How’d They Get That Job: Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Melanie Calhoun

Melanie Calhoun is a diversity and inclusion consultant with a focus on the effects of racism and bias in Corporate America. Let’s look at Melanie’s journey and learn how her 15 years as a marketing executive lead to her career transition and how it has affected her outlook on life and work.

Growing Up

Born in Michigan, Melanie moved in second grade to Moon Township, Pennsylvania — a middle class suburb located approximately 20 miles outside of Pittsburgh. The daughter of a General Motors auditor and a former-teacher turned stay-at-home-mom, Melanie was everything you could want in a child: smart, kind, well-liked, talented and hard-working.

I met Melanie when she was a senior in high school (I was a freshman). We ran in some of the same circles — marching band, music, and drama. I remember her distinctly because of the traits I mentioned above — particularly how outgoing and friendly she was. As someone who has always been somewhat self-conscious, it meant a great deal that this popular, accomplished senior would even want to talk to someone like me.

But as we talked Melanie shared with me her experience growing up in our very white, very homogenous suburb. She shared the story that when she first arrived at her new school she was immediately placed into special education. This was confusing to both her and her parents who questioned the decision immediately. No test had been administered. There was no aptitude assessment. An assumption was made by the school with no evidence.

Her parents — both of whom had an education background — insisted on having her tested. Not only was special education not appropriate for her, but she was placed in advanced learning instead. She reflected on how baseless assumptions, by an educational institution of all things, could have derailed her and how it may have affected other students of color. She reflected “When I looked around in high school… many of the black students were in special education. Was it because their parents didn’t go up there and raise hell?”

New Perspectives

After high school Melanie attended Florida A&M University, a historically black university in Tallahassee, Florida. “When it was time for me to go to school, I had no idea what I wanted to do.” Melanie explained “I was like ‘I’m going to be a teacher, because that’s what my mom did!’”. But after talking with her uncle, who is an FAMU professor, she changed her major to Business Administration deciding to follow her father’s example and join the corporate world.

But her time at FAMU wasn’t just exposing her to new academic paths — it was exposing her to aspects of black culture that were lacking in her largely homogenous hometown. “I was surrounded by brilliant black people!” she shared “I had not been surrounded by brilliant black people because there were no black people!” She went on to explain “I was so used to being the smart black girl, right? And then it was like, ‘They’re really smart. And they’re smarter than me!’”

And it was at FAMU that Melanie gained a broader perspective on the options that were available to her. She met brilliant black people entering fields like architecture and pharmacy. Having not been exposed to black doctors or black architects, Melanie explains that she had never even really considered a career in those fields. This is not a unique situation. Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the the Children’s Defense Fund, describes this as “You can’t be what you can’t see”. When groups of people are underrepresented in fields — whether they are STEM fields, design, or creative work — younger generations in those groups are less likely to enter those fields due to a lack of role models and accompanying support structures.

After her time a FAMU, where she earned a bachelor’s degree and an MBA, Melanie recognizes the value of maintaining contact with other alumni. She explains purposely seeking out black dentists, black lawyers and black accountants — not only for their expertise, but as a way to show her own children that these roles are within their grasp. They can see it, so they can be it.

Young and Making the Money

After FAMU, Melanie entered the corporate world. Her path was set. “This is what I am supposed to do.” she told herself, “This is how you make the money.”

She found herself in a challenging yet lucrative career. Melanie describes the initial thrill of business travel, a company car, a corporate Amex and more. “I was making so much money” she explains “I made four times what my dad made”.

“I’m winning!” she told herself.

But “winning” is not easy. And while being a road warrior is challenging for anyone, Melanie describes that time as being particularly stressful and unhealthy. She describes the mental toll required to deal with coworkers who were blatantly prejudiced against both her race and gender. She describes the anxiety of being a young black woman driving alone through areas that felt openly hostile towards her.

In spite of these challenges Melanie continued to climb the corporate ladder. She continued to succeed, though in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but be troubled by the prejudice she faced and how others like her would confront and be effected by it. “I was on this hunt. I knew I wanted to get my PhD” she explained “I started looking at how racism was affecting me and my decisions.” She wanted to know more and help others. But PhDs are expensive and take time, so she continued working.

Melanie’s career would take her from Minneapolis to Atlanta to the Bay Area with smaller stops in between. And Melanie always exceeded expectations. But as she gained success, she noticed that she was often alone. Despite being a part of large, international companies, Melanie often found herself to be one of few people of color. And she was almost always the highest ranking person of color, despite her being a manager and not a member of the C-Suite. The disparity was clear and felt intentional.

“These were ‘progressive’ companies!” she said. But the experience was anything but progressive.

When she expressed her frustration about the lack of diversity in her workplace she was told “It’s not a diversity issue, it’s a pipeline issue — there is just no diverse talent”. But Melanie knew firsthand this wasn’t true. “That’s odd.” Melanie mused “Because I went to a school that produces the most black MBAs in the country. And I have a network of them that could easily do any of these jobs.”

She told me of times where colleagues that she worked closely with for months seemingly couldn’t remember her name or would mistake her for another black woman in the company. The prevalence of this was so extreme that she talked to human resources about the issue. But HR seemed to be more concerned about the feelings of others, as opposed to the very real issues Melanie was facing. “You just need to help them get to know you!” she was told by an HR representative “Invite them to lunch! Make them remember you!” Melanie was troubled that basic parts of her identity were being ignored, but HR’s response was to put the onus of solving the problem on her.

A New Path

After nearly 15 years of experience in the corporate world, Melanie decided to change her focus. She entered a post baccalaureate program at the University of California Berkeley studying the effects of racism on black and Latinx people’s physical and mental health.

This research led her to become a consultant where she helps companies and groups who want to improve their diversity and inclusion programs and policies. She then joined Yardstick Management where she works closely with other FAMU alumni. Melanie describes that the conversations she has with companies are virtually identical to those she tried to have while in the corporate world. “Now companies pay me to tell them the same things, but now they listen” she tells me with a sense pride.

How’d She Get That Job?

She Leveraged Her Network

Melanie described how her FAMU alumni network has been able to open doors for her career, while also making other connections for everyday life.

Be active in the networks you have — be it school, social organizations, community groups and more.

She Gained New Perspective

At the beginning of the conversation, Melanie and I compared notes on the various places we have lived throughout the United States. She credits moving and experiencing new places and people as key to her success. These changes in locations gave her the opportunity to see new perspectives and experience new ideas. This in turn gave her greater insight into people, which benefited her career.

She Channeled Her Passion into A New Phase

Melanie had 15 years of corporate and personal experience that she was able to channel into a new phase in her career. She is able to combine her lived experience with her professional experience into a career that is reshaping our world for the better.

She Found Support and Motivation

Melanie’s finds her consulting practice to be incredibly rewarding. But during her work she often comes face-to-face with ugly and painful situations. I was curious how she copes and practices self-care to keep the resulting emotions from becoming overwhelming.

“Part of it is that I have a very supportive spouse who really truly believes in me” said Melanie. She added that when situations are at their most challenging, she reminds herself that her main goal is to help make things better — for herself and the broader community.

If you’d like to learn more about Melanie Calhoun, you can find that information HERE.

If you’d like more information on me, you can find that HERE.