Business Strategy | Customer Research | Emotional Positioning | ⬆️ Growth, ⬇️ CAC, and ⬆️ Revenue

Most companies don’t struggle because their product is weak, they struggle because they’re talking to the wrong customers, at the wrong time, with the wrong message.

I began my career solving that problem through user research and customer discovery, helping founders identify their best buyers, validate ideas, and bring offerings to market with clarity and speed. My work centered on helping teams stop guessing and start acting on evidence.

In May 2024, I expanded that work into a broader commercial function.
I realized the same analytical skills that uncover customer insights can also be used to build predictable, qualified demand for companies that already have strong delivery but inconsistent pipelines.

Today, I design and operate The Demand System:
a structured, signal-driven pipeline engine that identifies companies entering buying windows, qualifies them with rigor, and creates high-fit commercial conversations every month.

It’s user research applied to revenue that's systematized.

My work combines:
• buying-signal and market intelligence
• structured qualification frameworks
• context-aware personalization
• AI-enabled workflow automation
• weekly reporting for leadership visibility

The result is a demand engine that gives teams consistent, qualified conversations without relying on broad, inefficient outbound.

I work with agencies and B2B service companies that want a more disciplined, data-informed, and predictable approach to generating demand.

If your team needs clearer customer insight, better qualification, or a system that creates demand you can count on, I’m always open to a conversation.

🤪 Abeiene N.

Amazon + Microsoft recognized leader | Proven coaching programs to help you land a job you love

You’ve worked too hard to feel this stuck.

You’ve led high-stakes projects, delivered results that mattered, and climbed further than most ever will.
But somewhere along the way, the work stopped feeling like it fit.

Maybe the role’s too small now.
Maybe the company’s changed.
Maybe you have.

I know what that moment feels like — because I’ve lived it.

The first time I left a “perfect” job, it made no sense to anyone but me.

On paper, I’d made it.
I was at Amazon, leading product marketing for high-profile products like Prime and Fire tablets.

I’d started in academia and retail, then landed at Microsoft in a role that valued my retail background (who knew?). That move brought me from D.C. to Seattle.

Just as I’d settled in, Amazon came knocking — asking me to get offline retailers ready for the Fire Phone launch. That move took my Big Tech career to a whole new level.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling something didn’t fit.
The work moved faster, the bar kept shifting higher — but my sense of purpose was shrinking.

When I looked around, I saw smart, capable colleagues stay in roles they no longer loved because the comp or title looked good. I realised I was on the same path — and I didn’t want to be.

So I walked away and rebuilt my career on different terms.
Ones that gave me impact and energy.
Ones that felt tangible, sustainable, and worth showing up for.

That change in focus led me to coaching.

Now, I help experienced Big Tech professionals navigate bold career moves — especially when they want their next step to look nothing like their last.

How we work together:
🧭 Clarity – Define your values, strengths, and direction
🎯 Job Search – Own your story and land roles you actually want
🚀 First 90 Days – Lead with purpose from day one in your new role

Results my clients see:
✅ Leadership roles at companies they believe in
✅ Bigger comp and better alignment
✅ Confidence in interviews, negotiations, and decisions
✅ A definition of success that fits their life

Because you’re too smart to waste your best years in the wrong role.
Especially when the next chapter can be the best one yet.

Want to know how coaching can accelerate your career? 
📅 Book your 20-minute clarity call:
https://calendly.com/mfdcoaching/clarity

Mel Fox Dhar

The most wasted moment in a senior interview?
When they ask: “Do you have any questions for us?”

By that point, they already know you can do the job.

What they’re listening for is how you think, what you value, and whether you’ll be someone they want to work with.

Skip the throwaways.

Ask questions that tell you something real and make them think, “This person gets it.”

Three questions I see clients using very effectively in their interviews:
1️⃣ Decision-making → “When leadership is split on a big call, how do you get to a decision?”

2️⃣ Culture → “Tell me about someone who is successful here. What makes them effective?”

3️⃣ Team dynamics → “When priorities change fast, how do you decide what drops and what gets done?”

These aren’t just for showing you've been paying attention, they’re you're opportunity to seal the deal and see if you can thrive there. 

What’s the best end-of-interview question you’ve asked, or been asked?

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Newsletter

P.S. Last week’s newsletter broke down exactly how to set up an Impact Bank. If you want the template, you can grab it here: 
https://www.melfoxdhar.com/post/10-by-january-no-one-will-remember-what-you-did-this-fall

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Want a bit more brass tax on this one? Check out my latest newsletter: https://www.melfoxdhar.com/post/18-why-just-catching-up-is-more-strategic-than-you-think

Workshop

Nab your spot here: https://www.melfoxdhar.com/freeworkshop

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 Hi {{Name}} I’ve applied for the {{Role}} role and wanted to reach out directly.

