The Achievement Fulfillment Gap
Why success arrives and still feels unfinished, and what high achievers are actually chasing.
Keynote · 45 minFor: Leadership offsites, founder communities, professional associations
Book Melissa
Available for podcasts, stages and commentary.
A sitting elected official, international speaker and Business Journal 40 Under 40 winner, Melissa speaks on leadership, resilience and achievement, and on the fear underneath the striving: that if we ever stop achieving, we'll stop being valued.
Speaking topics
Seven talks. One question underneath.
Each can run as a keynote, fireside or workshop, and every one is tailored to the room. Formats listed are the ones that work best.
The Five Ps of Purposeful Achievement: How to Be a Fulfilled Achiever
A practical framework for high achievers who want the wins to mean something. Five principles for pursuing ambitious goals without losing the point of them.
Keynote · Workshop
Leadership under pressure
Decisions when the plan stops working. Lessons from city hall and open water.
Keynote · Workshop
Compound Ambition
How small, steady bets build into an extraordinary career, and why it matters what you choose to compound.
Keynote · Fireside
Ambition and identity
Who are you when the next thing isn't there? Untangling the self from the scoreboard.
Keynote · Podcast
Endurance sport and mental toughness
Twelve hours in cold water, and what it teaches about pacing a career.
Keynote · Fireside
Women in elected office
Running, losing, running again. Commentary from a sitting Vice Mayor.
Panel · Commentary
Rooms she’s spoken in
- World Trade Organization
- European Commission
- European Parliament
- USC Annenberg School of Communications
- UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
- Global Summit of the Americas
What hosts say
“Melissa doesn't perform resilience, she interrogates it. Our room went completely quiet.”
“One of the most honest conversations we've recorded about ambition. Listeners wrote in for weeks.”
Inquire
Book Melissa
Melissa Blaustein went from losing an election to becoming the youngest mayor in her city's history, and from failing an English Channel swim by two miles to completing it two weeks later.
She's completing a memoir that asks why so many high achievers arrive at success and still feel unfinished.
Her work and story have been featured in the New York Times, ABC News, TechCrunch, and The Economist, and she's spoken at venues including the World Trade Organization and European Parliament.
Prefer email? hello@melissablaustein.com