Angela McCourt 0:00
Let's get ready for some serious shift. This is a podcast shifting Inside Out hosted by your quantum shifter Angela McCourt, we are diving into ways to empower and enable a quantum shift. Inspiring topics hacks and guest speakers take us on a journey around authenticity, challenging status quo, personal power and living a purpose filled life.

In this episode, I talk with Melody ucross, about her journey. And it's really an interesting one because she's only 24 years old. So what she shares in this is amount of change and evolution and growth that even some 40 year olds haven't experienced yet. And so I wanted to dig in to find out a little bit more about how and why she is. So the it factor is what I will call her. And it's really interesting because this goes back even into how she was raised in both of her parents and how they influenced not just her own self discovery, which is very important theme throughout this episode, but also how to be action oriented, and holding yourself accountable. And it's really interesting, because I love the fact that what I've seen for melody over the many years I've known her is she doesn't let anything hold her back. Even if her little saboteur inner critic starts to say anything, she knows what to do with it. She knows how to navigate around that. And really also making adjustments to make sure she stays in line on the path that she wants to live. And it's really interesting, because she talks a bit about identities as well, and how her identity as kind of school smart, ended up shifting and had to make a shift into an innovative leader. I love her energy. I love the results that she gets in the business world. And also it's really interesting how she can take her entrepreneurial skills, and really leveraged them fully inside of a corporate environment. She'll talk a lot about how she does that. I think it's inspiring for many people who feel they have this sense of you know, creativity and drive and motivation, but not feeling the flexibility in their current job and how they can actually possibly open up some of those avenues so they can establish and utilize those additional skills as well. So I hope that you enjoy this episode. I love to hear your thoughts. As you listen, you can find me on LinkedIn at Angie belts McCourt on Instagram at Angie underscore McCourt, or on Twitter at McCourt, Angie. So without further ado, let's hear from Melody.

Melody Welcome to shifting inside out. I am so happy to have you on this episode. To get started. Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself.

Melody Ucros 3:12
Thank you, Angie for having me. Um, like I said, my name is Melody. I'm 24 Puerto Rican and Colombian, I am an avid traveler. I've visited over 30 countries. And I am starting my own business for now in April. Right. So and now I've been in tech data and technology innovation and transformation from all five years. So excited to be here.

Angela McCourt 3:40
Very good. All right. So for the audience to get to know you a little bit better. Why don't you go ahead and answer some quick round questions for us. So the first question is, what is your morning routine or ritual?

Melody Ucros 3:54
So I think every morning my every morning for me is different. But one thing that I consistently do is make my bed. Okay, like that's just not the one thing I always do doesn't matter how much in a hurry. I am I always make my bed. I feel like it just sets the stage for the rest of my day.

Angela McCourt 4:09
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. All right, how do you renew your energy?

Melody Ucros 4:15
So I think that one of the things I have that I've developed and I've started to incorporate, is I take a very long shower, but it's like it's like a facial and your hair mask and I just kind of reset like a 30 minutes thing where I'm just in by myself in the shower with music and you know, I leave that moment renewed.

Angela McCourt 4:38
Oh, lovely. Yes. And that and that is it can be very ceremonial you know, as you put stuff on your body, you know, just really like being there with that not just oh, this is a task and I just have to get this done and rushing through it. I love that. That's so

Melody Ucros 4:52
you feel clean. You feel like Okay, I'm ready to face the next new challenge.

Angela McCourt 4:57
Yes. Oh, that's fantastic. What is your guilty pleasure?

Melody Ucros 5:02
This is very guilty pleasure. Um, I have to have something sweet after every meal. Like including breakfast, right? Like, it's like I have to have something sweet. So I always have some low like low calorie ice cream coconut bars chocolate, something that's low calorie, but I have to have something sweet after every single meal.

