Results

I was facing some issues with two people at work. I needed to have some difficult conversations with them, and even though I am a coach myself, I was struggling. I asked for a referral through the coaching school that Melanie and I both attended.

I have done some peer coaching before, but this was my first time hiring a personal coach to work deeply on a specific topic. Through our work together, I have learned how to take a step back and shift the way I face important discussions. I am now able to identify when an interaction with someone is negatively affecting my emotions, and adjust on the fly. Not only has this helped at work but I see situations at home differently now, too.

Melanie’s questions and her recommendation of the book “Crucial Conversations” gave me a framework and tools to use whenever a conversation starts to become challenging. She also gave me tips to connect to my feminine energy that I use on a daily basis.

Melanie and I had a great relationship. Knowing how she works, if there are difficulties on my road, I know I will go back to her.

Thank you, Melanie, our sessions really made a huge difference in the way I see myself and the big relationships in my life. You asked all the right questions and pushed me outside my comfort zone. I can’t thank you enough.

With Melanie’s coaching, not only did I lose nearly 25 lbs but most importantly for me, I feel that I now have valuable skills that can help me succeed in many aspects of my life. Whether it is weight loss or other areas that you want to improve, I would highly recommend Melanie. She is there to guide you and provide easy-to-implement tools that help you live a purposeful life.

All good coaches need a coach and luckily I have Melanie Shmois as my personal coach. Her listening skills are amazing and she picks up on things that I don’t even notice I may have issues with. She gets to the core of the issue without making me feel like I’m a suspect in a murder case. One of the things I am so grateful for is Melanie helping get me back in shape and wanting to be healthy again. I fell off my hardcore cross-fit routine after vacation and the life of drinks by the pool turned into drinks on the couch with no energy to exercise. The new routine I had stuck to me in more ways than just my thighs and creeped into my life manifesting itself into not only my health but my business, my family life and my self-care. She assisted me to identify the thoughts that were causing my self-sabotage. I’m back on track and living my life the way I want to live it – like a ROCKSTAR!

Before I started working with Melanie I never imagined I would be able to have a healthy relationship with food. I have struggled with binge eating and depression/anxiety for a long time. She has helped me recognize things that years of therapy have never been able to uncover in just a few short weeks, and I feel more powerful/capable than ever. Allowing myself to be vulnerable and get uncomfortable has been an imperative part of our work. Melanie creates a safe, non-threatening space to explore and feel everything. Focusing on how I have used food as a coping mechanism versus directly focusing on trauma I’ve experienced has helped me to better understand both. I finally am starting to view myself as a survivor instead of a victim. Thank you, Melanie!

I was really struggling with my career. I wasn’t where I wanted to be, but I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go, either. I was working constantly and never had time to think about my next step. I knew I needed help to get unstuck.

I’ve actually known Melanie since kindergarten! I follow her on Instagram and have been inspired by her posts. I asked her to recommend a coach in Colorado where I live. I found out she works remotely with clients anywhere in the country.

I’ve found great value in the personality assessment tests she gave me. They allowed me to recognize and appreciate my strengths. What I’ve learned about myself is giving me the clarity and confidence I need to pursue future opportunities.

I had some doubts about working with a personal coach, but Melanie brings 25 years of diverse professional experience to the table. She is highly qualified and working with her has been really helpful.

I was at a crossroads with a few different career opportunities. I knew that if I didn’t clarify my purpose, no matter which path I took—I wasn’t going to be as successful as I could be.

I chose to work with Melanie because of her emphasis on helping overachievers and perfectionists. Plus, since my dad is a Vietnam Veteran, her past work with vets personally resonated with me. Melanie is naturally intuitive and combined with her counseling background, she is great at picking up on cues and helping you work through difficult decisions. She helped me get out of my own way.

Thanks to Melanie, my confidence is restored, and I’ve become comfortable setting boundaries. I am now preparing to officially launch my business!

