START Now

Melissa's energy, experience, knowledge and enthusiasm delivers self discovery, awareness and growth to our local professionals and Startup's alike. I can honestly say that every founder that has had time with Melissa, comes away with positivity and forward-drive. What a valuable resource for our region!

I found Melissa to be easy to get on with, and she has an amazing ability to very quickly understand your core drivers. She is very insightful, and her methods were easy to follow. I’d recommend Melissa and StartNow to anyone who is looking for a change of direction and renewed purpose in their career.

Working with Melissa was quite literally, life changing. Using her design based principles, I was able to actively uncover many of my underlying beliefs and values that were actually standing in the way of me making progress. The START now asynchronous program was excellent as I was able to self pace and get involved in my own learning.The 1:1 coaching with Melissa was next level - it's clear Melissa knows what she's doing - she doesn't just talk the talk, she's walked the walk. I left my coaching with Mel with a strong CV and cover letter, but most importantly a real connection to where I wanted to go and what the next move was for me.Too many women don't make conscious choices about our careers - we are full of self doubt and residual self beliefs. Working with Mel has empowered me to a targetted approach for my next move. I know my worth and I'm excited about my future.

I was fortunate to come across STARTnow at a time in my life where I felt really stuck career-wise and couldn't see a way forward. I knew I wanted to continue working but kept hitting walls that left me feeling dissatisfied at best and cynical and unmotivated at worst. Workshopping with with Melissa significantly contributed to me becoming unstuck. I have ceased putting all my eggs into one basket. Instead I now spread my time and energy over a number of activities that energise me and bring me joy. This includes two volunteer roles, a passive income activity, plus what I believe is my perfect (paid) role - and believe me, I had a big must have" list which I'm pleased to say I ticked everything off on!. I don't think this would have all come together in such an organic way

I was very thankful my company offered support after my redundancy by introducing me to Melissa. She was empathetic and supportive while it was all fresh, and moulded her approach in supporting me on my next career steps based on my needs. I loved that she had supplementary videos to her design tools to flesh the ideas out and provide more guidance around them. Then we came together to gather all my workings and she helped create a great overall picture of where I could head next. Just so helpful having Melissa provide structure and guidance so I didn't have to go it alone. Thank you Melissa!

Melissa has the kind of deep experience and approach to make working with her a simply awesome experience. She challenged me to think broadly, creatively and also courageously and in so doing, I got much needed clarity on my professional value and possible future paths. Highly recommended!

I think what makes STARTNow so great is Melissa’s ability to listen and truly get to the heart of what a person is about, and what drives them. She created a safe environment for me to be open and honest about my career and my aspirations. As a result of the STARTNow process I was able to look for the job I truly wanted. 18 months later - I’m still in that job and deeply passionate about it!

Working and workshopping with Mel wasn’t just a career changer, not just a game changer, but in fact a LIFE changer.I first came across Mel a few years ago when at a cross roads with my career at a previous employer. I completed her exceptional “career to love” programme and in addition to this; a half day workshop.What seemed like a very daunting and overwhelming situation for me was effortlessly and easily understood by Mel and translated into a concrete plan of attack - not only is Mel extremely experienced and knowledgeable but she has an innate superpower of being intuitive and understanding people. This winning combination led to some of the biggest transformations and shifts I’ve ever had career-wise (and subsequently- life wise!)Mel combines the perfect balance of support AND challenge - so you can be assured you’ll walk away with a deepened understanding, laser clear focussed approach and game plan for your career and future.Through working with Mel and for the first time in my life, I have a new found belief, passion and desire for my career which has brought me such a deep sense of joy.Mel, you’ll have a client for life in me and I look forward to navigating the rest of my career with you as my SUPER-coach. Forever grateful and indebted to you!

Recently I completed Melissa Jenner’s Start Now Programme. It was really insightful and challenging. It taught me a lot about the importance of my own value proposition and to have the confidence to embrace change. Melissa is a great leader and asks the tough questions. I really recommend taking the time to complete this course. It has helped me immensely in my career.

I've worked with Melissa on a number of projects now and here's a few things I've learned along the way.....she has an amazing ability to simplify complex problems really quickly, she is willing to get stuck in and make things happen, and she's fun to work with! To top it off she truly cares about helping people and having a positive impact in the community she lives in. We're lucky to have her skills and fresh thinking in Queenstown Lakes.