Her Story
About Michelle
Michelle Alisea serves as a strategic account manager with a focus on language access. In her role, she oversees client accounts spanning schools, healthcare, regional centers, and counties. Her daily responsibilities include conducting client meetings, managing specialized projects between operations and clients, handling onboarding and renewals from initial contracts through to defining success milestones, and analyzing account growth and numbers. She brings experience from prior work across tech, retail, co-working, and reporting services. Michelle grew up bilingual in English and Spanish, which informs her commitment to clear communication and language access. She is currently seeking a bachelor's degree from Southern New Hampshire University after attending high school in the Verna Park and Roanoke Park area. She has earned certifications in UX design through the Google program and in revenue expansion and account penetration.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Michelle
01What do you attribute your success to?
A lot of my drive comes from wanting to make my mom proud. She raised me as a single parent, and watching what that took gave me an early sense that I wanted to build something real with my life. I'm not someone who's comfortable staying still. I'm always pushing toward the next thing. And ultimately, I don't just want to succeed for myself; I want to be useful and help those around me succeed.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is to build confidence by leaning into discomfort rather than avoiding it. I was told that when I feel like I shouldn't be in the room, that's usually exactly the room I'm meant to be in. Early on, I let self-doubt get in my own way, it made me hesitate or want to walk away from things I was actually capable of. That advice shifted my perspective: discomfort is often just a sign of growth, not a sign I'm in over my head. I try to hold onto that now, especially when I'm stepping into something new.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Start before you feel ready and don't wait for someone to hand the path to you. You have to build your own path. It doesn't matter where you start or when you start, even with zero background. Be confident enough to say this is what my career path looks like and decide for yourself what you want to do.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Two of the biggest challenges I've faced professionally are ongoing policy shifts and the rapid pace of technology adaptation, especially around AI. On the policy side, changes ripple across my entire portfolio healthcare, education, counties, and regional centers alike creating uncertainty for the people we serve and sometimes making them hesitant to engage with services or follow through on what they need. That has downstream effects on coverage and on our ability to provide language access services. On the technology side, AI is changing the landscape of our industry quickly, and I've had to stay adaptable learning new tools and ways of working while still protecting the human element that language access depends on.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I'd say integrity and reliability, I document things carefully and I follow through, especially when situations get complicated. And personally, I value self-direction: I got into motorsport as an adult with no background in it, and I built that skill deliberately on my own terms. Both come down to the same thing for me, doing things properly, even when no one's checking.
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