About

Who's behind this?

Hi! I'm Melanie, the founder of Leaders Who Fiction, and I am so glad that you're here.

I've always been a big reader. I was the first kid in my kindergarten class to read - and I was (maybe still am!) weirdly proud of that. I volunteered at our local library to shelve books - I think I was 10. But, I didn't do as well with English in school once it became super analytical.

I decided to work in marketing, and once I started working full-time, I essentially stopped reading. Maybe I'd read a couple of books each year, which for me was almost nothing. I went to business school, then I started working at a startup accelerator.

One weekend, based on a friend's recommendation, I read "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Wells. I don't read a lot of sci-fi, but I remember reading it and thinking "wow - this would have been the best book of my MBA program if we'd read it."

I started my own company 8 years ago, consulting on marketing strategy and marketing technology. I work with growth-stage companies, so I typically deal with c-suite and leadership team members. I've seen A LOT of what works and what doesn't. I can clearly see how the skills that can be learned by reading fiction will help leaders meet their next professional goals.

I started reading more and more novels, and I have seen and felt the difference it has made to my career and my ability to show up as a leader.

I don't come from a leadership or training background, so I'm not here to shake up traditional methods of leadership training or to question the pedagogy. I believe reading fiction is an underutilized tactic and want to make it available to anyone who's interested.

This is just getting started, and I hope it sounds like something you would love to do. Please get involved, and I'll talk to you soon!