Born in Decorah, Iowa, I grew up as the oldest of three kids. I lived in Fredericksburg, Iowa, from age four through 18, and graduated from Fredericksburg High School in 1997. I am very proud of my rural Iowa upbringing, even though during high school, I couldn't wait to get out of small town Iowa.
And how small is my hometown? I graduated in a class of 33 kids, the town does not have a stop light to this day, and the principal would personally call your parents if you were absent without notification. I do like to brag to my city-raised friends that I received one of the best educations in the country from my little high school that has since been consolidated with a nearby school district.
I graduated from Simpson College in 2001, and while at Simpson developed my passion for politics. You can read about that on Simpson College's website: http://www.simpson.edu/polisci/profiles/gesing.html.
While I have worked in politics during most of my post-college years, I have embarked upon many non-political adventures. Most of my friends are not political, and I love this because it keeps me (mostly) grounded in reality. I lived in Houston from November 2004 through September 2006, and I like to call this my two year vacation away from stressful jobs and politics.
Before the two year cycle came to a close though, I was back in Iowa and in the thick of it again. I worked at Victory Enterprises from September 2006 through January 2010.
Next I pursued a career at Target - my favorite store! I was a human resources executive there from January 2010 through September 2010. While the work was challenging, and many doors were open and waiting for me, I was not content.
I started working with SendOutCards in November 2008. A couple of high school classmates introduced me to the company. While I signed on as a distributor then, I really just used the system for my personal card sending fetish, rather than pursuing the business opportunity. The light bulb finally went off during mid-summer 2010, and I knew I had to make this my full time profession.
Now I look forward to sending more cards with the company's rock star online system, but more than that, I look forward to helping others do the same. Check it out here - Mel's Cards.
In my spare time, I enjoy going to concerts (Aerosmith, U2, Dave, and Bon Jovi are a few of my favorite bands I have seen), spending time with friends and family (especially my nephew Gabriel!), checking out local wineries, writing, and reading. I also love to organize anything and everything, from messy rooms to large events, so that may lead to another business someday.
To join my day to day conversations, you may subscribe to my blog Mel's Musings. 