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August 29, 2023 18 mins

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In the kickoff episode of Season Five, join me, Alexia Melocchi, as we journey through the world of business branding, incorporating powerful themes like personal bravery and authenticity. I'll be sharing some of my experiences as an immigrant and a woman in Show Business and the single greatest piece of advice I got from my now business partner and mother.

No matter where you are on your journey - an aspiring artist, a seasoned entrepreneur, or simply an enthusiast interested in the entertainment industry - this episode promises to present you with valuable insights and inspire you at every step.


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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alexia Melocchi (00:04):
Welcome to the Heart of Show business.
I am your host, alexia Melocchi.
I believe in great storytellingand that every successful
artist has a deep desire toexpress something from the heart
to create a ripple effect inour society.
Emotion and entertainment areclosely tied together.
My guests and I want to giveyou insider access to how the

(00:28):
film, television and musicindustry works.
We will cover Dreams Come True.
The Road Lies, travel, journey,beginnings and a lot of insight
and inspiration in between.
I am a successful film andtelevision entrepreneur who came
to America as a teenager topursue my show business dreams.
Are you ready for someunfiltered real talk with

(00:50):
entertainment visionaries fromall over the world?
Then let's roll sound andaction.
Hello, hello, welcome to thenew season of the Heart of Show
business.

(01:11):
I am making some changes, myfriends and my listeners.
I have decided to launch thisnew season with a solo episode
for many reasons.
One of them I have noticed thatwhen I start telling my own
personal stories about myadventures in show business,

(01:31):
there seems to be a lot moredownloads.
So for the sake of getting moredownloads, hello, sponsors, I
need some sponsors.
I thought I would jump on andgive you a little preview of
what's to come in this season.
I have already pre-recordedsome incredible guests, from
award-winning filmmakers toincredibly well-known producers,

(01:56):
to legendary actresses and evenmy own business partner, who
you're going to be hearing from.
Yes, it's true, I do have abusiness partner, as you know,
who is my mother, and she's alsomy best friend, and we've been
in business since I wasbasically fresh out of diapers.
So I just wanted to let youknow that she will be coming and

(02:20):
really giving you some insights, and I'm also going to be
speaking, of course, about theelephant in the room, which is
the Hollywood strike that ishappening now as we speak, and
also about my Toronto FilmFestival adventures, because I
am going to Toronto, so you'llbe seeing some lives on my

(02:42):
social media, but also be doinga special episode to let you
know what's happening in thebusiness, how the strike is
affecting the world and any newmovies that are coming out of
the gate.
So, with that said, I thought Iwould give you a little bit of
an excerpt of a keynote that Ijust delivered.
This weekend, I was invited tospeak at a conference and to

(03:05):
talk about bravery and how thataffects our storytelling and our
personal brand, and I decided.
ince it was so good, I have toshare it on a podcast.
Therefore, get a cup of coffeeor tea or whatever drink of
choice.
And let me tell you a littlebit about bravery and personal

(03:29):
branding.
So when I was invited to speakabout bravery, I found myself
reflecting on what it trulymeans to be brave.
You see, we often associatebravery with feats of physical
courage living from airplanes,doing life-threatening stuff and

(03:50):
, you know, bravery comes inmany forms, and One of the
things that we never talk aboutis personal bravery.
When it comes to your own life,one of the most courageous acts
that you can do is embracingyour authentic self.
Listen to that for a second.

(04:12):
One of the most courageous actsthat you can do is Really and
truly embrace your authenticselves.
So what does that mean in aworld that constantly demands
our attention and advocates forvarious causes, which are, of
course, worthy, because, as youknow, we are compassionate human

(04:34):
beings and I myself forget thatI have to advocate for myself?
I am so engrossed inchampioning others that
sometimes I fail to recognize myown uniqueness and my own value
.
Yes, I am one of those people,as a Hollywood producer and an
executive and a fierce lover ofthe visual image, I have gotten

(04:59):
my hands dirty to protect andchampion stories and artists who
stand for something, fosteringtheir talent until it would make
its way to the big or the smallscreen.
And and sometimes I oftenforgot that what I stood for in
the terms of division that I hadfor my own life and my business
and for all of us entrepreneursout there.

(05:21):
We forget that Our own businessand our personal success is
what allow us to give more tothe world.
But are we not worthy ofreceiving what we also give?
You know, how do we go aboutthat If we do not stand proud

(05:42):
with the essence of our spirit,with enough courage, bravery, to
let it speak volumes about whowe are and the impact that we
want to make in others lives?
So I'm here to tell you thatauthenticity in your brand is
not just Important, it'sessential.

