1. Who is Melissa Clampitt?

Hi mothers. I hope this finds you well and learning ways to have ‘wins’ each day. My name is Melissa Clampitt, and I am a multidimensional business owner. My whole life, even as a young girl, I have known that I wanted to help people. I always thought that was in the form of teaching because that is all I knew. I didn’t have the nerves or stomach to work in the health community and my heart was in teaching others. I received my degree in Special Education and Elementary Education from the University of Delaware and spent 6 months teaching in Scotland from 1999-2000. What an amazing experience both in my teaching profession and life lessons. When I returned to the US, I worked in Lewes, DE on and off for 10 years teaching students with Autism. This was my passion and I thrived off of helping figure out all the pieces to these unique and wonderful individuals.
During this time, I met my husband, Mike and we have been married since 2004. We have created an amazing life together and have been each other’s supporters through life’s ups and downs. We have 3 boys who each bring their own spice to the house. My boys are involved in so many activities in and out of school that I coin myself the Uber mom. On the weekends, you would typically find me at a sporting event cheering on my kids and their teams vs parties and social events. Can you relate to this?
My husband and I own a very successful restaurant in Milton, De called Po’ Boys Creole. It was a dream of my husbands about 7 years ago to have his own restaurant. He worked for so many amazing restaurants in his life that he decided it was time to work for himself. For 6 years, Po’ Boys has been a great adventure with the ups and downs of owning a restaurant, buying a food truck and starting a Crawfish Boil to raise money for a local foundation.
My passion has always been helping people, but when I left teaching 2 years ago, I wanted to continue to help people but this time in their health and wellness. I am still teaching, helping others succeed but instead of in a classroom, it is in their mind and body. I am blessed to have partnered with a company, Isagenix, that provides cutting edge products that I can customize to help women achieve their health, fitness, wellness and financial goals.

2. The uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic weighs the heaviest on most working mothers. How has the pandemic affected you mentally?

To be completely honest, I have had my fair share of ups and downs especially when businesses started shutting down. The uncertainty of our restaurant, the people who work for us, kids losing all activities, no school or outlet for them, no gym for me, no luncheons, meetings, no hugging…it really affected me for the first week. I wanted to get up and be motivated but really I wanted to sleep, cry, and stay in bed. I don’t watch the news, but knew enough through research to know that this wasn’t going to end anytime soon, and I wallowed for a few days. We watched a ton of movies, let the kids play video games, didn’t workout and stayed off of social media. It was tough. I snapped out of it after a few days when I remembered that I have the choice to how I show up and it might not be pretty everyday but I wanted to do my best to come out of this stronger. I knew I needed to take care of myself first…in order to help my family. I got back into meditation, moving my body daily, journaling, listening to podcasts, and focusing on my mindset!

3. How are you supporting your local community during the COVID-19 crisis?

As a restaurant, we are staying open (take out only) to support our community and our employees. Our first priority is making sure everyone in our restaurant is healthy, safe and still able to have a job to come to. Then we focus on our local community by putting out amazing food because we know food is such a big part of our culture.
Having a business that ships nutritional and supplemental products directly to someone’s home is very rewarding right now. I know that people are scared to go to stores to shop and many times the foods that you want aren’t there. Being able to save people the hassle/time of going out to shop and staying in the safety of their home to shop is something I am so grateful to be able to provide as a service to women. Especially for moms, doing all of the things right now at home, having 1 less thing to worry/stress about gives me comfort. I also helped coordinate care packages to local hospitals to give quick, convenient nutrition to healthcare providers while they are on the job.
As a family, we are supporting as many local restaurants as we can by buying take out at least 1 time a week. We are ordering online when we can to support local boutiques, bookstores, small businesses and keeping our memberships open for local companies.

4. How can your local community support you and your business during this pandemic?

Keep coming to the restaurant to get take out Wednesday-Sunday from 11-9. As long as the governor says we can do take out, we will. We have a great community already and want to continue to provide delicious food for everyone.
I would appreciate referrals or interest in having a free consultation about Isagenix and how I can help you achieve your wellness goals while in quarantine. I can offer you a solution for all areas of your wellness lifestyle (stress, sleep, athletic stability, healthy snack options and weight wellness).

5.What/how are you spending the most of your time/resources during the pandemic?

During this pandemic, as a mom, I am doing my best to be present with my kids more. Now that we have the time together to really focus on the things that they love. Trying things together that we might not have had the time to do before because we were always out every night. We have played more games together, ridden our bikes together, eaten dinner every night and explored new trails that we wouldn’t have had time to do until summer. We are doing a mediation app together to help teach them how to focus their breathe when they might be feeling anxious and unsure. As a mom that does want to control everything, I have found that a good balance of schedule vs unscheduled time is a good mix to have. Letting them make choices for what they can do with a semi-boundary with times has helped me remain sane but given them independence.

I have learned that I have to be even better about scheduling my time to get my workouts in, my business in and my personal time in so I don’t get through the day and discover I did nothing for myself personally or professionally! The kids have zoom calls and school work and I need to be present with them during this time so if they do have questions I am able to help them succeed. The #1 thing I do not want to happen is for them to get stressed out over online learning. We have a chat each day to discuss any calls I might have and any activities that we might be doing so we are all on the same page for the day.

6.What/who is one organization or individual that has been very supportive or inspirational in your journey, or simply during this pandemic?

Rachel Hollis and everything she puts out into the world. I listen to her morning show with Dave everyday. I listen to her podcast. I have re-listened to her audible books. I joined in her next 90 day challenge. I encourage you to find women who motivate you. Who you can look up to. Who inspire you to be better than you were yesterday and strive to be your best self.

7. What are some valuable lessons you have learned that you can share with other women as we navigate the pandemic, or to be better prepared personally and professionally in times of a national issue affecting our health and economy?

I have learned that although I CANNOT control everything, there are things I can control. I can control my effort, my attitude, what I am putting into my body, what media I consume, moving my body for at least 30 minutes, getting enough sleep and being honest with my kids without leaving them scared or nervous for the present time.
I am also doing my best to be mindful of what and how others process pain, sadness, grief, loss, fear, and uncertainty. I am working everyday to make sure my mental state is as stable as it can be so that I can continue to be someone my kids can come and talk to.

8. What keeps you inspired and motivated?

Life keeps me inspired. The human spirit, generosity, love and compassion for others keeps me inspired by the human race. Knowing that we are all in this together and we can support each other now more than ever…puts a smile on my face everyday. Seeing all of the amazing things on social media brings me hope. I started following Some Good News with John Krasinski. If you haven’t watched his videos, go over to Youtube right now and look them up. We watch them as a family to focus on all of the good happening right now with all the things shut down.

9. How can other women and the general public connect with you and/or your business?

Set up a free consultation to focus on wellness lifestyle goals at 302-569-1828 or by filling out https://forms.gle/PqSrR8geypfou8MaA.
Po’ Boys Creole Restaurant call at 302-684-0890 to place an order and check the website for the menu at www.poboyscreole.com