Know No Limits: Melanie Curtis

When you find your true passion, sometimes you just have to take the leap. In this episode, Melanie Curtis shares how skydiving has taught her to push past fear, embrace vulnerability, and find power in community. From BLTs to bold moves, her life as a professional sky diver, artist, author and life coach reminds us that bravery isn’t just about skydiving — it’s about daring to show up fully in life. Join Jess and Maureen as they dare to record live for the first. time. ever. at the New Jersey Conference for Women.

Check out Mel's website.

For more, visit us on Instagram.

Brought to you by Capital Health

Credits:

Producer and Host: Jess Downey

Producer and Host: Maureen Petrosky

Producer and Editor: Leigh Iacobucci

Artwork: Peter Yates Design

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Transcript

Melanie Curtis (00:04):

I spent all the money I made in banking on getting good at skydiving such that I could become a professional at 26 years old.

Jess (00:20):

I'm Jess Downey. You might know me as Editor-in-Chief of Real Woman and Thriving Magazines for Capital Health.

Maureen (00:25):

And I'm Maureen Petrosky. You might have seen me on the Today Show or CBS mornings as an entertaining expert or know some of my books like Wine Club and Zero Proof Drinks,

Jess (00:34):

And we're two friends who created She What?

Maureen (00:37):

<laugh> a podcast that digs into the personal and often surprising stories of women who inspire us,

Jess (00:43):

and they get real about the wins, the fails, and everything in between.

Maureen (00:48):

Here we invite her to tell the whole story, the pain she endured, the triumph she celebrated, the friends she made along the way, and maybe even how she reinvented herself.

Jess (00:59):

These are the kinds of stories that make us think, they make us laugh, they keep us going.

Maureen (01:04):

Need a dose of inspiration. It's here. Need a fresh perspective. We got that too. Hi, Jess.

Jess (01:17):

Hi Maureen.

Maureen (01:18):

I don't know about you, but I am still on a high from this interview.

Jess (01:22):

On a high, oh my gosh. This past year we've been recording this show from our respective offices, which has been amazing, but our guests have been remote. This past week we're invited to the New Jersey Conference for Women to podcast live. Woo woo!

Maureen (01:38):

Woo woo! We did not know what we were getting into. And to be honest, up until the final moments, we didn't even know if we could pull it off.

Jess (01:44):

But we did.

Maureen (01:44):

Yes. And in a big way, Melanie Curtis is queen of She What? Professional skydiver, author, artist...

Jess (01:52):

Doing pretty much anything and everything she wants to in this world.

Maureen (01:56):

Throw in setting some world records, and some seriously inspiring stories, and this is one of my favorite episodes yet. So stick around.

Jess (02:07):

Hello. 

Melanie (02:08)

Hello! 

Jess (02:09):

So just, I was gonna say your bio, but just saying the first sentence of your bio is literally mind blowing, but I'm gonna say it anyway. Melanie Curtis is a former investment banker, turned stunt woman, world record pro skydiver. She What? <laugh>. She's also a life coach, author, activist, and entrepreneur. And here's a fact, she's jumped out of an airplane over 12,000 times. <laugh>. That's ridiculous. I saw one of them, and I know it's true. Competed at the highest levels and has traveled the globe as a headlining professional athlete coaching thousands of people over the last 30 years.

Maureen (02:47):

Melanie Curtis, welcome to She What?.

Jess (02:49):

Yes. 

Melanie Curtis (02:52):

I'm so happy. I'm so thrilled. That's probably one of my favorite intros.

Jess (02:55):

<laugh>, She What? So I was a bit of a daredevil. We were having daredevil, um, conversations, conversations about like, were you a daredevil when you… and I just learned a few things about Maureen <laugh>, but, um, I was a daredevil when I was little. And I vividly remember in Montessori school, getting dared to go across the monkey bars with my mittens on and doing it, I fell and my tooth went through my lip. - Oh.-  And it was a disaster. But I felt that feeling that you were talking about today of like, yeah, I just did something. You know, hey.

Melanie Curtis (03:26):

<laugh> I did that. Yeah. Okay.

