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Speak In Flow

Melinda Lee

How loud is your inner critic?

Would you love to silence the inner critic and develop the skills to Speak in Flow?

After a decade of studying the state of flow, Melinda Lee has found the actionable and practical steps for heart-centred leaders to develop their communication confidence. Melinda helps leaders like you overcome their fear of public speaking and transform self-doubt into confidence & freedom, so they can exponentially increase their impact with heart and ease.

We all have an internal dial of authentic strength, and when we learn to turn it up in spite of our circumstances, people feel and hear us, and our world changes.

That is the power of our voice. When we Speak in Flow:

· We feel free to be ourselves.
· We speak from the heart.
· We can connect with our audience
· We feel more in alignment with our purpose.
· Other people are attracted to us, and more opportunities show up!

There are many ways to manifest authority, abundance and influence. What I stand for and love doing is empowering others to get in touch with their heart, tune into their intuition, and communicate their truth. This is Speak in Flow.

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  • 23 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 29 min
  • English

Episodes 23

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  • S2 · E159
    May 14 · 32 min

    From a One-Man Show to $12 Billion Projects

    Are you a CEO who still finds yourself overwhelmed, unable to step away without things falling apart? In this Episode of The Speak In Flow Podcast with Melinda Lee, Oscar Zavaleta, founder and CEO of Montez Group, shares his journey from running a one-person operation to leading a team of 35 on billion-dollar infrastructure projects, such as the $12.5 billion VTA Silicon Valley megaproject. If you're a leader who cares deeply about quality but feels trapped by your own involvement, this episode will change how you think about letting go. In This Episode, You Will Learn: The Cost of Owning Everything “The hardest part is to say, you know what? I don't need to own it.” Why starting as a one-person show creates a dangerous pattern, and how to break the cycle before your company stagnates. How to Trust Your Team Without Losing Quality “If you break something, we'll fix it.” The mindset shift that allows you to empower people, even when real financial risk is on the line. Why Training Creates Leadership “If you put somebody completely unprepared, that spirit gets beaten down, and then it's hard to build up.” How investing in your people's preparation builds their confidence and their ability to lead. Communication as Rocket Fuel, Not a Soft Skill What becomes possible when your whole team can speak about your company with one consistent voice. ________________________________ You can’t delegate to a team that isn’t working toward the same goal. So, before you consider lightening your workload, ask yourself: “Is my team ready for the responsibility? And how can I tell?” Learn how to identify misalignment in our latest blog post. "Identifying Misalignment. Is your team not working toward the same goal?" ________________________________ About the Guest: Oscar Zavaleta is the founder and CEO of Montez Group, a construction management firm headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Long Beach and Seattle. Born in El Salvador, he earned his Civil Engineering degree from Santa Clara University and has since worked on iconic projects, including SoFi Stadium and the $12.5 billion VTA Silicon Valley megaproject. Oscar is passionate about mentoring the next generation of leaders and dedicates time to supporting industry nonprofits in workforce development, construction management, and transportation. His philosophy? Hire great people, train them well, and then get out of their way. Social Handles Website: www.montezgroup.com Fun Facts: 🏃‍♂️ Oscar is a dedicated runner and casual golfer. ✈️ He loves to travel and read. 🪑 In his spare time, he makes furniture. ________________________________ About Melinda: Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach, and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results. She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and has worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence. Website: https://speakinflow.com/ Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflow Instagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflow LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerall Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcast review. Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

