Hello, I'm Melanie.
An Operator and Strategist.

Ex-Morgan Stanley innovation team,
Startup employee #1 ,
Google & Coca-Cola backed startups,
a doer.

What I've done so far

10+ years in business operations and product strategy, I've built systems that drive adoption, increase profitability, and create scalable growth across startups and enterprises alike.

Joel Fearon

First VP
@ Morgan Stanley

Melanie directly reported to Joel.

(Melanie) cares deeply about her work and is a great joy to work with. She's always joining meetings with such great positivity and energy. She has great rapport with myself, our team, and beyond because she has great ideas and follows through on them. She worked closely with the innovation team and launched a new product within a year of joining which is unheard of in Wealth Management.

Greg Dennis

Co-founder and COO
@ Melengo (startup)

Melanie was the 1st non-founder hire
and had a dotted line to Greg.

Melanie gets sh*t done. Our process went from chaos, putting out fires every day, to something way more sane. Within a month of joining, she reduced our project turnaround by 4 days, helped us understand our sales pipeline, and gave us actionable numbers (like what our most profitable product was). She's not afraid to get in the mud. She went through all our customer comms and redid our whole approach to customer service, even retrained and built out our current amazing CX team.

Leslie Hurley

Chief People Officer
@ Full Cycle
(Google-backed startup)

Melanie directly reported to Leslie.

She was the first hire on my team when we needed to scale fast, and scale she did. In one quarter she built 2 highly technical lab facilities, led employee onboarding for those facilities and then pivoted to lead a learning and development function to speed up our product sales cycle. Melanie can move mountains!

Founders Fund-backed startup, Melengo

Head of Operations

Led product pivot, increasing profit margins 30%
Built customer service team, improving sentiment 3/10 → 8/10
Managed accounts: Red Bull, Under Armour, Liquid Death

Founders Fund-backed startup, Melengo

Head of Operations

Led product pivot, increasing profit margins 30%
Built customer service team, improving sentiment 3/10 → 8/10
Managed accounts: Red Bull, Under Armour, Liquid Death

Founders Fund-backed startup, Melengo

Head of Operations

Led product pivot, increasing profit margins 30%
Built customer service team, improving sentiment 3/10 → 8/10
Managed accounts: Red Bull, Under Armour, Liquid Death

Morgan Stanley, Wealth Management

Innovation Team, Assistant Vice President

Developed products for advisors to win more leads
Used data to optimize advisor time and strategy
Launched AI-driven financial tools, led to 50M NAA in 1st quarter of product launch

Morgan Stanley, Wealth Management

Innovation Team, Assistant Vice President

Developed products for advisors to win more leads
Used data to optimize advisor time and strategy
Launched AI-driven financial tools, led to 50M NAA in 1st quarter of product launch

Morgan Stanley, Wealth Management

Innovation Team, Assistant Vice President

Developed products for advisors to win more leads
Used data to optimize advisor time and strategy
Launched AI-driven financial tools, led to 50M NAA in 1st quarter of product launch

Google-backed startup, Full Cycle Bioplastics

Head of Learning and Development

Built client-facing training programs, shortening sales cycles
Designed tracking systems for engagement & pipeline
Worked with design partners Google, Zara, Smucker’s

Google-backed startup, Full Cycle Bioplastics

Head of Learning and Development

Built client-facing training programs, shortening sales cycles
Designed tracking systems for engagement & pipeline
Worked with design partners Google, Zara, Smucker’s

Google-backed startup, Full Cycle Bioplastics

Head of Learning and Development

Built client-facing training programs, shortening sales cycles
Designed tracking systems for engagement & pipeline
Worked with design partners Google, Zara, Smucker’s

Startup led by early leader of Yahoo, Matter

Product Management and Prod Ops

Standardized customer onboarding, cut setup time 40%
Improved customer experience and led QA, decreased response time 25%
Prioritized product updates based on user needs

Startup led by early leader of Yahoo, Matter

Product Management and Prod Ops

Standardized customer onboarding, cut setup time 40%
Improved customer experience and led QA, decreased response time 25%
Prioritized product updates based on user needs

Startup led by early leader of Yahoo, Matter

Product Management and Prod Ops

Standardized customer onboarding, cut setup time 40%
Improved customer experience and led QA, decreased response time 25%
Prioritized product updates based on user needs

Coca-Cola, University of California, Minerva University

Early Career: Project Management

Minerva: Built university operations for international students at a new school
University of California: Led scheduling improvements, led working group to build onsite medical building
Wonolo (Coca-Cola Spin-off): Employee #2, set up customer ops, led user research