Maureen (03:28):

For some context, we're at the New Jersey Women's Conference - Oh.- and Melanie spoke earlier, which is what Jess is referencing about that feeling when you do something you're not supposed to do.

Jess (03:39):

Or like, well, it's more just about something scary. 

Melanie Curtis (03:42):

Yeah. Do something you think you cannot do. I think it generally ranges from I am certain I cannot do this thing to maybeI could do this thing.

Melanie Curtis (03:54):

And there's like some, some doubt there. But any, in any part of that range from like full certainty to even just some doubt, you break through limiting thinking anytime you do something like that. Skydiving is just a really powerful example where people have strong certainty. They could cannot do it can't jump out of a perfectly good airplane. And so when they do, and this is what happened for me when I did as a young 18-year-old person, my mind was just like blown open in a, in a really fundamental way that I didn't even realize until later in life.

Maureen (04:29):

So the first time you went skydiving, you were 18 years old. 

Melanie Curtis 

Correct.

Jess (04:32):

But there was a gap between that and the first time you cursed. Yeah. <laugh>. I wouldn't know what happened in those intervening years. Like was this like a steady part of who you were from jump?

Melanie Curtis (04:41):

Yeah. I would say I've reflected on this 'cause as a keynote speaker, you're like, what story could I tell that would illustrate in a delightful human comical, but also rich and real way, this idea that I hope the audience can grab onto and use for themselves in their own lives. Right. And so, oh, it's just hilarious this idea of the first time I said the F word <laugh>.

Jess (05:10):

It's just,

Melanie Curtis (05:10):

It's crazy

Jess (05:12):

Because

Melanie Curtis (05:12):

Again, I, I don't know if you saw in the audience where I asked how many people remembered the first time that they swore, very few hands went up. Right. But a few hands went up, <laugh>. Okay. You know, so it's just like, for me it was this very visceral, I I was completely exhilarated after I said this word for the first time. I will never forget it. <laugh>. And again, it just sort of opened my young mind at eight years old to this idea that, oh my, like my parents told me I can't do this thing, but I actually can do this thing. It's, it's an interesting idea to start challenging limits however they are put on us. But to answer your question, what did I do? Uh, from eight years old to 18 years old, old <laugh>. I mean, I've always been a very active, engaged, uh, I want to be doing things. I played a lot of sports. I really went for it on the field. I was a very good athlete, but I also had this really dorky goal of having the longest paragraph in the yearbook <laugh>. Yes. I know every club president of the student council, like super high achiever that made me go, oh, okay. Maybe I have always been like this <laugh>.

Maureen (06:25):

Yeah. We know you were a daredevil, but you reeled it in and got into work as an investment banker.

Melanie Curtis (06:31):

Yeah. I mean, again, talk about extremes and I'm all about sort of how are we experiencing, like what is, are the edges and the expansiveness of our human experience? I'm very, very, very interested in that still to this day. I mean, and so when you are pre-prescribed, this is how you do life, or this is what the quote unquote right thing to do is, which is go to college, get a job that pays a certain amount of money, do this. Right. Right. That part of my career fit checked all those boxes. The only reason I think I didn't stay in a traditional path longer is because skydiving was so, ugh. I just, I was so obsessively drawn to it that the power of that helped me choose out of the traditional path. When that sort of became available to me, that's a sort of a longer story. But I, I basically made up a job at a local drop zone that I was training and competing at, coaching at, um, and basically told 'em they needed to hire me about five years into my investment banking career. 'cause I spent all the money I made in banking on getting good at skydiving such that I could become a professional at 26 years old.

Maureen (07:48):

I love that you created a job that didn't exist. Yeah. And I am very curious as to how you become a professional athlete. Yeah. So you're, you become sponsored then, right?

Melanie Curtis (07:59):

So, yeah. Yeah. So I have sponsors to this day, um, that I don't pay for skydiving gear. They support me because I am, quote unquote a a leader, an influential figure in that community, uh, in that. And Scott ing is a beautiful, wonderful community. Ugh. Just, it's a, like a sea of misfit toys, <laugh>. It's wonderful. You know, though, it's this interesting, uh, coming together of people who really love this strange, weird thing, but we're all like allowed to really love it together. And there's something really freeing about that. Like this the level of acceptance that you don't get in other spaces, at least that I haven't experienced in other spaces. Yeah. And not to say that I haven't, but to say that that level and version of acceptance is very special in my experience.