My background is in {{relevant domain / scope}}. Most recently, I’ve been focused on {{1–2 outcomes that map cleanly to the role}}. From the job description, this role appears closely aligned with the kind of work I’ve been doing, particularly {{specific problem or mandate from the spec}}.
Sharing context in case it’s helpful as you’re reviewing candidates.
Best,
{{Your name}}

melfoxdharcoaching

Land & Thrive in a Role You Love | Career Coach for Big Tech | 10 Years at Amazon + Microsoft

5 fails in transitioning to your first role post-Amazon 
 
1️⃣ Start working immediately. Downtime is for losers. A weekend totally counts. 
 
2️⃣ Don't observe the culture. They want you to bring all that Amazon intensity with you. 
 
3️⃣ Tell people everything they know is wrong by saying "This is how we did it at Amazon." 
 
4️⃣ Expect instant trust. Because "I worked at Amazon." 
 
5️⃣ Get frustrated by the impact you're having in your first 30 days, flip back on your 'looking for work' flag and start stalking your old team for new roles. 
 
What would you add? 
 
 
#bigtech #bestcareeradvice #coaching #newjob 
--- 
 
P.S. Want help hitting the ground running in your next role? Reach out. 
Together we'll make a plan and help you transition successfully into that dream job you worked so hard to land.

I’ve coached a lot of people through Big Tech layoffs, and there’s a pattern I see on repeat: 
Most people try to move really fast and land something immediately. 

One of my recent clients was laid off from Microsoft and did exactly that.
She dove straight into job searching.
And it was making her miserable.

So we paused.
Not 12-week yoga retreat in Bali "find yourself" slow down. 
Just long enough to get honest about what she actually wanted next.
And what came out surprised her.

She hated product marketing.
Hated it.
What she really wanted was to go back into sales - specifically sales enablement.
Once she named that, things shifted.
We aligned her profile to where she actually wanted to go.
She changed how she was showing up - not by erasing her product marketing background, but by positioning it as helpful.

Her experience as a Product Marketer became evidence of:
- how she enabled sellers
- how she translated product strategy into customer-facing stories
- how she supported revenue teams in practice, not theory

Her story tightened.
Her interviews felt more grounded.

She wasn't making anything up or trying to convince someone - she was framing her experience in ways that made sense for her new role. 

She landed a new role back in September.
End to end, her search took about six weeks.

Because clarity removes friction.

"Mel, why would you become a coach? You have real, marketable skills." 
 
I still chuckle recalling that conversation. At the time, it felt like a gut punch.
 
Back then, I hadn't started coaching school nor left Amazon. I was just sharing my plan with a friend. Her surprise was genuine - she couldn't understand why I'd trade a stable career to start my own journey.
 
No one would blame me for backing down. For deciding to keep coaching as a side-hustle; I'd been doing that for a year, why not a bit longer? 
 
But instead, I took a deep breath and explained that 
I was ridiculously excited to help people stop betraying themselves in the name of success and start making intentional decisions about their careers. 
 
Too many talented individuals find themselves stuck, unsure of their next move and don't know how to make the ideas in their head a reality. 
And that's a damn shame. 
 
She agreed
and the rest, as they say, is history. 
 

Here's what I now know to be true - 
The biggest risk wasn't quitting corporate and starting my own business. 
It was letting someone else's opinion drive what I thought I could do. 
 
Yet, we all do this. 
When we're afraid of taking or even exploring a next step 
because of what other people will think. 
 
And yet 
a brief chat with someone living our dream can illuminate our path and give us the insight we need to know if it's worth considering further. 
I know that's where I started. 

So... 
Isn't it time to take that step?
Who could you speak to that's doing what you dream of?

You’re in a new role and suddenly thinking:
"Why is everyone suddenly all up in my sh*t?"

You’re not junior.
You’re not new to leadership.

And yet... every decision is being questioned, reviewed, or revisited.
This shows up a lot for my leaders leaving Amazon, especially during their first 90 days in the new role. 

Here’s what’s usually gone wrong:
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

At Amazon, autonomy is assumed... called 'being scrappy'
and through docs, people come to trust how you think.

In a new company, that trust hasn’t been built yet - and the signals are different.

So what feels like micromanagement is often uncertainty.

Not about your capability.
About how you make decisions.

The two common mismatches likely to cause the most the most drama: 
• You lead with outcomes. Your manager wants to see the reasoning.
• You work through nuance. Your manager just wants the call.

