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Do I have to be friends with my co workers to get ahead? Should I take the promotion even if I hate the job? Is my salary big enough or am I getting screwed? Do I have to choose between having a family and having a career? I've been laid off now what do I do? I'm Melissa Franks, and I've spent the last 25 years building my corporate career and a family to along the way, there have been bumps and bruises and some epic going down in flames of glory moments. My journey up the corporate ladder found me forging new ground without a safety net. Through my real life stories, experiences, and special guests on the show, I take the mystery out of how to succeed in the corporate world. I'm going to spill all the tea about how decisions are really made, how to tell who the hidden influencers are, and how to realize your full potential while enjoying the process at the same time. Each week, we will dive into a topic where I will share the good, the bad, and the ugly of my experiences and what we can all learn from them. You will walk away each week with a clear set of next steps to take action and improve your circumstances. We are going to speak frankly and freely about when it's time to opt in or to opt out. Opt In is a place where you can come to get practical, actionable advice to propel your career and your life in the direction you want. Work with me: www.melissafranks.com/offers
169 Episodes
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What if the fastest way to grow your income, influence, and impact is to stop focusing on yourself? In this International Women’s Day special episode of The Opt-In Podcast, executive leader and Fractional COO Melissa Franks shares a powerful leadership shift that applies to women in business, corporate executives, founders, and growth-stage CEOs worldwide. After 25+ years scaling businesses, from Fortune 100 financial services companies to founder-led startups, Melissa reveals what separates ...
As your business grows, your role changes. When it was just you, giving feedback directly was fast and effective. Once managers are in place, skip-level feedback creates confusion, erodes trust, and slows execution, even when your intentions are good. In this episode, Melissa breaks down why bypassing managers undermines performance and how to cascade feedback without losing control. This isn’t about stepping back from leadership. It’s about evolving how communication flows so managers can ac...
Most business owners don’t lack discipline. They’re drowning in responsibility. In this episode, Melissa Franks challenges the idea that success comes from more hustle, grit, or motivation. If your business only moves forward when you’re “on,” that’s not a discipline problem, it’s a design flaw. You’ll learn: Why discipline and motivation are finite resourcesHow decision fatigue is quietly draining your leadership capacityThe real reason your team can’t move without you3 signs you’re relying ...
Most business owners set revenue goals every year, very few define how their business will actually support them. In this episode of The Opt-In Podcast, Melissa Franks explains why revenue-only goals are one of the most common ways small businesses create chaos. Teams hustle harder instead of smarter. Marketing and operations fall out of sync. Margins shrink. Leaders become bottlenecks. Revenue isn’t the problem. Incomplete goals are. Melissa breaks down why revenue is an outcome, not a plan,...
As teams grow, the way work gets done has to change. What worked in a small, scrappy business starts to break once multiple layers, managers, and priorities appear. Employees feel overwhelmed, managers lose visibility, and execution slows down, not because people aren’t capable, but because communication hasn’t evolved. In this episode, Melissa speaks directly to employees and middle managers about a critical skill growing teams must learn: managing up. Managing up isn’t pushback or resistanc...
Do politics belong in business or is that the wrong question entirely? In this episode of The Opt-In Podcast, Melissa Franks reframes the conversation away from parties, candidates, and debate, and toward what actually matters: values, integrity, and alignment. As political and social issues increasingly collide with the workplace, many business owners believe staying silent is the safest move. But silence isn’t neutral. When businesses claim strong values internally while avoiding public ali...
January has a way of convincing business owners that something is wrong. You come back from a break, look at your business with fresh eyes, and suddenly everything feels off. The offers feel stale. The strategy feels tired. The urge to change everything kicks in. But here’s the truth most people don’t want to hear: Your business probably isn’t broken. Your focus is. In this episode, Melissa breaks down why “new year, new you” energy is one of the most dangerous mindsets in business, and how i...
If your business feels harder right now, even though nothing is technically “wrong”, this episode is for you. In this week’s episode of The Opt-In Podcast, Melissa breaks down why instability is often a sign of growth, not failure. As businesses mature, the systems, decisions, and leadership style that once worked stop being sufficient and that transition can feel uncomfortable, confusing, and even alarming. This episode reframes instability as a signal, not a setback, and explains what matur...
If January already feels heavier than you expected, it’s not because you didn’t plan well, it’s because most plans break once execution begins. Every year, founders enter January with clear goals, only to find themselves back in the weeds, making rapid-fire decisions while their teams wait for direction. This episode breaks down why that happens and what January is really revealing about your business. In this conversation, I cover: Why high-level plans fail without operational structureHow f...
