With a smile that lights up a room, and a positive attitude that helps everyone around her, Michelle Meline is one of the newest Big Ocean Women board members.
Michelle grew up in a large family with seven siblings with whom she “worked hard and played hard.” She related that she had been “surrounded by brothers” as the only girl “until God heard [her] prayers and blessed [her] life with three younger sisters!” She described her family as being very close and said that they love life and have their parents as examples of being young at heart.
As Michelle grew up, she also learned “that values, knowledge, talents, and skills are the best investment in life” because they can’t be taken away and “they grow with you and provide continuous returns year after year.”
Michelle has used this in her personal and professional life. She studied business, communications, and psychology along with performing arts. She has also been in movies such as “Love Everlasting,” “Sacred Vow,” and Hallmark’s “My Christmas Love.” She has also enjoyed being on stage in musicals including “Fiddler on the Roof,” “What Think Ye of Christ?” and “Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.”
Currently, Michelle works full time, and enjoys reading, writing, and learning new things. She loves “trying out new recipes from around the world and getting people together!” Most of her adult life she has served with interfaith and community organizations and describes herself as a bridge-builder. She points to a quote by Confucius, “The journey of a lifetime begins with the first step,” as she explains that “life is an amazing opportunity, and each new day is a gift!”
She says, “I love to help businesses and organizations grow and touch the world with abundance! It has been my experience that success is a combination of talent and attitude.” The accomplishments that she is the most proud of in her life include her family, her community service, and seeing one of her poems published inside a book by a New York Times bestselling author.
Michelle first heard of Big Ocean Women through social media and found herself drawn to the organization as she read through the tenets and articles. Maternal Feminism was a term that was new to her, but as a mother of six and grandmother of two who has worked to help people professionally and charitably throughout her life, she recognized the power of this ideology that “resonates deeply” within her. She attended the fundraising Gala last year where she connected with other members of leadership and was happy to begin volunteering.
When the U.N. Civil Societies Conference was held in Salt Lake City, Utah in August, Michelle attended as part of the Big Ocean Women delegation. Of that experience, she said, “The opportunity to be a light and a voice for good at the U.N. Conference was a profound experience.”
Michelle sees becoming part of the Big Ocean Women leadership as another opportunity to add her light to other great lights of women everywhere, “that we may serve, work, love, and rise together.” She points to her mother and such women as Marjorie Pay Hinckley and Martha Washington as examples who inspired her because they managed their stewardships with strength, style, and grace, “most of the time in heels and dresses!”
This leads to what Michelle hopes women everywhere know: “That all women can become queens!” She shared her favorite scripture, which is about women, from the Holy Bible, Proverbs 31:25 “She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” She wants women everywhere to recognize that we are “born with infinite worth, a divine purpose, and have the capacity to create beauty and goodness wherever we are!”
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