Angela McCourt 5:25
Okay. It's free. It's fruit considered sweet as well. Does that. Yeah. For

Melody Ucros 5:32
breakfast for breakfast? Yeah, yeah, usually I like strawberries or something like that. That sounds

Angela McCourt 5:37
amazing. Yes. Okay. I love it. You know, some people just have literally a sweet tooth like it is this necessary piece that their body is requiring and just want something you know, and desires it. For me, it's salt.

Melody Ucros 5:51
I basically started doing that, because when I switched my habits to starting to eat healthy and more vegetables, I used to be a very picky eater. But that obviously didn't lead to much healthy, you know, life. So I switched my habits. And that was like my kind of my gift to myself, right? Well, I just ate a huge salad or you know, broccoli, you can have some of the 50 colors of sweets, right?

Angela McCourt 6:16
Ah, that's great. Yeah. And there are a lot of healthy sweets. Yes, exactly. Oh, that's fantastic. Okay, so, Melody, one of the most impressive things I have to say, that I've experienced, I would say in the last 10 years was actually meeting you and getting to know you. And I want to say it was around 2015. When we kicked off exploratory lab boot camp, you were in the initial pilot, I think is what we patent calling it at the time pilot program. And you came in and it was like, Who is this person, you have such a light about you and just such an energy and drive. And you know, as as patent, I got to know you it was so amazing, because not only were you only 16 years old, you were a junior at USF SP in the entrepreneurship program in business. And also, I think at that time, you were traveling to Miami on the weekends, and you were in like a Chief Marketing Officer role for a startup company. years old. Yeah. And let's see what else Oh, I remember you were one of the think top few finalists in the southeast for an app that you had pitched, you know, for a design. And I just was not only impressed by all of those things that you had already accomplished, and where you were in your stage and age, but with your maturity with your connection to others with your commitment to learning to you know, really just embracing everything that was put in front of you. And one of the things that it made me realize was, you know, when, when we're open, and we're curious, and we are passionate about the things that we find interesting in our life and and then become important in our life, that it doesn't matter how old we are, it doesn't matter where we are in our journey as far as education or as far as career goes. Like, we can do whatever we put our mind to. And you are like walking living proof of this. And so what I would love for you to do today is to share your journey. And what did that entail? And where did all of that come from? Because it was amazing to watch and to witness you over the years?

Melody Ucros 8:45
Well, well, that's what it's, it's been a very interesting journey. You know, I'm only 24 now. So I feel like a lot has happened. But I think it really started when I was little. My mom is psychologist, my dad is an entrepreneur. Right. So I think that I had a perfect mix at home that allowed me to, to really, you know, have the challenging portion real life where I worked every summer with my dad and you know, did all the technology stuff and that interest. He's also in the medical field, right? So I had that. And then I have my mom where it was more about, you know, be yourself learn how to make decisions supporting me on that day to day and, and really, you know, she never, every time I was like, Oh, well I'm interested in this career path. She was like, Okay, let's go to NASA and go check it out. Let's go find some person that does this, and talk to them. So I think that she never limited my creativity. And then my dad would challenge me to act on my creativity. And then that was that was the culture at home. Right? Um, growing up I I was you know, I grew up in Puerto Rico. And when I was in 10th grade, I just started without my with set with my parents and I was like, Look, I want to I want to study medicine, and to study medicine. I have to be in the US, which is not true. But for me it was it was the The defining factor of getting into med school, right? So it was so intense in my conviction of that's what I needed, that my parents picked up everything. And we moved to the US. And that's really where my journey started. In Puerto Rico, I had skipped two grades already. So when I got here, I was 13. And I was in 10th. Grade. And, and then in 10th grade I was I was, I wanted to go fast. I've always wanted to go fast. I always said that. I wanted to have fun once I was 21. But I was already successful at 21. Right. So I had like this timeframe of like, I need to be done with everything by 21. So then, I got into dual enrollment, which led to then going to USF CMP. Right. I was a junior, but I was 16. That means I had two years to go all in networking, right? I had two years to do all the networking do all the professional experience. I had to do everything in two years. And that's when I ran, I was working at the Career Center at USF St. Pete. And that's basically where I saw the exploratory lab program. I and I apply it and I remember that I messaged you and pi and, and I have to go through like an interview. Because you were like, this is for juniors that are like, a lot older than you need to go to like an interview to see if you're ready, you know, from a maturity and life perspective, right for the program. So I remember that after that interview. I'm pretty much you know, we validated that, that I was ready. But it's been it's been a learning curve. And I think that one of the success factors in that interview, right? And what's that I even though I was not 100%? Sure, you know, of what I was doing. I pitched myself and I presented myself as if I was right. Sometimes you have to take those risks, and you have to really learn how to verbalize what your identity and who you are and be self aware of, you know, what are your strengths? What are your weaknesses, right, like you I was I most maybe 80% ready for that program? 20%? Maybe not. But I also shared that portion. Right. And, and being vulnerable and self aware. I think it opens opportunities, and it helps you it helps position yourself at the right time with the right people. Right. And it makes you self aware as well put when opportunities open, you can take the right next step.