Maureen (08:51):

And so was that when you were pretty young or like, I'm trying to get a feel for where that happened in your life that you got into this as a professional career?

Melanie Curtis (08:59):

Yeah, so 26 26 was when I quit my job and started. So basically I told my boss at the bank, uh, that I gave him, you know, I gave him three months. 'cause I loved my boss at the bank too. He was wonderful. I really loved where I cried when I told him I was leaving, like the whole thing, the the classic leave a job horror show <laugh>, where you're like, I hope I don't cry, but then you just baw your eyes out a hundred percented that. Uh, but yeah, I also took about 10 months between when I said, Hey, this is what I think you guys need to hire me to do here. It was essentially to run the experienced side of a drop zone that was in Southern California. I love this place, wonderful place. Um, and they needed, they needed someone like me. And I walked around in my genuine, honest radiance and love for being there and just so happy to be like, Hey, nice to meet you.

Melanie Curtis (10:01):

I don't know who you are. What's your name? So-and-so, shake the hands. Hey, you wanna go? You wanna go make a jump? If you got something going on, no problem. Cool, cool. Right. Just, but really just loving it. There was this palpable power in that, and so much so that it again, wasn't something I was trying to do, but as a result of that, and a result of the team around me at that drop zone. So I can't mention my own success in skydiving without also mentioning the people who are around me, the, the beauty and specialness of our crew at that time. But that's, it just went s skyrocketed. Our events grew. I became very well known in skydiving, uh, the drop zone in Southern California was called Skydive Elsinor, and I became known as Melor <laugh>. Okay. So it was like a thing that's cool, you know, and it,

Maureen (10:53):

and drop zone is what, where you land?

Melanie Curtis (10:54):

A skydiving center. So basically where there are airplanes where people jump out of planes and train to compete at the nationals and the worlds and stuff like that. So I did all of that as well.

Jess (11:05):

So you obviously didn't start out skydiving thinking this is a beautiful metaphor for life and that's why I'm going to do it <laugh>. But at some point that clicked for you in a major way that has been like life changing. Yeah. So when did that happen and how has it evolved for you?

Melanie Curtis (11:21):

So imagine I am living my dream life that I could not think up. And I'm this pro skydiver, getting paid a salary, <laugh> to coach my friends, make up fun events with my friends, compete train. It's just, it was unfathomable to my young self that this could be my life. And this is another moment I will never forget. I'm walking across like the gravel driveway at this skydiving center that I worked at. And I am truly happy. But I have this very small, like, intuitive hit where it's like, not like a Mack truck moment where it hits you upside the head, but a like, Hey, <laugh>, just a little whisper of like, you're happy now, but this isn't going to be enough. And I'm lucky that I listened because basically because I listened to that intuitive hit, I was like, what would I do if I don't do this?

Melanie Curtis (12:28):

Like, it was so difficult to even contemplate more beyond what I had already done. So I just started to, well, what do I like? What am I good at? What interests me? What, and I said something about, well, maybe people would, I don't know, pay me to like, talk to them on the phone, like as their friend. Like, I basically talked about what a life coach was without knowing what life coaching was. Okay. Found it, yada, yada, yada. Long story short thought life coaching was a scam and total crap. I was like, there's no way. Again, this little part of me was like, it's either a scam total crap, or it's a part of my calling. And I was like, oh, <laugh>

Maureen (13:12):

One or the

Melanie Curtis (13:12):

Other, God, this thing that sounds so lame. Life coaching. What's that? So I, anyway, I found a friend who ended up going to this life coaching program that I was interested in, and she was like, no, it's real, it's legit. And then I literally swiped $8,000 on my credit card that I didn't have on my birthday in like 2007 or something. And it was very,

Maureen (13:32):

It was your calling.

