From Burnout to Purpose, Trusting Faith over Security, and Leaving a 6-Figure Income, with Dr. Melissa Hill

What would it take for you to walk away from a successful six-figure career and trust that God has something even greater waiting on the other side?

In this inspiring episode of Unapologetic Leadership, Cory Dunham sits down with Dr. Melissa Hill, former federal chemist, CEO, transition coach, and founder of CREME Consultants, to explore what it really means to leave comfort behind and pursue your God-given calling. After more than two decades in a successful career, Melissa recognized the signs of burnout, stepped away from financial security, and followed a path of faith that transformed both her life and the lives of the people she now serves.

Together, they discuss recognizing the difference between a paycheck and a purpose, overcoming fear during life's biggest transitions, trusting God's timing, managing stress and distractions, building daily discipline, finding clarity through prayer, and embracing change as an opportunity for growth rather than something to fear. Melissa also shares practical leadership lessons on staying grounded during uncertainty, making decisions through faith instead of fear, and discovering that true success comes from serving others with the gifts God has given you.

If you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed, burned out, or questioning whether you're living the life you were created for, this conversation will encourage you to trust the process, embrace the pivot, and confidently step into the purpose God has prepared for you.

About Dr. Melissa D. Hill

Dr. Melissa D. Hill is a visionary leader, author, speaker, certified insight and transition coach who empowers individuals to move from where they are to where they are called to be, personally, professionally, and spiritually, turning vision into value. She serves as CEO of MDH Mortgage, a purpose-driven company focused on equipping individuals and communities through consumer and commercial finance solutions.

Melissa also serves on multiple nonprofit boards and is the Founder and Executive Director of The CAN Foundation, helping address wealth disparity through homeownership, entrepreneurship, education, legacy-building, and philanthropy. As the creator of the DREAM PRINT™ Method and founder of CREME Consultants, she has built transformational frameworks that help others discover purpose, build lasting legacies, and create generational impact.

Her mission is simple: "My dream is to make your dream happen."

Connect with Dr. Melissa

Website: www.drmelissadhill.com
Email: contact@drmelissadhill.com
Phone: 678-573-2902

Follow Dr. Melissa Hill on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Substack: @drmelissadhill 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Unapologetic Leadership. If you felt stressed, overwhelmed, wrestling with the imposter syndrome, wondering if you're just not good enough, then this podcast is for you. So here's your host, Corey Dunham.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Welcome to this episode of Unapologetic Leadership, where I have Dr. Melissa Hill from chemist to CEO, transition coach, dream alchemist, burnout professional who chose purpose over paychecks. Welcome, Melissa.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Welcome, welcome. That's a mouthful, right, Corey?

SPEAKER_01 0:44

But it's all true. It's all true.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Yes, it is. Yes, it is. First and foremost, let me thank you for allowing the opportunity to come on the show and share a little bit about myself and what I do. Like you mentioned, my name is Dr. Melissa D. Heel, and I work in both the wealth and the wellness industry. Now that seems to be polar opposites when you look at it at first, but when you take a deeper dive, it's not very different because wealth and wellness all have value. So I am a CEO of MDH Mortgage, but I'm also the founder of Krim Consultants. And in both places, both roles, I deal with value. You know, the tangible value when you're looking at real estate and property ownership, but then also the intangible, intrinsic value that every individual has on the inside of them. And when we talk about value, we're talking about equity. And when you learn how to tap into equity, whether it's tangible or intangible, and learn how to build and accumulate that, that's when we talk about leaving wealth for our legacy. And that is what I'm all about.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

That sounds fantastic. Now, now tell me about your background a little bit. How did you get to this point in your life with these differences with mortgage, wealth, value? How did you come about all of that?