Angela McCourt 12:38
Mm hmm. Oh, my gosh, yeah. And so you just you just said a lot there. But one of the big switches and changes you made was from Med, the medicine path or medical path into business? What drove that? Like, what? How did how did that come about?

Melody Ucros 12:53
So that started because when I was 14, I was a junior, I got introduced into sales. I was like network marketing. And I became really, really passionate about sales and building teams. So I would go to school, and then I would be till midnight, doing presentations and creating content and doing trainings for my team and pitching and going into the mall and recruiting. So I it became a lifestyle where I went to, you know, Tony Robbins Robbins conferences, when I was 1415 years old, right walking on fire. So wow, those are some defining moments there. But then I had a friend, and we were really building the business together. And he's like, Melody, I think you need to do a pros and cons of why you want to study medicine. Because I had, my idea was I'm gonna do this sales thing so that I can make money, and then pay for my medical career. But I was so passionate about the people in the business aspect and the independence that that gave me I mean, that I opened up Columbia and Puerto Rico for the company, or like I was in all global calls. And I was the youngest person. So, um, he was like, I think we need to sit down and do a pros and cons list. And then when I there was nothing pro about in my life that it was like, oh, I want to study medicine. So it was a tough conversation with my parents. But and because I was already admitted into a medical program. So it was a tough conversation. But I think that they also they saw how, how and why I wanted to pursue entrepreneurship instead. And like I told them, I was like, I'll just make it work because that's something that I'm gonna enjoy it and I don't want to fit in a box, right? You never want a business that depends on 100% on you want it to be something that allows you and gives you you know, the purpose and the lifestyle to to continue living your life. Yeah. So it was a tough conversation and switch but I think that You know, because I knew why it was easy to communicate, and just get the support.

Angela McCourt 15:08
Yeah. And it was amazing to that, you know, you had like, no fear going and tackling that, even when you, you know, we're still in school, really, you know, working for that company for that startup and trying to help them. And, you know, I think you were creating a lot of their marketing content and their training content for, you know, for their teams, and not afraid to put yourself out there not afraid to bring your ideas to the table. So Young, and still, you know, it's amazing.

Melody Ucros 15:37
And to be honest, I feel like those experiences working at the Career Center working at that startup working in sales, probably taught me more than, you know, my bachelor's and my two masters. Right. I think that when I was working in those in those startups, and in that environment, I wish I had less limiting beliefs. Right, I took less caution thing that now that I have this much background about data and and management and project planning, and all that stuff, you tend to overthink things before I would just do them. Yeah, I'm like, well, I need to create a plan, then I need to do this. But and sometimes you just get stuck in the planning mode, instead of actually just executing because you know, no better. So it's having that mix, right? I think that the education open all the doors for me, right? And it has allowed me to manage risk better. But also taking those risks and just saying, Hey, I'm no expert in this, but I will make it work and I will figure it out. And, you know, having that confidence was a key portion real key part of my life. And you know what, a lot of the things that I do apply in my day to day role now, a TD senex Hmm,

