Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alissa Monteleone. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Alissa, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
Everyday we have a choice, to have a positive attitude or not. I choose to be happy and see the good; it is what keeps me going.
As for “where” my optimism comes from, 3 things come to mind:
1. My experience in the service industry.
I have worked with the public my whole career and over the years I learned invaluable lessons by engaging with people in a wide variety of scenarios. The most valuable lesson is; ultimately, humans are wonderful. It can take some time, patience and several deep breaths to see it in some folks, but overall, the lesson holds true.
2. My experiments with negativity.
A pet peeve of mine is hypocrisy and when I started annoying myself with my own negativity I have had to do some hard work with the gal in the mirror. Like everyone, I experience hardship, sometimes as a consequence to my actions and sometimes not. Either way, every time I indulge in a negative narrative, the results are NEVER good. It bleeds into all aspects of my life, damages my relationships and my mental health every single time.
When I recognize the pattern in my behavior. I take a step back; put things in perspective and reboot my attitude. I take responsibility, acknowledge my missteps and move on.
3. My parents. They allowed me to believe that anything is possible and instilled in me the core values that support possibility.
My mom gave me the gifts of self reliance and strategic thinking. She is a master at getting things done. She always says, “if it is important, you will find a way to make it happen.” The key in that phrase is, “if it is important.” I have learned that when the root purpose of what I set out to accomplish is clear and aligned with my core values, my resilience and creativity is on fire and I am a force. If not, things fizzle out.
My dad is an amazing role model for optimism. He is tireless when is comes to doing what it takes to make things better for his community. Plus, he has a wonderful ability to laugh at himself. He is not afraid to make mistakes because that means he is taking action. He is perfectly imperfect and is the first one to find humor in his humanity. Whenever I start to take myself too seriously, I ask, “what would dad do?” and am immediately humbled.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Alissa with an “i”. That’s what I say when the barista asks my name for my coffee order. It’s become a joke in my family and is just another reason I laugh at myself for how I see life. To me, personal identity is important. Having a true sense of self worth drives us to be kind to both ourselves and others. It is that kindness I seek to foster in my life and work.
I recently embarked on bringing a 30 year old dream of mine to fruition. With the support of my family, I am opening a productivity and meet up space called M.U.G.S aka: My Unique Gathering Spot. It is a twist on a co-working space where instead of pulling a chair up to a desk to work, you pull a desk up to a comfortable chair. You are surrounded by local art and the aroma of freshly brewed regionally roasted coffee inspires you to get stuff done.
Our mission is to build community by fostering relationships with local businesses, artists, and creators and sharing their offerings in an inspiring, comfortable space where individuals can come together to work, learn, and connect.
So why did it take me 30 years to get here and what inspired me to take a leap of faith and start making my dreams come true?
Let’s start at the beginning; don’t worry, I don’t mean the VERY beginning but rather the beginning of this particular dream. In the 90’s (yes that is back in the 1900’s) I lived in Boston MA. I was in my 20’s trying to figure life out. The restaurant business was thriving with celebrity chefs like Tony Ambrose, Lydia Shire and Jasper White opening hot restaurants all over town. I worked as a pastry chef and restaurant manager at a new cafe in the Back Bay. I was up early baking muffins and brewing coffee in the mornings and then went to my second job at Kinkos copy center in the afternoon. I worked hard and played hard in those days.
Eventually, my entrepreneurial spirit energized me to run a side hustle doing marketing for local artists while training as a personal chef.
The 90’s was the height of the AIDS epidemic. I volunteered for the Suicide Hotline as part of my work with the Aids Action Committee. The calls were often heartbreaking. People needing to express themselves, to have a kind ear and a soft shoulder. I lost several friends and colleagues. Those days were hard and yet formative.
After bouncing around the restaurant/cafe scene, I decided I wanted to open a coffee shop of my own. I joined forces with fellow cafe manager and we set to work on the original MUGS. The idea was to serve great coffee and tea (her forte) and prepared foods (my specialty) in a space that would allow people to meet, eat and work during the day and offer events in the evening. All the furniture was movable the space could transform to meet the needs of the event. We would feature local food, art, coffee, tea and products throughout.
6 months of planning, countless hours developing menu items, laying out floorplans, contacting artists and food suppliers and we were ready to pitch to an investor through a friend of mine. We traveled 3 hours up to Portland Maine. This was it!!
During the meeting I learned yet another valuable lesson: distilling and communicating a vision to gain buy in, especially financial buy in, is a skill I needed to work on. We left, drove home and that was the end of MUGS…until now.
Why now?
I believe now is the time for people to come together. I have two sons who inspire me everyday. I listen to them, to their friends and to the conversations they have with each other. I talk to my colleagues who sit behind computers all day, every day and their concerns over both their physical and mental health due to lack of human contact. I watch people of all ages walk down the street with their eyes glued to their phones, rarely looking up to smile at a passerby much less look where they are going. Yet, I am encouraged by the desire of many people to re-engage in social activities, go out to a movie, enjoy a meal at a restaurant and, my favorite, grab a cup of coffee and talk!
The new version of M.U.G.S. is just the beginning. Our hope is to build community at the local level, support human engagement, encourage civil discourse and at the end of 2025 launch the SAY HI Foundation as a movement to teach the skills and provide the opportunities for enriching human interaction.
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 realize that now is the perfect time for this dream to come to life. While 30 years may seem like a long runway; it has allowed both me and my vision to evolve. I am thankful for the opportunity to keep going. I had children later in life and I am compelled to stay healthy for them and for myself. I have a lot I still want to do and to that end I have made few things non-negotiable:
1. Treat yourself, body and mind, with respect.
2. Act with integrity and take responsibility.
3. Tap into your capacity to do more good.
I take my well being seriously but as with everything in my life, not too seriously. I eat well, move often and indulge in moderation. I love food and all that it brings from needed nutrients to fuel my body, great conversations to expand my mind, the opportunity to learn about culture, and respect for the land and those that grow, store and process the food. As I get older, I appreciate each day and do my best to not take things for granted.
I act with integrity and when necessary acknowledge my mistakes and move on. I am not perfect but I am perfectly me. I do my best at the time and sometimes that means when I look back I have to acknowledge that I made a poor decision, said something I should not have or plain old screwed up. This approach gives me space to be human and also allow the same of others. When I move forward with grace and courtesy it allows me to sleep at night.
Finally, I stopped underestimating my capacity. Once I fully embraced a healthy lifestyle and human expression over human perfection, I discovered a tremendous untapped capacity within myself. I do more now in a day then I did in a week when I was younger. What’s even more exciting is this ability to do more good is available to most people. I say, “do more good” intentionally as the GOOD seems to add fuel the more we do. It’s awesome.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I hope to collaborate with organizations and individuals who are facilitating human engagement across any and all fields. I know there are folks fostering communication skills and civil discourse in impactful ways. If there is anyone out there looking to partner and/or would like their efforts to be amplified, please reach out! I am in the preliminary stages of SAY HI and would love to have more voices to guide the vision.
My website: We are transitioning our website so stay tuned for our launch in February!
simplygoodthinking.com
or email me directly at alissa@simplygoodthinking.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.simplygoodthinking.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simplygoodthinking/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amonteleone
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
