Melissa Granizo Turns the Softest HR Conversations Into the Most Effective Ones

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the inspired stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. Let one idea from today shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Cotaspodi and today’s guest is Melissa Granizo, total reward senior manager in the human resources team at areas USA. They are a tribal hospitality company.

that runs restaurants, cafes, and retail shops in airports and highway plazas across the country. Areas serves more than 35 million travelers each year through nearly 400 locations in 27 airports and 12 travel plazas, all with a mission to make every journey more enjoyable.

The company’s commitment to quality earned it multiple FAB awards and it recently grew even larger by acquiring Delaware North’s Travel Hospitality Services Division. Melissa brings over 10 years of HR experience to that fast moving environment. She holds an MBA from Florida International University and carries the SHRM, CP and PHR certifications. Earlier in her career, she led people experience and wellness programs at Alcora.

and she supported global teams at Fresh Del Monte. Her passion is building benefits and wellness plans that help employees thrive so that they can say, so that they can serve, let’s do that sentence again. Her passion is building benefits and wellness plans that help employees thrive so they can serve travelers with a smile. Now before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Ad Back Benefits Agency.

Listen, if you run a business, you are likely stuck in the cycle of rising insurance premiums. You’re paying more, but your team is getting less, and many people can’t afford coverage at all. We do things differently. We offer a solution that provides your hospitality employees with unlimited access to doctors, therapists, and prescriptions that’s always free for them to use. But here’s where you really need to pay attention. Unlike every other employee benefit out there,

our program puts more money into your company’s bank account. As an example, we recently helped a client increase net profits by $900 per employee per year. Results vary, but the consultation is free. See if you qualify today at addbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, the senior manager of HR and total rewards at AreasUSA, Melissa Granizzo. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Melissa Granizo (02:43)
course, it’s my pleasure.

Anthony Codispoti (02:46)
So Melissa, you did both your undergrad and your MBA at FIU, Florida International University. Is this first where you became interested in human resources?

Melissa Granizo (02:56)
Yeah, so funny story. I actually wanted to be an accountant because I love numbers and I always said numbers don’t lie to you, right? One plus one is always going to be two no matter where you are. And people are too complicated. So I was an accounting major, but I also I started my like educational career as an accounting major. ⁓ But then I worked at the university when I was doing my undergrad and I worked with donors and I got to work with

the CHRO of Royal Caribbean at the time. Her name was Maria Del Busto. And we were just talking at a networking event and she’s like, you’re not an accountant, you’re an HR person. And I was like, no way, I’m not. Yes, because I was like, always very bubbly, right? And she’s like, you’re not an accountant. She’s like, trust me, you’re not going to regret it. And then later in my career at the university, I just started doing

Anthony Codispoti (03:40)
because you have a personality.

Melissa Granizo (03:54)
like trainings and just agendas and things like that. And I was like, wow, I really do like people development. And funny enough, I ended up in HR. So I always credit her. She probably doesn’t even remember that conversation or remember me truly, ⁓ because I was just one of so many students that she worked with ⁓ at the College of Business. But she is actually the person that made me think about going into HR. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (04:21)
Wow. And

so was it this was during your undergrad still?

Melissa Granizo (04:24)
Yeah, this is in my undergrad. I was a sophomore at FIU.

Anthony Codispoti (04:27)
Okay. All right.

And so, and mention her name again so we can call her. Yeah, that’s great. ⁓ And so it’s great that you called out Maria, I wonder if there’s somebody else prior to getting to areas in your career that was really helpful for you kind of understanding and paving the road.

Melissa Granizo (04:31)
Maria del Busto. Yeah.

I had a lot of great mentors. do have to say that I’ve had amazing leaders in my career when I worked at the university while I was an undergrad. My leader at the time, her name was Monique Catojo, and she was becoming a life coach. And so she kind of used us to get the hours for her certification. And so she helped me work on a lot of my fears at the time of

talking to people, because I was very quiet. Like I was okay once I got to talk to you, but I was very hesitant to speak to strangers. And then she helped me overcome that. And then from there, I just had amazing HR leaders. Luita Nasas when I worked at Del Monte Fresh Produce ⁓ at Alcora, I had so many great mentors. We had such a really strong team there.

Laura Depardo, who I still speak to, the head of legal Tom Houlahan, has given me some of the best career advice I’ve ever had. And then I had a boss for a short time, Alberto. He was also really helpful. And then my leader here at Arias, George Garcia, is just absolutely fantastic. ⁓ I also had a boss that she taught me the rough way of how to use Excel and things like that. And she would make us build really big.

spreadsheets and then she’s like you got it and I was like, yes Thank you so much and she would click out this Excel spreadsheet and wouldn’t save it and I would look at her and be like Jodi We just spent an hour building this spreadsheet. She’s like good luck building it on your own. So I had a lot of great leaders that put me out of my comfort zone When I was younger in my career gave me big responsibilities that I didn’t think I was ready for but they knew I was ready for and we’re just there

when I needed to bounce ideas off of them and really let me kind of, really taught me how to think critically by just giving me a challenge and letting me fail, really, you know, letting me succeed. But when I failed, letting me fail and then teaching me how to get up. And I think that that is like one of the best things that I got to learn from all of my leaders.

Anthony Codispoti (06:48)
Yeah.

So a couple of points I want to dig into there. Talk to us about Tom. He gave you some of the best career advice. What was that?

Melissa Granizo (07:05)
Yeah.

So Tom is just great. He is like a natural storyteller, which is interesting from a general counsel, because he was just funny, you know? And I remember interviewing with him and he’s like, I don’t like your resume. And I, I was like, I’m never going to get this job. So I pushed back and I was like, but the reason that my resume is like that is this and this and this and this. he’s like, Hmm, okay.

And I remember walking away and telling my husband, there’s no way I get this job. And then my next interview was with like the CEO and the president and they offered me the job as I left. Before I left the interview. He liked it. Yeah, he liked it. And he was always one of really funny feedback he gave me. He’s like, he would call me Mellie and he’s like, Mellie, you know, what’s great about you? And I’m like, what?

Anthony Codispoti (07:48)
So that Tom was just sort of like testing you.

Melissa Granizo (08:02)
He’s like, you know how to tell people to go to hell? And they’re so excited. They’re like, I’m ready. How do I get there? And so, but he always just had good conversations with you. You know, he gave you really good advice. ⁓ And I would say one of the best things that he taught you is like, know your worth, know what you’re willing to give up. And when you’re willing to give up and when you’re not ready to give something up, know that too.

