Melissa Hughes of Live Rich Spread Wealth: Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times
As part of our series about the “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Hughes, Master Business & Success Coach | Philanthropist | Speaker | Author
A self-made millionaire by 31, Melissa Hughes is the founder of the Live Rich. Spread Wealth. Global Movement, which is changing the lives of businesspeople worldwide. She is a master business coach, best-selling author, international speaker, and consultant. Her mission is to help entrepreneurs and individuals in corporate America accomplish their business goals, (including massive profits), while staying connected to their authentic selves, transforming the world, and creating lives of limitless abundance.
Known as The Guru of Implementation®, Melissa’s success, and that of her clients, is a result of her practical, proven systems for business and life success. Her clients include companies like Microsoft, Motorola, ESPN, and globally recognized speaker Lisa Nichols, star of the hit film, The Secret, as well as small start-ups and individuals. Large corporations around the world hire Melissa to advise them on multi-million dollar projects and initiatives and she specializes in helping to ensure culture, communication, project scope, and implementation are successful across divisions, departments, and business units.
Melissa is a dynamic, transformative speaker who has presented to companies and at entrepreneurial events, conferences, universities, and associations throughout the U.S. and in Ukraine, Dubai, Costa Rica, Canada, Bali, Tokyo, and Amsterdam, to name a few.
Thanks to her high-accountability and firm-love coaching style, thousands of Melissa’s coaching clients have created massive results in their business and personal lives.
Melissa, a wife and the mom of a seven-year-old global citizen (who has already been to 15 countries), serves as a board member on the Detroit Chapter of the Entrepreneur Organization. She is also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She has worked with leaders, trailblazers, sleeping G.I.A.N.T.S. and entrepreneurs worldwide, helping them live their divine purpose and a full life.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
My family is originally from Jamaica. I’m the first generation born in the United States. My parents came to the US full of hope and big believers in the American dream. Unfortunately, their dream fell apart pretty quickly. We learned that my father was unfaithful in his international travels and that was the end of my parents’ marriage. My mom then had to raise three girls on her own. . I learned as a child that a woman can be left “holding the bag” in what seemed like an instant. I wanted more for my mom and I really wanted more for myself, so I got serious about creating opportunities for myself. I committed to giving myself options. I committed to being the best student in my class, the best this, the best that — I just wanted to always be the best at whatever I did so that no one would ever have the power to upend my life. It served me well until it didn’t. And that’s another story.
I was the oldest, so mom would sometimes send me to the grocery store with a shopping list and some money. Sometimes the money wasn’t enough. That’s when I decided that no matter where I went, I wanted abundance. Not money for the sake of money, but abundance.
My mom was always working and she always had great ideas for what to do next. She tried interior decorating, worked a corporate job, and everywhere she went, she’d have these wonderful ideas that had her on to the next thing. I was always so excited to hear what she came up with next. When Mom tried to put her ideas into action, she was often disappointed with the results. And so was I. I started to think, “I’m going to be an implementer of ideas”. That’s when that seed was planted. Those are some of the things I took from childhood that started me on the road to what I am today.
I worked at a Fortune 500 company for years and I got to a point where I really wanted to be a manager. I had the experience, the skills, and the wisdom but I faced a lot of skepticism. People didn’t think twice about saying “Well, they don’t really hire minorities as managers.” So I focused on the way I presented myself on paper and made sure that my resume truly reflected what I’d been able to accomplish and the value I could bring to the company as a manager. I was at peace with my credentials and then I set out to do my part to make my qualifications known. I didn’t wait for anyone to assume anything about me, good or bad. I took responsibility for myself and I showed people what they could expect from me. I got the job.
I remember going to my first meeting in the C-suite. It had its own elevator and all the glass doors and windows made it difficult to find the right meeting room. While I made my way to the meeting, a secretary approached me and asked if she could help me. I know that I looked a bit lost because I was. Everybody got lost on their first trip to that floor. I later learned it was a little “inside joke”. But that secretary really seemed to think I wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.
By the time I found the right room, the meeting had already started. When I spoke, nobody acknowledged me. But they definitely heard me: I’d say something, and someone else would say the exact same thing a few moments later. I wasn’t happy with the way people seemed to be claiming my ideas as their own, but at least they valued my ideas in the first place. Maybe they just had a strange way of showing it. I stayed patient, and by the fifth meeting, things had changed. The rest of the room wanted to know what I had to say and they wanted to hear it directly from me. If I’d been intimidated by that environment, or too insulted by the way the first few meetings went, I’d have taken my focus off my desire to make a difference. But I never put my ego on the line in those early days — I just leaned into finding solutions to the problems we were facing. That’s always been my top priority. Be a part of the solution, establish your reputation, and people will support you.
