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Melanie Ho

@melanieho13

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🎨 Feminist comic artist & award-winning author | 🎤 Professional speaker | 🎧 Creator, University of the Surreal (audio fiction) | Washington, DC

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It’s been wonderful getting to meet women and allies across the last two years & to discuss how we can help professional women thrive — beyond just telling them to “lean in” or “be more confident.”

Excited to launch this short new speaking demo to give you taste of those conversations.

For more about my keynotes/workshops on a range of leadership, DEI, and organizational culture topics: www.melanieho.com by @melanieho13

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4 years ago

Scroll to read! As a new author, I still get giddy whenever I hear from someone who has read my book...so it was beyond exciting to learn that I'd been awarded a silver medal in the 2022 Axiom Business Book Awards!

Previous Axiom medalists include Nobel laureate Robert Shiller, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin, investor Raymond Dalio, NYT best-seller Dan Ariely, and entrepreneur Steve Case!

It's humbling to be in such amazing company -- especially as I sometimes feel self-conscious, knowing there can be skepticism about independently-published books like mine.

Interested in knowing more? See link in bio by @melanieho13

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5 years ago

When women are talked over, they're told to be louder, better at interrupting, and even learn how to power pose. Let's start talking about how men can be better at listening and amplifying others' voices.

Day 4: 31 Days of #BeyondLeaningIn Webcomics #WomensHistoryMonth
See link in bio for more about my book. taken in Washington, DC by @melanieho13

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6 years ago

A year ago I couldn’t stop picturing a giant goldfish bowl on a university quad.

It became University of the Surreal — a serialized fiction podcast about a campus where something impossible appears in plain sight, and everyone finds a way to treat it as normal.

It recently passed 1,500 streams, which feels like a lot for a strange story about fish. Thank you to everyone who’s listened, texted, and told a friend.

If you’ve heard me talk about hypernormalization — this is that idea, as a story.

Season One is complete, and there’s a free transcript e-book if you’d rather read. First link in bio. by @melanieho13

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2 months ago

“Get men to think things are their idea.”
This advice worked. It got me ahead. It got things done.

But when younger women came to me asking how to navigate the same broken systems... I didn’t want to withhold what works. And I also didn’t want them to keep repeating it.

This is the puzzle senior women leaders face across generations: Do we pass down survival strategies—or do we demand something better?

This comic, “Mother-Daughter Movie Night,” based on My Big Fat Greek Wedding, explores that tension. It’s not just about generational differences—it’s about what we choose to preserve and what we refuse to perpetuate.

In my keynotes, I guide audiences through 8–10 original comics like this one—each grounded in research, designed for honest reflection and real conversation about the barriers we’re still up against.

🎤 Excerpt from my Women’s History Month keynote at Washington University in St. Louis, 2024

For speaking inquiries and more about my work: www.melanieho.com

#feministartist #feministart #speaker #WomenInLeadership #comics by @melanieho13

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9 months ago

Book signing in progress for next week’s workshop for women execs — with Barack the cool cat keeping standards high. 🐾📚✨#authorlife #speakerlife by @melanieho13

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a year ago

Excerpt from “Reclaiming Possibility in Complex Times” virtual workshop for faculty at NOVA.

Whenever I’m about to give a presentation, I think about the official title, and then I think about the secret title in my head. And when I say “Reclaiming Possibility in Complex Times” (one of my most popular talks right now) what I’m saying is reclaiming possibility, hope, and imagination — as well as trying to figure out how we get through! — times that are not fine.

If you know anyone looking for a speaker —> link in bio.

If you’d like some absurdist humor — paired with hope and possibility — about living and working in unthinkable times, check out my fiction podcast, University of the Surreal —> link also in bio. taken in Northern Virginia Community College by @melanieho13

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6 months ago

The power of “but.” 🎯

Same experience. Same performance. Different outcome.

Chad: “He’s inexperienced, but he did a great job on that project. Let’s promote him.”

Hailey: “She did a great job on that project, but she’s inexperienced. We’ll have to see more.”

This is called the “Prove It Again” phenomenon—and there’s robust research behind it. That little word “but” determines whether inexperience becomes potential or a reason to wait.

In my keynotes and workshops, I walk audiences through comics that I’ve drawn like this one—grounded in research on workplace bias—to spark the kind of honest conversations that lead to real change.

🎤 Excerpt from my Women’s History Month keynote for UCLA Women & Philanthropy, 2023

Find my book, comics, and speaking menu: www.melanieho.com

#WomensHistoryMonth #GenderBias #feministart #womeninbusiness #womeninleadership taken in Anywhere and Everywhere by @melanieho13

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9 months ago

My dad’s birthday is/was today. To honor the laughter and light that he brought even to life’s hardest moments, here’s the 3-page comic that I drew several years ago as a retelling of his last few days.

