Before Mellie joined LIFT, she was a network engineer for the DC lottery, working predominantly in information technology. LIFT was introduced to her as offering financial support and general coaching to help meet her goals, including altering her career path and improving her well-being. Today, she is an entrepreneur supporting the residents of DC from both an IT and mental health perspective. As owner of BzyBipolar, she teaches people that even if you have neurological diversity you can still live a full, happy, and healthy life by building self-awareness through self-acceptance. Mellie offers kickboxing, yoga, meditation classes, and other opportunities to connect with oneself through introspection.
Mellie a DC Ward 8 resident, a homeowner, and is the mother of two boys, cool and charismatic eight year old Aiden and five year old firebrand Ashton. She is a leader in her community and spends a lot of time on self-love. She’s always enjoyed dancing and creative pursuits and was thrilled to become a yoga instructor with expertise in social-emotional learning. By facilitating practices from a trauma-informed lens, she helps others step into a healthier realm of mental health through yoga and other non-traditional health opportunities. She continues to find interest in IT, finding ways to give back by being a life-long teacher by offering others opportunities to learn and grow.
“I’m living my dream of entrepreneurship. I’m living my dream of supporting people who live non-traditional lifestyles and mental health is where I feel most comfortable and fulfilled in my work.”
She loves that LIFT is directly in the community, offering such robust services, and showing care for her and her family. She feels LIFT invests in her by caring not only about the parent-members but also their children. Their two-generation approach provides full supports and offers a holistic experience that she feels is unmatched by other organizations, making LIFT feel like a true part of her family.
She fondly remembers her son balancing his egg onto the spoon during an LIFT Easter egg race. “He was shown such support and grace while being welcomed and accepted for who he is and meeting him where he was.” Mellie also loves how LIFT fosters an inclusive environment by partnering with different organizations in the community such as Martha’s Table, RISE, Appletree, Rocketship, The Mediation Center, and The Children’s Museum. These partnerships offer amazing services, show members what opportunities are available to them, and give the children opportunities to explore and build diverse ideas of fun is in a positive way.
Mellie is grateful for her first coach, Selia, who genuinely and organically cared for her as a person and supported her entrepreneurship goals, meeting Mellie where she was and guided her toward growth. During her time at LIFT, Mellie has re-enrolled in school, traveled to Africa, and shifted her perspective on work to pursue areas she cares about. Mellie earned a 200-hour yoga facilitation certificate and is an expert in trauma-informed instruction. She continues to grow and create more goals for her business with her goal-orientated mindset.
As for parenting, Mellie loves how children are little mirrors, reflecting her own behaviors and helping her understand herself better. By learning about her boys and navigating how she shows up in the world, she strives to show up for them in more accepting and loving ways. She also loves being an example and encouraging them to travel, live, and aspire.
“I love being a point of reference for how life can be, I love to show them what happiness looks like, showing them how to be resourceful, build skills, and just be little humans that are also accepting and loving”.
The very things she loves about parenthood are also challenges— accepting other aspects of yourself in them like neurodiversity, having more than one person you’re responsible for while living in financial hardship, and keeping a positive mindset while learning to be okay with asking for help.
Mellie is currently working towards more financial freedom and establishing her LLC as a non-profit, solidifying how it supports the community and hiring staff to make her dreams come true. Long-term, she aspires to be a dual resident of DC and a country in Africa, pay off her first house and vehicle, create a consumer of mental health terminology courses to sell to universities, finish her psychology degree, and get a PhD. She dreams of being a philanthropist, finding relationships that are secure and full of unconditional love, visiting every country on Earth, swimming in every safe water, and doing at least one sun salutation in every US national park. Ultimately, she wants to make her mark by filling in the dash between the magical days she was born into and leaves this earth. “I want to change the world and I’m doing it!”
“I want to thank LIFT for continuing to elevate our voice as DC residents and parents and for continuing to consider the whole perspective. It’s really empowering, and I really appreciate it.”