CCAS alumna Melissa Doman, M.A. ‘07, shares her experience as an Organizational Psychologist, Former Clinical Mental Health Therapist, and author, as well as how GW gave her the tools she needed to excel in the world of communication.
“My advice to any GW students who want to create their own business is this: think about the problem you are trying to solve, why, and how you can do it differently from anybody else.”
Melissa Doman
M.A. ‘07
Tell us about your current professional role and how it excites you.
I’m an Organizational Psychologist, Former Mental Health Therapist, and author who specializes in teaching companies, leaders, and employees the skills they need to talk about mental health at work, communication, and team dynamics. It excites me because learning to talk about mental health at work is a language we all need to know how to speak at some point in our careers, regardless of title, tenure, or industry. It’s a critical form of conversational literacy for the workplace, and with how tough it is ‘out there’, and within ourselves, it’s a skill for survival too–not just a ‘wellbeing nice to have.’ It’s an honor and privilege to teach workplaces how to speak this language in a way that is critical for the World of Work. Because things aren’t getting any easier, but how we talk about that should.
What accomplishment are you most proud of personally or professionally and why?
I’m proud of myself for having founded a business and written two books. As someone with ADHD, doing those things can be a challenge. So I’m proud of myself for doing it, and doing it well. It’s never something I envisioned happening in my career, but I’m really happy it ended up on my professional bingo card.
What were the key motivations or experiences that drove you to start your own business and become an author?
I founded my own business because I wanted to make an impact on mental health at work, and because I was tired of not seeing anyone else help the “World of Work” in the way it actually needed. I wanted to make an impact, and it felt like other businesses delivered things that sounded good but didn't move the needle. My advice to any GW students who want to create their own business is this: think about the problem you are trying to solve, why, and how you can do it differently from anybody else.
What drove me to write my two books is exactly what also drove me to start my own business–I was tired of not seeing specific skill-equipping education that needed to exist. So I created it because my clients, companies, and the market kept telling me what it needed. Instead of waiting, I took the leap, and I'm so happy I did.
What is your only-at-GW moment? In other words, what is an experience/opportunity you believe GW provided you access to?
An incredible education in sociology and communications, which I still use in my work today. When I was at GW, the Communications program was one of the best (if not the best) in the country. My education reflected that in the quality of the professors I had for my Interpersonal Communications and Persuasion classes, Professor Tony Gattis and Dr. Clay Warren. The way they taught, and what they taught, gave me the fundamental understanding of communication that I have today.
What is a fun fact about you that you'd like to share?
I do a killer Chewbacca impression.
What is a piece of advice you would offer to students seeking to pursue your field of work?
Be clear about the problem you want to solve and how you want to help. So many people are good at observing a problem, but not giving the solution to address it. Mental health at work is a complex problem with a variety of solutions, some of which help, and some of which don’t. If you don’t want to ‘just be another facilitator’ or ‘;launch another course’, make sure you put quality into what you provide. That’s rare to see these days. Provide what’s helpful, not what’s popular.
How do you give back to the GW community?
I speak to the GW Alumni community every year.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with the GW community?
My 2nd book is launching February 24th, 2026 (Cornered Office: Why We Need To Talk About
Leadership Mental Health). It’s currently available for pre-order.