Meet Melanie Kallai

We were lucky to catch up with Melanie Kallai recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Melanie, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

When I was a little girl, my grandfather let me sweep his office to earn a few bucks for spending money. He told me that maybe one day if I worked hard enough, I could become someone’s secretary—a high honor for a woman in his patriarchal eyes. Though his words were complimentary, I aspired for more. I knew right then, at nine years old, that I wouldn’t let anyone put a limit on who or what I would become. And while I loved our farm, my dreams directed me to something different. The passions that blazed inside of me were too big for my small farm town, and in my young mind, I was already an accomplished dancer, a best-selling author, and a worldly-wise woman. The trouble was that I was also incredibly naive—something I’d learn over time as obstacles plunked down like jagged boulders on my imagined life path. At fourteen, I suffered an ankle injury that forced me to alter my ballet pursuits, and at sixteen, I lost someone close to me to suicide. These two events stand out in my memories as tipping points that made me question what was most important in life and what was worth fighting for. They also bluntly informed me that life is not a straight path and our dreams don’t always come true.

Life moves us in directions we don’t choose, but when we hold onto the ambitions that light us up inside, the world remains wondrous. For me, resilience is a skill I’ve developed through many trials, and honestly, I have not always been great at it. I struggled with being too emotionally guarded, which naturally translated to my art. But I’ve learned to channel my pain, triumphs, grief, and joy into my art by passing on my love for dance to my students and becoming brave enough to write the raw, unfiltered versions of the stories in my head.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I refer to myself as a creative person with an entrepreneurial spirit! My two passions, dance and writing, have remained steadfast throughout my life, and I’m constantly pushing for inventive ways to express myself.

I am fortunate to have had a rewarding dance career, even though it didn’t unfold exactly as I had imagined. My journey began in 1996 when I was hired as a performer at Walt Disney World. While I loved performing, I soon discovered an even greater strength in teaching. Helping young students discover a love for dance became equally fulfilling for me.

I started my first company, Dance Upon A Dream, in 2003, a dance studio for dancers aged 2-12. But when I married my husband, Peter, I sold my studio and moved to Germany for two years while he pursued an education in software engineering. I quickly found a studio nearby to continue my dance training, and my time abroad allowed me to consider the next steps in my career.

Upon returning to the U.S., I had the idea for my first science fiction novel, Eternity Rising, which I wrote and published while pursuing a degree in biological sciences from The University of Colorado, Boulder. I continued teaching dance contractually and was inspired by my youngest dancers to write two children’s verse books, Afternoon Tea and Ballet Class.

While I hold affection and respect for my earlier works, I found that these endeavors only scratched the surface of my creative depth—a chasm I had thus far been afraid to dive into. My experiences, traumas, and years of self-doubt had not yet found their way into my art. It wasn’t until 2016 when I experienced the darkest three years of my life, and I could look my pain in the eye and say, “You will not break me,” that I was able to approach life and art with a profound new mindset.

During that time—in a nutshell—I suffered a miscarriage, watched my best friend of 39 years fight and lose her battle with cervical cancer, lost my beloved grandmother, and for several months was a full-time caregiver to my husband after a near-fatal mountain bike accident—all the while caring for my sweet, neurodivergent son. My memoir about how I endured these experiences and what I learned from them, titled What We Keep, can be found in the 2020 Colorado Book Award-winning anthology, Rise, an Anthology of Change. Available here: https://a.co/d/05xneqS7

During COVID, I took an opportunity to study online at the University of Cambridge and earned a diploma in Advanced Fiction Writing and Screenwriting. Since then, I’ve completed a young adult dystopian novel, a children’s book about acceptance, and started a middle-grade crime novel. I’ve also written a screenplay that shines a light on the driving forces behind the horrendous human trafficking industry in the United States. I’ve partnered with a talented director, and our project, Dear john, is currently in the works to be filmed. My website www.melaniekallai.com, has links to more of my writing and project updates.

Last October, I was eager to start another business and launched Cypress Blue Publishing, LLC, to give my books a formal publishing platform. Cypress Blue’s first title, Gigs the Robot Bunny, has a release date of July 2nd, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to share this heart-warming children’s story—with themes of acceptance and inclusion—with the world. While my LLC is still in its infancy, my goal is to expand to publish 2 to 4 books per year starting in 2025. https://www.cypressbluepublishing.com/

I also run an Etsy shop called The Powerful Muse that offers seasonal gifts for quirky, creative types. https://thepowerfulmuse.etsy.com My shop has been a terrific way to express my excess creative energy while expanding my community of writers, artists, dancers, book lovers, and those who appreciate a fair amount of whimsy. For me, my shop is an outlet to stay light-hearted and celebrate life’s joyful, delicate moments.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back, I’d say the number one quality that allowed me to build on my achievements is that I am a lifelong learner. I take classes when I can, read about my craft, and listen to the journeys of those who have succeeded in writing and running small businesses. I join writing communities, attend conferences, and continually seek new and better ways of creating.

Mental fortitude is another quality that has helped me persist, primarily through difficult times. I never allowed the inner voice that tells me “I can” to be silenced by naysayers or by my failures, nor have I let anyone or any circumstance extinguish that passionate fire I’ve had since childhood.

And, of course, acquiring the necessary knowledge and developing the right skills to be successful is critical. I dedicate a lot of time to honing my writing craft and learning about my business, and I ask for feedback from people I respect; as my first dance teacher used to say, “Practice! Practice! Practice!

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

What do I do when I feel overwhelmed? This is such a great question because I frequently struggle with being overwhelmed. Like many other creatives, I am a highly sensitive person. For years, I considered this a flaw that I needed to overcome. I can’t tell you how often people have told me to grow a thicker skin, get over it, or that I was being too dramatic. Hearing those things throughout my life damaged my self-esteem. I was afraid to share myself and my art with people for fear of judgment. Reflecting on this, I realize that I spent a large portion of my life feeling insecure and anxious. However, gaining wisdom through experience, grief, and unplanned life-altering events has taught me that my big feelings are not something I can change, but they can be honored. So, part of my learning to deal with being overwhelmed was about self-acceptance and asking for help.

Once I learned to love all sides of myself, other things such as confidence, grace, and the ability to freely express myself followed. Understanding when to slow down during the day or back off from a project or situation that doesn’t feel right—without the guilt of letting someone down—is not an easy task, and I’ve not yet perfected it. Still, I’m learning to set boundaries, prioritize my goals, and listen to my gut. I’ve also found that when I take the time to care for myself, I don’t become as overwhelmed, thin-skinned, or dramatic.

Most importantly, I’ve learned to communicate my needs to my family and friends instead of shoving them down. I take time to practice yoga and meditation. I go for walks/runs with my headphones blasting my favorite dopamine-inducing songs, and sometimes, if I don’t have much free time, I’ll lock myself in my bedroom for a few minutes and dance it out!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Kim Keller – Photos of Rise Anthology book event
Joyce Knarr – Illustration of Gigs the Robot Bunny

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