Melanie Curtis (13:33):

It was a part of my calling. No doubt. I still do that work today.

Maureen (13:38):

Well, we know, we saw you upstairs, <laugh>. And so we were lucky enough to watch you be the keynote speaker here at the New Jersey Conference for Women. And you talked to over 600 women, but you're wearing a t-shirt that says, I am here.

Melanie Curtis (13:51):

Uh,

Maureen (13:52):

We were both waiting thinking you were gonna like flash your shirt to the whole audience, but no, you're just subtly wearing it under this beautiful blazer. <laugh>, can you tell us what I am here means to you? Yeah.

Melanie Curtis (14:03):

So skydiving is a very male dominated sport, and it took me a long time 'cause I grew up also around skydiving and I didn't, you know how they say, uh, like you talk to a fish and you go, oh, hey, the water's, the water's nice. And the fish is like, what's water? Doesn't get it right. Doesn't know what water is. That was basically me around like misogyny, uh, those types of things that are not great. We don't like talking about that type of stuff. But this idea of women having power and stepping into their power was something that I was automatically sort of positioned in leadership and skydiving to do simply because I'm a woman. But only in like the last five years did I start to really get it and go, oh, and from a, from an activism place where it's like, just because something isn't happening to you doesn't mean it's not happening.

Melanie Curtis (15:05):

Right. And I started to really get that this like desire to really advocate for women and girls in various spaces. And as myself, knowing that over the years, people would reflect back to me how I inspired them in a certain way. And I was like, great, great, great, great. But I was always very kind of anti gender. And I have since shifted on that in that like, no, no, I, I really want to, and women and girls need me. And again, needs lots of people, but more just from that calling place of it's important to me to take up space. And so I am here. It's just on, I mean, not to minimize it, but it's from an art installation that I did. Uh, it's hard to describe, but it's like this giant parachute skirt where I'm on a ladder. You can't tell. But I look like this giant fantastical woman that is taking up unapologetic space in the world. It was sort of a visual representation of that. And the shirt was more to make it that much more clear. And let's

Jess (16:14):

Just add that the skirt is 12, uh, parachutes.

Melanie Curtis (16:18):

Twenty five.

Jess (16:20):

Okay. And that there are three women underneath her skirt holding her up.

Melanie Curtis (16:24):

Yes. Holding the ladder. Quite literally holding me up. Yes.

Maureen (16:28):

<laugh>. So that was a big part of your speech earlier was that you talked about community and relationships and how important they've been to you mm-hmm <affirmative>. And you really were talking about friendship at the end. Yeah. And I think that's something that, I was talking to one of the other attendees earlier about saying how horrible her daughter's middle school experience is being, and these girls are being so mean to each other. Oh, the worst. And I thought, God, if they only knew Yeah. When they got older, those were the important relationships. Like, I don't know if we get that or understand the importance of friendship until we're a little older.

Melanie Curtis (17:04):

Yeah. And it's very common, this is something I work with people with clients on often is the, yeah, okay, someone might come to me for business stuff or executive coaching, but it always goes to life coaching every single time. If a person, if I work with someone long enough, we are going to the human parts of it. It just, it has to, that's just, it's inextricably linked. And a lot of times people will bring forward this idea that they've just don't have any friends, quote unquote. Of course they do. But it's more this notion that as an adult, I have deprioritized friendship because again, we think about society positioning things as what our priorities should be when really, and it's okay to prioritize family yourself. It's totally okay to prioritize whatever is right for you. But I contest that if we deprioritize friendship too much, we feel that in a really negative way. And then when we reprioritize it, we feel it just the same in a positive way. So I've seen people go from literally, I don't know how to show up in a space and go to a meetup group and talk to a new person to like creating meetup groups <laugh> and like having real friendships and being facilitators of that type of connection. Wow.

Jess (18:22):

One of the things that you spoke about today had a million fireballs going off in my mind, and that is vulnerability. Yeah. Um, and I was thinking about women in public spaces who have tried to be vulnerable in public and how negatively that has been received and used potentially against them. Yeah. So I I simultaneously completely agree about the importance of vulnerability Yep. With women and also push back on the idea that, can we do that? Are we there? So I just wanna... Yeah. Take it over to you about what, what you think about that.