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Well, I started off, believe it or not, as a chemist straight out of high school. I got recruited by the federal government, and I was a regulatory chemist for over 20 years. And my transition actually started when I purchased my first home. I got the first-time home buyer bug, and I was giddy and excited, and I was thinking in my mind, I think I like this. But you know, the feeling faded away, but I had to relocate shortly thereafter, a couple of years after, and I went through the home buying process again, and that same feeling rose up on the inside of me, and I said, okay, this is just not, you know, the first time home buyer vibes. This is something that I think I'm really, you know, passionate about. And I began to explore it, and I pursued getting my real estate license as well as my loan originator license while I was still employed with the federal government. Well, the Lord spoke as he normally does, and he told me to go, you know, and so I packed up everything on a whim, left my comfy six-figure job, and transitioned over into the mortgage industry, which you know is mostly commission-based. And so I really stepped out on faith. And that transition, that major pivot is really what has gotten me into becoming a transition coach. Because once I had a lot of my friends and my colleagues who I worked with previously saw how I pivoted and I was successful, they would reach out to me, well, how do you do this? How do you do that? And when I helped them, they said, you know, you really, really should help other people do it. And so in August, I launched Krim Consultants, and that is what we do. We help people pivot, we help people transition and help them, you know, find and walk in their collin.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

That's awesome. I think that's amazing. And I hear many different stories like that, especially after the pandemic, where either there was downsizing, right sizing, or people just looking for new opportunities. And I know it's mentioned in your tagline that, you know, you chose or you had burnout. You were burnt out, and you chose purpose over paychecks. And tell me about that, you know, in terms of being burnt out. What did that look like for you? Because as I was saying just a second ago, there's a lot of people who have transitioned from what they used to do in a corporate environment and now they're going off on their own. It's a different ball game. It's a different ball game. But first, tell me about the the burnout situation, if you don't mind.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, my pivot came in 2016, and the burnout was no fulfillment. You really just did not like going into work. There's no no nice way to put it. You really, really did not like going into work. You uh did not like, you know, the politics that sometimes comes with, you know, corporate America, and just did not feel that fulfillment that I originally had. And like I said, when I went into the home buy-in process, it sparked something on the inside, that feeling that I used to have, you know, while when I first came into the chemistry field, and it did not go away. And so that's why I began to explore. And I think that's typically how it happens is a passion that you have on the inside of you that lays dormant, but something triggers it and sparks it, and you realize okay, this is different. This is the feeling that I should feel every day in my regular vocation. And once that spark ignites on the inside of you, it's hard to ignore, you know, and so you have to pursue it because we're all created for something specific in this world. And once you realize what that is, there is nothing else that is going to satisfy you until you step into that calling and fulfill it.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

