Splash Magazine: CEO Melissa Core-Caballo’s Call to Women: Don’t Give Up Your Dream – Part Two.

"I am strong

I am invincible

I am woman"

Helen Reddy, I Am Woman (1971)

In Part One, Melissa Core-Caballo brought us into the moments that made her — a miracle baby, a beloved Nana’s last breath, and a mission she was born to carry. In Part Two, she crosses an ocean, survives a man’s world, builds something extraordinary, and finds love exactly where she least expected it. The girl who never stopped dancing becomes the woman who makes sure no one else does either.

FOLLOWING THE DREAM — Going to America

Photo courtesy of Melissa Core-Caballo

Kiana: What drove you to do everything to get to America?

Melissa: My mom was a single mother, and she was a really late sleeper. The TV was my babysitter a lot when my nana wasn’t around. I watched a lot of TV like MTV. It was constant music videos. Music, music, music. I learned how to record what I wanted. I’m talking, I’m 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 — and I’d learn the dancing. I’d teach myself in mirror image for hours until my mum got up. And that kept going into my teens.

It wasn’t until I got older that I thought — where are all these singers and all these people located? I realized not a lot of them were in Australia. They were all in America. So then I was like, I want to dance in America, I want to go where that is. When we moved in with my stepdad, he had VHS tapes — all musicals. Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly. I grew up on everything American and fell in love with the entertainment industry. From the age of like 12, 13, I was like, I’m gonna go to America. I just got fixated. Hyper, hyper-fixated.

Kiana: You left school because?

Melissa: I wanted to dance and entertain and be amongst music, and I wasn’t getting it. Retail, fashion — none of this is serving my heart. The entertainment industry in Australia is in Sydney, and that’s an hour and a half from where I grew up. So I commuted every day, and I literally left school at 15 to start my own dance group.

Kiana: That’s amazing.

Photo by Dead Horse Branding

Melissa: I started touring, traveling, and dancing in Sydney, and getting booked. I put this dance group together, and learned marketing and promotion. It was a crash course — I wanted to dance, and I needed to get paid and booked. I had to learn everything in the middle. I would just ring up people. I rang up tan sponsorships, hair sponsorships. I’d ask them — look, if you do this for me, I’ll get your posters and your visibility. I was just honest. Here’s what I can do for you, if you can do this for me.

Kiana: That’s intelligence, intellect — that’s tremendous. Nobody taught you that specifically. You just figured it out.

Melissa: I remember my mom, she was like, what are you doing? I’m like, I need tans, and I don’t have money. We need to look browner, and we need outfits, and we need hair — and I knew how to get to people. As an only child, I was on my own a lot. I fended for myself a lot. Went through a lot of transition — broken family. Lost my nana very young, who was really that foundation for most of my life.

BECOMING MIKE CORDELL — What Women Go Through to Succeed

Melissa Core-Caballo. Photo by Dead Horse Branding

“This is a man’s world / But it wouldn’t be nothin’ /

Nothin’ without a woman or a girl” — James Brown

Kiana: As a girl, a woman, a leader coming up through the entertainment industry — what have you noticed?

Melissa: It’s terrible. From the get-go, from leaving school, being 15 — it’s a primarily male-dominated industry. What I find with the men is it is a lot easier for them to climb. Women don’t go to the bars and hang and have a beer after hours, especially when they get married, especially when they have kids. So they’re out of the loop. All of that additional out-of-the-office valuable time is gone.

The whole way I got to Nashville was a “Me Too” thing that I have never spoken about. I was flown to New York by a big producer who said there was a big music video he wanted me in. I had to audition from Australia, send my portfolio — only to get there, and it was all a hoax. All there was was a one-bedroom apartment. I asked him where I was sleeping, he’s like, in my bed. I’m like, no, I’m not. And this is a very well-known producer.

Through modeling, a beautiful man named Dan Shaw had been working with me and built my website since I was 15. He said — if you get in trouble, let me know. And 3 days in New York, he’s like, that’s it, you’re out of there. He bought me a one-way ticket to Nashville. He housed me. He put me up with his family. His two kids shared a bedroom and gave me theirs, and I had the best time of my life in Nashville.

When I started working at my first record label — I very quickly learned I needed to be a dude. Through emails. So I changed my name to Mike Cordell. I noticed how dudes talk in emails. Very short, very straight. So I became Melissa — Mike Cordell’s assistant. Every time they’d ring Mike’s phone, Melissa would answer and do as much business as I could. But the sign-off is Mike. Mike never spoke to anyone on the phone. He never met anyone in person. Always sent mail. I did this for a good 8 months, until I got fired for being too entrepreneurial. Those were literally his words.