Melanie Curtis (18:54):

I love that you brought this up because -Yeah.- Part of I think the success of quote unquote being vulnerable and seeking that support that we're wanting to get or that will transform our ability to access our potential, right. To be able to show up better, stronger, whatever in these various spaces that we are in, is that we have to know who is safe, who are the safe parties that we can go there with. Yes. It is about at some point choosing into vulnerability to see if a relationship can hold that, but only at an appropriate depth. Right. So it's, it, there is nuance to this, right? So I'm obviously up there on a keynote stage, I'm planting an idea, but you're right, there is more nuance to this discussion. I'm not just saying, okay, you can go and cry in front of whoever, or you can go and drop something that's really genuinely super richly vulnerable for you just to anyone. It would be something that you would wanna consider who could receive that and who might be able to receive that. Totally. Yeah. Does that make sense?

Jess (20:05):

So the idea being that like, it can be beneficial for us, but we have to be mindful and thoughtful about kind of where and how we're letting that part of ourselves loose.

Melanie Curtis (20:14):

And the other thing I would add is this concept of safe containers. So here's the thing too, like it, maybe it's in the space itself or the workplace or something like that. Or maybe it's a safe container like your therapist, like your own life coach, like your best friends who have skills to hold space in that way. It depends

Maureen (20:38):

Like your co-host?

Melanie Curtis (20:39):

Like your co-host, See? You know what I mean? So those safe containers don't always have to be directly attached to the place where you are having trial.

Jess (20:46):

Gotcha.

Maureen (20:47):

Yeah. Now, as a keynote speaker, you mentioned, you know, coming up with the story that will resonate, that will still help you teach your message. I feel like so often at these big conferences, there's so many of the same high level messaging, right. What makes it unique? How do you find that voice for yourself? Because there's lots of people here that might wanna get into being a speaker or being a life coach.

Melanie Curtis (21:12):

I would say that everyone has a story. You know, like I am certainly my stories in skydiving are notable and I have cataloged a bunch of experiences that are sort of edge pushing and weird quote, ridiculous because I like that. But like humanity, we resonate with the most human stuff. Right? The, I keep, I said that a couple of times in the keynote about like, skydiving, we don't need to learn about skydiving. Right? It's really about what are the universal themes that are, are extracted from a story. But I am infinitely fascinated by humanity and I don't need a person to have a world record in skydiving for me to be genuinely curious about what they've experienced and what they care about.

Maureen (22:01):

But it's genuinely interesting to talk about skydiving <laugh>, because I was scared watching your video. I, I leaned over to her, I said, I'm nervous just watching this. Yes. Like I was having a visceral reaction that, and she was like, yeah. Like she did it. Right?

Jess (22:15):

<laugh>, I've went skydiving twice, but not, but in my twenties, like, you know, that's so cool. I'm 47 also, so it's been That's awesome. It's been a minute.

Melanie Curtis (22:22):

That's awesome.

Maureen (22:23):

I will not be skydiving anytime soon, ladies. But I wanted to circle back to your book. You've written three books?

Melanie Curtis (22:29):

Yes. Yes.

Maureen (22:30):

Okay.

Melanie Curtis (22:30):

The last one I co-wrote. Okay. Yeah. So I mentioned this in the talk as well about the, uh, divorce. So there was, uh, we wrote a graphic memoir called "With our Whole Broken Hearts", which is beautiful. It's such a beautiful piece. My other friend who was a part of it, she illustrated it. It's just this lovely gift that you can give to someone who's in a period of heartbreak who might feel alone. It's sort of meant to be a friend. It's this really great thing. Okay.

Jess (22:57):

Which I think that's so interesting because I found during my divorce there was a lack of resources or like, just things that made you feel good.

Melanie Curtis (23:06):

Yeah.

Jess (23:06):

People don't really like to talk about divorce.