I love that because I felt I had the same thing going on with myself as I've been in the workforce for 40 years now, since 1986. And I only had one set of goals, which was make money, make a ton of money, and that was it. And for a short period when I was younger, it kind of filled me up, like, ooh, I'm able to get stuff and things, and then eventually take care of my family and with my wife, those types of things. But then over time, like you said, there's that spark inside, like, ooh, this is kind of getting old. I feel like I'm just getting up to get up, and there's no purpose, no fulfillment. And that's also led me also as my as I've been in marketing for 30 plus years, and then also associating with and advising executive leaders and teams and business owners for a long period of time. And I was like, oh, that that actually gets me excited because helping other people allowed me to see some of my dream and that calling, as you said, that God has given me, but I've kind of kept down. I'm like, hey, no, God, don't worry about it. I got this. I know what I'm doing. Until things started happening, they were just totally out of my control. I thought I was in control, and I was like, okay, no, I never have been. God's been empowering me this whole time and leading me and protecting me, but I never looked at that. And then I was like, nope, let me listen to you, God, let me look to your guidance. So that that whole idea of fulfillment is, I think, so important. And I think more people, which you're in a great spot, more people are looking to create that fulfillment instead of this mindless, I'm just doing these tasks, I'm not fulfilling my purpose, or I'm just fulfilling somebody else's purpose. And I just don't feel aligned with that. So I appreciate you saying those things, and it's amazing how many times our challenges help us, as you say, spark some of those flames that are sitting in there, but we've just never put much attention to it, or we've never had, or we've been too distracted. Do you feel you've been distracted like a lot of your career, or we're just part of a process? Because you're leaving a six-figure job or career to do that. It's like, oh my goodness. A lot of people are like, What are you doing? What are you doing? Yeah, but like you said, you're fulfilling your calling.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Yes, and I did get that. I got that a lot. But the key indication, the key difference, and you said it, you move from personal goals, you move from those selfish goals until your calling is never about you, it's about someone else. The gifts that God put on the inside of you are for someone else, and you will know when you make that pivot, when you're in the right place, because what you do for others becomes more important than what you do for yourself. And you know, the word of God says that your gifts will make room for you. So as long as you're utilizing those gifts to help others, then he opens doors and windows of opportunity to make sure that you are provided for. And so I would say, go back to your original question. Yes, I do feel like that. I feel like there was a lot of distractors because, of course, we understand that, like there is God, there is the adversary. And the adversary does not want you to fulfill your calling or to fulfill your path. So there will be distraction to try to get you off of that path. And so I will say, yes, there were distractors, and there's always the enemy's voice, the internal dialogue to say, you are crazy, you know nothing about this industry. Why would you do this? Why would you leave this? Because I was in school an extensive period of time. I received my bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degree in chemistry. So you think you put all that time into this one industry, into this one profession, and you walk away. It sounds ludicrous, but again, the word of God says he'll use the foolish things to confine the wise.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Yes, yes, yes. That is so true. Yeah, and that is so amazing, too. How God, you know, the ways of God are not the ways of man or the logic. It makes no sense sometimes, but God knows what he's doing, and his will is going to happen.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

So no, I think that's awesome. Yeah, that is a great point about you investing a lot of your career and education toward chemistry, and a lot of people feel that way. Ooh, and I forget if it's called there's a term for that. I can't remember if it's called sunk cost bias, but basically it's just that whenever you've invested in something, most people want to try to get some type of an outcome or the results from that area. So they feel bad if they change. And it does make sense to a degree. We only have so much time, so much money, so many resources. So we have to be good stewards of those things. However, as you said, when God puts that calling in your heart and it just feels so aligned, it just makes so much sense. And other people may not see your vision because it's your vision, it's your calling, and others may not see it as you alluded to. Some people are like, Oh, Melissa, what are you doing? What are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Yes, but you said something key. We only have so much time. So when God shows you the correct path, then you have to pivot, you know, because the clock is forever ticking. Time is the one thing that we cannot get back. And you want to spend the most amount of time on this earth doing what God has called you and created you to do.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Mm-hmm. Yes, yes. So agreed. And that's what's taking me a long time, like I was telling you earlier. Just I learned from a lot of those years, and I look back and can take a lot of the extract a lot of the learnings from it. But when I look at it, I was, and you kind of said this too at the beginning. You're like, I was sitting back, enjoying my six-figure income, and it was called, I think you said the word comfortable. And I've had years like that too, and I'm like, oh, this feels so awesome. And then at some point it doesn't. It's like, okay, this feels like such a waste of time and energy. Just, you know, the some of the things we're doing and the what we're producing. And I don't, not that I don't think, but we are not put here to just sit on top of money or just get all the money in the world so we can travel and buy the homes and all the other stuff. But we are here for a purpose. And it's not to necessarily, I don't personally believe in retirement at this point. And if we call it retirement, I just look at it as a definition of how I spend my time and the different things I'll be doing. But it's not like I'm gonna sit back and watch TV all day or whatever, sit at the beach. I'll do that part of the time. But I'll be active and serving people, serving others, which, like you said earlier, when you are aligned and you're taking action on your calling, it serves others, but then there's still space for you to have enjoyment and fulfillment. So I think that's a pretty powerful thing and sometimes a huge mind shift for a lot of people to think, ooh, I can be pursuing what God wants me to do, and I'll be happy, I'll be fulfilled, and I'll be serving other people too.