Anthony Codispoti (08:07)
Ha

Melissa Granizo (08:30)
Like know your standards ⁓ and don’t let people push you against that ethical line, you know? And if when you get there, stand proud to like be willing to give it all up if someone pushes your boundaries. And I think working in the world of people, you know, it’s really hard because everybody has different value systems. Everybody has different morals and everybody has like different ways of communicating. you, but you have to know when it’s enough.

for you, like when you’re ready to draw that line. And I think Tom was always really clear with us on how to have that conversation and just good feedback for me personally on just my career and how to continue to develop. He was always a good, ⁓ like a work dad, we used to call him.

Anthony Codispoti (09:19)
So let me see if I understand that it’s sort of like if a supervisor or boss is asking you to stay late, asking for extra work, you have to know sort of where your threshold is. So you say, Hey, I understand this is temporary, this short term crunch, I’ll do it to kind of help the team out versus no, this is happening on a regular basis. I’m gonna have to put my foot down and say, I need some boundaries here.

Melissa Granizo (09:27)
Right.

Right.

I know it’s important to you, right? So, you know, like I’m a mom and that’s very important to me. Like I want to be there to put my son to sleep. So that’s a boundary that I have, you know? So I will work until three o’clock in the morning, but from seven till nine 30, that’s my time with my son. You know, after he’s asleep, I’ll get back on and it’s happened, right? Where, like you said, we’re in the middle of the acquisition. So we are working.

Endless hours I will be on teams calls with my phone with my team until you know sometimes two o’clock in the morning trying to figure things out. ⁓ But from 7 to 930. That’s my family time at 935 you have me but I’ll I and that’s a boundary that I know that I have drawn that is important to me and that’s what lets me be able to give until 2 o’clock in the morning or super early because you gave me that time for my family.

Anthony Codispoti (10:39)
got it. also want to understand better how you got over the fear of talking to people. Once you’re comfortable with somebody, okay, fine, you’re bubbly, your personality shows, but how did you break through that fear barrier with new people?

Melissa Granizo (10:41)
Okay.

Yeah.

I think for me was realizing that ⁓ all people are just people, just like me. I think that I was pretty privileged at the beginning of my career to have interactions with very ⁓ high level individuals because of the job that we had. worked in the fundraising department at the university. So, you you’re constantly working with big businesses and things like that. And I think that once I realized

that a CEO is the same person as I am, he just has a little bit more work experience, that you realize that we’re all just the same. And through times of saying the wrong joke, talking incorrectly, know, ⁓ saying something I should have, walking away like, God, that conversation is not what I expected it to be. ⁓ You kind of just learn to feel confident enough in yourself that you do have something to add.

Even if you don’t have the most experience in the room, you always have something to add to the conversation because your story adds to the experience. So I may never have worked at a fast food restaurant, but maybe you have. And you just may be the receptionist, but you feel like, well, my job is just reception. But if you know the experiences that other people have gone through, like you have a lot to add. And I think just slowly speaking to donors,

putting myself in those situations, I realized that people did want to hear from me and not just because I was like the handler, you know, at the time, which was my job often, like follow the guest speaker around, make sure they have their drinks or their coffee or whatever. ⁓ But they did, like they were really interested in me genuinely. And so it made me realize that people are just people and most people have a story and they want to know your story too. And if you just look at it that way,

then it’s fine. Everybody is just okay.

Anthony Codispoti (12:58)
And so now is there any lingering fears when going up and starting a conversation with somebody new?

Melissa Granizo (13:04)
No, I may not be great at networking events, ⁓ you know, just walking out to a big group of people. Hi, my name is Melissa. ⁓ But I love chit chat, you know, I think that ⁓ actually one of the sad parts of COVID is that I think that a lot of our problems we solve in the chit chat, we solve so many problems next to the coffee machine, on the way to the vending machine, or walking like when you bump into somebody that

I think that ⁓ the chit chat adds so much to a culture and it really, you solve so many problems in just those quick little conversations and you get to know so much about people. And I think that connecting is how you build a team. Even if they’re not in your department, being able to ask for help or something like that, I think all comes from the chit chat. So I love that.

Anthony Codispoti (14:02)
That’s interesting. Let’s explore this for a second. In my experience, if I’m being honest, chit chat is the part of human interaction that I get bored with very easily. Like, ⁓ sure is cold out here today, right? How about that sports team? I want to get sort of layers deeper, but that takes some time. The chit chat to me seems like…

Melissa Granizo (14:04)
you ⁓

Yeah.

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (14:27)
I am not comfortable having a deeper conversation with you, so I’m going to keep this completely surface level. me why I’m wrong. Tell me what I’m missing, Melissa.

Melissa Granizo (14:34)
Mm-hmm.

because I think you get to learn so much about people. So, and I don’t know if it’s like a cultural thing in Miami, but I’m not too sure because when I lived on the West Coast, we had it too. And I’ll give you kind of a funny example. ⁓ In Miami, I’m a first-generation person, right? And in Miami, that is so common to be a first-generation American. When I moved to California in that city, ⁓ people used to tell me that I talked with an accent.

And I remember one day we had a really funny conversation about the way I said almond. And apparently I say that with an accent, who knows. So they were picking on me and they’re like, so how do you say aunt to see if I said aunt or aunt? You know how some people say it. And I said, say tia. And they all laughed, right? But that’s just chit chat. But what did you learn about me? You know, you.

Anthony Codispoti (15:23)
Hahaha ⁓

Hmm.

I learned,

yeah, you spent some time on the West Coast. I know that you’re first generation. Yeah, yeah. I know that you’re funny. made a joke, right? You answered it in a different language. That’s clever.

