Words Matter. High Fives, too.
Grateful for the Words from Those Who’ve Worked with Me.
“I've had the pleasure of collaborating with Melinda on various large-scale strategic marketing and communication plans, where her knack for planning and analysis consistently shines through. But, perhaps an even more impressive skill, is her remarkable ability to tackle small projects with agility and ease, against minimal background information and tight deadlines.
An example of such a talent was when I enlisted Melinda's help to refine a pitch deck that had stalled for weeks with another vendor. Despite the project's challenges, Melinda dove in and, within a week, provided insightful recommendations and executed quick edits to enhance its visual appeal. Her creative touch transformed the graphics and introduced new iconography, turning the deck from a lackluster presentation to a standout piece the team was proud to utilize.
Melinda excels at swiftly identifying and eliminating obstacles, whether it's on large-scale initiatives or smaller projects. Over the past five years, I've consistently relied on her expertise in various capacities across different roles, and I'll continue to do so in the future. Regardless of project size, I have complete confidence in Melinda's ability to address challenges and deliver solutions.”
— Katie Sorens, former Senior Product Marketing Manager, Janus-ai
“Melinda Sommerfeld. This is a name you’ll want to remember. Whether you have several months to plan a well-orchestrated project, or just a few hours to hop on a call and explain how you are in dire need of strategic assistance, Melinda is a go-to resource.
She has hands on experience and insight to know what does and doesn’t work in various industries, yet remains flexible in her planning and implementation process – always taking into account the ideas of the customer. She is a master of time management and asks the right questions to set mutually agreed upon goals from the very beginning.
As a collaboration and mutual understanding junkie, Melinda ensures everyone at the table can comprehend the whys behind the work. She has a knack for helping people help each other.
I have personally worked with her on writing assignments, webinars, process refinement, and milestone marketing. I would highly recommend her to anyone who’s drowning in projects and is actively seeking a life preserver.”
— Heidi Woodard, Strategic Marketing, Nebraska Medicine
“It’s hard to even put into words how brilliant and exceptional Melinda is in so many ways. A lot of consultants recommend strategies, but rarely do they execute and drive the necessary conversations, collaboration and actions needed to get where you want to be and beyond.
Not only is she a top tier executive coach, marketing strategist, operator and team leader — her unique approach to tackling complex problems, both externally and internally, is unmatched in my professional career. She goes beyond brand, go-to-market, campaigns and launches, and delivers outcomes way beyond what is expected (or what you even know you needed). Simply put, she drive results and is undoubtedly one of the smartest, agile and highest integrity professionals I’ve ever worked with.
She has an unbelievable talent for designing and coaching high-performing A-player teams — that comes from not only her breadth of experience but also her innate emotional intelligence to support every team member to not only becoming their best selves, but to get the most out of them and align with aggressive company goals even when everything isn’t so clear and shifting. From junior to senior level, across time zones, remote work environments, cross-functionally with marketing, sales, product, operations and more — she excels at everything and is a true secret weapon.
It’s hard to find a consultant that:
is strategic and creative yet stands for operational excellence
understands all facets of brand, marketing and business models
cares deeply about impact and people
and uses an effective combination of data, insights, best practices and in-the-moment feedback to design & implement strategies to achieve goals
This is just a snapshot of why Melinda is so special, and why I’m so happy we hired her magic to help change the game for our hypergrowth company — who has a rapidly growing global marketing team, new products, an evolving market, big goals and an even bigger vision she has been helping make a reality.”
— Sara Davidson, former CMO, Influx
“Our team changed everything about how we worked during the pandemic. We were in crisis mode and everyone went way above and beyond to do what was necessary.
After time went on, it became clear that how we were working wasn't sustainable and was resulting in burnout and frustration. The team began re-thinking how we did things and started gathering ideas. Agile methods were one approach we considered but we struggled to have a shared vision of how it could work. We brought Melinda into the conversations as we had to get an outside perspective on how we were operating and to get insight on how agile had worked for others.
Melinda's perspectives were key in shaping where we ultimately landed and in guiding the team through the awkward first few weeks using the process. I really appreciated Melinda's honest, direct and graceful communication style during our work together.”
— Jason Bash, former Digital Manager, Nebraska Medicine
“Melinda was an amazing partner to help me publish a Print OnDemand book through Lulu.
She had to pick up after I had troubles with my first freelancer and it was a night and day experience working with Melinda. She was very communicative from the beginning and set realistic expectations to help me understand how things were going to work. She was responsive and always met her deadlines while showing flexibility and adaptability when I needed to shift mine. Her attention to detail was impressive and the rounds of revisions each time moved the project forward.
I have already referred her to others and plan to hire her again in the future! She is a smart, holistic problem solver and it felt so great to know my book was in good hands with her. I can't say enough about Melinda - hiring her will be one of the best business decisions you make!!”
— Michelle Eledge, Owner, Michelle Lee Consulting
“Melinda was great to work with. I run a nonprofit that has struggled at building a cohesive communication plan. With little prior background on our organization, Melinda was able to hit the ground running, learning about our services, programs and finding ways to help us grow and connect with broader audiences.
Within a short time frame she was able to meet with organizational leadership, challenge us to think about our priority audiences and help us draft a solid communication plan to increase awareness of our services throughout the community and with key stakeholders in the nonprofit sector.
Beyond being thorough, organized and detail-oriented, Melinda is also a joy to be around bringing an enthusiasm and can-do attitude to all tasks no matter big or small. As a small nonprofit it benefited us greatly to have someone who is an expert in marketing and communication help us.
Melinda showed us the value in having a strategic communication plan and I would highly recommend her talents and services to anyone.”
— Tracey Lynn Pearson, CEO, Youth Care & Beyond