Angela McCourt 16:59
that's awesome. And I remember when Maren and parrot Imperial, hired you as an intern at sharp? Yeah. Oh, my God, she like reached out to me. She goes, I am so excited. I have melody working with me. And she's gonna be amazing. You know, and I think you did that role for like a year. Right? You worked for her? Yeah. Yeah. How was that as far as your, like evolution and experience in solidifying that business and tech were where you were really, you know, finding your passion? Yeah,

Melody Ucros 17:33
I think it allowed me to get a more corporate perspective, I feel like I had a different perception of what corporate was I was, I was so into entrepreneurship. Yeah, that I saw corporate as like the worst thing and most uncreative, you know, thing that could exist, right. And then, when I, when I got into sharp and I, and I started, you know, getting involved, I realized there was a lot more creativity than I expected, right? I got to create a lot of the marketing events, I got to create a lot of content for the sales people. I got to travel. And I also got to be myself, right, I saw how there was there. So I could be myself. It wasn't something that you didn't build relationships that you were just stuck in a computer, right? Obviously, it depends on the role. But I think that if you're going with the mindset of I know my strengths, I know my value. I know how I think and I can communicate that. Yeah, then, you know, people in corporate adjust to that, because what matters is what you produce. Yeah, I knew, for example, that I needed flexibility in terms of where I was working from, if I would go if I had to do a creative project, I couldn't be at the office. And I had to communicate that to my manager, because maybe if I was I forced myself to do that brainstorming at the office, I wasn't going to be successful. And I wasn't going to produce the right results. But then because I was commuting, I was like, Hey, I honestly can I think that what works best for me, it's coming to max three times a week to the office, because I need my space of being able to think and create from, you know, some other country, some other, you know, Lake, somewhere else that allows me to just not be forced, I mean, usually in school, I would have to tell my teachers, I need to sit in the floor. I can't be sitting in this desk like this. I will focus on what you're saying. Because I'm sitting in this desk and I feel trapped. And there was a lot of proving of like, okay, well if you if you do well on the first test, I'll let you be but if you fail the first test, then you have to go by my rules. I have a lot of communication a lot with my leaders with my teachers. Because I know that I'm not alone. saralee I'm not really good at following EU rules in the box. I always want to challenge that and say, Okay, well, if I'm producing what I need to produce, why do I need to do it? Following the rules? Yeah. Oh, are your rules, your rules which are not? You know, it's not compliance, right? It's just sitting in a chair sitting in the floor. Yeah.

Angela McCourt 20:20
Yeah. Oh my gosh, that's amazing. I love that. And then and then as you so as you made your decision, because you mentioned your two masters degrees, which, by the way, I think you, you finished the second one before you turned 21, which is just incredible. I remember that. How did your journey then shift into deciding to do your master's degrees and where you ended up going, which is exciting.

