Melissa DeRosa's Journey Through Politics and Crisis, Resilience and Reinvention, and Making Sure Nothing is Left Unsaid

This week's episode on Leave Your Mark stars Melissa DeRosa , a 20-year veteran of politics and government at the senior most levels and the author of What's Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics & Crisis. Melissa rose through the ranks to become the first-ever female secretary to a governor in New York State. Fun fact: this is the highest unelected position in state government. But first, a fun little story on how we became friends.

I love a good women's networking drinks thing, and in?May 2019, my friend Margie Cader , co-founder of the boutique comms agency, The Optimist Collective , invited me to attend a LinkedIn women's connection event with Blair Heitmann , LinkedIn's Senior Director, Global Communications. It's there that I met Melissa. But listen to how unbelievable the world is- that was not our first connection point.

In 2015, before the final DKNY fashion show I ever produced, I had a fashion emergency.?No, a real one.?We were 'showing' at the World Trade Center's Oculus, and the Port Authority (which controlled it) refused to give us access to the venue early enough to move in everything we needed to. I was panicked. We needed this access, or the show would literally NOT go on. Long story short, Hildy Kuryk who was then at Vogue (also based at World Trade), introduced me to Melissa.

I remember calling Governor Cuomo's office and saying, "Hi Melissa, this may sound ridiculous, but I have a fashion emergency...." Please don't ask me how I had the nerve to think the Governor's office needed to solve this for me, let's?just say I don't do well with NO. Melissa heard me out and ended the call saying she's got this handled—full-blown Olivia Pope style. Less than an hour later, it was done. That is power, my friends.

"It’s my turn ... to give a different perspective from the person who was in the room, from the person who lived it, not from someone who was sitting on the sidelines throwing stones." - Melissa DeRosa

From the frontlines of the COVID crisis to the?real?events behind Governor Andrew Cuomo's meteoric rise and unfathomable fall, Melissa, one of the most powerful women in New York State government, has been on the frontlines every step of the way.?She opens up about personal sacrifices, navigating crises, and the support and controversy surrounding Governor Cuomo.?

Reflecting on her sudden thrust into the public eye, Melissa touches on the complex dynamics of personal branding, calling into question the narratives we construct around public figures and advocating for a more nuanced understanding beyond superficial judgments.

In this episode of Leave Your Mark, Melissa shares her career journey from her early days in fashion PR to her rapid rise in New York State's political arena, with an unprecedented view into the behind-the-scenes crisis management of the COVID-19 pandemic.?

On this show and in her book, she shares the personal challenges she faced with raw honesty and vulnerability—a failing marriage, infertility, death threats, misogyny—all while navigating unprecedented professional landmines along the way.

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