Melanie Massey Groves

As an entrepreneur herself, Melanie is passionate about the importance of a strong company culture. She believes that when an organization understands the gifts of its members and is unified by strong core values, the leader and teammates are free to do what they do best. Because she actively implemented this philosophy by empowering her own business leaders, Melanie was freed to pursue other ventures including MoCo Leadership, whose aim is to help growth-minded leaders expand their teams through individualized programs focused on strengths-based teamwork, leadership, and creativity. Melanie’s teaching style is one of sharing examples and insight through her vivid storytelling to deliver concepts and lessons. She tends to prefer the innovative path and sees possibilities in all people and situations.

As a physical therapist and entrepreneur, Melanie has been the sole owner of Melanie Massey Physical Therapy for the past 23 years. MMPT has five clinics across north Louisiana, growing the clinics from a single room with only one employee to a team of over 70. Being a certified leadership coach, speaker and trainer since 2012, Melanie has used the valuable resources provided by the John Maxwell Team to develop her own team as well as countless community leaders and businesses across the southern United States. Melanie strives to help other business owners and executives build strong teams with a leadership consciousness.

Melanie conducts mastermind groups, weekend retreats, and leadership training in her newly remodeled Mojoy Studio in West Monroe, LA. Teams come to participate in experiential learning programs, incorporating the aforementioned topics with colorful activities and team-building fun to ground the lessons. Because she has integrated the principles herself, she is now in her strength zone of being the vision caster and maximizer of the resources of the business. She devotes energy to maximizing what makes people on the team special and unique.

In 2018, Melanie was recognized by the internationally known John Maxwell Team as one of only ten people to receive a JMT DNA Culture Award. Her award was for “Leading and Lifting”, which is evident in how she has developed her people into leaders in their own right.

Melanie is the “art” side of “The art and science of strengths-based teamwork.” She has an enthusiasm for life and the future, which draws the audience in and is seemingly contagious. Melanie’s proudest accomplishments thus far are her two young daughters, Ellie Sue and Gabbi. Having children at an older age has kept Melanie young at heart and made life interesting. She’s been married to her husband, Todd, for 23 years.

Melanie’s top 5 strengths are Woo, Communication, Maximizer, Ideation, & Futuristic. Melanie’s core values are Passion, Gratitude, Generosity, and Creativity. Melanie’s personal mission is to inspire others to recognize and live into the highest versions of themselves.

Brian Russell

As Chief Learning Officer, Brian has been an integral force in developing the strong content for MoCo Leadership. Brian has an insatiable appetite for learning and regards education as an ongoing activity. Brian’s ability to absorb and disseminate information is how he primarily contributes to the MoCo team to develop world class curricula, which is used to build and sustain highly engaged teams across the United States. He has been certified as a leadership coach, speaker, and trainer with the John Maxwell Team since 2015 and has been a Physical Therapist at Melanie Massey Physical Therapy since 2011.

Brian has been one of the primary leaders in weekly leadership meetings for the team at MMPT for the past 8 years. In addition, Brian leads a weekly Mastermind Group for the clinic staff and community leaders, including business owners, governmental officials, and managers of various businesses in his community. Brian’s focus is discussing topics such as employee engagement, how to become a strong leader at any position in the organization, the power of positivity in a company, and perhaps his favorite, the importance of strong character on teams and in all leadership positions. Brian’s own belief that a strong value system can transform an organization drives him to help teams find and develop not only team values but also personal core values as well. He is convinced that recognizing and honoring each teammate’s unique giftedness, thus their role on the team, is a critical part of the success of the team. The “How” a person operates is as important to understand and value as the “What”.

Brian is considered the “science” side of strengths-based teamwork due to his ability to find, distill, and disseminate the most valuable information to teams looking to enhance communication and teamwork, foster strong leadership, improve productivity, and build an overall culture of excellence. Brian is known by his team as dependable, trustworthy, and a man of high character with a tremendous work ethic. Brian has been married to his soulmate, Abby, since 2016. They are forever grateful and blessed to have two precious daughters, Olivia Mae and Gracie Rae.

Brian’s top 5 strengths are Learner, Achiever, Responsibility, Input, and Focus. His family’s core values are to be faithful, grateful, transparent, and present. His mission is to use his God-given strengths to encourage, empower, and equip others.