Melody Ucros 20:45
So I actually, when I finished my entrepreneurship degree, I had the option of starting the business, I'm starting now with my dad, or continuing to do a grad grad program. And I was stuck with another session, and I graduated December, and three weeks later, I was already living in Spain. So it was a very short decision, period. But I, the main thing I wanted to do was, I felt like if I went straight into business, I wasn't going to be able to go back and live that experience of grad school. And live in a different country as a student, which is a lot easier to get these as etc. So I told mine, I was like, Look, I know I can start a business at any moment in my life. But in terms of grad school, I feel like I need more time as a college student, because I did it in two years. So yeah, I found but I didn't want to be four years studying or stuff like that. So I found this program, ie Business School, where it was a dual Master's, where I could get to a master's degree in 17 months. Mm hmm. So um, and therefore I knew that how I what I wanted to study, I didn't want it to be like a box, either. I wanted to have the right foundation to go into any industry. So that's why I was I decided to go into big data and analytics, because I like that applies to everything. Right. And I love technology, I've always been curious, it's the future, I need to be able to understand it. I never envisioned myself programming or anything like that. But I wanted to be that translator, right? Hey, I can I understand the code, I can tell you what's needed from an architecture from a data perspective. And then you know, how a team to actually go and execute the projects. And then management, I was like, I need more training in terms of people and managing teams and the financial piece, right. So when I combine the creative, the technology, and then the management, I felt like I was gonna have the right foundation to go and pursue opportunities or build my own, you know, company, etc. Now, when I finished grad school, two years in Spain, there was a problem. I was 23 degrees, and I didn't fit in any box. So that was a crisis. Honestly, I was I that was a lot of self reflection, you can say. I mean, it was, it was super frustrating, because there was a lot of roles that I knew I could do, but I wasn't going to be happy. Hmm. And then you came with my shining armor. Because it was something that I had to sit down and actually create my purpose and was like, Okay, what's gonna make me happy. And I actually I have it here written in my, in my board, still the purpose statement that I wrote, back in 2018. When I when I graduated, my I finished my grad school, I still have it here. And it's gives people the confidence and tools to make decisions that lead to more wealth, happiness and impact.

Angela McCourt 23:55
Oh, that's beautiful.

Melody Ucros 23:58
So that was a statement. It wasn't a overnight thing. It required me to think okay, what makes me happy? What would I do? Even if I'm not paid to do it? Right? What is it that motivates me? What is who do I want to surround myself with? What what pushes me to excel? I was basically going through this self. You know, that's, I don't know how to say it. But it's like, basically analyzing myself to get Yeah, sure. So then in my resume, I just put that statement, like, read what you want, interpret what you want, but this is what I meant to do. And things will align. Yeah. And when I went into interviews, and I submitted my resume, I would always just communicate my purpose. I would communicate my purpose and communicate my purpose because eventually it would resonate with someone and then they wouldn't be able to create you know, a position or create some sort of opportunity for me to be able to actually live and work for fulfilling my purpose.

Angela McCourt 24:58
Mm hmm. Yeah, and now I now I didn't know that part. And now I'm realizing, wow, how powerful that was in connecting you with Dina mckown. Right. Yeah, yeah. So talk to us about kind of your journey then after school. And also, you know, like, you've had some shifts in identity a little bit. So maybe share a bit about your journey around, you know, identity and just, you know, what, what is your process for? You know, I'll obviously aligning to your purpose is super important. What else did that bring with it? For this new kind of shift that you've made?

Melody Ucros 25:36
Well, I think that what has allowed me to continue being happy in the corporate life, right, an environment is that I've, it's always been something different. I, I switched from always being the young person that was that was, you know, wow, we have so many schooling, but when you're 20, no, 24, it doesn't matter that have three degrees, right? Like, you have to split your pitch, you have to you have to gain your credibility in a different manner, right? Because now I can't just be pitched at this prodigy or something, you know, there's