Melissa Granizo (15:44)
And if you didn’t see me, if I’m not so you’re probably, she’s not somebody that takes herself too serious. Like she’s an HR manager, but she’s willing to joke about herself. So I think that is really what I mean by the chit chat, right? It’s those small nuances that, you you may be having a rough day, but you hear someone make a joke. Like sometimes during lunch with the team, we like to read like dad jokes.

and some people will walk by and they’ll just start laughing. I feel like, what are you guys doing? Or, and I’ll say, you see, I think that is really what I mean. I’m also not one of those people that cares too much about how was your weekend great? No, but I think the chit chat of how are your kids, how are they doing in school? ⁓ Or just.

know, what did you do this weekend? I went here and here. I’ve been wanting to try that restaurant, like those types of conversations. ⁓ And mostly work chit chat. You know, if you work in Alcora was ⁓ a distributor of wellness and beauty products, right? So we would just, they would just walk around, do you like the way this smells? Do you like the way this smells? What is this? What is this? And that you missed during COVID because we just did a whole focus group with 60 people by walking through the office.

when in COVID we are all restricted and it’s like, how can I get you to smell this through my computer? and I think so many times, especially in HR, we use people as like, hey, if we launched this platform, how would you like it? Like I’ll be having lunch and I’ll just ask people, what did you think about this that we’re trying to do? Or would you like it if we did this? And sometimes you get to hear like, another HR thing.

You know, but sometimes if you’re like, that’s actually really cool. But you know, it’d be better if this and this and this because we do this on Tuesdays. So Tuesdays, which we wouldn’t work. And then you’re just like, OK, now I have information.

Anthony Codispoti (17:48)
So I’m kind of reading between the lines

here, but I think the difference in what you’re calling chit chat and what I was kind of thinking of as chit chat is your chit chat still gets into sharing information. Like it’s not ⁓ how was your weekend fine, how was yours fine. It’s what did you do this weekend or how are your kids doing in school? Like a question that’s going to elicit a more specific response other than good, good, fine, fine. Right.

Melissa Granizo (18:01)
Right.

Right. Right.

Yeah.

Exactly.

And then you get to learn that you actually have a lot more in common with some people than others. And then they’re like, oh, I just started taking this vitamin. Why don’t you try it? And then all of a sudden, you have a connection with someone that maybe you barely even talk

Anthony Codispoti (18:34)
Okay, let’s get into closer to present day now I want to understand how the opportunity came about for you to join areas.

Melissa Granizo (18:44)
So I actually worked with two of the people that are on my team when we worked at Fresh Del Monte. So the payroll director is ⁓ a friend of mine who worked there. And then my VP, George Garcia, also worked at ⁓ Del Monte Fresh ⁓ many months ago. So we all worked together. And so I was just talking to her one day. And she’s like, hey, how are you doing? How’s the baby? And I’m like, great. She’s like,

Oh, if you’re ever interested, like I would love to work with you again. And I was like, well, I’m interested. And she’s like, are you serious? I was like, yes, like, why not? I’m willing to explore like any opportunity. And then they just happened to have the position that I had. I spoke to George and he’s like, no, like I loved working with you. I would love to do it again. I know that we had like a really good time. You were a really hard worker. And then we’re here.

It was really something simple. And that’s why it’s so important to always keep good relationships with people because you never know. I worked with them at the very beginning of my career in HR, maybe in 2015. And then I started here three years ago in 2023. So full circle.

Anthony Codispoti (20:01)
Hmm.

And areas is one of those companies where, like, I’ve never heard of it before, but I’ve interacted with it. Right. Yeah. Tell us more about what areas is what you do.

Melissa Granizo (20:07)
Right. Yeah. Yes. Yes.

So we’re one of those businesses that I don’t even think you realize exists until you’re in the industry. So our official name is we are concessionaires. So when you go to the airports and you eat at a restaurant, a Starbucks, a Subway, ⁓ or even a private brand that you may not realize is a privately owned brand, you are visiting a concessionaire. And that’s what we are here at Arias. So like you mentioned, we’re in airports all across the United States.

And then on the East Coast, it’s more prevalent. don’t know that they have them so much on the West Coast, but on the turnpikes, when you’re driving up, like, let’s say if you’re going from Miami up to Orlando, you stop at like these service points that have plazas where there’s snacks and real retail stores. And so ⁓ if you stop at one of those in the state of Florida, Maryland, or West Virginia, you’re also stopping at an area’s travel plaza. Those are our employees.

Anthony Codispoti (21:09)
Okay. And in the airports, are you the ones who are running like a Starbucks? Or do you have like your own branded ⁓ restaurants? Okay.

Melissa Granizo (21:17)
Both, so both.

So we partner with big brands because ⁓ like in Houston, we have the first yard house in an airport, which is really exciting. ⁓ And so we partner with national brands that you’re very aware of or everybody’s aware of. We have Dunkin’ Donuts, we have Starbucks, we have Burger King Wendy’s. ⁓ A couple of our airports have Chick-fil-A’s. And then we have some of our own proprietary brands. ⁓

like Gastro Hub here in Miami, have a restaurant called La Bossa, we have a bar called The Bar, and then we have different just concepts throughout the United States that are ours. And then we have chefs here on staff that completely create the menu from start to finish.

Anthony Codispoti (22:03)
So like a Starbucks or a Chick-fil-A, are you guys franchisees then?

Melissa Granizo (22:08)
Sort of, yeah, in that area. I don’t know like the specific legalities of it, but we are like, we have the franchise to use these brands. so we work with, correct, our employees, 100%, yes, our employees, anybody that works for areas, if you’re in one of our sites, even regardless of where you work, a butcher store or a restaurant, you are an area’s employee, regardless of your brand. So you may work at Burger King, but you belong to areas. We just work with Burger King to meet their standards.

Anthony Codispoti (22:16)
that they’re your employees, are operating and managing.

Melissa Granizo (22:37)
So it’s actually a pretty interesting concept, because if you think about it, the standards are so different from a Starbucks to a Burger King. You’re working in two completely different kind of fields, ⁓ right? And two completely different types of fields when you walk in these two types of places.

Anthony Codispoti (22:54)
So talk about the Miami airport and maybe there’s a Starbucks there and a Chick-fil-A there and they’re both under the area’s umbrella. Will you have staff go from one to the other like, oh, we’re short staffed over here? No, because that seems like it would be a training nightmare.

Melissa Granizo (23:02)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

No, it depends.

