Full name?: Melanie DiSalvo
Position / Job title?:
Founder and Creative Director of virtue + vice
Sourcing and Manufacturing Consultant – specializing in finding the right suppliers for startup fashion lines, and helping established brands make their supply chains more eco-friendly
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I have always kind of flown by the seat of my pants and gone with the flow. I never really dreamed of what I would “be” one day. I just figured I would know or figure it out when the time came.
Fast-forward several years/decades. How did you land (or create) your current position?
That was a long and windy path. I flipped a coin to determine what college I would go to, and ended up at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. There I studied everything from economics to weather, botany, philosophy, and pre-med chemistry, and marketing and advertising. For 2 years I tried a smorgasbord of classes hoping that something would stick and spark some kind of passion or at least transpire into a major I wouldn’t be bored out of my mind doing. Nothing did, so I decided to take a year off of from school and traveled to Australia. After my year away from school, I returned back to the Wisconsin thinking I would get my degree in retail management – it was business and fashion so I was hoping it wouldn’t be as dry as straight up finance, and would be a little more creative. I was in Wisconsin for no more than 48 hours, when I was like what am I doing here? So, I dropped out again and headed back to NY where I am from. I enrolled in the Fashion Merchandising major at FIT. One requirement of the major was to take a textile course. I had the most amazing teacher, ended up loving it, and switched to Textile Development and Marketing. From there I worked in the industry. I had the opportunity to live and work overseas, and see A LOT, like the kind of stuff most people in the industry never get to see. After experiencing all of that I was motivated to start my own line that do things differently. I think the take away from my story it’s ok not to have answers, try a bunch of things, and if you aren’t feeling something, trust yourself and try something new, eventually you will get there.
Did you have to take on internships to get there? How important in general, do you think, are internships?
I had some great internships where I learned a lot, and they really advanced my career. My advice is that if you are getting coffee or doing office bitch work, leave and find something else. Maybe go to a smaller company that is understaffed and will need you to hop on projects and assist in bigger ways than making sure the rest of the team gets dinner. The name might not look at “good” on your resume, but the skills you will learn will make you stand out from the competition in the future.
Tell us what a typical work day looks like for you. What is your job REALLY like, both the glamorous and not-so-glamorous parts?
Every day is different. I travel a lot. I am usually 1 month in NYC, 1 month is Asia between India, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, and Taiwan. I have a house in Goa, which acts as my base usually while in Asia.
In NY, I try to do as much email work as possible, reaching out to press, working on advertising, meeting with potential partners.
In Asia, I am on the ground running. That time is spent at mills and factories, working on development and current product in production.
I wouldn’t say any of my life is glamorous. I love being in India. Recently I brought a friend with me to India and she hated it. I gave the the real India experience, not the 2 week tourist staying in a 5 star resorts. She just couldn’t handle being in that type of environment. I think that it takes a different kind of person to work overseas. And your ability to adapt and work in different cultures is crucial to your success.
What is the biggest career mistake you’ve ever made?
Not leaving a job soon enough. I think most of us have been here, thinking that maybe something will change to make you a little less miserable. Or you think, this job isn’t that bad. If I could do it all over again, I would have left those bad jobs sooner.
What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to other career-minded women?
I would say that other woman are you allies not your enemies. I see too often, women putting other woman down. I am not sure if it’s because they are afraid of being replaced by them, or what it is. But, it needs to stop. We need to work together, not against one another.
Let’s talk about work/life balance. What does that mean to you? Is it important?
America is notorious for horrible work/life balance. When did it become cool to become “soooo busy”? We need to change the narrative- being exhausted from work is NOT a bragging right. To me a work life/balance is being able to do what you want to do outside of work and not being either too exhausted from your job, or stuck in the office working overtime to do it.
On that note, do you think women can have it all? Both the baller career, and the happy family?
I think we spend too much time fantasizing about what the perfect life is, being a “girl boss”, having the perfect husband, kids, etc. Go out and live life. The girls I know who are obsessed with the perfect life are never happy. They have this dream built up in their heads of what perfect is or what society is telling them is perfect, and nothing will ever match that fairytale.
If you could look into a crystal ball and see 20 years into your future, what would you want to see?
I have no idea. Maybe starting to phase out my time in NYC and making a more permanent shift to living in Asia.
Do you have any career role models? Who are they?
I had a few bosses with a real entrepreneurial spirit. And they taught me to just say yes, and make it happen. I have also learned so much from bad bosses, they showed me who I never wanted to become.
What is the best piece of advice that you have ever received – career-related or otherwise?
That no job will ever be perfect. There are 3 things – the job itself, money, and the people you work with. If you like 2 of the 3, then never leave. Nothing in life will ever be perfect, but if you like most of what you are doing, you are lucky.
Parents love to say, “just wait ’til you have to face the real world…” When you were in college or high school, what did you think the “real world” looked like? What is the difference between what you thought and reality?
Getting your first job seems so exiting, and so adult. But, that excitement wears off after a year when you realize how much actual work it actually is. I think more and more college graduates are looking for jobs that are less 9-5 cubicle and more remote and lax, breaking the traditional standard of what the workforce is.
Should you work for the money, or do what you love?
What is your idea of success? And what are your goals? I have friends in finance that work for the money, their idea of happiness is owning mega yachts and mansions and all of the 18 hour work days at the office are worth it for those things. Could I be happy doing that, ABSOLUTELY NOT. I also know people that work for charities that make very little money, but are happy doing what they do everyday. There is no concrete correct answer. I think you need to do you, and what makes you happy at the end of the day.
How important is money to you when considering a job?
I need to be compensated fairly for my time. Some of these jobs, if you add up all the overtime hours you are forced to work at the end of the day you are making less than minimum wage – that’s just ridiculous. At the same time, will I take less than my normal rate or work for a startup with a great mission, absolutely, I love to help.
What is the single most important factor of a job?
Do you like doing it?
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