Melanie Curtis (23:08):

Yeah. Well, and again, that's sort of part of the, like there's no shame if we're rejecting any parts of ourselves or, or harboring shame or harboring. And again, we're human. We're gonna have those experiences, we're gonna have those feelings and we need those safe containers, those teammates to work through that stuff too. Um, but ultimately I think one of my goals as a person in this world is to be seen as both my own highest healing, but also my own highest contribution. So I really feel like talking about the things that feel vulnerable to me. And again, sometimes I feel more comfortable in a public forum than I do in a private one. You know what I mean? Because I have a lot of experience. Right. You guys get that You're in a public forum all the time. It's interestingly strange how that can become almost easier Yeah. Than when you're actually doing it with your therapist or you're partner or whomever. Oh my God.

Maureen (24:04):

It's so much easier.

Melanie Curtis (24:05):

Yeah. <laugh>

Jess (24:06):

We'll make that joke about, um, did you tell your therapist about that? Oh, I can't tell her that. <laugh>. It's private <laugh>.

Melanie Curtis (24:13):

Tell her, tell her!

Jess (24:14):

Go on. Come on. Tell her.

Maureen (24:16):

Oh, that's good. That's so good. Yeah. I I can, people will be like, I aren't you nervous when you're on tv? And I'll say no. I'm like, well there's 20 million people watching the Today Show. And I'm like, Nope, not at all. But if I had to like talk to you one-on-one, I would definitely have more fear there.

Melanie Curtis (24:31):

It's fascinating.

Maureen (24:32):

You've done a million things that are scary to probably most people - maybe not Jess - but how do you manage the fear? Because you've talked about the fear and the things that hold ourselves back and all the obstacles we put in our own ways. But what are some like real tangible tips for our listeners?

Melanie Curtis (24:49):

Well, okay, so, so to ask for pragmatic, actionable things, I, if I'm leading up to something that's no joke and the world record is as good as example of this, also I ensure as best as I possibly can that I get sleep. I certainly have breathing exercises where I can interrupt and get my parasympathetic nervous system back online by having a longer exhale than my inhale that like our breath can really interrupt that fight or flight response. I post Instagram stories 'cause I'm like connecting. So that connection sort of is a little bit of a sab for my soul walking around ahead of this type of a thing. I made sure to talk to people instead of just sit alone in my chair and try to not have my throat totally close up - Right.- In fear. And again, I've done this for a long time and it still happens, so I don't feel

Jess (25:44):

Well you're forgetting the, the number one thing, the B-L-T. B-L-T! <laugh>

Maureen (25:50):

Okay. Give a little insight here. What did you...

Melanie Curtis (25:53):

How did you take the BLT story?

Jess (25:54):

So she, she told us the story. She says she eats a BLT every day <laugh> during the world record. Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.

Melanie Curtis (26:01):

Not every day.

Jess (26:01):

You'd be a thousand pounds. <laugh>

Melanie Curtis (26:02):

During the world record, uh, whole, uh, the, all the attempts. So it's a five full day experience. Okay. And so I just, anything that doesn't need my cognitive power gives me energy to execute the task at hand. So I don't wanna have to think about my lunch. I wanna be supported by my food. I put my rig on in the same way I walk to the plane in the same way I put my helmet on at the same time I sit down in the airplane the same way, the same, same, same. Anything I can control that allows me to save every ounce of my energy for the actual skydive itself. It's actually really important to do that. Otherwise you're just maxed out. It's that intense. And so yeah. The joke is BLTs, but

Jess (26:49):

Well, so there, there are two parts of it, right? So the one is like you're saying, leaving space for the things that need, need and require your energy. Not what am I gonna have for lunch? Yep. What salad dressing should I have? Should it be on the side? Blah, blah, blah, blah. Yep. And it, and so that's one part of it. And then the second part is sending that to your, your bestie. Yep. And along with a funny expression on her face as she's taking a chomp into the VLT <laugh>. So she did that twice. And then on day three, bestie sends one back. Yeah. Also in the VLT. So there's that connection there, which I love.