(06:03):
Just as you speak up for others, it is crucial that you speak
up for yourself To become yourown brave hero of your life
movie.
Intriguingly, we often believethat empathy and business are
unlikely pair.
We envision business as a placewhere we have competition
strategy, profits, gettingproject green lights and and you

(06:27):
know, maybe even like gettingan Oscar, getting an Emmy, you
know having people recognize us,but as a result, we end up
morphing into a persona thatbecomes synonymous with what's
acceptable or what is expectedof us in the role of our brand
or business.
And how many times have we alsotold, even in a room when we're

(06:48):
pitching a project or we'retrying to do a business deal, or
even in a networking event, weare always told we must not show
our weakness or we must stayin a lane.
But do we really have to dothat to have a business or an
identity?
Empathy seems to be acceptablein a realm of personal

(07:16):
connections, and I'm here to letyou know that those two
seemingly divergent words canindeed coexist harmoniously.
We can have self empathy and wecan give empathy in business.
In fact, when you make your ownraw vulnerability and brave

(07:37):
authenticity your superpower,you create a brand that not only
resonates with your audiencebut also stands out in a sea of
sameness.
I've seen that so many timeswhen people pitch me projects.
They're so busy to tell me thestory of their business that
they forget to let me connectwith them and who they are, and

(07:57):
become raw and vulnerable sothat I can actually feel their
heart and their soul andlistening with a different set
of ears.
So because of that, I wannashare a little bit of my
personal journey.
I know I spoke about that alittle bit in a previous episode
, but I just wanted to tell youwhat shaped my understanding of

(08:20):
bravery and authenticity.
So if you look at my moviecredits or my social media feed,
you will think that all hascome effortlessly my way.
However, how many times have weseen artists that win awards
and we get to find out that ittook them years of personal
struggle before the success?
I stand before you as arelatively successful Hollywood

(08:43):
producer at least, I find myselfsuccessful by my own standards,
because longevity is a form ofsuccess as well as, of course,
continuously producing good workand having a good reputation.
And I'm also known for mydedication to nurturing
storytellers and promotingexcellence in film and
television.
But my path to success was farfrom conventional.

(09:06):
As you know, I was born inItaly.
I arrived in America as ateenager with only $5,000 and a
big dream, so my story is one ofresilience and following the
courageous path of my mother, mybusiness partner, who left an
abusive marriage and so muchmore to bring me to the States,

(09:28):
the land of opportunity, with adetermination to carve out a
better life for her and for me.
You know, when I was a kid, Ispent hours watching Happy Days
and dreaming of moving toCalifornia, to Los Angeles a
city that had only seen in theshow Chips, by the way, and I
can't even believe that I haddon one of the cast of Happy
days in my podcast, just to tellyou how bizarre life is and how

(09:52):
things come full circle right,but this is something that you
need to know.
It is because of my mother'sbravery that I am here.
She's the example of integrity,values, dreaming big and fierce
determination.
Through a series of mysticalevents, show business found me,

(10:15):
and before that, I even got toexperience American high school,
you know, go to l, universalStudios, disneyland, and even
just walk on the street to meetthe stars that I dreamed about.
When I was in Italy as a littlegirl, I became enamored with
how I felt when I went to amovie that spoke only not to

(10:35):
myself, but everyone watching it, and I was willing to do
whatever it takes to be part ofthat.
I started from the bottom and Iworked my way up, and while
doing so, I showed empathy andkindness to everyone every step
of the way, because I was sograteful to just be doing what I
so loved, and I did that evento those that were not so kind

(10:56):
to me.
My background is of an immigrantand a woman Don't forget that
in a male dominated industry,and this is the context of a
story, but it's not the storyitself.
My circumstances do not defineme.
I define myself To this day.
My mother's wisdom share withme.

(11:18):
On my first day in a highschool a foreigner in a foreign
land still echoes in my mind.
She always said it's not howothers define you, it's how you
define yourself.
So instead of allowing labels toconfine me immigrant woman, no

(11:38):
college degree, also known as aschool of hard knocks, dreamer,
not Hollywood, skinny,self-funded I harness my diverse
skills and experience to createa brand that reflected my true
essence.
I didn't let societalperceptions limit me.
I use my international roots,my fluency, multiple languages.

(12:02):
I amplify my entrepreneurialspirit.
I took risks, I championed theunderdogs in the art.
All this to transform a mere$5,000 into a million dollars in
personal revenue by the age of21.
And that's where authenticitycomes in.
We are in a world driven bynumbers, statistics and degrees

(12:23):
and likes on Instagram, I choseto focus on my unique attributes
and make them my superpower Inmy pursuit of Hollywood success.
I failed and I succeeded.
I won and I lost many times.
I was in a realm ofstorytellers, after all, and
those do attract vultures,narcissists, the power hungry.