The amount of schmoozing and remarks that you’ll accept — it’s ridiculous. If guys had to put up with half of it, they wouldn’t. They just wouldn’t. I don’t think anything’s really changed in that area at all, to be honest. Women gotta be clever.

Kiana: I hear you — you moved really quickly away from that. You having that foundation means that you could say, no, this isn’t okay. That’s a really key thing for women — to have that discernment, and have people that are supportive.

Melissa: But I get it. The amount of times I was caught in very interesting circumstances. When your dream is dangled right there. When your door that you’ve been trying so hard to knock down could be open, if you just do a couple of these things — I get it. Some of these men are very clever. It’s grooming.

And rejection, right? Not having my biological father — it’s a rejection thing. If I’m not talking to the staff and clients every day, they’re not going to want me. They’re gonna want someone else. I had to let that go too.

I meshed with older males — executives, CEOs, business people. They were the celebrities to me, not the celebrities. The ones helping to make decisions, the ones helping the artist. I was starstruck by them. I never wanted to be the performer. I loved the team. I loved entertainment and the music as a whole — hitting beats as a group. That was my gospel. That moved my soul. When I got to Nashville I met all those business executives — I like the brain. I am creative but I am a strategist. I am drawn to people that strategize and think.

But my Auntie Karen is like my nana — second version. A psychologist, a hypnotherapist, my SOS dial. I was lucky enough to have that female voice.

HOW THINGS CHANGED — Letting My Team Fly

Melissa Core-Caballo & Rick Caballo. Photo by Dead Horse Branding

Kiana: As a woman leader — what would you say?

Melissa: As a woman creator, the leader — you need to be stronger than the boys. And that’s the truth. Because when I say stronger, I mean emotionally stronger. The way they operate is not personal, but we take it super personal. Make it less personal. Don’t read into it. You need to be really strong in your foundation, in your mindset. You need to have more courage and confidence than a male because you come up against them every day. As females, we are quite sensitive human beings. We are over-thinkers. We take it personally if they don’t email back within 4 days. That just all needs to go out the door. It seriously all comes down to self-confidence. If you know your craft and you stick by it — you could be wrong, doesn’t matter. There are so many people that are going to agree with you.

Kiana: Know your stuff, and be confident about it.

Melissa: Exactly. There is stuff that I know, that I’ll die on the hill with. But I end up making waves my way with it. I’m very tunnel-focused until I crack that nut, and then I’ll move on.

Kiana: Can you flesh out how things changed after the NICU?

Melissa: The last 6 months. Instead of me communicating with every single staff member, every single client, on a daily basis — the staff are so empowered and know their stuff. The clients found a new relationship with their day-to-day people, because I wasn’t in the middle of it every second. And for the first time in a long time, I’m actually being a lot more creative within the strategies, because I have more brain space. One thing about smart teams is quick teams. The problem in big organizations is the red tape — too many hoops and protocols that no one can freely think. You come to the conclusion, you decide. Well, what if it’s the wrong decision? I don’t care. You’ll learn from it. My job is to be high level. By the time you get up, you’re too exhausted at the top of the mountain to think about a new idea. I’m loving this.

Kiana: What would you say to women trying to hold a career and a family at the same time?

Melissa: At any given moment, my 6-year-old could be sick at school. I have a strategy set on a day. At any given point, something’s gonna fall. And then I re-strategize in that moment. If you can get quick at re-strategizing, you’ll be better at keeping the balls in the air and just adjusting.

For a long time, I didn’t feel comfortable to say I even had a baby, because I didn’t want anyone to think they can’t work with me. This time around — I’m not gonna make an excuse for having to pick my kid up. A guy wouldn’t. I am a working mum. Just because my child’s in the backseat of a phone call doesn’t mean my knowledge base has changed.

Kiana: Less over-explaining.

Melissa: Yeah. My work balances me. I am that type of female that does need to work, and does want to do what I do. But the percentages just change. Different months, days, weeks. And you know what? I get to decide. And so should you.

Women are powerful. From a spiritual connectivity, from what our bodies do and go through, from the amount that we can handle. If our muscles could show our emotional capacity to hold — we’d all look like Arnie Schwarzenegger. We all have our strengths. But one thing is for certain — we don’t take enough time for ourselves. No — let it drop. It’s okay. You will know the priorities and which ones to let go, and which ones to keep up. And then, if the big ones are gonna drop — call a friend. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Use that tribe — not on a weekly basis, on a daily basis. We have to lean on each other.

Kiana: Because everything got individualized, we really need to recreate tribe. Lean in.

Melissa: Listen, clients are people, too. They understand. And if they don’t, then maybe they’re not meant to be with you at that time in your life, and that’s okay.