Melanie Curtis (27:19):

Yeah, yeah. Totally. And that's just, again, if I talk about connection and support as an amplifier to accessing our potential or as an, as an antidote to the intensity, the acuteness of fear, it works. You know what I mean? Like, and not everyone will resonate with that version of connection as being something that would bring their fear down. But I don't know about you guys. Back to the friendship thing. It helps me perform when I know that my friend loves me no matter what, maybe I will screw up the next guy dive. Maybe I'll be the one that bounces around and screws it up and I'm the only one that's out and I am humiliated Right. Per my fear. Right. Of course I would be, but

Jess (28:03):

Are you thinking of what I'm thinking? Yes. Dragon boat. So you, you tell it.

Maureen (28:08):

Okay. So we rode dragon boating together and it's a sport where you sit next to each other in each, there's 20 rows of women paddlers. Okay. And our coach put us in stroke, which is the front - Yep. - Which is the most pressure in the whole boat because you keep the rate for the entire boat.

Jess (28:21):

And I, I'm a back person. Yeah. I'm, I'm usually not actually in front of, my son calls me a basement dweller. I like to like be a behind the scenes type of person. And so he put us up there.

Maureen (28:32):

And we are n a race piece and I don't know, we're getting close to the finish and I look over it and I can see Jess's face is in full...

Jess (28:40):

Panic. I was having an panic attack,

Maureen (28:41):

Like a full blown panic. Panic attack. Yeah. Yeah. Within a few strokes from that. She's now almost in my lap.

Jess (28:46):

Yeah. I was like out of body.

Maureen (28:48):

And I'm like, I got you. I got like, I got you. Like we just looked at each other.

Jess (28:52):

You should just been like, I love you.

Maureen (28:53):

And I like - Yes. - If I wasn't paddling my face off and not being able to breathe and also in a slight blackout because when you're in the finish of a race, you're just all in. - Yes.- I just, all I could do is - All in. - like lock eyes and be like, we're gonna do this and we're gonna get across the finish line. And when once we cross the finish line, it took a few moments. Yeah.

Jess (29:12):

I was like, that wasn't for both of us. That wasn't good for me. Yeah.

Maureen (29:14):

<laugh>. But I had her and like we were, we did it together. But yeah, as soon as she told that story, I thought was thinking of that. So true.

Melanie Curtis (29:23):

It's really true. I mean, and again, lots of stuff could go into preceding that moment. Like you obviously didn't have a lot of experience doing that, so understandably you would like black out

Jess (29:34):

I felt unprepared. Yeah, yeah.

Melanie Curtis (29:35):

You would feel unprepared. So that preparation, uh, whether it's going to a skydiving training camp or me saying my keynote out loud a million times, all that stuff goes into how I have a level of both confidence and competence going into those experiences. So all that, the breathing, the food, the yada yada yada. But also yes, the connection, the friendship. What is your culture and the people around you such that you feel more emotionally safe. Yeah. People forget that part. Yeah. But it matters. Makes matters a huge difference.

Maureen (30:06):

I also wanna say something that matters just really quick is you said practicing your speech in the mirror a hundred times. I think that when people watch someone like you present who is so makes, looks so easy. Oh, they think you're just naturally just walked up there and had these stories in your back pocket. Correct. <laugh>, but in reality is correct. The production value is better when you put in the prep work. Totally. And like I said, I have an experience in live tv. I've been on the Today Show Yeah. A hundred times. And I'll tell you those anchors practice. Yeah. And they know what they're saying. They're not just up there like loosey goosey showing up every day. Yeah. I mean it's a profession and they worked for it. So the audience needs to know there's a lot of work that goes behind it being easy, hundred percent behind it looking easy, easy. Yeah. Behind it looking easy.

Melanie Curtis (30:53):

That's why I share so much on Instagram, honestly. And I'm not trying to like pin my Instagram, but seriously like, we'll call it you don't worry. That is why like genuinely, that's why I share so much there is that I am very conscious and, and aware that I don't want it to be that message. 'cause that is not inspiring. Perfection is boring a hundred percent. It's not relatable, it's not inspiring. And it's actually exclusive.

Maureen (31:18):

It's not real.

