About Us > Our People > Melisa Kotecki Schlote

Director of Business Operations   |   Read Professional Bio >>

When it comes to the vanishing art of composing odes, Melisa says: "I write. Therefore, iamb."

That's a poetry joke. "Iamb" is a unit of rhythm in poetry. Get it? Melisa is one of about 10 people in the nation who would get it because writing odes is knitted into the fabric of her being.

"I write them when I'm feeling inspired," she says of the classical Greek lyrical verses.

In fact, Melisa's job application to SE2 was in verse, entitled "Ode to my Transferable Skills." It concluded, "Read my resume, it is attached. Act now! I am a real catch!"

Probably not the best approach if she were applying, say, to become a Secret Service agent but it got her noticed at SE2, a firm that values creativity.

Another one of Melisa's passions is Hatha Yoga, which is handy because SE2 also values employees who can stay flexible and calm, even under pressure.

Those skills came in handy when Melisa was charged with shuttling a big client around on a media tour.

"I had been on the job for five weeks and had gone through the exact same media training we give clients," she said. "You know, how to stay on message and how to avoid traps." Only to find herself on the phone with a local reporter roped into a much longer and detailed conversation than necessary; falling hook line and sinker for the reporter's tricks of the trade.

"In those five minutes the reporter got me to do everything we teach our clients not to do." The result: she made it into the lead story the next day and then shortly after crafted an ode entitled "Trial by Fire: How I made the front page!"

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