Working with Melanie is like having a personal cheerleader. When you’re working for yourself, you don’t have that support. I’m usually the one offering encouragement to others, so it was nice having someone in my corner doing it for me.

I was going through a transition that included moving my family out of state and accepting a new, high-stress position. It was quite demanding and a lot of change to process at once. I needed some extra support and guidance to help deal with adjusting to my new roles, so I contacted Melanie.

I’m getting better at distinguishing between my circumstances and my thoughts and feelings about those circumstances. Overall, I’m more perceptive about my thoughts and how to adjust them to get the actions and results that I want. We’ve also worked on the concept of overwhelm and time management. I’m learning how it reflects on my relationship with myself—everything is interconnected.

My work with Melanie is still in process, but I have found that every one of our scheduled meetings has been consistently productive. I always leave with good insights and the ability to see things from another perspective.

I hired Melanie when I was getting ready to launch a big program for my company. It started as support for business and performance but it led to more personal and deeper work. I have more awareness about how I lead, how I’m creating, and how I’m going about my goals. Instead of focusing on just the hard work, it’s also about slowing down, and enjoying the process.

Melanie provides a very safe space to talk about anything and everything. She’s very approachable and warm and it shows in the little details such as texts and emails between sessions. I don’t feel like just another client. I feel she absolutely cares about who I am and what I’m going through.

The interesting thing is that I hired her for the launch, but through coaching with her, I realized that it was more personal for me—about leading from a place of feminine energy. That was a big insight. Working with Melanie has been a catalyst for the deep working I’m doing this year.

I was going through a lot of life changes. I was let go from my job in events due to Covid, relocated to Cleveland, and went through the breakup of a relationship. I needed help staying on track to cope with anxiety, negative thoughts, and overthinking. I found Melanie through Psychology Today. I liked her approach and as a former soccer player working in sports, I appreciated her experience with athletes.

To me, traditional therapy always felt like a venting session rather than a way to learn how to process my thoughts and gain tools to improve on my own. Melanie taught me the concept of thought models. Now, instead of reacting to a circumstance I take the time to feel my feelings and sit with them for a bit. I’m not suppressing my thoughts or pretending like everything is fine. I evaluate why I’m feeling and thinking a certain way before acting.

I appreciate that I’m in contact with Melanie between sessions. She gives me things to work on and podcasts to listen to. There’s always someone there for me to check in with and that’s really helpful.

Working with Melanie has really helped me uncover things in my life that I avoided or downplayed, whether they involve friends, family, social life, career, or my personal growth. There were things I wanted to achieve but didn’t know how to go about making them happen. I can now understand what does and does not serve me and can better communicate with people about what I need and want.

Melanie is different than other therapists and coaches. Her focus is more forward-looking, rather than dwelling on or rehashing what’s happened in the past. She always gives “homework” of things to think about or action steps to take. And I really love her follow-up with accountability emails and reminders to check in and keep me on track.

I knew Melanie was the person to point me in the right direction because of one of her quotes: “Always want what you already have.” That really resonated with me. Working on being grateful and having an abundance mindset has been so important.

Working with Melanie Shmois on a physical/emotional condition that I would like to improve was very helpful. Through easygoing phone conversations, some challenging questions, a variety of books and workbooks, and lots of great email follow-ups, I learned how to identify the feelings in my body and the often irrational thoughts that were creating them. While I can’t prevent all the negative thoughts, I’m now much more aware of them and can use a few strategies to minimize their impact. I’ve learned to catch my worries as they occur, observe them, and realize they are not helpful to me, which takes most of their power away. I’ve learned to be more mindful, and stay focused on the present – worrying about the future just isn’t helpful! I’ve learned to treat my body with more kindness and less frustration and to be much more accepting in dealing with my current condition. I’m not giving up my efforts to improve, but am accepting where I am today, and I am making progress! Thank you.

