To beginings...
It started, like most of my big ideas, with a cocktail (okay, maybe a mocktail), a half-burned candle, and a notebook full of dreams I hadn’t yet dared to chase.
Hive Notes is more than a journal. It’s a space to get honest about what it really takes to build a business from scratch—and to rebuild yourself in the process. It’s part behind-the-scenes, part emotional excavation, always real. Think of it as a journal with fewer rules, more sarcasm, and just enough wisdom to keep it interesting.
I’m Melissa—a creative, a nurse turned business operator, a hopeful entrepreneur, a single mom, and a recovering overachiever. I’ve done the titles: trauma survivor, ER nurse, midwife, NP, MBA, MSN. I climbed the ladder because it looked like success and paid the bills. But passion? That part was still missing.
People always assumed I was passionate about nursing. Truth is—I was passionate about helping people. Big difference.
Let’s be real: who would’ve thought the same girl once told she was “obnoxiously independent” during a breakup (ouch) would base an entire career on taking orders? Ha! Spoiler alert: that was never going to work for me.
What I did love about medicine was the puzzle—jumping in, figuring things out, making people feel seen, safe, and better. But nursing, titles, and systems that don’t support true wellness? That was never the end game.
My passion has always been something deeper: creating environments where people actually thrive. Spaces where healing is part of the culture, not just the treatment plan.
Maybe that comes from growing up hearing stories about my grandfather—how he traded his house for a car to escape the coal mines. I can still picture him catching his breath between sentences, stretching forward with one hand on his knee to get just a little more air in. That image lives in me. It drives my obsession with root causes and my refusal to accept suffering as “just the way it is.”
That’s how I ended up in leadership—because I saw what needed fixing and couldn’t help but try. But secretly? I’m just as happy with my hands in clay, testing cocktail recipes in the kitchen, behind the lens of a camera, or holding a paintbrush instead of a PowerPoint clicker.
Building Hive is my way of bridging it all—health, creativity, connection, and a refusal to settle for surface-level solutions. This isn’t just a business. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a mission. And yes, it’s still a little messy.
But if you’re here, you get it.
So let’s build something better—together.
Melissa 2.0 is here for something different.
She’s building a Hive (a literal one):
• Hive Craft Cocktails
• Hive Market
• XOXO Greetings
And a metaphorical one, too: A life rooted in community, creativity, and connection. A space where joy and purpose matter more than perfection. A place where we show up honestly, even when it’s messy.
This blog is where I document it all: the late-night planning sessions, the pivot points, the wins that feel small but are everything, and the doubts that sneak in when no one’s watching. You’ll find business strategy, real-life reflection, and probably a few eye rolls at the chaos of it all—because if we’re not laughing, what’s the point?
So pour yourself something delicious, light a candle (bonus points if it’s from Hive), and stay awhile. You’re welcome here. Whether you're building something, healing from something, or just figuring it all out one brave step at a time—we’re doing this together.
Thought for today:
What if building your passion isn't about having it all figured out—
but simply choosing to show up?
Messy. Brave. Real.