SPEAKER_02 14:29

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You're absolutely correct. You're absolutely correct. And when you're walking in that calling and in your passion, you can get caught up and do not realize how much time has gone has passed because you are doing something that you love. And I totally agree with your definition of retirement, but because you're in that passionate place in your life, you're not constantly checking the time. Oh, you know, I got two hours before I get off. It's not like that, it is totally, totally different. And the sooner you find that passion, the sooner you find that calling, the sooner you can come in alignment, and everything in your life begins to align up as well, too. Because a lot of times we are frustrated, we are stressed out, and we have no idea. When I left my government job, because I'm based here in Atlanta, and that was before we had out this remote work. So I was going in every day, driving into Midtown and having to deal with Atlanta traffic. I don't know if you've ever been to Atlanta, but Atlanta traffic is horrendous. So I did not really understand how I was dysfunctional with dealing with stress, because I had to. And when I walked away, I was like, oh my gosh, I just felt this heaviness lift off of me. Because even just getting into the workplace was a battle because you had to battle, you know, the traffic. And then you have the battles that you deal with right there in the workplace. No matter where you work, no place is perfect, but there's always those things that you have to deal with that sometimes are not even work-related, um, that come up just because you have a lot of different personalities, a lot of different people working together.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Yes. Yeah, I think that's so true. And when you talk about stress, one of the best ways to get rid of some of that stress is to literally or physically be in a different environment or move yourself from that environment, whether it's working remotely instead of in the office, or if you're at home or you have your own home office, getting out of your chair, getting away from that screen time or your laptop, and actually getting outside of the house, taking a walk, or just going in a different environment and having those times when you can get away physically, because it takes your mind off of all the surrounding environment, the reminders of it, and all the other things. That's one of the best ways, at least I've found, and that I also coach people on and when I coach them on hey, how do you set up your day so that it fuels you and energizes you so you're not, like you said, checking the time because you just got into the office from that Atlanta traffic. You're like, wait, is it time to go home yet? Oh, I just got here, I forgot. But yeah, and that could be anything in our world. So that's a good point you mentioned just about the stress. And then any other techniques that you may use or suggest to people in terms of how do they manage a lot of the distractions in their life? Because one of the biggest or a couple of the biggest things I feel is just the screen time, you know, TikTok, YouTube, all this stuff that's unending. And then we end up having this algorithm that just shoots to us things that we're mostly interested in, and we'll have a few things that maybe we're not, because somehow it's maybe testing out, hey, are you interested in this too? And it's continually realizing that we as human beings tend to change after a while because, like you said, you tend to get bored or disinterested or uninterested. So, do you have any suggestions as to how people can manage that distractions? And I don't know if that's what you feel, the same thing. Is it mostly screen time? Do you feel the distractions, or it could be other things that people deal with?

