You Are the Story You Tell Yourself with Melissa Graham

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1 July 2026

2 mins to read

Tits, Wit, & Grit

You Are the Story You Tell Yourself with Melissa Graham

00:00 /

Melissa Graham started her career as a photocopy clerk at 19, working a law firm by day and Jack in the Box by night. Today she is the COO of one of the nation's most recognized law firms. What happened in between is not a straight line. It was decades of earned confidence and learning the difference between getting things done and actually leading people.

In this episode, Melissa gets honest about the moment that cracked her leadership wide open and what she did with the feedback that caused it. She talks about why the story you tell yourself going into a room matters more than almost anything else, and what it actually looks like to shift from driving results to leading people. This is a conversation about doing the hard internal work quietly and consistently.

In this episode:

Starting from scratch and what a career built from the ground up actually teaches you
The feedback that changed how she leads and why she is grateful for it
Why you are the story you tell yourself and what shifts when you believe it
Learning that driving results and leading people are not the same skill
Why vulnerability and confidence are not opposites
The butterfly tattoo and what it says about growth, struggle, and what comes next

🔗 Connect with Melissa Graham on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/melissagrahamoperations

🔗 Save your spot for the Empowering Women in Law 2026 Retreat: pointnortheast.com/ewil