After working with Melanie, I have actively modified the way I think, and therefore feel, and am working towards a new version of myself that includes a much healthier lifestyle, successful career and an outlook that includes surrounding myself with positivity and focus on the future. I would recommend Melanie to anyone looking to change their perspective on life. She can provide you with the support and the information you need to accomplish such change.

While studying for a notoriously challenging professional exam, I sought out a mindset coach trained with The Life Coach School. From my first conversation with Melanie, I was struck by the clarity and precision of her questions. Her style is calm, present, strong, fun, and observant.

Melanie’s background in the mental health field played a part in my choice to work with her. In the past I had worked executive coach and career coaches, but her approach was different—focusing on mindset rather than just action for action’s sake—and that made a difference for me. Melanie helped me spot invisible mindset patterns that were obstacles on the way to my goals.

Since working with Melanie, I successfully passed my exam and lost weight. More importantly, I feel like I understand myself better and have illuminated new goals for myself in my life. I’m ever grateful that she brings her gifts as a coach to the world helping us all upgrade our mental software to evolve into who we’re meant to be and the technicolor life we’re meant to live.

I’m an overthinker, which often results in “analysis paralysis” for me. I was feeling stuck and in need of another perspective when I started talking to Melanie. Working with a coach is a much different experience than working with a therapist. Instead of talking only about a specific issue, Melanie helped me discover what work I needed to do on myself regarding the issue.

I thought I’d talk to her a few times and come away with the answer about a career decision and a roadmap for what to do next. The results were much different than I expected. It’s become a journey where I’m learning about myself and what I should and shouldn’t be doing. I’m gaining clarity and the pieces are coming together.

I appreciate that Melanie has a solid foundation of knowledge and that she’s constantly looking for new ways to grow and connect with people. She has introduced me to a number of resources: mentors, authors, meditation, and new ways of thinking. Each thing she shares, whether it’s an article or a podcast, puts me in a better place to understand who I am, what I want, and what I need to do.

I was looking for some direction and a way to re-examine and refocus my life after a broken engagement. Melanie came highly recommended.

Working with Melanie challenged me to get uncomfortable—but not in the way I expected. The focus was inward instead of outward. I’m a guy who is not very emotionally tuned into himself. Learning the practice of getting in touch with my emotions and thoughts was the most surprising and interesting part. The process has helped me be more open to tools like meditation and journaling.

My approach to everyday situations has broadened. I’m more proactive instead of reactive about things that happen. I feel more even-keeled, calm, and patient. It’s given me greater self-awareness and mindfulness about my emotions and thoughts and how they work in parallel with my actions.

Like a lot of women today, I’m at a senior level in my career, juggling work, a home, and two young children, all while trying to stay fit and healthy. Everything looked good on paper—but I wasn’t feeling very good on the inside. I didn’t need another “hack” to better manage my household or time, I needed something to help me reframe how to manage my life.

Working with Melanie helped me find the confidence I used to have. The process has reignited and elevated my sense of self. I’m calmer, more relaxed, and feel more at home whether it’s dealing with home and family, the team I manage at work, or building the career I have always dreamed of.

I expected working with a coach to be all about actions: work on an action plan, report back, get the next assignment. Instead, Melanie helped me uncover beliefs about myself that I wasn’t even aware of. She knew when to dig a little deeper into my thoughts and feelings to get to the core, so that I have the right frame of mind to take on any challenge or opportunity that comes my way.

Personal coaching is a new concept for a lot of people. I think they would be surprised at how helpful it is to have someone guide you along to align your thoughts and feelings with the results you’re looking for. I highly recommend contacting Melanie for a consultation.

My personal trainer recommended Melanie for advice about weight loss and healthy eating. Over time, our sessions transitioned to other things that I was dealing with. I was in the process of getting my doctorate and moving my parents out of their house—I had a lot going on and it was really stressful.