no, they're always gonna make it sound prettier, right? But yeah,

you have to change like, Okay, well, what am I? What am I good at, like, besides me finishing school fast, I show results, I need to have an impact in the organization, I need to be able to actually execute on projects and lead and coach and mentor, because there's no test, right? There's no timeline for that. There's just you just have to be present and make yourself known and keep putting yourself out there. So every time there's a panel or a company, or there's a podcast, or anything I put myself out there, um, might not be the best, I don't have a lot of experience. But until you do it, you don't know that, if you're good at it, right? Or that if you did this have discovered a specific passion. Yes. Um, so let's shift to it from identity to just being school smart to being a person, leader, and someone that can think innovatively and execute. I think that has been a great shift. And I'm also from went up to the cynics. I was doing Latin America, right. And I was setting focus on America. And after Latin America, I got the opportunity today to and I started communicating, hey, I want a bigger challenge. I want a bigger challenge. And then an opportunity opened up in the Americas. And then I started, I want a bigger challenge of managing innovation for the Global Services Division. But every single day is different. Right? So my identity everyday changes, right? not who I am. But I tap into different gifts or into different talents, depending on which project I'm working on. Because in some projects, I might just be a creative consultant. In some other projects, I'm hands down, project managing, right, and some of the projects I'm testing right in the system. So I think that the roles that I've been put on and thank you, thanks to Mike, the amazing mentorship and leadership that I've had, because honestly, I've had amazing leadership and mentors across my life that have just trusted me. I can every every single project is different. And I can in I enjoy having the multiple, the multiple identities, right? Because it just keeps me entertained. And I think I watched a TED talk. I don't remember I don't know if you've seen it, like the multi potential light. Basically explains how it's okay, to have multiple talents and interests. You're not meant to be in a box. Right? Like it's okay. If you want to be a multi potential light, you have multiple potentials, you have multiple interests, right? Yes, you can go in and be super. That's why you have doctors that are also triathletes, right? Yeah. Also are great. Some people like to play golf, like, it's, it's really It's okay. To not define yourself in a box. You don't have to say, I'm just an accountant. I am just a coach, right? It's okay to be everything. Mm hmm. Because that combination of everything will make you Mm hmm. Right. And I thought I think I saw that TED talk when I was probably like, 1819 Mm hmm. And it also did inspire me and it did influence how I saw myself because I didn't see myself as an outcast. I didn't see myself as as a as something that I was like, Oh, wow. Like, why don't I fit in a box? No, I saw myself as like, wow, I can fit in a lot of boxes. Let's just combine all this and make a little environment for myself. It just It allowed me to be comfortable in the uncertainty. I'm just No, I don't I don't have to pinch myself. I like their degrees, I pinch myself on my purpose, and then let let let things align.

Angela McCourt 30:17
Right. Yeah. And I think you just mentioned a key word that there's so much shifting for everyone. And so when we think about how do we build resilience, how do we, you know, increase our skills, build our skills for the New World, which is, you know, this kind of moving from this very predictable, very certain very old processes worked in a very certain way. And it's worked for us for decades, to a very uncertain world very unpredictable. And I mean, the world of business, the world of connecting with customers, how our business models are working all of those pieces on top of the world itself. But it's really interesting, because I think when you have developed and unlocked that skill, of being able to sit in that uncertainty, and to be okay with it, and to be curious, then that is what's gonna develop the next level that we haven't even envisioned yet. The way we're living of how we're doing business of how we're managing teams of structures, and companies, of all of those things, which is really amazing. And that's

Melody Ucros 31:25
where I like to live. I like that uncertainty, because I feel like, the way the way my brain works is I feel like everything connects, right, you told me an idea. And the first thing I do is step one to seven, right? Like what is the next steps? How do we how do we go and plan out and actually make that happen? I, I really don't think anything is impossible. Like it's, I have that mindset where it really, I get mad when someone tells me that something's not possible. Like I'm like, it is possible, everything is possible. It might, there might be a, you know, pre criteria, right, and there might be a prerequisite to it. Right, there might be some time that we need to wait. But if you know, you're going to end up there, and start aligning things you have to become you have to become the person that is capable of doing that end goal before you get to the end goal. Because if not, you're not even going to realize that you are at the end goal. You have to really prepare yourself and understand that this is where I want to be, this is who I am now, this is why I have to become so that I can actually live and succeed as that end goal. But everything is possible, literally as possible.