Coca-Cola, University of California, Minerva University

Early Career: Project Management

Minerva: Built university operations for international students at a new school
University of California: Led scheduling improvements, led working group to build onsite medical building
Wonolo (Coca-Cola Spin-off): Employee #2, set up customer ops, led user research

Coca-Cola, University of California, Minerva University

Early Career: Project Management

Minerva: Built university operations for international students at a new school
University of California: Led scheduling improvements, led working group to build onsite medical building
Wonolo (Coca-Cola Spin-off): Employee #2, set up customer ops, led user research

Some tools that I use often

  • Impact at a Glance

    The Challenge
    High churn, poor client
    sentiment (3/10), long
    turnaround created
    friction in customer experience.

    Client Sentiment

    Before
    3/10

    After
    8/10



    Project Turnaround
    Time

    Before
    6 days

    After
    2 days


    Overall Profit

    Before
    ~12%

    After
    ~42%
    (+30%)

    Customer Strategy Overhaul & Revenue Growth

    @ manufacturing startup Melengo

    What I Did

    • Built and led a new customer service team

    • Created and standardized CX playbooks

    • Prioritized high-revenue SKUs to streamline ops

    Key Takeaway

    Redesigning customer strategy unlocked scalable operational efficiency and margin growth.


  • Impact at a Glance

    The Challenge
    An automation gap limited
    efficiencies and impaired
    decision-making.

    Time-Consuming
    Manual
    Research

    Before
    10 per week

    After
    3 per week



    Quality Prospect
    Outreach

    Before
    10 per week

    After
    50 per week


    NAA acquired from
    AI Driven means

    Before
    $0

    After
    50 MM NAA



    AI Integration & Lead Generation Tool

    @ Morgan Stanley

    What I Did

    • Pioneered the first AI integration for Financial Advisors

    • Launched an automated live lead generation tool

    • Enabled advisors to target and convert high-value prospects

    Key Takeaway

    AI automation enhanced efficiency and enabled focused, high-value client engagement.


  • Impact at a Glance

    The Challenge
    Low early-stage adoption
    among gig workers, low
    understanding of product
    value prop

    New Platform
    Users

    Before
    ~2,000 users

    After
    ~10,000 users


    Onboarding Time

    Before
    10 days

    After
    2 days


    Returning Enterprise
    Clients

    Before
    2

    After
    6


    Scaling a Gig Economy Marketplace

    @ Coca-Cola spinoff Wonolo

    What I Did

    • Executed unconventional growth initiatives

    • Streamlined onboarding processes

    • Managed large enterprise accounts

    Key Takeaway

    User growth accelerated with enhanced onboarding and enterprise adoption.


  • Impact at a Glance

    The Challenge
    low understanding of
    bioplastics leading to long
    sales cycles and conversion

    Sales Cycle &
    Conversion rate

    Before
    90+ days to reach
    contract stage
    After
    ~35 days to reach
    contract stage


    Partnerships

    Before
    5

    After
    20

    Founder hours spent
    per partnership

    Before
    ~20

    After
    ~8

    AI Integration & Lead Generation Tool

    @ Google Backed Biotech Startup Full Cycle

    What I Did

    • Educated stakeholders

    • Created scalable training materials

    • Positioned key concepts to optimize for value add

    Key Takeaway

    Education was the unlock—accelerating buy-in, reducing founder involvement, and shortening the path to partnership.

What I'm looking for

As of March 2025 I am actively looking for new opportunities.

I enjoy work that allows me to build for and talk to end-users. I enjoy building new things and fast-paced environments.

Always looking to chat about new ideas.

What I'm looking for

As of March 2025 I am actively looking for new opportunities.

I enjoy work that allows me to build for and talk to end-users. I enjoy building new things and fast-paced environments.

Always looking to chat about new ideas.

Reach out:

After Hours:

For fun,

I do illustration, lettering, branding, and design for websites, weddings, and special engagements. I initially got into this when my friends expressed they've been having a hard time visualizing what they wanted for their wedding invites.

I've been doing pottery for the past 5ish years, I do commissions sometimes.


I have a senior dog that I go on slow meandering walks with.

For fun,

I do illustration, lettering, branding, and design for websites, weddings, and special engagements. I initially got into this when my friends expressed they've been having a hard time visualizing what they wanted for their wedding invites.

I've been doing pottery for the past 5ish years, I do commissions sometimes.


I have a senior dog that I go on slow meandering walks with.

Built by Melanie Lee | 2025

San Francisco, CA Local Time

7:01 PM