Right. So it depends, right? So you have some brands that are like more to their culture, right? Like everybody knows that Chick-fil-A is a Chick-fil-A no matter where you go and they have their My Pleasure and those things that you go to Starbucks, sorry, you go to Chick-fil-A for. But if you go to Starbucks, you’re also expecting the same thing. So we work with all of the brands to be able to have like our employees are trained by the brand. You know, we are, we get like brand training. We have a team that just does this here at Areas.

that gets certified by the brand to be able to train the trainer, ⁓ if you will. And then our team members, they know the area’s way, but they’re also fully versed in the way of the brand that they work in. Now there’s some brands that it’s a little bit easier to jump one to two if they’re a little bit more similar. Like if you’re working in a fast food, we may get you certified in both if they’re close to each other. Now working at an airport, you may not be always in the same terminal. So it all depends. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (24:08)
you

Melissa Granizo (24:15)
But typically a barista has a completely different job than somebody working at Chick-fil-A. So if we ever switch you out, it’s for brands or operations that have a similar, like a similar feel. ⁓ But if your brands are very specific and they have specific trainings and everything like that, then you’ll only work at your one location.

Anthony Codispoti (24:28)
Gotcha.

Gotcha. You know, and as you were saying, this is the kind of thing where if you’re not in the industry, you probably don’t even notice that this exists. But clearly now I have an understanding it does. And you guys are not the only company that does this. So what sets you apart from the others?

Melissa Granizo (24:42)
Right? Yeah.

Correct.

I think that it’s our culture, really. Our CEO, when he started in 2020, really created this culture of own your business, guest first, ⁓ being brilliant at what we do. We talk about that a lot here at the team. We always say, stay brilliant. And it’s part of one of our programs here that we teach our managers and our employees about honoring.

the guests and I so I really think it’s the areas kind of attitude that we have where it’s like everybody’s the CEO of their business. Everybody is in charge of their responsibilities and we don’t necessarily see ourselves as a concessionaire. We see ourselves like we are a food service company like we’re a hospitality company. So when

we you are traveling through one of our airports and you visit one of our locations. We want you to have a good travel experience. We don’t just want you to have a good dining experience. And so I think that is what ⁓ like really takes us makes it different for us here at areas.

Anthony Codispoti (26:03)
And

what do you mean by that? A good travel experience, not just a good dining experience? Like, how are you going that extra?

Melissa Granizo (26:10)
I think it’s the way that you visit our concepts, right? So if we see and our employees know, if they see somebody that is traveling most of the time is very stressful for people, especially I would say like on our turnpikes, you’re going through road trips, maybe you’re going through road trips with kids and it’s loud. And it’s really just like, if you see something that is out of the ordinary, make sure you’re helping people and you’re thinking about their whole experience. know, like we’ve had.

diners come in and there’s nothing they can eat on our menu and our team would be like, okay, how can I help you? And they may create a special dish for them if it’s because of their allergies or they’re going through ⁓ like a chemo treatment and their food has to be like very clean or something like that. So like we just change this entire person’s day by listening to them a little bit more, by listening to the person. And so it’s really just making that guest feel like this is not just a stop to buy a water bottle.

Anthony Codispoti (27:06)
I like that. Okay, now I want to explore what specifically you do, Melissa, your title, Total Rewards Senior Manager. And this is obviously in the HR space. What are your responsibilities? What is it you get to do?

Melissa Granizo (27:20)
So I’m responsible for culture, compensation, and benefits in a whole. We are also unique that we have a lot of, we have a union environment and a non-union environment. So there’s a lot of compliance that goes into it. But ⁓ I would say it’s that whole picture of culture rewards your employee experience, like what it feels like to work at areas.

⁓ Our guest and learning development team really takes the lead on it, but definitely we partner and I help support them because so much of what they do also is tied up to ⁓ your rewards and your experience at areas. ⁓ And then of course, just trying to get people the best benefits that we can working in hospitality. It’s a very different employee population ⁓ than, for example, a corporate office.

kind of having to create benefit items that work for two employee populations.

Anthony Codispoti (28:23)
meaning ⁓ folks that maybe there’s more turnover, kind of lower end of the wage scale, and then some of the more senior corporate folks.

Melissa Granizo (28:26)
Okay.

Yeah, it’s like your field and your corporate office, right? So if you’re looking at somebody that’s working in like a location, it’s a high paced environment. It’s typically high turnover. It’s a hospitality, right? So a lot of people, like, I can work $14 here. I can work $14.25 here. I might jump for $14.25. So how do we make our compensation or the total package that we give to other employees feel valuable enough that you just won’t jump for 50 cents or 30 cents at another place? So how do we

create that so it feels valuable for the employee population, but also taking care of our corporate office and our managers ⁓ and the executives so that everybody feels like they’re getting their like the right piece of the pie.

Anthony Codispoti (29:17)
Yeah. And so

it’s interesting what you talk about, because a question I like to ask a lot of folks, especially folks in HR like yourself is, how do you retain and hold on to good folks, especially, you know, in these high turnover environments, you’re talking about you’ve got folks that’ll, you know, jump ship to go make an extra 25 cents an hour. What are some other things that you found that kind of helps keep people more anchored feel more loyal to you?

Melissa Granizo (29:44)
I think sometimes it’s culture, giving people some flexibility and making sure that they know that they’re not just another number here. Cause we have some locations that are small, like especially some of our travel plazas that are small in Florida may have like 50 employees. And then you have some that have 250 employees. So how do you make them feel like you’re not just a number in this? are.

part of us, like you are part of areas, you’re part of the bigger picture. But at the same time, and I think we talk about this a lot, but it’s like culture is not just a poster you put up, culture is how you’re treated every single day. Like the interactions that you have with your employees every day. It’s not the performance review that you do once a year that you say, thank you, or maybe you don’t say thank you, you know, what you say, my pleasure or something else, right? That’s not

Anthony Codispoti (30:14)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Granizo (30:42)
Culture is are you treating your employees well? Because if I treat my team well, my team is going to treat the people that they interact with well. And that is going to cascade. And what works in Maryland may not work in South Florida and vice versa. So we really try to work with everybody and let each location sort of create their own culture. Like what is it going to feel like here? Because in every part of the nation, you have people from different backgrounds.

Miami, like we have a very diverse population here, but it’s like mostly Hispanic population, right? So what works here may not work in, you know, Minnesota, or it may not work in Texas. So we let everybody kind of create their culture, but build off the same backbones, build off of the same standards that we want results, we want transparency, we want trust, and that is something that we all have to have. Now from there,

how that flourishes in your location is up to you as a leader to own your business and make your employees feel special. And I think that we also have a lot of room for growth here. One of our vice presidents started as a clerk at Miami Airport and he’s grown all the way up. Some of our general managers started in entry level positions at our locations on the turnpike and have made their way up. And so I think

Seeing that is also really inspiring to people because it’s like, okay, I can have a career here. I don’t just get to have a job. And I think all of that brings loyalty to people and to businesses, better said.

