Sector: Health and Wellbeing / Employee Wellbeing

Melissa Armstrong has always had a creative flair and entrepreneurial mindset, which makes being creative director of Key Wellbeing the perfect role for her.

Where do you call home?

Teesside! Born and raised 🙂

Tell us about your role?

I am the co-founder and creative director at the Tees Valley-based workplace
wellbeing company, Key Wellbeing Ltd.
As creative director I take the lead on the design side of things and how the Key
Wellbeing brand looks and feels across all media assets. Having always had a
creative flair, I’m in my element in this role and love constantly coming up with
innovative ideas for campaigns, initiatives and marketing to really showcase what
we’re all about and the ways that we can support employee wellbeing.

How did you get to where you are today?

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset and wanted to set up my own business
for as long as I can remember. I started out at college studying geo-business, maths,
and IT but I had a bit of a challenging time and ended up leaving, in the hope of doing
something that involved zero boys!
With a lot of interest in holistic therapies, I decided to do a training course and
became a self-employed holistic therapist at the age of 18 with qualifications in all
sorts from reflexology to Reiki.
I then went on to work as a multimedia make-up artist for films and TV including the
National Lottery before becoming a company trainer for a large US based cosmetic
brand in which I was lucky enough to travel across the globe.
I took a break to have and raise my two lovely boys and that made me even more
driven to succeed as an entrepreneur as I wanted to lead a good example as a
working mum. After that I met Marie, who had the same drive and passion to help
others and we created Key Wellbeing where I now bring my complementary skills
and interests to support the mental health and wellbeing of employees!

What struggles or obstacles did you face along the way?

An obvious obstacle for all businesses, including ours was the unexpected Covid-19
which meant Marie and I had to reimagine the initial business model we had planned
for Key Wellbeing and instead adopt a complete digital approach.
The pandemic also made things at home challenging – all that uncertainty and
needing to juggle work with home-schooling while my husband worked away was
overwhelming and at times I was unsure how I could manage with the constant
balancing act, so I made sure I really upped my self-care routine with mindfulness,
exercise and getting out for walks with the dog to feel more in control.

Describe the moment you first got a feel for success?

Launching Key Wellbeing right in the middle of Covid-19 and seeing the positive
impact that we were making to help organisations and their staff through those
challenging times was a moment of success for me. And most recently, being
shortlisted as Best Newcomer at the 2022 Tees Businesswomen Awards, which I’m
very grateful for!

Do you have any advice for aspiring young females?

My advice would be to not let anyone tell you that you can’t do something! If you
have a true passion for something, I always say go for it. Even if family members of
friends say not to. You really can do anything that you set your mind to.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I would tell my younger self not to listen to the negative people who try to bring you
down. Sadly there are many dream stealers out there that don’t like to see people
doing well as it makes them feel inferior.
Always surround yourself with inspiring people that want everyone to succeed.
Together everyone achieves more!

What three words inspire you and encourage a positive path?

Look who’s watching! (My sons and soon to be daughter watch everything I do and I
want them to know they can achieve anything if they put their mind to it).