Melisa Williams

I attribute my success to my never quit mentality. It doesn't matter how many times I fall, I keep getting back up. As much as I have a path set and a direction and the GPS that I think I want to take, sometimes that GPS gets rerouted, and sometimes there's a different path or direction that I need to take that can still get me to that same destination. But it doesn't matter how many times I fall, I will always continue to get up. I refuse to be complacent because complacent is the devil. The only time you fail is when you quit, so as long as you don't give up, then you're never failing. If you make a mistake, it's not a failure - you take the data from that mistake, you learn from it, you grow, and you become better. That's what it boils down to.

The best career advice I've received is to mess it up and figure it out. It's literally about not worrying about things seeming perfect or things being sorted out or figured out. You don't have to have everything figured out all at once to get something started. If you have heart, you have passion, you have the willingness to learn, then that's what matters. I'm a student always, coach second, which basically means I'm always trying to learn and grow as a coach myself so that I can better serve my athletes. When you are open and willing to always evolve and always become better in that aspect, then it reflects into the people that you coach. Don't worry about always having to have everything figured out. If you mess up, just figure it out. Everybody is so afraid of failing, but the only time you fail is when you quit.

When you're in a new area growing something that is your own from scratch, it's a challenge. Sometimes you question whether or not you're on the right path, and sometimes you question am I capable of doing this. Those doubts and fears most definitely come into your head, and the most important thing is recognizing facts versus feelings. You might be feeling a certain way on a certain day because of a certain situation, but it's important to look at the facts. When you're growing a self-made startup business and trying to build a foundation, sometimes it's about being patient and consistent and being willing to do the things that sometimes feel like they suck or feel hard, to just sometimes only see a glimmer of hope that comes out of that. Being willing to see that glimmer of hope of something that is promising and gives that excitement and energy inside of you that gives you that push of like, okay, I'm seeing a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, so I know that I can push forward a little bit more at a time, day by day. You're never at the top, you're never where you want to be. Yes, there's some things I'm proud of and some things I've accomplished, but the job's not done. I have so much more room and growth that has to carry forward. As for opportunities, there's dealing with high-level athletes and high performers at high levels, dealing with name-brand colleges. The plan is to grow so that I have more coaches, and if I can get a facility, I would love to have a facility and just expand.

I'm very big on integrity and resilience. Integrity is the biggest thing - it's about who you represent. I always tell my kids when they leave the house, you represent the Williams family, and while not everybody knows who the Williams family is, we know who that is, we know what we stand for, and we know what our standards are. It's super important that when you leave these four walls, you carry yourself with a standard that is a non-negotiable standard and integrity. That's probably the biggest thing I value within my career but also as a human.