Melanie Curtis (31:18):

It excludes people because no one is perfect. None of us. Right. You know, I mean, oh God, yeah. I could go on and on about that. I just love that

Maureen (31:27):

You said that because it's just a, it is a real insight into what that ease took.

Melanie Curtis (31:32):

Yeah. A hundred percent.

Maureen (31:35):

Well, before we solve all the world problems, <laugh>, there's a lot to get through just in the day to day. Maybe even like when you, I know you had a hype song when you got up on that stage. I loved it. It was so good. That was a good one. That was a good one. Did you choose that?

Melanie Curtis (31:47):

Yes.

Maureen (31:48):

All right. Tell us what it is.

Melanie Curtis (31:50):

I chose Legends. This is how Legends are made. Yes. Look it up on Spotify people.

Maureen (31:55):

It was solid, solid, solid choice. Now maybe not a hype song, but maybe a piece of advice you've been given along the way that sticks with you. Or do you have a daily mantra or something that you can share with our listeners? Well,

Melanie Curtis (32:06):

A daily mantra, the truth is, I'll tell you what I actually am doing recently. I'm obviously a big experimenter on myself and what I like to do, so what I've been doing recently is there's this amazing Joe Dispenza wake up meditation that's centered around abundance and love. And just like beau, like all this beautifulness, which again is a terrible word, but whatever you, you're with it, we got you. And I'm just, it's full of these amazing affirmations that I didn't have to think up, you know what I mean? So that's one thing where I think there are so many really great resources out there like that. Uh, I would recommend people check it out. It's really quite good. And I'm enjoying filling my brain with 18 full minutes of those affirmations. It's really good stuff. The other thing I'm gonna say, which is a little bit more connected to something we talked about earlier is when we come up, this is like, how do you prepare for doing these hard things?

Melanie Curtis (33:04):

The other thing that I do is I think very specifically about what is the thing I am afraid of? Like if on a skydive this world record, I'm afraid that I am going to not get in on time and therefore we don't get a world record or whatever. I affirm myself in ways that specifically target that fear. And I also believe, so my position on the world record, for example, I was diving last out of the lead aircraft, you don't know what that means. But the point is, is I would have to dive really, really far, really, really fast and I'd have to get there. And so there's like distance for me to cover, but like I can do that. And so I would affirm myself like I know I can do that. Like affirm where I had confidence already that allowed me to just right. Shave that off. So what I would invite, invite your listeners into is like, what is the thing that is specifically bothering you? What is specifically painting you causing you suffering? And then try to work with that to find something specific for you.

Maureen (34:12):

I love it. Melanie, this was such a pleasure to have you on. She What? - She what? - <laugh> Thank you so much for being here.

Jess (34:19):

We loved it.

Melanie Curtis (34:19):

Thank you. I'm so thrilled. I loved it.

Jess (34:22):

Let's go skydiving. <laugh>.

Maureen (34:23):

Let's go diving. Yes. Well, we cannot wait to see what you do next.

Jess (34:28):

That was epic.

Maureen (34:31):

I love her.

Jess (34:32):

Oh my gosh. She is incredible. And I'm ready to get in that airplane and watch her skydive.

Maureen (34:38):

Not me. <laugh> 100% won't be jumping out of a plane. But I promise to myself after that I will be a little bit braver. I think if more people could just push themself outside their comfort zone, even the tiniest bit, their life would be so much bigger.

Jess (34:54):

I think it's so easy to misconstrue what she's all about, that she's all about being in this big daredevil and skydiver and she is all those things. But she also finds bravery in the little things and like the vulnerability and sharing her feelings and the heartbreak. And I think if we could all find that skydiver within, we could do pretty much anything.

Maureen (35:13):

Let's jump.

Jess (35:14):

<laugh>. Let's do it. She what comes to you from Real Woman Magazine, A product of Capital Health. This episode was produced by Leigh Iacobucci with music by Epidemic Sound.

Maureen (35:27):

Please, please leave us a rating and review. We want the show to be so great and we need you to help us do that. So follow, subscribe, and next time bring your friends too. Until then, I'm Maureen Petrosky.

Jess (35:39):

And I'm Jess Downey.