Today, we welcome Melodie Graves to the podcast!
Here are a few takeaways from today’s episode:
A few thoughts as I look back on this episode:
-There are so many things that bring you down in life, especially if you suffer with depression. You have to set healthy boundaries to truly create the change you need in your life to move forward.
– Racial battle fatigue and mental fatigue are real. Know that you are worthy and important enough to take care of yourself in order to help other people. Knowing your worth is something we need to work on every day. You have to have the inner voice that says no matter the day, no matter the situation or circumstance, you are worthy.
– When you have a vision and no one else sees that vision, you have to keep pushing because you know that your vision is going to benefit everyone.
-At the end of the day, it comes down to you saving yourself and coming up out of the darkness. Love yourself first because once you have a strong relationship with yourself, everyone else in your life that supports you is like icing on the cake.
– What happened to George Floyd sparked so much fire to fight for justice with black lives in America. Look outside and lead with passion to cultivate change. Coming together and healing TOGETHER is what comes after you love yourself first because you’ve cleared the mental space to take on the next level.
– We can all go and thank someone who inspired us. Telling them about the transformation that they helped contribute to is one of the biggest compliments you can give someone.
– Validating other people’s feeling is the first step of the conversation that may be uncomfortable. Put yourself in their situation and strive to reflect in a way that you’re confident that you handled it as a respectful person.
– How are you nurturing yourself every day? Find little ways, even if it’s just putting positive affirmations on sticky notes through your home, to lift yourself up , pour love into yourself and give yourself grace.
Connect with Dr. Cassandra LeClair on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/drcassandraleclair
Melodie on Instagram
@MelodieGraves40
Melodie’s TEDx talk
Melodie Graves earned her Associate’s Degree from Amarillo College and her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees
from West Texas A&M University, both in Communication. Melodie has worked in higher education for more than
13 years because she truly feels that the only way to grow is to be educated. In 2010, Melodie then started at
Amarillo College and over the years has gone from advising to in August of 2019 Melodie being named the
Associate Director of Academic Advising at Amarillo College. At AC Melodie also serves at the Chair of the Diversity
Team, and a member of the Anti-Racism Taskforce. Additionally, Melodie was selected to be part of the
Presidential Leadership Institute 2017-2018 and she is a trained Donna Beegle Poverty Coach. Melodie is also the
Foster Care Liaison and the Justice Involved Advocate for the College.
In the community Melodie stays extremely busy serving on 9 different boards. She is the 2 nd Vice President of the
Amarillo Branch NAACP, the President of North Heights Advisory Association, and was selected to the Board of
Directors for Opportunity School. Melodie also serves on the Board for the Leaders Readers Network and a board
member for the Friends of the Library. Melodie is the President of the Amarillo United Citizen’s Forum Board,
serves on the Rezoning Committee for the North Heights Neighborhood Plan, and a member of Junior League
Amarillo/Canyon. Melodie will be part of the 2021/2022 Leadership Amarillo/Canyon and serves on the United
Way Amarillo/Canyon Diversity Committee. Recently, Melodie traveled to Texas State University where she gave
her first TedX Talk on the Power of the Amplified Voice.
Melodie is the mother of Ashton and he is a 13-year-old who loves basketball and has so much love to give this
world. He is an 8th grader at Austin Middle School.
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