Melanie helped me put things in perspective and deal with them more successfully. I had never used a personal coach before, and I expected it would be like a therapy session. Instead, it was very interactive. Melanie gave me concrete things to try and was open about her own experiences. It was very helpful to have that kind of input and feedback and her clear, objective view. She’s open and honest in a way that is very reassuring.

I really appreciate Melanie’s thoughtful and mindful approach. She is really good at making you feel comfortable even when the work gets challenging.

I had gone to counseling over the years but never felt like I was getting the tools I needed to move forward in my life. Melanie’s level of experience and background in therapy definitely helped me choose her as a coach.

Working with a life coach is much more interactive than traditional therapy and has opened my eyes to so many things about myself. In the past, I would just try to avoid negative thoughts. Melanie taught me how to use a thought model to change my thoughts instead—which changes my actions and responses too.

I’m learning to understand that having feminine energy is not weak, and to embrace “lean back energy.” It’s helping me listen more and be more comfortable with silence in a conversation—things that were working against me in both dating and work relationships.

Melanie uses an analogy of being a peach versus an egg. The egg has a hard exterior but can be too soft inside. I’m working on being a peach instead—with a solid core inside that can handle anything, but without projecting a hard exterior!

I’ve always been a responsible, resourceful, high performer. I knew what I needed to do, but I found myself having trouble sticking to things and being consistent. I was looking for a coach and Melanie came highly recommended.

Melanie was different than other career coaches I’ve worked with. She has a very soothing and compassionate style. She’s very welcoming and easy to talk to.

I loved that Melanie offered models and tools that I felt empowered to use on my own. I learned that it’s how I think about things that translate into my feelings and actions. I knew this in theory, but the framework she taught me and the content she shared really helped me become more aware and gave me a whole new level of understanding. I came out of it with a stronger sense of self, better able to manage life overall, beyond just my career and work.

I was searching Psychology Today and saw Melanie’s profile as a “therapist/coach.” I knew I didn’t want a typical therapist, and she was exactly what I was looking for.

I’ve struggled with weight my whole life and was looking for a different approach to get to the root of the problem. Working with her was just as she outlined it would be and exactly what I was hoping for.

I’ve gone through a lot over our time together and we’ve covered a lot of different things. I’m much more aware of my thought patterns in a positive way. As my awareness changed, so has my behavior. Overall, my understanding of myself has deepened.

Coaching from Melanie has been a good, guided experience. I had all these floating ideas and desires to change, and she helped me put the pieces together to create a roadmap to do it.

I own a small recruiting firm that had a really bad first quarter in 2023. It wasn’t just a slow phase, we were in crisis and it was tanking my self-esteem and confidence. As a result, I was struggling to make important decisions and show up for my team the way I needed to. I had nothing left at the end of the day for myself or my family.

Within weeks of working with Melanie, I gained an understanding of how my thoughts were feeding my emotions and keeping me stuck. It’s been 6 to 8 weeks now, and my whole team has noticed the change. We’re now at capacity, struggling with a whole new problem of keeping up with the workload!

I had worked with business strategy coaches before, but Melanie was the first coach whose key focus was mindset. The model she uses is incredibly powerful. Using its framework, I’ve learned a new way to approach things both at work and in my personal life. I now check in with my thoughts and feelings before conversations. I’m even parenting my daughter differently, modeling the behavior of how changing your mindset can help in so many ways.

I've learned from Melanie that circumstances are neutral. Things happen. How we respond to those circumstances, however, is in our control. We can control our thought patterns, control our actions and, sometimes, even control our results. Her process as to how to control our thoughts and actions is immensely important and helpful, as it largely influences the results in our lives. Melanie explains the model and the process with great detail, but her ability to help with implementation is really what makes her so special. She'll take individual circumstances and help to navigate through them, rather than taking a view from above. Working with her has legitimately been life-altering in a very positive way and I'm beyond grateful for her guidance and expertise.