I leveled up again when Microsoft recruited me for an executive position. Before long, I started to question, “I’m at the acme of my career, I’m making great money…wait a minute, is this real or is this virtual reality? Can I do this on my own? Can I create my own wealth?” And that’s when I decided to branch out and launch my own business. I had some good ideas of what that would look like and I thought I was ready to make it happen.
When you’re in a corporation you tend to stay in your lane. When you run your own business you’re everywhere and responsible for everything. You wear all the hats. Being my own boss really stretched and exhausted me. I was working harder than I’d ever worked before, but I was also more fulfilled because all of my work correlated directly to the success of my business. I felt proud and accomplished. My business grew — not smoothly and not all at once, but pretty significantly once I really got things moving — and I was millionaire by 31.
Mindset is so important when you’re looking to navigate life, especially when you see yourself as a trailblazer like I did. My mindset at the time was that success meant being alone. I was very isolated I woke up, worked on my business, went to sleep, and hit repeat. It felt like success but it didn’t feel like freedom. Eventually I burned out as a result of working so much. I lost my edge for a while and the business slipped to a point where I needed to declare bankruptcy. So I failed it. I failed the business. And it failed me.
I went back to corporate work, but not with a lot of confidence. I didn’t even know if I’d be hirable after owning my own business. When recruiters looked at my resume, would they see someone who could work well with others or my superiors? Could I actually be humble enough to fit in with a team? Could I still be productive if I didn’t own the company? I wondered these things myself! What I found was that it made me an even better team member, because I understood things from an owner’s perspective. When I looked at problems and opportunities as an employee, I was able to see value more clearly than before. If you’ve never run your own business, you really don’t know what it’s like to be responsible for profit and loss and all of the things that make it possible to run a successful company.
After quite some time, I realized I wanted to spend more time with my family. I wanted to have more control over my time and create my own life of true abundance. I’ve had some of those things at various times, but now I want them all. So what is the career that will allow me to use my skills and contribute the way I need to, that will actually support the lifestyle that I want to create? It was time for me to use my corporate experience and apply it to my own business, my future, my legacy. That meant becoming a CEO. And I’ve been a CEO for 20 years.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
When I started my first business, a spa, my first challenge was to let people know we existed. So I bought some marketing spots on the radio. I was so excited we were going to be on the radio! I imagined a pretty straight-forward advertising spot with some information and a lot of flattering things about our business.
Well, things didn’t turn out exactly the way I had envisioned. The show’s host just started chatting away about spas — not my spa in particular, just beauty treatments in general. The whole crew started talking about how bizarre facials are and how green stuff dries on your face before it crackles. I was shocked and totally appalled. I had paid the radio station to promote me and my new business and what I felt I received was chastising my industry!
I was furious and disappointed, but the radio host knew something I didn’t. Visibility is visibility, and the kind of visibility they gave me wasn’t bad. Not bad at all. What I had imagined the radio spot to be would have been bland and people might not have remembered it at all. But this bunch of radio entertainers made such a big to-do about green goop at my spa that people had to drop by and see what it was all about.
They weren’t there to sell my spa. That was my job. The radio crew was there to send people my way. And they did.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Many, many people, really. Some of my colleagues in the corporate world felt like they had hit a plateau, were trapped by their success, or simply bored and uninspired in their positions and I’ve always tried to help them break out of that mindset. Even before I launched my own coaching business, I was supporting colleagues to transition into work that they were truly passionate and excited about. They truly inspired me.
My parents and grandparents were also huge sources of inspiration. My grandfather was the first entrepreneur I knew and my grandmother was the most spiritual person I’ve ever known. There was a lot of hard work, optimism and faith between the two of them and I never felt like I had the right to lose faith. There was never any reason to quit on a good idea. My spirituality shows me what’s possible and my business experience has taught me how to make it happen.
Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your organization started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?
When I first started “Live Rich. Spread Wealth,” I wanted to support spiritually minded, accomplished, success driven people who wanted to discover ways to serve the world while also earning more income and experiencing more personal fulfillment.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion. Can you share with our readers a story from your own experience about how you lead your team during uncertain or difficult times?
During the pandemic, I started thinking of our marketing efforts as a sort of search and rescue operation. No more imagining our ideal customers and letting them come to us. We needed to go to them. We already knew our market, but we needed to expand our messaging to really express that we were there to serve them.
I believed that our service was more important than ever before! So I rallied my team to be as loud as we possibly could to shine our light from a marketing perspective and to let potential clients know how much we understand them, how we can support them, and the success that will result. So we increased our outreach efforts and I made sure that everyone’s vision was focused on the goal of service and our clients’ success.
Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the motivation to continue through your challenges? What sustains your drive?
I never considered giving up, so I never did. There were definitely some milestone bumps along the way like academic challenges, healthcare, the pandemic, the George Floyd situation, and socio/political uncertainty to name a few.
As a leader, I needed to stay strong and consistent. There were times when I didn’t know if I could maintain focus another day. What worked was getting my counselor, my personal trainer, my coaches — all the people who gave me support in really specific areas. I got them together as a team to take care of me while I took care of others. It made a huge difference just knowing that I had a team to rely on too.
I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Do you have a book in your life that impacted you and inspired you to be an effective leader? Can you share a story?
Sure — I’ve written a book too! I’ve learned some leadership lessons the hard way and I wanted to pay some kindness forward to help other leaders navigate tough times with a real sense of purpose and confidence. So I wrote a book called Sole to Soul that shows you how to identify your soul purpose and monetize it. Every time we have an economic shakeup, the book seems to increase in relevance. It was popular during the recession and sales increased ajgain during the pandemic. It has helped many people, not only business people and leaders, to keep their eyes open for opportunities and to get back on their feet when things go awry. It helps people put themselves back on a better path. That’s what I had in mind and it’s what readers have told me they appreciate about the book.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during challenging times?
Keep a light on and be the light for others.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
It’s never business as usual these days, is it? So you can’t always be about business. When the pandemic began , I checked in with people more. I tried to connect more with team members, clients, and even people who weren’t clients to let them know I cared about their wellbeing and to let them know I am here for them.
Every once in a while I would have dance parties with my clients and my team. Friday night, we’d get on Zoom, pump up the music, and just rock it out. We changed our mindset and our collective state of mind, so that just for a little while we weren’t marinating in all of the negativity and all the suffering that was going on in the world.
What is the best way to communicate difficult news to one’s team and customers?
With empathy and love. It’s never easy. It’s not supposed to be.
How can a leader make plans when the future is so unpredictable?
Don’t lose sight of your core intentions. Remember how you got where you are and stay true to your principles and values. You can afford to be flexible around the plans if your core values are solid and your overall goal/vision is clear.
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
Stay connected to the people you serve and focus on serving them. We didn’t do any events during the pandemic. I didn’t do any kind of traveling, but I was still serving people. Sometimes that meant talking with them one-on-one in a zoom call. We were all feeling isolated, so sometimes it meant dropping one-on-one meetings for group conversations about topics that were really relevant to what we were all going through. We did whatever we could do as a company to add value to other business leaders.
Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen other businesses make during difficult times? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?
- Decreasing marketing. I understand that you’ve got to cut back on spending, but I saw too many companies go too far and just disappear from their clients’ radar.
- Losing nerve. Losing confidence. Some companies snapped right to wondering if they could still do business and that’s a shame.
I have an example of that. As an African American woman, doing my hair is very important and I’m particular about the products I use. We all are. One place near me stayed open while a lot of hair-supply places closed down. They kept their customers safe, invested in a lot of protective gear, and they also completely re-thought the way they did business. Instead of just dropping in, you’d call and describe exactly what you wanted done. They would give you an order number, like at a deli, and you’d call them from the parking lot. They’d meet you at your car, and the whole transaction was contactless.
You know how many other stores thought they were playing it safe by closing down? In some industries that was the only way. I was noticing how this store in particular navigated differently. Imagine how many businesses aren’t even open today? It’s not because they were too careful. It’s because they stopped putting their clients first. The ones who continued to serve their clients had a pretty good chance of making it through the pandemic. I thought that was amazing.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to lead effectively during uncertain and turbulent times? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Visibility. Stay visible.
- Keep collaborating. Find a way to get together, even if you don’t have a reason to. One of the things that we did during covid was a tele-summit. We invited leaders from all over the world to share things that they thought people should know. Was it groundbreaking? Probably not. But it was still productive because we were together doing what mattered most. We still want to be of service and that’s the bottom line. We need those opportunities more than ever.
Leaders don’t crumble when things get turbulent. Otherwise, they’re not leaders. So how do you keep yourself together enough to support others? How do you lead people when you don’t honestly know what next week or next month will look like? What can you do to make it easier for other people to press on, to stick together knowing that if they do, they’ll all be fine in the long run? You can’t just say the words — messaging is very important, right down to your emotional connection with the people you lead. You’ve got to believe it in your soul if anyone else is going to.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“You’ve already failed if you fail to try.”
How can our readers further follow your work?
https://liverichspreadwealth.com/
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Thank YOU for the opportunity to share!