Anthony Codispoti (32:26)
And so

how much autonomy does, I think you call them business owners at each of the locations have? Like, are they determining their own employee benefits? Are they just sort of more in charge of, I don’t know, the events that they may do with the employees or the training and the way they approach it? Help me kind of wrap my head around.

Melissa Granizo (32:50)
So there are benefits we definitely do from a big picture up here because economy is of scale, right? So ⁓ the more employees you have, the better you can bargain. And so we definitely manage some of that from the corporate level. But I would say it’s the way you treat your people and the way you celebrate your people is left to the locations. So I think that that’s really what creates it.

Anthony Codispoti (33:12)
God.

Melissa Granizo (33:14)
⁓ Of course, we have programs like every other company has programs where we share, but it’s like, okay, I’m going to send you your tenure gifts. But the way that you celebrate the tenure gifts is up to you. Do you want to do a barbecue? Do you going to do a potluck? Are you going to have just a catered lunch? Are you going to do a wellness fair? Are you not going to do a wellness fair? All of that is really up to your location of what you feel is going to be beneficial for your employees. Because you may have a location where people aren’t interested.

Right? Like maybe nobody really wants to do their biometrics, but then you may have another location where people love that stuff. And so it’s really up to you to let us know. And then we work with each location to kind of create like a program, have an event, create a culture for them, help them if they’re struggling to create a culture, working with the leaders to help organize them. And it kind of rolls out from there, but we help give you the tools if that’s something that you want to do.

Anthony Codispoti (34:14)
Let’s talk more about these wellness initiatives because I know this is a big passion point for you. Where does the passion come from? And give us a couple of examples of some of these programs that you’ve

Melissa Granizo (34:27)
So I think that wellness has always just been something that interests me. ⁓ Earlier in my career, I became like a certified nutritionist, a certified life coach with a specific like ⁓ emphasis in wellness. And it’s just because I realized that it’s, we’re all connected, right? When we’re unhealthy in our bodies or when we have bad habits, we’re bad people, you know?

And not bad people in that, but like you’re grouchier. Like they always say like you’re angry and it’s like, yes, because I haven’t had breakfast or lunch and it’s three o’clock in the afternoon. It’s like, okay, well, what would have really taken you to have food? ⁓ And so I think I also had, you know, some people in my family get very sick for things that were like my father specifically got very sick for something that I felt was preventable. And so it really got me down this.

like rabbit hole of mental health, wellness in your body and how we suffer so much from that even now that it feels like with so much information at our fingertips, how do we still struggle with wellness? And so I really, that question really got to me kind of after my dad passed away a couple of years ago. And it’s sort of what made what interested me in sort of like this different type of world of

taking care of yourself as one, you know, like one body, one mind, one spirit, and how do we build on that and building healthy habits. And so it helped that at the time I had a group of coworkers that were also into hearing me say, well, I heard this podcast, I’m reading this TED talk, I heard this book, you know, like all of these things. They’re like, yeah, let’s try it, let’s try it, let’s try it. And so like together we sort of built really healthy habits.

And then it sort of just turned into like, well, since she likes it, let’s make her in charge of it. And that’s sort of how I ended up in this world career-wise, because it was just something that interested me at the time. It wasn’t really things people were talking about, professionally talking about. And then I just sort of, I think during COVID and all of that, it’s like what it became. ⁓ Like the wellness of employees really became something worth talking about.

Anthony Codispoti (36:25)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Are you comfortable saying more about the passing of your father? Because it seems like that was a big part of the inspiration behind this work.

Melissa Granizo (36:56)
Yeah.

Yeah, so my dad was ⁓ an alcoholic for a large part of his life. He was a great dad. ⁓ I probably honestly didn’t even notice until I was older that there was a word for that. But he got very sick and we didn’t know why he got sick. And we just realized it was towards the end, like a mental health thing, right? Like he struggled with a lot of like in his addiction.

And I think it just got to him, you know, towards the end. was very weary of doctors because doctors would tell you, you know, you need to do better. You need to change your life. And he was a hippie. You know, he grew up in the seventies. If there was something you told my dad, like my dad had really long hair. Why? Because they told him to cut it. So in protest, he grew his hair. And I think that he was just like that. You know, he was very anti everything that you told him to do because

That’s how he was. And so he passed when I was really young. I think I was 24 or 25. And so I, towards the end of it, I realized, like I started just like reflecting, like how does this happen? You know, how do people get addicted? How does it take over our life when we’re addicted to so many things, you know, especially in the same age, like we’re addicted to our phones, we’re addicted to social media, we’re addicted to all these things that are bad for us. We’re addicted to working.

which is probably the only addiction that is celebrated. Like the more workaholic you are, the more you’re celebrated, which is another, probably whole podcast episode. ⁓ And it just made me realize, you know, after he passed, he ended up getting like very thin. My dad was like 6’2″, but he was very, very skinny towards the end. And it just, it got to me.

seeing a man that was so strong, like my dad was a man’s man. He was an electrician, he was strong, he would fish. He was like a superhero to me because there was nothing that my dad couldn’t do. was huge, like literally and figuratively, just like a big personality. So to see him kind of young, he was in his early 60s, was so shocking to me.

And then me being young, was like, I need to figure this out. Like what is going on here? And I think that’s kind of what made me like, went into just caring. I would say about wellness as a whole and not just as I need to start drinking my water. need to eat more fruits and vegetables, but really what does it mean to be well as a person and, how do you make that work in your everyday life without it making it feel like.

This is too much. I have a friend that goes to a trainer and he tracks everything and we’re always ⁓ messing with her. And I’m like, but that’s not realistic. Like you tell me I can’t have chocolate. I will need chocolate every second of my life. Right? That’s not well living to me. Well living is I can have my chocolate. I can have cake. I can have cookies.

but I’m also taking care of myself. Like I’m also having fruits. I’m also having vegetables. I’m having fruits. I’m eating well, but I’m also enjoying because that is realistic.

Anthony Codispoti (40:25)
Yeah. Can you give me an example of a wellness initiative that you’ve introduced at areas that you’ve seen be well received or have an impact?