Same problem. Different flavour.

Here’s how to fix it.
👉 Make your thinking legible. On purpose.

If you default to leading with the big picture: 
- Share your plan, tradeoffs, and next steps before you’re asked.
- Don’t assume results alone will buy trust this early.

If you default to diving into the details: 
- Set the stage by leading with the decision and the implication.
- Treat depth as support, not the headline.

This is how senior leaders earn the trust needed to have autonomy in a new system.
If everyone feels “in your business” right now, pause before getting frustrated.

You probably don’t have a micromanagement problem.
You have a translation problem.
And those are very fixable.

Every time I suggest someone look at their LinkedIn skills, they think I’ve lost the plot.

“I’m not junior.”
“My experience is clear.”
“That section can’t be the issue.”

But if the 𝗶𝗻𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘀 are wrong, the 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘀 will be too.

A client recently came to me frustrated that all his LinkedIn outreach was for roles far below his level.

Nothing matched where he was actually trying to go.

His experience wasn’t the problem.
His profile inputs were.

He hadn’t updated his skills in years.

Recruiters don’t start by reading profiles.
They start by running searches.

Those searches rely heavily on titles and skills.

Here’s what his skills section was feeding into the system:
- Microsoft Excel
- SQL
- JIRA
- Requirements Analysis
- Reporting & Analysis

None of these are bad.
But together, they describe 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲, not 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.

So when searches were run for Director+ profiles, the outcome was predictable:

he didn’t appear, or
he appeared in searches below his actual level

We changed the inputs.

Updated skills (all real LinkedIn skills):
- Strategic Planning
- Business Strategy
- Portfolio Management
- Decision-Making
- Change Management
= Organizational Leadership

Same experience.
Different results.

This is the part people miss:

Your skills section isn’t an inventory.
It’s a filtering mechanism.

If your skills skew toward execution, the roles surfaced to you will too.

So if the outreach you’re getting feels misaligned or down-leveled, don’t assume the market is broken.

Check the inputs you’re providing.

P.S. I get that this is a decidedly unsexy part on how to improve your profile, but it's table stakes. If you want to know the ins and outs of how to make your profile work for you - join my Recruiter-Magnet LinkedIn Profile masterclass on January 28 at 9am PT/5pm GMT. 

https://lnkd.in/eesUgS2F

My heart goes out to everybody impacted by layoffs yesterday. 

It's never easy. 
And I'm sure there are plenty of people telling themselves some version of 
"I should have seen it coming."
👆Not helpful, to say the least.

I pretty consistently see - with clients and friends alike - that when layoffs come, those that rise from the ashes are the ones that take it as an opportunity to reflect on what they want next and move forward with intention. 

It is with that in mind that I would encourage you to do the same.

It's never going to be something you take in stride, 
even if you had gotten used to the idea it might happen and you didn't really like your job anyway. 

Allowing yourself a little bit of time to grieve and process is a good thing. 
You're giving yourself the opportunity to step back and think about what you actually want to have happen next.

- What's the right move that's going to bring your career and your life into alignment?
- What's the right salary that's going to reflect what you need?
- What are the right problems to be solved and domains to focus on that are going to leave you feeling energized at work?

But first, perhaps you take a beat enjoy coming out of the pressure cooker.

If I can lend some perspective or point you to a resource, give me a shout. 

Take care. 
MFD

Remember 2022?

When recruiters were in your DMs like:
“Heyyy, want to 2x your salary and work from a beach?” 🏝️

Yeah. Same.

Now?
The market is stacked with smart, capable people — many of whom are still waiting for the system to magically sort things out.

(It won’t.)

The difference right now isn’t talent.
It’s clarity.
The people getting traction aren’t “better.”

They’re easier to understand:
Why this role
Why them
Why now

That’s exactly what we’ll cover in my workshop on Wednesday, January 28 how to get noticed (and actually move things forward) when being great isn’t enough on its own anymore.

If you know what you want but feel weirdly stuck on how to get there, come hang out.

It’s a new game.
Once you see the rules, things get a lot less mysterious.

🔗 in 💬

Sharing a quick win from this week.

On Wednesday, I ran my Recruiter-Magnet LinkedIn Profile workshop.

Three people made small but specific updates — and got recruiter outreach the same day.

Not just any outreach.
Aligned roles. Correct level.

A few things this reinforces (again):

– Recruiters aren’t browsing profiles. They’re searching. If your headline + skills don’t match how they query, you won't show up. 
– Senior profiles often get this wrong by sounding impressive instead of searchable. 
– Recruiter activity is up, but search behaviour hasn’t changed.

