In this week’s interview I’m introducing you to Melani Gordon, a founder who realized at the height of her company’s success that she was experiencing burnout.

Melani is a highly respected serial entrepreneur and business coach, with a decade-long track record of mentoring and coaching over 200 startup founders via Techstars and Founders First Capital. Melani offers a range of services to ambitious founders, leaders and their teams, including CEO coaching, co-founder alignment, team off-sites, peer groups, and sales training programs. She is well known for her SaaS Sales Academy.

Melani has a wealth of experience in the tech industry. She was the CEO of TapHunter, where she grew the company into a leading player in management and marketing software for bars, restaurants, and other local businesses. TapHunter was acquired in late 2022.

Aside from her business accomplishments, Melani is a limited partner at Interlock Capital, a founding member of San Diego Startup Week, and a board member of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She is also a volunteer adaptive snowboard instructor at Achieve Tahoe. In her free time, Melani enjoys being in the backcountry mountain biking and snowboarding in the Sierra Nevadas.

In this interview, we discuss Melani’s journey through burnout and road towards recovery, and the lessons she learned along the way about the importance of mental health. She also shares some of her words of wisdom for founders who want to avoid burnout themselves and why she thinks all founders should budget for a therapist, business coach, and peer support group.

TW: I do want to let you know that there is a mention of death by suicide in this episode.

Find Melani online:

• Melani is currently scheduling her next batch of peer groups for CEO's and founders. Schedule a call with her - https://calendly.com/melanigordon/30min
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanigordon/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/melgordon
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melanigordon/

Connect with your host, Dr. Melissa Parks, elsewhere:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacparks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaparksphd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaparksphd/

Website: https://melissaparks.com/

Sign up for my weekly newsletter to be notified of new episodes and get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at recording of the podcast:

https://melissaparks.com/podcast/

If you’d like additional support for your mental and emotional well-being as a founder please visit Melissa’s website for a list of resources to help you find a coach, therapist, or peer support.