Melissa Granizo (40:35)
So I think here specifically like in our support center, it’s ⁓ easier. I think we’ve gone through so much change. I would say that it’s difficult to say like what’s working in the field versus what’s not working. ⁓ But here we do ⁓ wellness fairs and like wellness events throughout the year. And I’m always shocked by how much people really enjoy coming and just learning.

about things. So ⁓ we did like a trail mix bar and people were just so shocked to learn like what’s in this and what’s in this and how this can help you and what that can help you. And so I’ve learned that just doing these small tiny information sessions for people, even though it feels small to us because we’re just putting out like a granola bar and some information sheets, it really helps people. ⁓ I like I think people like fun facts.

And so I think that it entices them. Another thing that we have done is, I don’t know if this is the word for it, but I have coined it population health in where we bring doctors to our employees. So like we brought an eye doctor into the office. So people just took 15 minutes, went to the eye doctor downstairs, then they could come upstairs, buy their glasses, and then they left. We had a dermatologist come, they parked downstairs, everybody went downstairs, everybody came upstairs.

And it’s just an easy way to get people healthy. And they just, they don’t have to miss work. Because how many times do you just not go to the doctor? Because I have to take a day off or have so many meetings. I have all of this going on. So I’ve also realized that if we just bring it here, people will do it. And they’re like more excited to do it because they also feel like they’re getting paid to go to the doctor.

Anthony Codispoti (42:26)
Yeah, that’s pretty cool. Melissa, talk to me about the state of HR in our world today, specifically putting the human as well as the resources back into human resources.

Melissa Granizo (42:40)
No.

I think we’re probably one of the, would say us at IT are probably the two professions that have changed the most over the past, I’m gonna say even six years, because HR was such, even when I started in HR, we were very much still like a paper pushing type of, like if you have an employee complaint, you come to us.

We hire people, we fire people, we give them benefits, you move on. ⁓ But now I feel that you have to do two things. It’s almost like you, we have gotten so good at putting the human back in like human resources that we are caring about our people. I always say our employees are just humans having human experiences at work. So people are going to get phone calls even in

⁓ like places where it’s hard to get a phone call, like if you work at a call center, the person answering the phone is still a mom. You know, she’s still going to have kids that have emergencies. These things are going to happen. So how do we be human and understand these, understand that these things are going to happen and we have to support our employees through it. But how do we also become resources for the business, that we understand the business, we understand what costs.

the business, whether it’s a real cost or not. And how do we become like true business partners so that we can sort of bring these two things together ⁓ without tipping the scales too much to one side and too much to the other side, right? Cause we still have to under, we have to create like human programs that are going to push the business forward, but not to the extent that you’re stretching your business so much that nobody wants to do them because then there’s no point in having these successful programs.

Anthony Codispoti (44:34)
Yeah.

Melissa Granizo (44:35)
And so I think that human resources has, especially in like today’s society where everything is ever changing. I think the rules of almost how to be human change every single day and how do we keep up with that? And I think it’s also just realizing that as HR professionals, we’re also human.

Anthony Codispoti (44:58)
What do mean by, I forget exactly how you said it, ⁓ what it means to be human changes every day.

Melissa Granizo (45:05)
Because I think that ⁓ just like in the world, everything changes every single day. Like today, it’s what’s OK today is not OK tomorrow. And some people feel like there’s a joke, right? And that joke is OK with this group of people, but it’s not OK with this group of people. But it was OK last week, but now a current event happened, and now it’s not OK. I said something the other day. ⁓

like, I’m going to deport all of these files because I don’t want to see them anymore. And people are like, that’s a bad choice of words. And I said, I’m talking about paper.

You know, and right, but in current events, it’s so, and I, I was shocked. I didn’t know what to do because I wasn’t saying, I wasn’t even having a political conversation. I think I was talking about like shredding paperwork or something, you know? And I was like, I’m going to like take all of this and put it away. I don’t want to see it, but it’s a bad choice of word, right? I get that. But the word choices change so much, you know, and

Anthony Codispoti (45:47)
things have been happening recently where people are really guarded about that.

Hmm.

Melissa Granizo (46:16)
I think that just what I always like to tell people is that even for us as HR professionals is that we are all just learning this too, right? Like I’m gonna go through experiences and I’m gonna help you through an experience that I’ve never experienced before. So we have to give each other that grace to be able to push through it. It’s not going to be something that is changing. And I think sometimes too,

especially in business, you have to decide like, okay, I can be human. And I think this is probably one of the hardest parts. Like I can be human, but up to here, because we still have a business to run. So I can understand that you have all of this going on, but I also need someone to serve food to my guests.

Anthony Codispoti (47:07)
And that can be a tough balancing act sometimes, right? Because you’ve got these two things that sometimes they come together really well, right? You’ve got the business doing what it does to employ people and to make money and to provide services to customers. And you’ve got employees over here that, you know, most of the time they’re showing up and they’re doing a great job. And at the same time, they are also humans that have their own baggage and their own things going on at home and crises with their kids and whatnot.

Melissa Granizo (47:08)
So.

Right, for sure.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Anthony Codispoti (47:36)
And so sometimes those things, if you look at them as Venn diagrams, they don’t overlap very well. And what do you do then? What do you do in those circumstances?

Melissa Granizo (47:42)
Yeah, what do you do?

Yeah, and it’s hard, right, for some employees because like, for example, if I’m having an off day, I can work from home. Sure. But how does a bartender work from home? They can’t. And so how do you, how does that person that may be going through stuff, right, because like today, it’s a hard day in their neighborhood, in their state, in their city.

in their airport, maybe it’s snowing, maybe it’s a hurricane, whatever is coming that way, right? And they still have to be the best version of themselves to that guest every day. is a really hard ask of people. Think of how many times you went to some place and you’re like, that person was having a bad day. But think how many times you have a bad day.

Anthony Codispoti (48:38)
Yeah.

Melissa Granizo (48:38)
And I think that also changes. That I think is also part of being human. That can also change every single day. And how do we keep up? hard. And I think we have to give our employees also space to have bad days, but also to guess the right way and give them kind of tips and tools to overcome those hard moments.

Anthony Codispoti (49:02)
Yeah. Well, yeah, we’ve all had those bad days. We’ve all had those hard time periods in our life. And overcoming those hardships, I think is a great opportunity for us to grow and learn as painful as it can be. So I’d be curious, Melissa, to hear about a particular challenge that you’ve had to overcome and how you got through that.