Also: they didn’t spend hours optimising.
They made their titles and skills line up with the *roles they actually want*.

You don't have two brains

You don’t get a work brain and a life brain.
You get one.

I spent years trying to be two people — the version of me at work who could run launches, make hard calls, keep things moving, and the version of me outside work who was somehow supposed to recover from all of that and still feel like herself.

That split sounds reasonable.

It didn’t work.

When the decisions you’re making at work don’t line up with the life you’re trying to live, the friction shows up fast - burnout, numbness, or that constant sense that you’re forcing it.

Alignment isn’t about making work more tolerable.

It’s about being honest about the life you want - and letting work support that, not compete with it.

This wasn’t a theoretical insight for me. It came from being in roles that looked great on paper and slowly realizing they no longer fit.

If this resonates - check out this conversation I had with Candice Mitchell (MSc) in the full episode of Development Nerds.

Watch it here: https://lnkd.in/ezdYZ3zg
Give it a listen, here: https://lnkd.in/eMkDKyc9

Developing strategic, business-ready L&D leaders | CEO, Talent Collective | Creator of the Talent Development Academy® | Podcast Host | L&D Lounge Host | Author of Choose You (3/23)

"So much useful information was given in the hour session - every insight was invaluable! From headlines to resume visibility...and so much more, I'm looking forward to making some positive changes!" 

It's time to get that LinkedIn profile working for you. 
Join me January 28 - let's rock this together.

A pattern we keep seeing with senior Big Tech job searches right now:

Smart, capable leaders doing things that used to work 
- and wondering why progress feels slower than it should.

It’s not a capability problem.
It’s a strategy mismatch.

Common ones we see:
- Treating LinkedIn like a career timeline instead of a signal
- Waiting on recruiters or cold outreach to create momentum
- Interviewing to prove competence instead of senior judgment

None of this means you’re behind.
The market moved. Most people didn’t notice.

This is what prompted the workshop I’m co-hosting with Myra Deshmukh.

We’re breaking down three mistakes we see experienced Big Tech leaders make right now - why they quietly stall momentum, and what to do instead.

No hype. No fluff. No performative advice.
Just clearer signal, better judgment, and fewer blind spots. 

Details + registration below.

Communication Skills for Ambitious Professionals | Facilitator for Fortune 500 Companies | ex-Amazon & Gap | Featured in Business Insider, your team Slack & the local mom’s WhatsApp

“It’s manageable.”
“I’m not sure what I want next yet.”
“After the next launch, it’ll be clearer.”
“Once things stabilise, I’ll take a proper look.”

I hear this most often from senior folks at Amazon and Microsoft.
Not because they’re stuck -
but because they’re planning for a cleaner version of reality.

A version where the org is stable.
The market is predictable.
The signal is obvious.
And the next move presents itself neatly.
That version almost never arrives.

The two clients in today’s video?
We first spoke a year ago.
They were waiting for the conditions to make sense.
Instead, the conditions changed - and the questions stayed the same.

Senior careers don’t unlock in a perfect world.
They move forward in the one you’re actually in.

So the real question isn’t whether things will improve.
It’s whether you’re willing to make decisions without ideal conditions.

If this feels uncomfortably familiar, that’s usually the moment worth paying attention to.

Your resume is only as good as the story it tells about where you’re going.

I’m working with a client who’s had 8 roles in 10 years.
He’s worried he looks like a job hopper.
He’s not.

Each move was strategic - new scope, new problems, sharper skills.

The real issue? His story stopped at what he did instead of what it means.

As in - he didn't string it together so folks knew how he'd leverage this excellent skill set to solve problems for them. 

That’s the difference between a timeline and a narrative.

If you want the scoop on how to do this on your LinkedIn profile - join my Recruiter Magnet workshop tomorrow (Jan 28 at 9am PT/5pm GMT)

🔗 in the 💬

Is it time to overhaul that LinkedIn profile? Join my workshop today.

It is fast, practical, and very specific.

People who’ve attended say things like:
“Tangible actions and steps I could implement immediately.”
“Extremely actionable, without any fluff.”
“Well organised, fast paced, and actually useful.”
“Short, focused, and to the point.”

If you know what role you want next but haven’t cracked how to get recruiters to see it, this session is about:
what to change on your LinkedIn profile
why those changes work
and how to implement them without overthinking it

We’re kicking off today at 9am PT/5pm GMT. 

If you want clarity and momentum (not a pep talk), this is for you.
🔗 in 💬

taplio

The Battle

🤪 Abeiene N.

Mel Fox Dhar

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The Battle

🤪 Abeiene N.

Mel Fox Dhar

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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