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Do I have to be friends with my co workers to get ahead? Should I take the promotion even if I hate the job? Is my salary big enough or am I getting screwed? Do I have to choose between having a family and having a career? I've been laid off now what do I do? I'm Melissa Franks, and I've spent the last 25 years building my corporate career and a family to along the way, there have been bumps and bruises and some epic going down in flames of glory moments. My journey up the corporate ladder found me forging new ground without a safety net. Through my real life stories, experiences, and special guests on the show, I take the mystery out of how to succeed in the corporate world. I'm going to spill all the tea about how decisions are really made, how to tell who the hidden influencers are, and how to realize your full potential while enjoying the process at the same time. Each week, we will dive into a topic where I will share the good, the bad, and the ugly of my experiences and what we can all learn from them. You will walk away each week with a clear set of next steps to take action and improve your circumstances. We are going to speak frankly and freely about when it's time to opt in or to opt out. Opt In is a place where you can come to get practical, actionable advice to propel your career and your life in the direction you want. Work with me: www.melissafranks.com/offers

Podcasting since 2022 • 184 episodes

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Latest Episodes

Your Dream Team Isn't Working, Here's Why

You hired the experts. You've got a fractional CFO, a fractional CMO, maybe a part-time ops manager and a media buyer. You did everything right, and yet nothing is moving. Decisions are stalled. Responses take days. You're working more...

June 24, 2026 • 29:05

Fire Yourself First: How to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Own Business

What if the biggest thing holding your business back is you?In this episode of the Opt In Podcast, Melissa Franks shares the framework she calls "firing yourself first", a counterintuitive approach to growth that she recently delivered t...

June 17, 2026 • 27:22

Step Away With Confidence: How I Planned My Business Break (And Secured a Six-Figure Renewal While I Was Gone)

What does it actually take to leave your business for a week, without it falling apart?In this episode of The Opt-in Podcast, Melissa Franks shares the exact six-month plan she built to step away from On Call COO during one of the most p...

June 10, 2026 • 26:53

The AI Reality Check: What Small Business Owners Need to Know Before Going All In

Everyone is talking about AI, but is the hype matching reality in your small business? This week, Melissa Franks is pulling back the curtain on what AI actually is, where it can genuinely move the needle, and where blind trust in it could cost ...

June 03, 2026 • 28:41

Stop Working From the Beach: 5 Counterintuitive Tips to Actually Take a Vacation This Summer

Last summer, I watched a business owner sit on a beach in Hawaii with her face buried in her phone at 8pm because her team needed her to approve a $200 refund. That's not a vacation. That's working in a different time zone with a worse Wi-Fi co...

May 27, 2026 • 24:34

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