Melissa Granizo (49:08)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah. So I think my personality has been one of my biggest challenges. And it’s funny because in HR we’re serious people. And I have always been in bigger positions than I think my age. And I think one of the feedbacks that I’ve gotten is like, oh, you need to like take yourself more seriously. You need to do it. I’m like, how?

My personality is bouncy, my hair is bouncy. Like I am a bouncy person. How? And I think one of the biggest things that I had to overcome is embracing myself and showing up as that type of professional because in HR it’s actually very difficult, right? Because you’re the letter of the law. And I think also like I, nobody knows cause we’re

looking at this through a screen or you’re hearing this, but I’m also a very petite person. So I’m like this small person that has always had like very big jobs. And I’m not, one of my biggest career challenges was that Tom, or that we spoke about earlier, would always tell me like, take up space. And I’m just like, I don’t know how to do that. I’m gonna stretch out my arms, wear a bigger book bag, how do I take up space?

You know, I’m not that person. I don’t need it. I don’t need space. I don’t need to be, to walk into the room and people think like, that’s the HR lady. You know, I don’t, and I don’t give that energy. That’s not who I am. And so having to overcome that, so people take me seriously because of the way that I am, I feel people always think like, ⁓ okay. And then I start sort of in the negative serious bucket.

Anthony Codispoti (51:15)
⁓ So you struggle with here is my natural personality, I’m petite, I’m bouncy, I’m bubbly. And then now I’m being given advice that says, you need to take yourself more seriously, you need to take up more space in the room, you need to have a different style of personality. And there’s this conflict like, well, does that mean like who I naturally am? There’s something wrong with me? Right? Is this sort of the tug of war that’s going on in your head?

Melissa Granizo (51:19)
Right. Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah,

and it’s just like how I don’t I don’t know how to be anything other than myself So how does one do that? and So I think that has been my biggest hurdle and the biggest struggle that I’ve had because I have learned that in my career in Specific like when I was in charge of employee relations, for example, it was harder

to be, how do I tell a vice president, give a vice president feedback on their behaviors, when I am probably seen as the happy police, right? And not the behavior police. And so how do I do that? And so what I have learned to do is just change the role and say that actually the fact that I am this way

and you do respect me and I do take up the space that I need is necessary. Like that is how I kind of overcame it, which was like, it’s not for me a negative for me, it’s a positive because we can have the tough conversation and we can have it well. And you don’t need to feel beat up after the conversation. You can feel good about it because I didn’t, we just talk.

And I think that learning to use what was my weakness as my strength is actually what made me successful when I had to do those tough conversations because you didn’t feel like you were getting beat up. You felt like you were talking to a coach. You felt like you were talking to a friend. You felt like you’re talking to someone that believes in you. And it

Anthony Codispoti (53:27)
So you,

you were being given advice that was like, your personality is too soft for some of these conversations, you need to toughen up, you need to be harsher, be a bigger, you need to take more control. And you have this tug of war with yourself. You’re like, I don’t know, maybe I should maybe I should, because right, you receive all kinds of coaching throughout your career. And it’s like, Okay, what are the things I actually need to work on? And, and where is this something where

Melissa Granizo (53:35)
Right.

Right.

Right.

Anthony Codispoti (53:55)
Like I’m to put my foot down and say, I think you’re wrong. I think the way my personality, the way I’m naturally wired, presents a better opportunity here to do it in a different way, a better way, a way that’s going to be better received by the other person.

Melissa Granizo (53:58)
Yeah.

Right. And I think a way that makes me feel better for it, right. Because nobody wants to be that person that is always giving like the not so nice feedback. But when I realized it’s that I’m not giving you not so nice feedback, I’m giving you important things that you need to hear so that we can help you do better as a company. Cause if I’m not telling you the truth and I’m not telling you where we need you to grow, then you’re not going to grow. And if you don’t grow,

I mean, realistically in corporate America, if you don’t grow and you’re in a leadership position, you’re going to see yourself leaving the organization, whether it’s the organization’s choice or whether it’s your choice, because you don’t feel comfortable there anymore. When you realize your values don’t align with that of the organization, you may choose to bow out. But it’s my job as somebody in the HR team to make sure that you know how we need you to grow, because we want you to be here. If not, we wouldn’t give you the feedback.

And so I feel that the way that my personality is, is that I can be able to tell people, like, let’s do it. Like, come on, let’s grow. Let’s grow together. We can do this. And I think that it’s worked out for me. It’s so much so that they used to laugh at me in my old company because after I terminated people, I would get thank you letters.

Anthony Codispoti (55:38)
Wow.

Melissa Granizo (55:39)
from people. For like, for terminating them with respect, for talking through them with them, for sitting with them in like such a hard time, and just for being helpful, for being respectful.

Anthony Codispoti (55:41)
And thanking you for what specifically?

That speaks volumes right there.

Melissa Granizo (55:57)
Yeah, and so I kind of realized that it’s okay to be bouncy. I should.

Anthony Codispoti (56:01)
I like that you should put that on a t shirt.

So as you didn’t, I’m gonna guess anyways, Melissa, you didn’t get to that point right away. You’re probably hearing a lot of this advice and and you’re having this like internal, like, maybe they’re right. Maybe I need to change how I am or who I am. How did you get to the place where you’re like, No, I love who I am. The approach that I bring is

Melissa Granizo (56:15)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (56:30)
better, I’m going to stick with this. Like, was it sort of like a gradual, like, maybe you tried on the mean hat for a while, and then that didn’t work? Or was there like a light switch moment? Walk me through

Melissa Granizo (56:37)
Yeah.

No, I would say for sure it was gradual because I tried, right? I tried being like the serious person and I was exhausted all the time because I think that when you’re not being yourself, it’s exhausting. And I realized that I went from having a good day at work all the time to coming home and being exhausted. And we just happened to also be doing like a high potential program.

Anthony Codispoti (56:50)
Mm.

Melissa Granizo (57:11)
at my old company and just hearing the coach kind of give feedback to the other people. We used a third party and then just talking to her as we prepared for everything else and ⁓ hearing what she was like preparing our hypos to go through. I realized slowly that it’s not that the feedback was incorrect because do I think that there is a time and place? Of course. Right.

Like when you’re playing poker, you’re not going to show your hand, right? So, and not everybody has the privilege to know every part of you, right? Like it is okay for some people to know just the professional Melissa, and there’s some people to know the personal side of Melissa and the goofy side of me. Like it is okay to ⁓ reserve parts of yourself to specific groups of people.

