I had the pleasure of engaging Mel and recommending him as the opening conference keynote speaker for the 2019 CBRE African American Network Group (AANG) National Conference. As an opening conference keynote speaker there comes a lot of pressure to energize, excite and empower, and Mel delivered above and beyond. Immediately, Mel established a connection and credibility with the audience by being authentic and vulnerable by showing the audience who he is as a person and sharing his journey.

His keynote message carried on throughout the remainder of the conference… Whether it was in other sessions or during networking time, you heard conference-goers often referencing the parts of Mel’s message that personally resonated with them as it related to their career journey or key executives referencing points from Mel’s keynote to support their business perspective. Even today, there are some conference-goers that have communicated that they have started journaling at Mel’s recommendation and are now seeing that impact of doing so…