If your business hit a plateau in 2025, you’re not failing, your business just outgrew its systems. In this New Year episode, Melissa breaks down why plateaus happen, how to diagnose them, and the exact steps to reset your business for growth in 2026. You’ll learn: • Why businesses plateau It’s not laziness, it’s a system mismatch. Your offers, team structure, or delivery model may have hit their limits. The 4-part diagnostic Melissa walks you through how to evaluate: Revenue tr...
In this special anniversary episode, host Melissa Franks celebrates three years of The Opt In Podcast, a journey that began as a mission to mentor women navigating corporate life and has since evolved into a platform for small business owners seeking clarity, strategy, and real talk about entrepreneurship. Melissa takes us on a heartfelt walk down memory lane; from hiding her pregnancy to avoid career setbacks, to breaking free from corporate politics, to the birth of this podcast and the bus...
AI has exploded in the business world, and most founders are still confused about how to actually use it. In this episode, Melissa breaks down what AI is good at, where it completely falls apart, and how small business owners can integrate it without chaos, overwhelm, or bad decisions. Drawing from decades of experience in machine learning and automation (long before “AI” was a buzzword), Melissa shares the four categories of work AI excels at, the strategic functions it will never replace, a...
As 2025 wraps, many business owners are feeling the wobble, slower demand, rising costs, and uncertainty about what 2026 will look like. In this episode, Melissa explains why the economy feels off, why small businesses feel the impact more intensely, and how to regain control with her Wobbly Economy Planning Framework. Four planning mistakes to avoid Trying to cut your way to growthCreating one rigid planFreezing hiring and burning out your teamMaking pricing decisions too lateThe Wobbly Econ...
In this episode, Melissa breaks down one of the most misunderstood concepts in small business growth: organizational design. If you’ve ever wondered why your team feels stretched thin, why certain roles aren’t “working out,” or why it’s so hard to hire strategically this conversation is your roadmap. Small businesses often grow faster than their internal structures, and that leads to confusion, overwhelm, and poor decision-making. Using examples from corporate America, real client scenarios, ...
It’s the end of the year, do you know how your employees are really performing? In this episode, host Melissa Franks walks you through exactly what business owners should be doing in the final stretch of the year to evaluate their team, strengthen retention, and prepare for a smooth start to the new year. Drawing from her experience as a Fractional COO, Melissa breaks down a simple, actionable framework that replaces corporate-style performance reviews with a more human, results-driven approa...
In this episode of The Opt-In Podcast, host Melissa Franks shares her Holiday Season Survival Guide for Business Owners. A practical, heartfelt, and sometimes hilarious look at how to stay sane, strategic, and successful during the busiest time of year. Whether your business is deep in Q4 chaos or wrapping up a slower season, these 10 essentials will help you finish strong and start 2026 ready to thrive. Melissa draws from her early days in retail (and a memorable Black Friday gone wrong!) to...
Have you ever hesitated to hire someone who knows more than you… because it felt risky or intimidating? In this episode, Melissa breaks down why not hiring up is one of the fastest ways to cap your business growth and why your job as a CEO is not to be the most qualified person in every function. Sparked by a controversial take on Diary of a CEO (where a guest said small business owners should never hire more experienced people), Melissa shares why she completely disagrees – and what actually...
In this special post-election episode of The Opt-In Podcast, host Melissa Franks steps away from her usual business strategy deep dives to unpack the real-time ripple effects of America’s shifting political landscape and what it means for small business owners, leaders, and entrepreneurs. From the Supreme Court’s review of U.S. tariffs to the newly elected Mayor Mandani of New York City, Melissa explores how major political moves could reshape how businesses operate, grow, and survive ...
In this episode, host Melissa Franks tackles a topic she’s never covered before: how to create an annual budget that actually works for you. Whether you’re a five-figure startup or a nine-figure company, Melissa breaks down why every business needs a budget and why it’s not the restrictive tool you think it is. Drawing from her own experience managing $180 million in annual spend as a COO, Melissa shares the exact framework she uses with clients to build clarity, confidence, and control into ...
In this episode host Melissa Franks takes you behind the scenes of her entrepreneurial journey. From losing her job and starting over as a single mom with no plan, to building a thriving seven-figure company in just two years. Melissa shares the 10 most important lessons she’s learned along the way. The real, unfiltered truths about what it takes to go from surviving to thriving in business. You’ll learn: Why every entrepreneur starts clueless (and why that’s okay)The power of finding the hel...
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