And I think that that is actually probably the right thing to do in some cases, right? Because you’re not going to come to work and,

be the same person you are with your family. Let’s just say where you are laid back all the time, like that you need to keep a respectful discourse amongst your coworkers and in the office. But there is a portion of you that you can share. And what I realized was that the feedback was not wrong in that I needed to…

be less bouncy, but it was choosing the portion, how much of me I get to share in each moment. Right? And what I realized is, is that that bouncy kind of uplifting lighthearted part of me is what did make me successful in my job. Because even now, when we’re going through so much, I’m always telling the team like, it’s okay. It is what it is. We’ll fix it.

There is not a problem that cannot be fixed. Everything can be fixed. There’s always a way to correct it. And if it can’t be fixed, I just, I haven’t seen a problem that can’t be fixed to this day. I’ve never come up through a problem in HR that cannot be fixed. And so it’s okay to bump into problems. It’s okay because we’re going to find a solution. And I think that that part of me is the successful part of me and the part that

needed to continue to be there. Now, do I need to be telling jokes to the CEO while I’m presenting a bonus structure? Probably not really, right? Like that’s not the place. Can I tell my team, man, he said this and I had the perfect joke in my head? Yes, you know, it’s okay. But it’s realizing the when and the how that you show up. Like our CEO has been part of our dad joke lunches because

We’re just being ourselves in the kitchen, right? But if I’m presenting data and facts to him, that’s probably not the place. So I think over time, I learned that that is the magic in it, is realizing how much of you you needed to share all the time.

Anthony Codispoti (1:00:28)
situationally appropriate. Yeah. So what’s your superpower?

Melissa Granizo (1:00:38)
I’m happy.

Anthony Codispoti (1:00:41)
pretty good one.

Melissa Granizo (1:00:44)
I’m happy. I think even when we’re stressed. ⁓ I think my faith for sure. Because I know that like I’m at peace. And I, I don’t think that there’s anything that can’t be overcome. And even if it’s hard, it’ll pass. I tell the team all the time, it’s gonna pass. It’s gonna pass like a kidney stone. And we’re never gonna forget it. But it’s gonna pass.

Anthony Codispoti (1:00:45)
Where does that happiness come from?

Melissa Granizo (1:01:13)
You know, it’s gonna be fine. everything, I heard somebody say one time and I can’t remember who or where I saw it. But it’s like this two shall pass is such an important sentence. And normally we use it only in times of stress. But it’s really important to know that this two shall pass can be used in times of difficulty. But it’s really humbling when you use it in times of happiness because it too shall pass.

So it’s like sit in the happiness exactly when you have it because that burst of excitement of finishing a project of like when we heard the acquisition was finally going through after all this hard work, like it was so exciting. And then it passed and we got into the nitty gritty of it. And then there’s days that are super hard and we don’t know when we’re going to live through them. Those pass too. And then there’s days that are really easy and those pass too. And so I think that just knowing

that there is like more and being in that piece, just, makes me very happy to know that like, I’ll be okay. My faith tells me that I’ll be okay.

Anthony Codispoti (1:02:24)
Tell us about the acquisition. Why were you so excited about this?

Melissa Granizo (1:02:27)
I think because we worked so hard in the lead up to it, preparing for it. ⁓ And of course with these things, like you never know until it’s real. Like it’s like buying a house, right? You think the house is going to be yours, but until you sign at the title company, like you’re not sure anything can happen. And so the day that we closed, although everything was the same from the day before, it was not the same because now we had

4,000 new employees and all these new tasks and all these new responsibilities and all these unknowns. And we always say, we can’t wait to see the people that we’re going to be at the end of this ⁓ to see how much we have learned and grown. actually, because ⁓ we’re only two months in post-acquisition, like post-closed date, ⁓ but I always tell them, I don’t think we can wait to become those people. I think we have to be those people today.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:25)
Yeah.

Melissa Granizo (1:03:25)
because

there’s so much every day that we don’t know and we don’t know how to fix it. And we just have to put the best minds that we have together, put all of the best ideas in the pot and pick the best one that’s going to work for the business and for the employees and execute. And when we make mistakes, admit it, fix it, communicate it, move on to the next day and move on to the next thing. And so I think it has been really exciting because

as professionals we’ve all learned and grown. And I think also as people, we are also learning and growing through this together because it’s a lot of work. And I think that in a lot of work and high times of stress, you don’t always get the best in people when people are really stressed, but we have such a solid, amazing team here that I think we laugh and we pick on each other so much that it is a great way to

get through stressful times.

Anthony Codispoti (1:04:26)
Melissa, I’ve just got one more question for you today. But before I ask it, I’m going to do three quick things. First of all, if you want to get in touch with Melissa Grinizo, you can find her on LinkedIn. Her last name is spelled G-R-A-N-I-Z-O, Melissa Grinizo. Am I saying it correctly? Yes, Melissa Grinizo, areas USA. You look for that on LinkedIn, you will find her and you can connect with her there.

Melissa Granizo (1:04:33)
Okay.

Yes, perfectly.

Anthony Codispoti (1:04:50)
⁓ Also, if you’re enjoying the show, a quick comment or review on your favorite podcast app goes a long way towards helping others discover our show. So thank you for taking a quick moment to do that right now. And as a reminder, if you want to get more hospitality employees access to therapists, doctors, and prescription meds that as paradoxical as it seems, actually increases your company’s net profits, reach out to us at adbackbenefits.com.

So last question for you, Melissa, a year from now, what is something specific that you hope to be celebrated?

Melissa Granizo (1:05:28)
⁓

I would say a full integrated company, one big fully integrated company. think our goal is six months, so let’s see. But I think ⁓ getting everything fully integrated, all of our employees and all of us fully, all of our departments fully staffed and everybody really up to date, ⁓ I think it would be such a good relief.

Anthony Codispoti (1:05:38)
You think it’ll take that long?

Okay. Okay.

Melissa Granizo (1:06:02)
for so many people that are working so hard. So to look back a year from now and see like, wow, we made it. I think that’s gonna be probably one of the most exciting sentences that we’ll say a year from now professionally for sure.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:17)
Melissa Granizo from AreasUSA. want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate you being here.

Melissa Granizo (1:06:27)
Thank you, Anthony, this was so much fun.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:29)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.