This September and October, the Mission Society is excited to host our third annual Virtual Career Fair to introduce students to a variety of professional opportunities and provide invaluable resources for joining the workforce. As part of this series, we spoke to Melissa Victor about how she became a professional creative, using talent and determination to build a career as a performer and the creator of the Stoopkid Stories podcast.
Melissa Victor has paved her path to the stage with dedicated practice, fulfilling opportunities, and star-powered positivity. She calls herself a “Jill of all skills,” spending her days producing, writing, and recording children’s media, and her nights singing and dancing in a long-running production of Little Shop of Horrors. Throughout her life, Melissa has built an enriching career packed with exciting creative pursuits, finding success in what can be a tumultuous field. For the Mission Society’s Virtual Career Fair, she shared how her journey began, highlighting the community and words of wisdom that have been vital to her work.
Setting the Scene for Success
Growing up in Baltimore, Melissa was surrounded by performing arts opportunities. She sang in church, studied theater in school, and participated in community center classes and government-funded camps that furthered her learning. Much of her early training and inspiration stemmed from these very community offerings. They exposed her to professional theater productions and showed her that she could build a career in the field. By her sophomore year of college, she was cast in her first professional show and has continued adding to her resume ever since.
During a slower, creatively unfulfilling period in her performance journey, an idea came to her unexpectedly– that she should start a podcast featuring stories for and about Black kids and uplifting the tales of their amazing, everyday lives. Even though she hadn’t written in a long time, she picked up the pen and scripted the first episode. She sent it out to trusted colleagues who encouraged her to continue, saying they wished a show like this existed when they were growing up. From there, she bought a $60 microphone, learned how to launch a podcast on YouTube, and the rest is history. Stoopkid Stories is now in its ninth season.
Community-driven training, affordable resources, and self-taught moments were a huge part of Melissa’s growth. She learned everything about podcasting from YouTube, like how to set up the mic, edit audio, and more. She even shared that TikTok is full of free, invaluable resources for beginners looking to get started.
For students daunted by the equipment needed for creating a podcast, she says your cell phone and some built-in software can do the trick. Along with her $60 microphone, Melissa used a ten-year-old MacBook and GarageBand, an application pre-installed on most Apple computers and available for download on iPhones and iPads. A young person might even find some of these tools publicly accessible in local libraries. These are all resources Melissa still uses, alongside some upgraded gear she purchased after four years of growth.
This same concept has applied to performing throughout Melissa’s life. She encouraged students to take advantage of local community centers for dance and theater training if they’re unable to drop money on classes. These are enriching places to learn, and are the kinds of classes that built the foundation of Melissa’s career. One of her biggest pieces of advice was to not let money become an obstacle.
Stepping into the Spotlight
A vital piece of Melissa’s performing and podcasting career has been networking, helping her build an audience, connect with the theater community, and establish a robust list of collaborators. For a long time, Melissa didn’t invest time into growing her network but has since put the spotlight on creating connections. She realized that sometimes, this field is not about what you know but who you know.
In order to stay true to herself and her content, Melissa approaches networking with an open heart and leans on her authenticity. She wants people to see her as a person first, believing that this is a stronger foundation for working relationships. At events, she focuses on genuine connections, asking people about who they are over what projects they have in the works. She encourages young people to “approach someone as a human speaking to another human. Not as an entrepreneur speaking to another entrepreneur, or an actor to another actor. We are humans first before we step into all of those roles.”
A Show Stopping Life
Melissa’s story is proof that a career in the arts requires a lot of tenacity and heart. Her life has been full of times when she was willing to be resourceful, teach herself new skills, and say yes to experiences with enthusiasm. And these values have paid off– she will be stepping into the lead role in Little Shop for a run of shows in October. She continues to put out stories for young people who see themselves in her writing and remember beloved characters from her show years after their debut. With a lot of grit, talent, and optimism, Melissa’s career continues to flourish. Onstage and behind the mic, her show-stopping life is an award-winning example of how to thrive as a creative and build the career of your dreams.
Thank you to Melissa Victor for sharing your story for the Mission Society’s third annual Virtual Career Fair. Be sure to find her onstage and listen to her podcast Stoopkid Stories to hear the tales of Black kids being themselves and being amazing in their everyday lives.
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