Imagine you are a creative professional, working your way up the ladder in a huge media corporation, and achieving the highest honor in your career - only to be fired less than a week later. What would you do? This was the situation facing Melissa Vargas, an Emmy and Promax Award-winning producer, multimedia journalist, writer and brand strategist. In the midst of an unexpected pivotal moment in her career, she discovered the keys to pursuing her God-given creative purpose, even when her career didn’t follow the path she anticipated. Having worked in the fast-paced corporate media world, she now shares her passion and expertise with creatives and brands through her newly launched agency, MVR Collective. She is transparent about her own mental health journey, and has a heart for Christian creatives who are seeking direction in a constantly shifting and unpredictable media climate. Melissa hopes that in sharing her journey, she can provide hope to those who find themselves in similar stories, help them look at life differently, and find small moments of laughter and joy. In this raw, powerful and revealing talk, we unlock the source of Melissa’s confidence that helped her overcome the obstacles that nearly derailed her career. With clarity and passion, she shares how she maintained her faith, while enduring the worst and the best of the creative life - always seeing God’s favor through any circumstance. In this episode you’ll discover: How Melissa discovered her creative passion for writing and how her path took shape through words of faith Why the traditional paths to success in the media are often unreliable Why Christian creatives have to be willing to take risks and walk by faith The importance of embracing your God-given identity as a creative How Melissa rebounded from a devastating, unforeseen change in her career The source of your creative confidence and why social media strategies must be applied in proper perspective How authenticity and transparency can help you build your audience the right way Connect with Melissa Vargas We’ve love to hear your thoughts about this episode… Tap HERE to send us a text! Support the show NEW DEVOTIONAL ON YOUVERSION! Would you like to understand God's creative process and apply it to your life? Check out our new YouVersion Bible reading plan here! NEW "DISCOVER YOUR CREATIVE PERSONALITY" QUIZ! We've developed this quiz to help you diagnose and discover where you currently stand in your journey as a faith-focused artist. You'll find out which of the 5 Christian Creative Personalities you're currently operating in and how to improve on your strengths and get help with your weaknesses. Take the 5- minute quiz HERE PODCAST MERCH Get God and Gigs themed gear, clothing and accessories HERE! GOT VALUE FROM THIS PODCAST? Exchange VALUE 4 VALUE! You can share: TIME: Send this episode to someone who you know would enjoy it TALENT: Email your art or music to add to our community to allen@godandgigs.com TREASURE: Tap HERE to pick an amount to support the podcast monthly, OR: Get a modern podcast app that allows you support us IN REAL TIME by sending us value digitally! Get a new podcast app that supports these new features HERE.