We were lucky to catch up with Melisa Majdancic recently and have shared our conversation below.
Melisa, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
While growing up, I cared far too greatly about other’s opinions of me and how I was perceived by the world. I grew up as a first born child with parents who had just immigrated to the United States, and in turn had high expectations for what their daughter could accomplish. This fed into me then always striving to be perfect – regardless of if it was in school, at home, with learning new things — I never wanted to disappoint them and I always wanted to be a role model for my younger sisters. I think many people can relate to this feeling or this desire to want to show the people you care about that you are doing well and making them proud. However, this mindset and way of life quickly overtook my personality. It was as if I had built my own cage to stay in and never felt comfortable to step out of it.
For me the biggest change happened when I left for college in 2017. With college, there was this newfound independence with a new environment, people, and options. In the first year of college, I think I still very much stayed in that cage, but would continue to peek out and be curious as to what was happening around me. As the years progressed, that cage disappeared and I found myself. What led me to have the confidence I have today, was to experience more in life. And with that I mean, I truly didn’t know what was out there and what communities I connected with most. Those communities that I found, the people I found, are what made me become who I am today. I realized quickly in those moments of meeting new people – creative people, who didn’t care if others liked their art or if they were viewed as different, that I had found my wheelhouse. In fact, the people I met leaned into the idea that they were different. They loved to be acknowledged as standouts and that’s what made them cool — and that in itself was such a fresh idea for me.
With meeting new people with these mindsets, experiencing life, making mistakes, I learned that no one’s opinions really matter. If you are comfortable in who you are, and the more you lean into who you are, the more beautiful you get from inside and out. I once heard a saying that said, “if you wouldn’t ask someone for advice, why would you care about their opinion of you?”. This really hit home in thinking about what opinions you value, and once you realize that all that you do is for you and those that you care about — the fear of not performing or not doing well fades. And if that lingering thought of “am I making them proud?” ever resurfaces, I just like to remember that I am being my most authentic self and whoever cannot handle that or deems it “too much” — doesn’t really deserve my energy at all.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I currently work in events at the Renaissance Nashville Downtown. I love being able to be a part of a team that can help put together events for people and help them create memories they’ll remember forever. Outside of my job though I love writing and getting new creative ideas down. Writing poetry books was definitely not anything I ever saw myself going into, especially knowing how vulnerable you have to be. Even now I think about how there are books I’ve written filled with my most personal thoughts from my own experiences, and people can just READ them. It’s insane to think about but I’ve learned how freeing it is and how it can impact others. I’m currently just in my ideation phase for book three. There’s a lot of thoughts with this one and whether it will be poetry or if it will move into a different genre or what audience am I catering to etc. but then again I’ve also learned that the books you write kind of find their own path and spell out exactly what they are, even if it takes you a second to figure it out.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
For one – I think optimism is a good starting point. For years I always considered what could go wrong, but now I always ask myself but what if it all goes right? Our natural human tendency is to bend towards the negative but why not consider the endless good possibilities that could come of it? For me this made all the difference in how I approach projects, life, and relationships.
Two – emotional intelligence plays a big part in how I operate as well. During my masters, I took a class that really taught me the importance of emotional intelligence, how much I knew about myself and how I interacted with those around me. And more so even how people could interact with each other differently based on how much they knew themselves. Being a writer is being vulnerable and showing parts of yourself to others that normally people don’t. For me, looking inward and acknowledging how my emotions play into my life daily, really changed my perspective on how to truly deliver what I wanted.
Lastly, I would encourage everyone to be curious. I think for a good bit of time, whilst I was writing book two, I was so stuck in trying to make sure everything connected or trying to create pieces that perfectly fit this story I was creating. Except that was the thing – by pushing it so far to fit..it wasn’t my story I was telling nor was it necessarily something I felt for. Once i let go and let the writing take over, it’s corny – but the book wrote itself. The title I considered for months – gone and changed. The chapters I had named and placed — wiped. But it was all for the BETTER. Allowing myself to remain curious in my writing, and to let myself FEEL made the difference in what the book became. For a while I assumed I knew all of what it could be, but with the curiosity being open it became something I wished for in my dreams.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
My favorite book is a book called, “The Power of Moments” by Chip and Dan Heath. I picked this book up randomly one day from the thrift store, and let me tell you it has changed my life. The book walks you through so many stories about how to create great memories and moments – but also pinpoints where impactful moments happen – good or bad. To be as a designer but then also as an event planner, it opened my eyes to just how vital each interaction we have with people is. Whether you are planning an event, and spending time in the details or you are writing a book and choosing the names of the chapters and how they connect — these are all small choices we make that impact other people in some way. The book really gave me a new sense of admiration to interactions I have daily and showed me how I can be more intentional in all that I do. I cannot recommend the book enough, and I suggest everyone go delve into it because it will change how you see the world around you everyday.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/memories_with_melisa?igsh=MXV4dTdoZms4cjc4bQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisa-majdancic?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DDTR1D6L/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0BMQABpn4IIGso_oqqDX8g-Htqoqbq56y3KcpRK5KVxdB11CwViT-6Myyiso-VOA_aem_Qi3LYpA_hyVDG8zI_Nz3HQ
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