    • Transcript
  • S2 · E158
    May 12 · 27 min

    30-Year Sales Leader Reveals the Truth About Startup Growth

    What if the biggest obstacle to scaling your startup isn't your strategy, but your inability to let go? In this episode of the Speak In Flow podcast, host Melinda Lee sits down with Chris Sterbenc, fractional CRO with over 30 years of experience scaling companies from sub-$1 million to double-digit millions. Together, they unpack why even seasoned leaders struggle with accountability, and how “busyness” often masks a lack of clarity that quietly kills growth. If you're a first-time founder or a CEO who feels like you're still doing a little bit of everything, this episode is your roadmap to installing simple systems. In This Episode, You Will Learn: Why Accountability Breaks Down “Especially for startup companies and CEOs that are first-time founders, in that they're doing a little bit of everything, And so a lot of mistakes get made, and sometimes they're really avoidable.” Chris explains why startup CEOs often fail to set clear expectations because they're doing everything themselves, and how that leads to blurred lines, finger-pointing, and missed numbers. How to Delegate Without Micromanaging “Carve off pieces of your world to specialists, but know where the lines begin and end.” Discover how to give your team a clear mission, defined boundaries, and the freedom to execute without meddling or hovering. One Simple Shift to Build Accountability as a Culture “Take the time, make sure both people are exactly on the same page.” Slow down. Document expectations. Use AI tools to record and clarify action items. Chris shares how taking just two extra minutes to confirm “who, what, and when” can prevent the most common breakdowns in execution. What Becomes Possible When Communication Is a System Less friction. More collaboration. A “frictionless environment” where people openly say, “I'm failing at this, help me fix it,” instead of hoping no one notices. That's the ceiling, and it's higher than most founders realize. _________________________________________ A startup's growth is threatened by more than just accountability. Misalignment is right around the corner. What's the solution to both? Communication. Understanding where the problem lies is the first step. Learn how to identify misalignment in our latest blog post. "Identifying Misalignment. Is your team not working toward the same goal?" _________________________________________ About the Guest: Chris Sterbenc is a fractional CRO and sales leadership veteran. Since 1990, he has helped scale multiple high-growth startups from sub-$1 million to double-digit millions, with several of those companies going public or being acquired, including Infrascale (acquired by Route 66), FreedomVoice (acquired by GoDaddy), Axcient (acquired by eFolder), and more. Today, he coaches first-time founder CEOs through his fractional CRO practice, Scale Up Accelerator Group, where he helps install foundational sales and go-to-market processes so startups can scale without chaos. Social Handles LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissterbencsalesleadercro/ Fun Facts: ⛳ He's a lifelong sports enthusiast and still plays "a ton of golf," traveling the country by gravel road to discover new courses. 🍺 He's a huge foodie and loves exploring local microbrews and cuisine wherever he goes. 🏃‍♂️ He's had to "cool it on the more vigorous sports" as the mileage on his body adds up, but that hasn't slowed his competitive spirit. _____________________________________ About Melinda: Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach, and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results. She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and has worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence. Website: https://speakinflow.com/ Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflow Instagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflow LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerall Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcast review. Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

    • Transcript
  • S2 · E157
    May 7 · 44 min

    The 3 Words Killing Your Team's Execution

    Excessive corporate jargon and endless meetings have caused many team members to tune out, even during important meetings. So it's no surprise that, although everyone initially agrees on the plan, friction between teams begins as soon as the work starts. In this practical episode of the Speak In Flow podcast, host Melinda Lee sits down with strategic communications expert Eileen Wixted to diagnose why alignment breaks down, and exactly how to fix it. Eileen debunks the myth that communication is a "soft skill," revealing why it's actually a hard, hardwirable discipline as critical as math or science. In This Episode, You Will Learn: Why "Clear is Kind" Isn't Just a Saying “High-performing teams have a high-performing communication culture. You cannot have one without the other.” How leaders waste time, energy, and money communicating after solving problems, and the simple shift to putting communication at the center of every decision. Alignment vs. Agreement “You don't have to agree. But once the decision is made, you align and carry the flag.” A masterclass in how executive teams can debate fiercely, then move forward as one. The PEAR Model for High-Stakes Communication “A high-performing leadership team begins with its ability to communicate well.” A practical framework (People, Environment, Assets, Reputation) to assess any crisis or sensitive situation, even when you have no time to prepare. Tabletop Drills Are the New Crisis Plans Why 120-page binders don't work anymore, and how running short, injection-based crisis simulations prepares your team for real-world chaos. _________________________________ "Soft" problems often have hard consequen ces, and misalignment is one of them. The main problem is that it is difficult to spot without training and is often confused with a lack of motivation or accountability. Can you clearly identify when your team is misaligned? Learn how to identify misalignment in our latest blog post. "Identifying Misalignment. Is your team not working toward the same goal?" _________________________________ About the Guest: Eileen Wixted is a nationally recognized strategic communications and crisis management veteran and the principal of Wixted & Company. A former Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist. Her firm has been named an Agency Elite Top 120 Firm by PRNews for four consecutive years, and she was named the Des Moines Business Record's 2016 Woman Business Owner of the Year. Today, she helps executives find the courage and the words to communicate in a way that builds understanding, trust, and lasting alignment, because as she puts it, "you can make great business decisions, but if you don't know how to communicate them, they will never get implemented." Social Handles Website: https://www.thinkwixted.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-wixted-97b4796/ Fun Facts: 🍝 Eileen is originally from Brooklyn, New York, and brings that direct, no-nonsense style to everything she does. 🍽️ Her first job was as a waitress at a Coney Island diner, where you could not write anything down or use a tray to carry the food. Arms only! 🕺 She also won the Big Daddy's disco contest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Yes, really.) _________________________________ About Melinda: Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach, and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results. She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and has worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence. Website: https://speakinflow.com/ Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflow Instagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflow LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerall Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcast review. Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

    • Transcript
Showing 21–23 of 23 episodes