Missy Helderman

About

I am a Honeybee!

Well...my name, Melissa means honeybee, and it seems appropriate. I LOVE cross-pollinating people…connecting people & resources, so everyone can be even more fruitful...see what I mean? I AM a honeybee.

I am a strategist & encourager who loves to come along side women to help them discover and move towards their full potential.

I am fun, creative, & an out-of-the-box thinker who loves to laugh, be spontaneous, and make up silly songs.

I dance to the beat of a different drum, and I like it that way!

There is a purpose that has been custom created for each one of us. It is a perfect fit! It is a place where we can can shine and be fulfilled by just being ourselves...

doing what comes naturally.

Because of difficulties at birth, as a baby, I was diagnosed with Erb’s Palsy, a nerve injury that effects the movement and growth of the shoulder, arm, and hand. About 10 years later, doctors discovered that I had also had a stroke at or before birth.

As a result, my right arm and hand to this day doesn’t have the dexterity or strength in it that my left side does. This poses a few hurdles.

I learned early on that there were many things that, if I really wanted to do them, I would have to find my own way to do them, some a bit unconventional…like playing piano with 6 fingers, taking pictures with a pre-digital camera upside down, driving a stick-shift with a knob on the steering wheel.

I am living proof that where there is a will, there IS a way! I haven’t quite mastered how I can play the guitar yet…but I still have time…lol.

Even though, I could most everything I wanted to do, I discovered as a child that I was different, and that wasn’t a good thing! Children would laugh, call me names, and exclude me or worse…pick me dead last for activities.

Adults, trying to help, would tell me what I needed to do to “look normal”, but all it did was reinforce my beliefs that…

I am NOT good enough!

For me to be LOVED, ACCEPTED, and SUCCEED in life,

I MUST CHANGE!

Subconsciously, that belief went beyond my physical capabilities. It became how I saw myself…

I’m flawed! I must change!

It was the foundation for everything I did, every relationship I had, and shaped everything that I would strive to achieve. Rather than embracing my uniqueness and celebrating it, I did my best to change or hide the things that made me…ME…altogether.

No matter how much I tried to hide what I saw as weaknesses, they always resurfaced eventually, which made me feel like a failure and hopeless.

I had always had a sense that God had a plan for my life, but WAS THIS IT?

I secretly dreamed of being able to do what I loved to do and making an impact in others’ lives, but had no clue what that looked like and felt ashamed of the fact I dreamed of wanting more out of life.

My Huge Eye Opener!

It was at a team building workshop at work where I started to see how we each have a unique mix of characteristics, personality traits, and experiences. Though it sounds like common sense, I had never realized until then that we each see and approach situations differently and have strengths and weaknesses that can COMPLEMENT others.

It was a huge eye-opener for me. For the first time in my life, I was able to see a glimpse of my uniqueness and those around me. It made me hungry to learn more.