Angela McCourt 32:39
Yes. So when I was writing my book, Love your gifts, one of the gifts and archetypes is the edge Walker. Now you have many of these gifts, many, many, many of these gifts already unlocked, unleashed. But the edge Walker is the one that I just in working with you at Tech Data and working with you in X labs. I could see and you just explained some of kind of your process for creating and for developing. But it's interesting because the edge Walker is a really is a really, I think right now one of one of the most important gifts, because the edge Walker kind of sits along that line between the future and the current state. And so you're able to communicate to people in a way that they can understand because it's the current state, it's the current process, you will have a deep understanding of what's going on in the business today. But you have this vision that you're trying to bridge them to, and you're trying to get them to see how can we make that connection? And that vision is something that hasn't been thought of, you know, yet it hasn't got we haven't gotten that we haven't gotten that creation yet. So a lot of times the old way was just Oh, it's too early. Oh, I don't understand it or that doesn't make sense. And it's Walker gifts. And one of the gifts you have is being able to bridge here's how we get there. Because that's the that's the I would say the golden nugget of that gift and helping to move from old ways of doing things to new ways of doing things and new processes, new opportunities, new business models, new everything is that bridge and being able to fill in that gap of here's how we get there in a way that they understand it. And so I just I just have been so excited to have you on because I'm like she is a total edge Walker. Walker, I'm on top of all your other guests very good at storytelling. I see you as the logician like amazingly as logician bring in proposals and plans and and you know, from a perspective of market opportunity data from the result or outcome or issue or problem that you're trying to solve and the solution in between and how that bring creatively brings together everything I've seen you do that in such a beautiful way as well. And then the network or the network or you have that Amazing ability and then the seeker because you're very, your integrity is so high in business in life, and you definitely have a way of really getting to truth without making people feel bad that they're not there.

Melody Ucros 35:21
That's true. That's true. I believe when the truth doesn't matter how you know, how powerful or how you have to leave with a truth, so

Angela McCourt 35:30
that's awesome. Okay, so why don't you give us some, some talks about your, your new business, like give us some insight into? How did this come about? It got paused for a while you're on this journey. Again, you're working with your dad, you know, very exciting have now learned and gotten a lot more experience around running a business launching all of these other skills and pieces, like what is that like for you? What's going on with you with that?

Melody Ucros 35:57
So yeah, it's definitely been a journey. I started in 2020, right, with just the concept. And it you know, aligning right, though, put the supply chain, the, the resources, right, the product, what's that competitive difference right in the market? And now, I think it's the right time I actually took the course. Right. And I was like, you know, what, I hate? I think I mean, I want to find my that. Why, right? Like, why do I want this right? Because it's not really an industry that I, you know, I'm naturally involved in, right. I started sales, like, why is this important to me? And well, the main thing was, I want to be able to get back I want to allow people to have a better quality of life. And, and that has, basically is the company's called Steps direct, we have digitized the whole process of getting customized insoles. So now people have access to cheap, not cheap, but it's basically cheaper, better quality, orthotics that can improve their quality of life, they can enhance their performance, and not have to leave their home. So we digitize the whole process. With just three pictures, they can submit it through our website, steps direct.com, and then order their customized insoles and they will get shipped directly to your home anywhere in the world.

Angela McCourt 37:51
Wow, that is incredible. Oh my gosh. And because it's an online business like that whole? How do you get the word out there? How do you? You know, how do you make it simple process wise for people to not get overwhelmed or to not get intimidated? Or not just to say, Oh, I'm not a computer savvy person. So I can't do that, like what is your what has been the process in the approach for solving for making it easy, and not intimidating for people to use your product?

Melody Ucros 38:25
So the main thing has been just the iterations, right? Just iterations of trying to get it right there. Yeah, we can do it the traditional way of getting orthotics, we can ship someone a box, we can have them do the the impression, they can ship it back to us. But that's not the future. Right? That's not the future. And that's not where the technology is taking us with a picture in the right dimensions we can get until we can create a 3d model of someone's feet and just do it digitally. So why would we go through the it to the problems right, or through the process of having the customer go and ship things to us and us to ship things to them? If we can use technology to our advantage. Now, that might take us more time to actually set up and launch the business because again, if we wanted to do the business, we could have just launched it the traditional way. But if we wanted to do it, we wanted to that was our differentiating factor. Every competitor out there uses a traditional shipping warehouse we are now leveraging technology and actually getting the platform to accept those attachments at checkout and the quality and recording the instruction videos. That has been a journey and doing everything from start to finish including the legal portion, right and the the operational the technology the account. That has been a learning curve. I've always been the person to pitch the idea and to pitch the concept but to actually have to implement it that has been a huge learning curve and You know, it's been rewarding. And I'm excited for what's coming.

