Today we’d like to introduce you to Gregory Melon.
Hi Gregory, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m the direct product of one of life’s greatest conundrums: “What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?”
Well, in my parents’ case, they get married. 🙂 Mike Melon was the unstoppable force, and Jeanne Melon was the immovable object.
I was originally born in New Jersey, but moved for the first of many times only 6 months after being born. From that day forward, I never lived in a single place for more than 5 years (that is, until I moved to Houston). Over the course of my life, I’ve lived in 5 different states–New Jersey, Louisiana, Maine, South Carolina, Texas–and 3 different continents–North America (USA), South America (Paraguay), and Asia (China).
My family only ended up in South Carolina because we were evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. My Dad stayed in the city for the entire storm, but my mom, middle sister, and myself all evacuated to South Carolina to be with my oldest sister.
Eventually, I ended up at the University of South Carolina where I was fortunate enough to graduate from the #1 International Business Program in the country, with degrees in International Business, Marketing, and Mandarin.
After graduating I launched my career in the national security industry of all places. Over time I became the Marketing Director for a technology company that sold security software to the federal government, covering everything from seaport security to special events–including multiple State Of The Union addresses, and even protecting every Head of State in attendance at Nelson Mandela’s funeral.
My job during that time was relatively unique: I was responsible for ensuring that our company remained hidden in the shadows, and couldn’t be discovered by the general public. In mastering the art of hiding online–an increasingly difficult feat–I naturally discovered the best methods for successfully ranking as well. After directly supporting the company’s successful acquisition, I decided to use my powers for good by helping companies stand out online and attract more of their best clients using search engine optimization. Just like that, my company Covert Marketing was born.
These days when I’m not running my SEO company, I’m doing one of a few things: Getting covered in sawdust at my woodshop, listening to an ungodly amount of music, riding my motorcycle, or reading as many books as humanly possible,
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh hell no, it has certainly been anything but a smooth road.
Unfortunately, I’ve experienced a disproportionate amount of deaths for my age. Over the span of 2.5 years, my Dad, Mom, and best friend (Ben Marshall) all passed away. As a matter of fact, my Mom passed away only 45 days after my best friend.
As you can imagine, experiencing so much death at a relatively young age (I was between 26 and 28 years old when all of this happened) has a tendency to shake you to your core. All of a sudden nothing seems to make sense anymore.
Although people naturally feel your pain and want to lend their support in the early days, eventually everyone else returns to their normal lives as if the world hadn’t just ended (figuratively speaking of course. That’s simply what it feels like in the moment when you’re experiencing it firsthand).
Having become painfully familiar with the grieving process, I’ve come to the conclusion that grief is painful for us to process mainly because no one talks about it. As if grief is some private shame that we can’t speak openly about. That’s why I genuinely enjoy talking about my experience whenever possible, in the hopes that simply talking about it more openly will help someone else cope with their own grief when the time comes.
Just because someone carries it well doesn’t mean it isn’t heavy.
We’ve been impressed with Covert Marketing, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Covert Marketing is a search engine optimization (SEO) company that helps midsize organizations attract more of their best clients. Senior executives and companies turn to us when they want help increasing organic site traffic, improving their Google ranking, and driving real revenue to boost their marketing return on investment.
The main things that set us apart are:
+We’re the only SEO company that obsesses over the client’s ROI over our own
+We focus on SEO fundamentals for long-term success, instead of the latest gRoWtH hAcKs
+Instead of leasing clients the SEO work–so they own nothing if they try to leave–clients maintain 100% ownership of their data, no matter what.
Aside from that, Covert Marketing has gained notoriety recently for becoming one of the first Texas companies to adopt a 4-day work week. It’s all driven by one of our core mottos, “We work to live, not the other way around.” That’s why we offer fully remote positions, with a 4-day work week, and unlimited vacation.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
What a great question. My Dad worked as a pastor, so we grew up poor for the majority of my childhood and youth. Surprisingly there’s not much money in the ministry unless you’re Joel Osteen. So my favorite childhood memories are also the simplest. Such as my Dad or Grandpa giving us wheelbarrow rides in the backyard when I was a kid.
Or the times when I’d get in trouble (which happened a lot) while visiting my grandparents. Since my parents knew putting me in the corner for a “timeout” wouldn’t accomplish anything–since I’d just walk away every time–my punishment usually involved being sat on top of my grandparents’ refrigerator since I’d be forced to sit there and contemplate my crimes. Little did my parents know that my Grandpa religiously hid candy and snacks on top of the refrigerator, hidden out of view, to make my imprisonment more enjoyable.
It’s the little things.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.covertmktg.com
- Instagram: @notgregmelon
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moTuYYjIoGc
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-
melon
Image Credits
Cody Hahn (@HahnImages) for the protest photo.