#grief #deaddadsclub #loss #griefjourney #griefawareness taken in Life by @melanieho13

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9 months ago

There are 7 causes of burnout. Working too many hours is only one of them.
I hear this from leaders constantly: “I rested. I recharged. So why am I still burnt out?”

They blame themselves. “What’s wrong with me?”

But here’s what’s actually happening: We live in an era of systemic burnout. Culturally, we’re conditioned to see exhaustion as an individual failing—something we should be able to fix with more self-care, better boundaries, or just working harder.

The reality? This is a collective problem, not a personal one.

Research by psychologists Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter identifies six core causes of burnout—and I’d argue there’s a seventh for our current era:

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
1️⃣ LACK OF CONTROL Nobody has control over an uncertain future with this much ambiguity and constant change.

2️⃣ INSUFFICIENT REWARD Working in a “do more with less” environment where people question: is it worth it?

3️⃣ VALUES MISMATCH When organizations can’t operate in ways that align with our values, we feel disconnected and exhausted.

4️⃣ COMMUNITY BREAKDOWN We may be back in person, but we’re still running meeting to meeting, missing the informal connections that used to sustain us.

5️⃣ WORKLOAD Not just hours, but the mental and emotional energy required for constant crisis, uncertainty, and high-stakes decisions.

6️⃣ UNFAIR TREATMENT Inequity exacerbates all the other factors.

7️⃣ EXISTENTIAL BURNOUT The cumulative weight of constant adaptation without recovery—chronic uncertainty and ambient stress that never fully resolves.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
When we misunderstand what burnout actually is, we keep trying to solve it with vacations. And then we wonder why nothing changes.

🎤 Video excerpt from The Chronicle’s Leadership Transformation Collaborative, Fall 2025

#Burnout #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #SystemicBurnout #WorkLifeBalance taken in Anywhere and Everywhere by @melanieho13

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9 months ago

✨Comic Roundup: Allies in Action ✨

Hey, it’s Women’s History Month and we’re zooming in on guys stepping up for gender equity. Swipe to see some real talk about allyship.

(1) Not All Men vs. Yes, All Men: Kicking off with a reality check - it’s not just about who you are, it’s about what you do to support the women around you.

(2) Woke but Inactive: Being ‘woke’ isn’t just a state of mind, it’s a call to action. Let’s get up and make a difference, yeah?

(3) Bro Email Banter: This one’s a cheeky peek into the emails flying around offices that can sometimes miss the mark on inclusion. Time to re-think those ‘bro’ moments, folks.

(4) A Tale of Two Leaders: It’s a look at the double standards women leaders face and a shout-out to the men who are pushing for fair play.

(5) Points vs Assists: Who’s keeping score on making sure everyone’s ideas are heard? Let’s aim for more assists in our meetings, not just points.

(6) Are Men Being Told to Listen: This one flips the script - are men encouraged to listen and lift others like women are? Food for thought.

(7) Gender and Generations Venn Diagram: Wrapping up with some positivity – the new work values that bind us all, no matter our gender or age.

This Women’s History Month, let’s all step into the ally zone. Which comic hits home for you? Drop a comment, let’s chat.

#Allyship #WomensHistoryMonth #GenderEquity by @melanieho13

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3 years ago

✨ Comic Roundup: Beyond The Glass Ceiling ✨

In celebration of Women’s History Month, let’s explore a series of comics that shed light on what gets harder as women climb higher in their careers. Swipe to see the full roundup.  (1) The Goldilocks Dilemma becomes increasingly difficult to navigate as we advance up the ladder — we must be assertive, but not too much. We can’t be seen as too cold or too warm.  (2) “The glass ceiling” is one thing, but we also find ourselves teetering on the edge of a “glass cliff.” In moments of crisis and change, the stakes are high, and the scrutiny is intense.  (3) We may be told that gender bias doesn’t exist because we’ve “made it” to the top, even though being underrepresented is very different from being underestimated.  (4) We’re held to different standards in leadership roles compared to men — the same office door opens to contrasting narratives.  (5) Many women find all kinds of ways to navigate the challenging tightrope we must walk — like the candy bowl in my office, a trick I wish wasn’t necessary.  (6) We want to use our power to support equity, even though we know that doing so comes with a penalty.

(7) Topping it all off, we’re often weary from years of enduring bias, isolated as the sole woman in a meeting, and apprehensive that addressing gender bias might lead us to be labeled as ungrateful.

Change begins with the “real talk” that too often only happens behind closed doors. Which comic speaks to you the most?

#ComicRoundup #WomensHistoryMonth #SeniorLevelStruggles #EmpowermentThroughArt #BreakingBarriersTogether #GenderEquity #LeadershipChallenges #WomenInBusiness #FemaleEmpowerment #DiversityInLeadership #WomenSupportingWomen #LeanIn #CorporateFeminism #InclusiveWorkplace #BiasBusters #GenderDynamics #FeministComics #EmpoweringWomenLeaders #GlassCliff #GoldilocksDilemma #UnconsciousBias by @melanieho13

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3 years ago