness project called Jolene’s First Cousin.

We discuss both of these projects in the episode, along with Babies at Work, coworking and what our schedules and lives look like right now as both of our families are Sheltering in Place during the pandemic.

Enjoy!
~Melanie

Melanie Marconi is the founder & CEO of VIDA, a coworking community in Portland, Oregon designed to Make Life/Work for women and families.

Welcome to The Make Life/Work Podcast hosted by Melanie Marconi, serial entrepreneur, single mom and current founder & CEO of VIDA, a coworking community in Portland, Oregon designed to support modern life.

Life is FULL. And for those of us who want to do it all --  have a big career, raise a family and achieve our most ambitious personal goals –  oftentimes it can feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day. 

Host Melanie Marconi knows firsthand the extreme joy, challenge and chaos of Building a Business While Raising a Family. She launched VIDA while working full-time, raising her 7-year old daughter and making self-care a priority. 

The Make Life Work Podcast was created to talk with inspiring women who are, have been, or want to be, at this unique intersection of life…  to hear more about the schedules, strategies and solutions they employ to create fulfilling personal, professional and family lives. If you are an entrepreneur, executive, leader or planning something big – this series is for you.

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This season of The Make Life/Work Podcast is supported by The University of Oregon Executive MBA Program.