Melanie Curtis joins me to talk about pivoting careers, building a coaching and speaking business, and choosing family, boundaries, and fun over the nonstop hustle grind. We start with Melanie’s shift from investment banking into pro skydiving, then from skydiving into coaching, driven by a subtle realization that her “dream job” still wasn’t the whole story. She unpacks the decision to lean into life coaching when it wasn’t cool, how she navigated the fear of it being a scam, and what it took to trust that quiet sense of calling anyway. From there, we get personal about missed flights to family events, the danger of filling your calendar with only client work, and the moment she decided she couldn’t outrun future regret. Melanie outlines how a coaching relationship starts with business problems and quickly hits deeper human patterns, why she pushes for year-long masterminds with real structure, and how she uses humor and her “comedy content creator” side to keep the pressure of entrepreneurship from boiling over. We close with her real-time experience of building a keynote speaking practice: long prospecting cycles, thousands of emails, warm intros that actually convert, and a clear stance on why discipline must sit alongside boundaries, rest, recovery, and connection if you want to stay in the game. === Chapters 00:24 Coaching Beyond Skydiving 06:32 Family Over Hustle 11:19 Coaching Deepens Personal 14:22 Commitment Behind Coaching 15:47 Peer Groups vs Masterminds 19:41 Fun Fuels Serious Work 24:48 Biggest Lesson in Pivoting 25:41 Speaking Becomes the Focus 31:02 Rejecting the Hustle Myth 33:06 Wrapping Up and Contacts === Guest: Melanie Curtis, Melanie Curtis Coaching / Speaking Website: https://melaniecurtis.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniecurtis11/ === Companies / Vendors / Products / Books How to Fly Book: https://amzn.to/4vk3A9T How to Fly Challenge: https://go.melaniecurtis.com/howtoflychallenge Gratitude Challenge: https://go.melaniecurtis.com/gratitude-challenge Build or Rebuild Your Bucket List: https://go.melaniecurtis.com/build-your-bucket-list ACES Mastermind: https://acesmastermind.com/ MelanieCurtis11 (Instagram handle): https://www.instagram.com/melaniecurtis11 Spinal Tap (film): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258 Instant Teleseminar: https://instantteleseminar.com Zoom: https://zoom.us === SPONSORS: Technology Partner, NetAlly: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/netally/ Technology Partner: Bvoip: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/bvoip Travel Partner: TruGrid: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/trugrid Digital Partner, Designer Ready: http://itbusinesspodcast.com/designerready === SHOW MUSIC: Item Title: Upbeat & Fun Sports Rock Logo Item URL: https://elements.envato.com/upbeat-fun-sports-rock-logo-CSR3UET Author Username: AlexanderRufire Item License Code: 7X9F52DNML === Connect with Uncle Marv🌐 Website: https://www.itbusinesspodcast.com/🎙 Host: Marvin Bee🛒 Uncle Marv’s Amazon Store (gear & tools I recommend): https://amzn.to/3EiyKoZ☕ Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/itbusinesspodcastIf you found value in this episode, share it with another MSP, IT provider, or tech entrepreneur. Your support helps keep practical, no-nonsense IT business conversations coming every week.

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