Story & Lesson Highlights with Melissa Kelly of Philly Suburbs

Melissa Kelly shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Melissa, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I learned to knit this summer! I’m pretty prone to picking up a new hobby, diving in deep, buying all the equipment, and then abandoning it. But I hope this one sticks. It’s incredibly soothing for my brain as an activity, but still lets me engage in conversation or a good audiobook. My screen time has plummeted!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a commercial and portrait photographer with a specialty in lifestyle marketing work. My work grew out of my educational foundation in photojournalism — while my images are not the hard-scrabble, real world images of journalism, they are founded in a deep interest in people and authentic storytelling.

I’ve got a thing for honeybees – we are beekeepers on the side with 25+ hives – and I take a lot of lessons from the way the bees’ teamwork necessitates trust and communication. Everything a single bee does is for the greater good of the hive. Whether it’s gathering nectar or tending to eggs, each bee knows her place in the greater system and does her part for a common goal. Like the bees, I am interested in prioritizing community over competition, and doing highly collaborative work.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
Dad. Always dad. I don’t know if he saw me clearly so much as he was projecting out his own beliefs about himself, but he always believed I was capable of more than I believed I was capable of. Ten years ago I was laid off very unexpectedly from a job I loved and was good at, but I had definitely already hit a ceiling there. The second person I called, not even an hour after getting my pink slip, was my dad. I was choking on tears when I told him I lost my job and this fool said, “WOW, HOW EXCITING!” Because he knew I was meant for more than a middling W2 job. And at the time my response was, “too soon, dude,” but he was right and it was the beginning of everything.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
2020. In January of 2020 I was completely sick of myself. I had my last drink and began the very difficult work of actually feeling my feelings.

And then the world shut down and I wasn’t even 9 weeks sober and now terrifyingly out of work for what ended up being 18 months. Rather than derailing my barely-there sobriety – which would have been a very easy trap to fall back into – I was given the opportunity to stop and breathe for the first time in a very long time. I stopped running from discomfort and negative emotions and started learning from them. That was when I turned self-hatred into curiosity. Curiosity became a deep self-knowledge, and that became real, true forgiveness. And that is the ultimate power.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
The Public Melissa is as close to the Real Me as it gets without being obnoxious (hopefully?). Part of me wants to be deep and mysterious, but I don’t take things seriously enough to play close to the vest. My business communications aren’t formal. I’m silly on shoot days. I’m fairly impulsive and it’s a Herculean task for me to keep my mouth shut. I’m very thoughtful about my work and about delivering for my clients, but I’m not very serious about myself. While I think the work I do is valuable, I’m not a brain surgeon. If I’m not holding anyone’s life in my hands, shouldn’t we at least be having fun?

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
Stripped bare, the last thing that would remain of me is an eternal curiosity. I want to know everything about everything. I want to see every corner of the earth. I want to hear everyone’s lore. There is no such thing as too much information. There is no such thing as boredom.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Melissa Kelly Photography

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