Rick Caballo, Celine Dion, Melissa Core-Caballo, Tony Brown. Photo by Dead Horse Branding

Dead Horse Branding’s roster has included Hallmark, TEDx, Lionsgate, Johnny Depp, Steven Tyler’s Solo Band, Duck Dynasty, the Bo Diddley Estate, and Country Music Hall of Famer Tony Brown.

The real thing, right? We’re in such a fabricated world. You’ll never see a press release come out of our office about so-and-so releasing a song. Do not care. We care about the message — what’s the thread? What’s the psychology? I’m not in ego city land. I’m in — how to utilize your talent for the greater masses, and how to make a movement through this individual. We care about worlds.

All of our clients are different — Stefanie Michaela, what an awesome story of turning her page. I said, I don’t care if you touch one person with this. You’ve touched me, so there’s one. Erin Duvall, who’s incredible is a creator of so many things, a killer TV series in the works. Not all of our artists want to be number one on radio. Music’s a vehicle for different people in different ways.

Kiana: I love that. It’s very heart-centered.

Melissa: Yeah, I can’t do anything I don’t like. I can’t even strategize something I don’t like. It won’t work.

LOVE FROM WOLLONGONG

Rick Caballo & Melissa Core-Caballo. Photo by Dead Horse Branding

Kiana: How did you and Rick meet?

Melissa: Through Dan! He saw Rick playing and was like, you should meet my friend Mel, she’s from Australia. And Rick’s like, I wouldn’t know her, Australia’s a big place. And Dan’s like, she’s from this beach town called Wollongong. And Rick’s like — I’m from Wollongong.

He asked me if I wanted to do his music video. I didn’t even look him up. Rick had this weird profile picture of a Mexican famous actor — with a big hat as his Facebook profile. So I thought that’s who he was — this 50-year-old guy, big hat. I go to the music video, and Rick rocks up on a Harley-Davidson, looking all cute. He asked me out for a drink after. I was exhausted and not in relationship mode. I showed my mom his CD cover and my mom said — this guy asked you out for a drink? Should I call him back? So it’s because of her that I called him back at 9 o’clock at night. We sat and talked until 2am. We both don’t drink, so we got a lemonade, sat by the beach. And I said, I’m moving to Nashville. He said — I’m moving to Nashville. I was like — what? We met up over there, and we’ve been together ever since.

Kiana: Wow! What a beautiful story. Both from the same place, going to the same place. There you have the team. Dan, your mom —

Melissa: I know, so crazy. And my mum would never comment on anyone. So when she spoke up, I said, okay. My mum did amateur theater and was on stage, so I definitely had visions of it around the place. I loved seeing her on stage and performing. I loved my stepdad performing in bands. I thought, you’re so cool!

Kiana: what would you say to couples working together?

Melissa: It’s hard to separate, because you talk about your work at the dinner table. Our downtime is talking about different projects, and we love it. So it doesn’t feel like work. But you do have to have a work relationship, and you have to have a home relationship. I’m not kissing my husband and holding his hand and flirting with him in the office by any means.

Kiana: That’s not right.

Melissa: That would be weird. But have I wanted to fire the guy many times? Yes, 100%. Has he wanted to fire me? Yeah, probably four times more. We have a joke — who’s firing who this week? It’s pretty amazing when you do get to look back on not just the life you’re creating personally, but a company you’re creating together. Rick is the ultra-creative guy. He comes up with things at 2 in the morning, writes one down on the pad, I get it the next day, and I’m like, this is brilliant.

JUST DO YOU

Rick Caballo & Melissa Core-Caballo. Photo by Dead Horse Branding

Kiana: What would you tell your 15-year-old self?

Melissa: Keep believing. No matter how hard it gets — keep believing. And understand timing. That’s huge. Don’t lose the confidence. I was so eager and desperate to get to where I wanted to get, that it completely threw me around. Kim Bullard — Elton John’s piano player, wonderful man — said something very interesting to me one time. He said, Mel, there’s a difference between determination and desperation.

Kiana: Yeah.

Melissa: I loved that. If I look at that 15-year-old self — it was desperation. It was do or die. Where now, I was able to turn that desperation into determination. But that only comes with knowing timing, having confidence, and trusting your faith. Trusting in you. If you listen stronger to yourself — really listen, let yourself be the roadmap — you will be okay. This world doesn’t want to fail you. It doesn’t.

Kiana: Is there anything else you would like to leave women with?

Melissa: For women specifically — just do you. Do what it is you need to do your way. Don’t worry about legislation, or an industry, or whether only men do that — just do you. Don’t even think anymore about it. That’s it.

Kiana: That’s beautiful.

Photo by Ari Lyon

Read more: https://splashmags.com/2026/05/ceo-melissa-core-caballos-call-to-women-dont-give-up-your-dream-part-two/