Today we’d like to introduce you to Mellissa Thomas.
Hi Mellissa, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
My family and I came to the U.S. from Jamaica in 1989, eventually settling in Brooklyn, New York when I was six years old. We bounced up and down the eastern seaboard several times in search of the ideal place to buy our first home–from Brooklyn to West Palm Beach, Florida, to Lithonia, Georgia, back to Brooklyn, until my parents finally got their first home in Sunrise, Florida.
My parents used to supplement my brother’s and my homework by writing out dictionary definitions verbatim, then paraphrasing the definition (to boost our comprehension), and then using the word in a sentence. During my time in Georgia, I learned poetry in the 6th grade, and it was a wrap after that–I became a full-blown #wordnerd, checking out and finishing five to seven books from the public library per week.
Life got notably more interesting after I enlisted in the U.S. Navy straight out of high school. For five years, I worked in supply, tracking, and ordering tens of millions of dollars in goods and aircraft parts for the ships and air detachment units I served with as well as the ships who served alongside us in the south Pacific.
After serving in the U.S. Navy, I got a Film Bachelors degree in 2008 and Entertainment Business Masters degree in 2010 from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, which bolstered my already vivid imagination with the skillsets of storytelling and business building.
From 2010 to 2012, I became a freelance writer and got into blogging, which became a gateway into the frenetic world of journalism. I was Editor for Orlando Fashion Magazine, an independent digital fashion magazine, with a team of seven contributors, until 2014. In early 2015, I was recruited to help build the newly launched Florida National News, Florida’s fastest-growing independent black-owned digital broadcast news network. In my nine years as Chief Editor, I helped grow the company from a team of three content creators to 33, and the indie news network won awards from the City of Orlando and Orange County for crucial consistent coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beginning in 2010, I also became a professional copyeditor, polishing new authors’ books before they went to print. Once I self-published my first book in 2012, a 52-week devotional entitled “From a Babe”, I added book consulting to my editing services to help guide new authors through the process from ideation to publication.
After nine years with Florida National News, I moved to Atlanta in April of 2023 to finally fulfill God’s assignment on my life: Help procrastinators get their books done–specifically, millennial women side hustlers and business owners who are frustrated with the way things are right now and have the wisdom to set other people free. Those people can’t get free unless and until those books are made, and I’m here to help them complete them.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t been a smooth road–while I’m blessed to come from a two-parent household and still have both of them in my life, I still struggled with insecurity all through school into my late thirties, which led to some poor decisions, non-existent boundaries, and bad habits.
My walk with God has been…interesting, to say the least. I’m a late bloomer in every sense of the word–physically, spiritually, and even in becoming active in beating procrastination. The Lord called me into a relationship at 13 years old, but I didn’t dedicate my life and get baptized until 13 years later.
Also, during my nine-year journalism career, the level of speed and stress took its toll on me several times, leading to poor eating, health issues, anxiety attacks, depression, and burnout, all of which I speak to now.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Thomas Creative Solutions, LLC?
Thomas Creative Solutions, LLC helps millennial women entrepreneurs, side hustlers, and authors-to-be create or polish their written content on the web or in print; and helps them create impactful books to bridge the gap between their customers’ needs and the solutions they provide in less time.
More recently, I launched the Getting The Win Show (www.youtube.com/@GettingTheWin) in October 2023, a podcast transforming procrastinators into producers, which premieres Wednesdays at 6 pm EST. Season 1 just wrapped up. The Getting the Win brand also has a merch line: gettingthewingear.com, which gives recovering procrastinators the swag to confidently carry the message of setting healthy boundaries and winning.
You can call me Mellissa T., the Procrastination Bully (TM).
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
You can follow me on social media @GettingTheWinShow on Instagram, Pinterest, and Threads, and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube (@GettingTheWin).
If you’re ready to get your book done, you can book a discovery call with me by emailing info@mellissathomas.co.
Contact Info:
- Website: mellissathomas.co
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/gettingthewinshow
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mellissathomas
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@GettingTheWin
Image Credits
J. Willie David III/Florida National News, Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News, Frank Weber, and Mellissa Thomas
