Read what my clients think about working with me.

Hot Bird TV Awards - Nov 09

Melissa, you did a terrific job at our HOT BIRD TV Awards in Venice in
November. We can't thank you enough. It was quite a challenge to host an
international event assembling television executives from France,
Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia and the UK, just to name some of
the countries represented. You drove the event with verve and
enthusiasm, making everyone who went on stage feel special, and
contributing to giving all of us an evening to remember. Thank you once
again and good luck for a continuing stellar career as an utterly
professional presenter.

Vanessa O'Connor - Director of Corporate Communications

Property Forum Dinner - Oct 09

Melissa, I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you very much for running our panel session the Property Forum Dinner last week. I felt you energized the room and generated a lot of engagement from the tables and kept the debate moving swiftly through a wide range of issues. You brought a fresh approach to the 14th Dinner, one I am sure will help attract much positive feedback and encourage many back to next years event.

It was a pleasure to meet you and I hope our paths will cross again very soon.

Stuart Pearce - Managing Director

Rous Iland A/W 09 Fashion Show

"Melissa, we just cannot thank you enough for hosting Rous Iland's Autumn Winter 09 fashion show. You looked absolutely stunning and were the consummate professional - the x-factor glue that held the whole event together. Your entrance and welcome words were key to creating the excitement and electric atmosphere so critical to the opening of a catwalk show. You also conveyed Rous Iland's key messages for the new season with charm, wit and clarity creating literally a frenzy of orders following the night. Thank you once again and we hope very much to work with you in the future.

Clare Rous & Kara Iland Owners/Directors Rous Iland.

British Thyroid Foundation

The British Thyroid Foundation for whom I am a patron. I have hypothyroidism which is essentially an under active thyroid gland. My symptoms include tiredness, memory loss and weight gain and I take 125mg of thyroxine per day for life. People write to me with similar conditions and ask me for any tips I may share on how I live with it. Here you go: As much as possible, I eliminate wheat and dairy from my diet and it helps to stabilise my weight (although my sugar intake has increased, I'm a sweet fiend). I choose to monitor my weight but am lucky that as quickly as it can go on, it drops off fast too. I eat Soya and rye based products and my main carbohydrates come from vegetables. I avoid noodles, rice, pasta, potatoes and bread made from wheat. Makes me feel better.

Exercise is a wonderful tonic for me although I'm not a huge fan of the gym. It invigorates me and gets my blood pumping and if I've been feeling sluggish, is an instant fix. Three times a week I do 20 mins on a jogging machine and then chatting and weights and a little more wasting time! I saw a personal trainer who made a huge difference to the way I felt, expensive but worth it. I preferred to train with him three times a week vs. my couple of nights out a week. Similar costs.

I'm a huge fan of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and hold the belief that I'm extremely lucky. Compared to others my illness is small fry and my positive attitude helps me.

My memory loss sometimes bugs me but those nearest and dearest to me understand and when it gets people cross, I laugh and I love to laugh at them!

Shelter

Shelter's vision is that everyone should have a home - somewhere decent, safe, affordable and permanent. Yet one in seven children in Britain are growing up in bad housing, and thousands of homeless households are stuck in temporary accommodation. Shelter helps more than 170,000 people a year fight for their rights, get back on their feet, and find and keep a home.

Cross Cultural Solutions (CCS)

In February 2006 I worked for a month in an orphanage in Ayacucho, Peru. It was a life changing experience for me. The children were beautiful and taught me so much and in turn I was able to give my time and love to them. CCS is an international volunteer program that involves working side by side with local people and sharing in the goals of the community.