Angela McCourt 40:05
Yeah. And so when do you guys officially launched then?

Melody Ucros 40:08
So now in March 1, it will be officially open for pre orders. And then April, we are going to be open for business.

Angela McCourt 40:18
Oh, that's exciting. Well, I will definitely put the website in the show notes with just a little bit of description for a reminder for people saying go check it out. Oh, that's so awesome. Yeah, feet are important. We walk on them all day long. You know, as we get older, we have lots of issues. So I stopped wearing high heels like, I don't know, probably like eight years ago, seven years ago. And that was because my husband was like, ah, yeah, you're going to have really bad feet when you if you keep wearing these types of shoes. And I never really realized it was always about, well, I'm going to do what I see other people doing and I'm going to wear because I think it looks nice. And then all of a sudden, I'm like, wait a minute, I don't want sore feet, you know, when I'm 60 years old, or, or 70 years old. And so I think that the as people are like talking about their own wellness and their well being like, don't forget the feet, right? Maybe that could be a slogan. Yeah,

Melody Ucros 41:14
yeah. And the thing is, it's you know, it impacts your posture, it impacts your quality of life all together. I mean, you don't have to be an athlete, you can work at a warehouse, you can be a nurse, right? Really, the your posture, your all your energy, all the back pain, knee pain, all of that can be prevented with a simple device that is customized to your needs. Mm hmm. So

Angela McCourt 41:41
that's awesome. I love it. I love it. Okay, so we have a section that you can make other suggestions if you like, if you have any books that you would recommend, or any tips or anything from a nonprofit perspective, or a product perspective, anything else that you would like to recommend to the listeners.

Melody Ucros 42:06
Um, I think that in terms of, of books, I think that was the one thing I would recommend is definitely that TED Talk for multi potential light, I love it, I recommend it to everybody.

Angela McCourt 42:20
In the book,

Melody Ucros 42:22
I'm not a big reader, I like more audio books. But I like though I read a book about habits. And I think that that is the power of habits. It's called. Okay, remember the author, sorry. But the power of habits, I think it was defining because it really shows how your day to day makes up the bigger picture, right? You, it's all about what you do on a daily basis. If I want to be a fit mom, right from here five years, I need to start waking up at five in the morning to go to the gym, because that's a habit that I'm going to have no matter how busy my life is gonna get. Right. And then same thing with eating healthy, right? I've learned and enjoyed to just find replacements, right, find different ways to make really good tasting food. But that's also healthy because that also if I want to have healthy babies, I need to also have healthy habits and learn how to cook healthy things that I can feed my baby. So I think that the habits, it's a very powerful thing. And it that would definitely go to recommendation, read a book about habits. And then, um, take a look, take as many self assessments as you can. Okay, including the one in your book. There's a lot of just free ones out there. But when I compare myself in my journey with a lot of my friends and people my age, I think that has been a very differentiating factor, right? Because you have to know how to explain who you are and, and how you communicate, and how just how you interact and live right. And a lot of this assessments. They might not be you know, 100% accurate, right? But they will teach you how to verbalize who you are your strengths your direction, and they can definitely start and support your journey of being more self aware and actually living up to your purpose. Hmm,

Angela McCourt 44:39
beautiful. I love it. Awesome. Melody, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day and good luck with the launch of the business. I'm so excited. You want to keep me posted, for sure and I will definitely include the website in the show notes but I just really appreciate you I have always just found you to be so inspirational and such a shining light In the world and I cannot wait to see what else you bring to this world because you are just you've got, you've got it, you've got it. Really.

Melody Ucros 45:12
I really appreciate the opportunity and thank you for always being a great mentor, coach leader and always an inspiration.

Angela McCourt 45:19
Thanks, Melody. Okay, awesome.