Profile Draft #2

Sunglasses on and golden-brown hair flying, Melody Daacon – Mel - cruises along streets in Kalamazoo, MI in a large green van.  Wind whips through the interior, almost drowning out the sound of the old tape playing in the tape deck.  Making a sudden turn, Mel pulls into the parking lot of Bacchus Wine and Spirits, fidgeting with her glasses, hair, and notebook.  She is nervous for the cold call she is about to make to the store’s owner about having the store sell her pickles, Veggie Bites. 

 “I’m always nervous for the first minute or so and then everything is fine,” she says of making cold calls, “sometimes if I’m by myself, I’ll just drive away.”  This time, however, she goes in, introduces herself and asks for the owner.  He’s not there but she gets a business card and leaves a few samples for him to try.  The new owner is interested in local products, according to the ladies at the register, so Mel is hopeful she’ll get a call back.

Mel has been working with the small business since shortly after she returned to Kalamazoo two years ago.  A family friend, Ron, owns the business, but Mel does most of the required work; including marketing, going to farmers markets, and pickling vegetables.  Mel pickles in a small room full of counters and several sinks.  All of the vegetables are delivered from Russell Farms in Parchment, and Veggie Bites is a local product and markets itself as such.  Veggie Bites are already eaten by many people, although they may not know it, Bell’s Eccentric Café goes through about six large buckets per week, they pair them with each of their sandwiches.  Bronson Hospital also carries them in their cafeteria.  Ron has been asking Mel to take over the business from him fully so he can move on, but she is hesitating.  She isn’t sure if she’s ready for such a time commitment yet, or if she’s ready to settle down. 

Mel grew up in Parchment, a small town just outside of Kalamazoo.  When she graduated high school she wanted to leave Kalamazoo as quickly as possible, attending Central Michigan University for a bachelors in health administration.  There she met someone, the two started dating and were married soon after.  Mel often drops this fact casually, with an “I was married once” and then moves on with the conversation.  The two graduated and moved on to pursue higher degrees at Saint Louis University and eventually settled down in New Jersey.

After graduate school, Mel found herself working in New York City for the Health Department while her husband worked as a lawyer for a firm.  Her experience at the Health Department was stressful and degrading.  Every day she had to convince doctors to give them patients using all sorts of tactics, this is not what Mel had imagined when she said she wanted to go into health administration.  Gradually, Mel began to realize that she and her husband were different people than they were when they had met back in Kalamazoo and the relationship wasn’t working any more.  It was time to move on.

The marriage ended and Mel realized that she had nowhere to go except to the place that she had so readily left 10 years before.  She said coming back felt like, “being hugged by Kalamazoo,” it felt right.  Two years later and now thirty, Mel is taking the chance to have more freedom.  “I feel like I’m in a semi-transitional period…but it’s okay,” she says with a rueful smile.  Setting her own schedule is something she was never able to do at the Health Administration and the change is freeing. 

After the meeting, Mel hops back into her van, breathing more easily now that the suspense is over.  She answers a phone call from someone asking about what grants the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail has applied for this year.  In addition to her pickling work, Mel works part time for the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail writing grants and doing social media.  She also does some bookkeeping for a local patent lawyer.  Mel is a very active volunteer at the Kalamazoo Food Co-op and sits on the board of Fair Food Matters, a local non-profit focused on food sustainability and accessibility.  “This is the kind of town where you can do that,” Mel says, “that” being the ability to be involved in so many things and being very connected to the community.

Final paragraph still in development

Note:  Hey guys, so I was supposed to meet with Mel again today but she had to cancel at the last minute so now I won't be meeting with her until Monday.  I had really hoped I'd have a little more edits I could do, but I'm sort of waiting to see what direction our next time takes before I can make any major changes.  Anyways, I was trying to do the weaved narrative and I'm having trouble, so if you guys have any suggestions on how I can try and break up past and present a little more PLEASE help!  Also, do you think the ideas of like her home coming and also coming of age have to be mutually exclusive?  I'm not sure one works without the other, but I will see what you both think. I wish I had a more different draft to offer but it just didn't work out for today.  Thanks for looking at it!