SPEAKER_02 18:40

I do think that black hole of social media is real. It is truly real, but I think you almost made me spit this coffee up. But also, you have to start each day being intentional and being disciplined. Um, I myself find social media to be something that I use to decompress after the end of a long day because it is entertaining, but also you have to put parameters on there. Okay, I'm going to use this, I'll scroll, but okay, I'm only gonna do it for an hour. And I think the distractors are handled by structure. That's how you handle it. You must have structure in your life, and people do have structure their lives in different ways. I know some individuals, they must schedule every hour of the day out, and they work well with that, knowing what they're doing all throughout the day. I am more task-oriented. In order for me to feel like I have had a successful day, I have to have accomplished three things off of my task list. And I normally keep my task in outlook. You know, you have the to-do list over to the side of your email. I keep it forward-facing. So I know, okay, these are the items that I need to do. And so just having some form of structure, having intentionality and having discipline, those are the main things that help with distractions. And also your faith. You have to be rooted and grounded, have faith as the foundation. Because no matter how much structure you have, no matter how much discipline you have, no matter how much intentionality you have, there are going to be things that come in your life that's going to knock the breath out of you. And how do you stay anchored? How do what do you do when the storm comes? You have to have that faith that you can go to, that you can lean into, and you can get that clarity that you need, and you can get that direction and the instructions to help you pivot through those critical moments in life.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Yeah, no, that's great going back to your core values. And for I know for me, and I feel for you too, that the core values are from our faith and from scripture. And I was gonna say it makes things so simple because when you're in alignment with that, it's very clear to make decisions that come your way. Rather than if you're more distracted, you're not as grounded in your faith and those values, then it's very difficult to make decisions because you are just anything can work, any choice can pretty much work. So I find that to be very, very good point. And when people are dealing with all these different changes or not feeling as grounded, because I know in your tagline it also says dream alchemist. Where does courage come in? I don't know if you felt like you had to develop courage or had to have courage to make some of these choices when you were shifting or transitioning to a different career in the industry, or how do you suggest that you you know that people handle that when it comes to courage? Because it's scary. It's scary to make some of these decisions.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

It is, it is, and I Would not use the word courage. I would still use the word faith because anything that you that you do, you have to have faith in order to pursue it. And I don't want people to get the wrong perception or the wrong idea that, okay, after you make the decision to follow your calling, that everything just falls in place and you know exactly what to do each day. That is not true. Each day, each week, each month, each year, there are going to be things that pop up and you don't know what to do. You're not sure. But you know, you follow your faith, you speak to the Lord, and you know, seek guidance and whatnot. But sometimes the Lord is quiet. Let's just be honest. Sometimes He's quiet. And in those quiet times, if you have done everything that you know to do, you've consulted with God, you looked at, you weighed everything out, and it's time for you to make a decision, then be confident in the decision that you make, knowing that there is no wrong decision. What do I mean that there is no wrong decision? Because every decision you make is a decision that's going to lead to growth. It might lead to monetary growth, or it might lead to growth in wisdom, but every moment is a teachable moment in life. And let me just give you an example of something that happened before I logged on. So, the mortgage industry, I have a client, and we had cleared all her conditions except for one, and this was going to affect her debt-to-income ratio. We just found out about it yesterday from the underwriter, and I was like, oh my goodness, what am I going to do? And so in my prayer time early this morning, the Lord gave me a strategy. I was like, oh, that is so simple. And so I reached out to the client this morning before I logged down. She gave me the documentation that I needed, and easy fix. But it was in my prayer time when I was consulting God that he gave me the strategy. So, you know, talk to God. You know, he wants to hear from us. And when you talk to him, he's he is all knowing. You know, our minds are finite, he knows everything. And so when you have doubt, just see God. See God.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

I think that's amazing because I've had some of those moments also, and I'm so shocked, just like you were, that oh my god, why didn't I think of this a second ago? But when you get so simplified and clear, and you just have this one way with God, and you have quiet time, it is so amazing what it can do, which is also goes to the whole idea of if we're always. I have a friend who he works in a high school and you know he's been teaching in high school for a long time. But he says, back in the day, 40, 50 years ago, before we had the internet, back since the early 90s, all we had was very limited environments. We had our school environment that was interacting with us, then we either had after-school activities, and then our family life or our neighborhood. And he said that was so simple. And we could decompress, we could bring in this information we learned from the day, and we had time to shut down, to internalize it, to figure things out, all kinds of things. And obviously, if you're a Christian and you're speaking to God and praying and in worship time, then that also is huge and tremendous and is number one. But just the outer world stuff that's going on. But he says nowadays, kids and all of us now who are on our devices don't have much time to decompress or internalize or make sense of because we're always intaking, intaking, intaking, instead of having this better balance of intake process, intake process. And it's the same thing if somebody's if you think about a workout physically exercising. If you worked out 10 hours a day, that's just probably not going to be healthy for you. You need to have the other side of that, which is the rest period in order to grow and learn.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

So absolutely, absolutely. And you are so correct because we have all these stimulators, outside stimulators, you know, that catch our attention. So you have to be intentional about taking that time and you know, unplugging, detoxing, fasting, however you do it, because you do not want to be overstimulated. You have to have that time to yourself to reset, to realign.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

Yeah. No, I think that's great. What is one of the uh biggest leadership lessons that you've learned?