(12:45):
But I was determined to use myvoice to protect the
storytellers, and while I washelping others use their voices,
at times I never reallysilenced my own.
It's an irony many of us facewe empower those around us and
we are forgetting to empowerourselves.
I will never forget a timewhere I was a set on a film I

(13:06):
produced and I was told to standdown by the male producers.
I was just there trying to helpthe filmmakers on their first
day of shooting.
They were nervous, they didn'tknow what to do and I could
sense their line dimming.
And those producers told me wegot this.
I didn't want to lose the workand I stood silent.
I had to make that movie happenand therefore that silence

(13:31):
ended up costing me on so manylevels.
In fact, that movie has yet tocome out and I'll be doing a
special podcast episode aboutall that and all the shenanigans
that came out out of that storyand the lessons that I learned.
But it was in that singlemoment where I realized that
gender disparity was real.
More often than not, powerhousewomen are put in roles of

(13:56):
public relations.
They're assumed to be called onto make executive decisions,
only in the the role ofpeacemakers, nurturers.
I decided that day to do arevolutionary act, o a
revolutionary act, and make allparts of myself my personal
brand.
I was not going to be confinedby stereotypes.

(14:16):
I utilized my skills as a superconnector and a motivator to
lead and inspire my teams.
I trust my gut, I trust in myinstincts and I called out all
the elements.
Well, I called out the elements, but I also called out all the
elephants that I saw in the room.
That bravery became my shieldand my sword, the instinct that

(14:42):
I used to question.
I stopped doing that and I wasable to predict trends and
contribute to Oscar-winningfilms and box offices.
Now here's a question for youwhat are your values?
What do you stand for?
What are your standards?
What is your why?
I would suggest that you takesome time journaling your past,

(15:05):
your presence and your futurethe all interconnected, and you,
the storyteller, can redefinethem in an advantage, for your
advantage, in such a way that asyou enter the room, people will
instantly know who you are.
As we evolve, this process getsrepeated more than once, like

(15:25):
being an onion.
I know I did that and I'm stilldoing it.
Tony Robbins always said thequality of your life is
determined by the questions youask.
What will your question be?
Let them flow, let them out.
Do not censor yourself.
Sometimes you'll discover thatwhat you thought was authentic

(15:46):
was actually something thatsomeone else told you you should
be, or you may discover thatthe lies you tell yourself in
those lies is your biggest truth.
So just remember, we have a lotof iconic names Branson, elon
Musk, ted Turner.

(16:07):
They're all behind some reallybig brands, and those are people
who dare to dream and veryclearly communicated their
vision.
They have shown the world thatauthenticity and a genuine
desire to make a difference andbecome a trailblazer and a game
changers are the keys tocreating memorable brands.
And that takes bravery.

(16:27):
My friends, in the heart of showbusiness this podcast, but
everybody calls me the heart ofshow business by now w the
stories do come alive.
I find myself to become aprotector and a mentor of
storytellers to bring peopletogether to the word of film,
television and all that magicthat comes from that, from all

(16:51):
over the world.
My brand is a heartbeat of thisworld I have envisioned.
I believe that my heart willguide me to further heights of
success and that I will trackothers who have heart, and I
will create unforgettablestories with me, as well as
events and products that I willbe creating, like my book, my

(17:13):
courses and so much more.
So I'm here to remind you thateach of us has a potential to be
something truly extraordinary.
I urge you to embrace theauthenticity and let it shine
through your brand.
Just as I stand here before you, vulnerable yet empowered, you
too can redefine yourself andcreate a brand that resonates

(17:35):
with others.
Your brand is a testament toyour bravery, your values, your
commitment to making adifference, because in doing so
your brand you will shinebrightly in a world of
authenticity.
And that, my friends, is myfirst solo episode of the new

(17:58):
season.
I hope you enjoyed it.
If you have questions, pleasedo reach out to me on social
media.
If you like this episode andyou wanna hear more, please
share, like and subscribe, andthank you all for listening and
I can't wait to see you all inthis new season and what I've
got in store for you.
This is the Heart of Showbusiness Alexi Melocchi, over

(18:20):
and out.
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode of the Heart of
Show business.
If you enjoyed it, please shareit with a friend.
You can also subscribe, rateand review the show on your
favorite podcast player.
If you have any questions orcomments or feedback for us, you

(18:42):
can reach me directly attheheartofshowbusinesscom.
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