MELISSA IN THE MEDIA

With more than 20 years of extensive media experience in Chicago (3rd largest market) and nationally, I have conducted more than 200 live TV interviews. I have been interviewed by national and local TV and radio stations as well as newspapers, magazines and online outlets including FOX News, NPR, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Martha Stewart Living, Prevention, Cooking Light, Weight Watchers, Supermarket News and Today’s Dietitian.

I first became interested in the media while attending graduate school at the University of Missouri, Columbia, where I was fortunate enough to have access to classes at one of the top journalism schools in the country. During my graduate studies there, and through my research assistantship at the Missouri State Food & Nutrition Extension Office, I was often contacted by the local newspaper for nutrition related interviews. Later, in 1995, I agreed to do my first TV interview on the first day of a new job as a hospital-based outpatient dietitian. I was nervous, but I knew that my skills as a dietitian would serve me well and that if someone was going to be quoted, it should be a dietitian! Since then, I have been interviewed several hundred times, enhancing my skills with every single interview experience.

Through my years of training and hands-on experience, I have a proven track record for crafting meaningful messages, attractive food displays and interactive cooking demos for interviews ranging from TV/video to print, live or taped, in-studio or on-location, to hosting my own weekly segment “Heartland Health Tips” on the nationally syndicated US Farm Report TV show with Max Armstrong and Orion Samuelson.
A regular guest on news shows, I have worked with kids, chefs and sports celebrities. I’ve survived intense interviews such as radio shock-jock Mancow Muller and a FOX News national TV segment about euthanizing dairy cows during a recession.

Having received some of the best media and public relations training in the business, I have enjoyed servings as a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association), Illinois Dietetic Association, National Dairy Council, Midwest Dairy Council, the healthcare industry, and the grocery industry.
My background in media training includes traditional media (broadcast and print), social media, crisis communications, public relations, culinary demos, and public speaking. I am grateful to the various organizations and individuals I’ve had the privilege of learning from such as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, National Dairy Council, the Public Relations Society of America, Edelman Public Relations, Weber Shandwick Public Relations, and renowned individuals such as Joan Horbiak, Teri Goudie, Mary Milla, Heidi Umbhau, and Michael Sheehan.