SPEAKER_02 26:58

One of the biggest leadership lessons that I have learned is change is constant. Change is constant. And as soon as you get comfortable with change, then you will learn how to navigate the ebbs and flows of life. You know that it's not always going to be positive, you know it's not always going to be negative, but when that change comes, if you are the anchor, if you stay stable, if you stay peaceful, then it changes how long you stay in a chaotic situation and it changes the response of the people around you. Because if you are a leader, people are looking up to you, they're going to mirror your response. So if you are anchored in stability, you anchored in calmness, then they will feed off of whatever they see you do. So just know that change is inevitable. But as soon as it's bad, guess what? It's a cycle, it'll be good.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Ah, I think that's a great point to mention is that whole having perspective because it's just not in these moments or this week or this year. Just like, you know, if we take a look how God is seeing everything from the beginning to the end, it's like, oh my gosh, this is a cycle. And I've heard other people say that yeah, either you're going into a bad situation or bad timing, or you're in a bad situation, or you're coming out of a bad situation. Exactly. But it's a cycle, so yeah, I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

Yeah. So I want to thank you, Dr. Melissa Hill, for just being here, sharing a lot of great tips, sharing what you do, and just thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 28:52

Thank you for having me. I really, really enjoyed it. I appreciate it. I thank you for allowing me to share what I do, and I hope that you and the listeners are excited for the new season that you're getting ready to pivot and transition to.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. Now, let me know a couple things. One is what are people thinking when they would want to then reach out to you to get help, and then also to the best way they can connect with you.

SPEAKER_02 29:23

When they're thinking, they're either number one, idle, number two, barren, or number three, confused. They're idle because they have been stuck and they have not decided to make a move. They're barren because they have not decided to pursue their calling or don't know how, and the confusion comes, they want to pursue their calling and don't know where to start. And so if they're feeling either of those places, I want them first to know that congratulations, you're in a good place. All you have to do is to make the first step. And you don't have to make that first step by yourself. I am here to help you along the way. And you can reach me at Dr. Melissa D. Heel on all social media platforms. I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, or you can reach me at my website, drmelissa dheel.com.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

Awesome. Thank you. Thank you very much. And I want to thank you for listening to this episode of Unapologetic Leadership, where Militia shared so many great tips and especially the whole idea of scheduling what you're doing in your day and being intentional so you can be super focused during those moments, and which also allows for you to eliminate some of those distractions. Also, it's important to have your faith, have those grounded principles, those core principles that guide you in everything you do. And remember that change is the only thing that's constant. And I used to hate that when I would hear that. But as she said, when you get comfortable with it and you realize that, you can realize that those changes are for you, they're for your growth, and trust God and the wisdom that He's given you with all of these. So stay in prayer, stay in devotion, continue to worship God and worship God and take those times for yourself so you're not always being inundated with input, input, input. Take time to have that balance so you can reflect and process. Thank you again for being here.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

So that's it for today's episode of Unapologetic Leadership. Head on over to wherever you listen to podcasts and subscribe to the show. One lucky listener every single week that posts a review on Apple Podcasts or iTunes will win a chance the grand prize drawing to win a twenty-five thousand dollar private VIP day with Corey Dunham himself. So head on over to Unapologetic Leadership Podcast dot com and pick up a free copy of Corey's gift. And join us on the next episode.