Melinda Stanford, a graduate of Yale University, has been coaching clients for over 20 years, helping them to find their voice and take their dreams seriously enough to move toward a bigger world stage. Melinda graduated from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC) as a certified professional life and executive coach and has served a variety of clients, from professional musicians to artists to graduate students to moms seeing re-entry into the work force. Melinda’s special niche is serving women, often mothers, who are looking to finally put themselves first, rediscover passions, and commit to careers as entrepreneurs and/or artists.
Melinda Stanford
As a kid, I was always a strong student, and spent years striving for perfection and high achievement. I learned to follow the crowd, to please, to fit in. I was high school valedictorian, won a lot of awards, and got into Yale University where I planned to take the place by storm. It never occurred to me that I would have to swim as hard as I could at Yale just to be average and tread water.
I learned that it was going to be a lot harder to stand out in that crowd. I had no idea who I was.
I realized that I needed to find different metrics to be happy. I was tired of succeeding on others’ terms. I graduated and became a cliche by moving to New York City to become a singer/songwriter. I worked at a law firm during the day and sung at night. It was even harder to stand out as a performer in the Big Apple. So many of my Yale friends were making tons of money in finance or going to law or medical school. Being a legal assistant by day and a starving artist by night was not exactly impressive. It was hard and lonely, but it made me feel alive.
Then I fell in love with a guy who was different than anyone I had ever known, an intellectual who loved my music and really heard me. My parents were thrilled that he was smart and responsible, but my friends thought that I was selling out by no longer dating artistic men. I married him because I felt safe enough to finally be myself.
After we were married, I started teaching voice lessons to supplement my performing income. I originally thought of teaching voice as a day job to make money. But soon, more and more of my mostly female students started wanting to talk to me about their lives in the context of voice lessons. At first I was surprised; talking seemed unrelated to voice lessons, until I realized that my ad-hoc coaching was improving their singing voice and helping these students to get clarity about their lives. Soon people were coming to me to help them find their voice in a literal and figurative way. I loved the work and was surprised that I had accidentally found what I was passionate about.
I just wanted to write to you to tell you how truly amazing you are and how grateful I am to have you in my life. I notice the changes you have helped me make in myself every day and it’s astounding. There aren’t enough words to express what you have done. You make everyone feel loved. Your guidance has meant so much to me and I will cherish it.
You are truly a light in the world.
I honestly can’t underscore how much your support has meant to me over these long very dark months. You have really been my rock and I just want to say how blessed I feel. I couldn’t have done this without your strength, support and humor. Thank you!
You are a brilliant coach! I could not nor would not have undertaken this project without you… Thank you for helping me find my voice.