Daily Inspiration: Meet Melissa Cancio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Cancio.

Hi Melissa, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Finding my niche was the first thing I struggled with because I like to consider myself a jack of all trades- I love to do everything and anything because I fell in love with the experience of things. Being able to explore diverse cultures through travel, learning of the traditions that make other people who they are, and really immersing myself in the foods that revolve around the place is what I get excited about. I’ve always been filled with wanderlust because I’ve grown into a huge family who basically lives all over the world.

Being able to travel and create a lifestyle around the culture of it all got me thinking. How do I want to document this? How can I continue this tradition with my loved ones? So that’s how Plane and Cheesy began! I mixed my love for trying new experiences, writing (which is where I express myself best) and photography in one place. I wanted to share with the world that being a college student on a budget didn’t mean you had to feel limited– it just meant you had to prioritize what you wanted out of life.

I started joining organizations/businesses that would help me grow as a person and professional, work on my fitness journey, find friends in the new state I moved to, and of course, anything I could use as an excuse to travel! I also may have a goal to reach 50 states before 50, so I’m currently at 35 states!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I started my blog back in August 2017, and I probably had no idea what I was doing. I just wanted to take pictures and write about my experiences. The following year, I focused on my last year at school and just worked on my education. So my blog definitely took a hit, but breaks are ok! (I learned that later in life). I got back into blogging after my Alaska trip.

So my immediate family does an annual trip and we decided we’d do the Alaska cruise together. We flew into Seattle, cruised through Alaska and Victoria, Canada, and then back home. A trip I will never forget!!! We were even filmed for the Discovery Channel episode for Norweigian’s cruises. It was pretty cool. So when I came back from the trip, everyone was asking me “how was the trip, what did you do, show me!” And I chose to write about it and just send the link out to everyone who asked! It was a big hit if you ask me. It also re-sparked my interest in story-telling and bringing those memories to life every time I went back to reminisce. So I prioritized more time to write in my blog and really care for it more. It’s worked out well, I think!

It all changed in 2020. I would say my life has been pretty smooth until last year. I know quarantine just hits differently with everyone. For me, it was my fitness journey. I started training for the half and full marathons in 2020. My mental state was at its peak. I honestly don’t know how I did it. Fast forward to July 2020, I was going to run the half marathon virtually on July 18th. Thanks to Miami’s rainy season, my friend and I postponed our run for the week. July 19th, I woke up at 5:30 am in SO MUCH PAIN. Long story short, I was told I had a Pulmonary Embolism (blood clot in your body) and could’ve died from it. I strongly believe my grandmother was watching over me throughout the whole time I was in the hospital (alone because of covid times). To give you some quick facts- I’m the first in my family to have this. PE’s usually form in the leg, not the lungs (like it did for me). And I was going to fly back to Chicago for school the next Saturday to quarantine before starting, but the doctors told me I could’ve died if I got on that plane with this PE. As I flipped my life for my 6-month treatment, I couldn’t work out, eat greens (which is all I eat with chicken), and just felt immensely limited. Basically went cold turkey and flipped my life around for this.

Because I express myself differently, I shared it through writing. My full story is actually on my blog. So my life hasn’t been as smooth and sailing, but it’s definitely given me a whole different perspective as to how I’d like to live it! If it weren’t for my family, friends, and boyfriend, I don’t know where I’d be.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As I came to my last year in my graduate school program, I really tried to focus more and more on creating a network in Illinois. Let me rewind for a second I moved from Miami to the Greater Chicagoland area in July 2019 to pursue my Master in Business Administration. My professional experience is mostly in Marketing, Public Relations/Communications, and Advertising. My whole life was in Miami, and so was my network, but I wanted to do something about it in my new state. So I did.

My last semester in graduate school, I kid you not, I did 40+ informational interviews of just getting to know people, what they were about, connecting on LinkedIn, and seeing if I really wanted mentors in the field I was looking at. I spoke to anyone and everyone, and it honestly felt like I was speed dating for the whole two months I spoke to them. To say the least, I’ve perfected the “Tell me about yourself” question for interviews.

There was this girl in the complex I moved to that thought I would be amazing for a sales consultant position for their company. So she referred to a few different locations as I pursued jobs in the area. I finally got an interview at one of their properties, but they wanted me to start in May. Because I chose to travel for a few months before starting my adult life, it didn’t work out. While on my trip, I received an email that I had been referred from the person who interviewed me for a different property… let’s just say I did the next few interviews for that one position on the side of the mountain with limited access to signal. I spoke to the supervisor, his boss, and the Vice President of the company about what I was applying for. It was an interesting interview experience, but at the end of it all, I got the job. I got a big girl job!

I am working as a sales consultant in real estate. I work on the property’s branding, social media, and I sell a lifestyle, which I absolutely love! I get to create relationships with so many kinds of people and welcome prospects into their newly built homes. Besides doing the behind-the-scenes work, I truly make an effort to create relationships and be personable with our residents. I want them to know we are genuinely there for them and ready to help. I feel I’m proud of myself because I took the time to interview on the side of a mountain in the middle of my trip to land a job by the time I got back from traveling- so I did. I think it’s all about the goals you set for yourself. All in all, everything happens for a reason, and it’ll all work out. For me, it worked out in the time frame I was looking at straight out of graduation.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
All fun aside, I think the quality most important to my success has been my humility with everything I choose to do. Although I love sharing about my life, travels, and anything I can to help inspire a healthy lifestyle, I really pride myself in being humble. I feel that with the course that my life has taken me, I appreciate it so much. I started to label my years with a word I think I can reflect on as I live my life and it truly has changed my mindset in life. 2021 is my year of growth… and it’s been nothing short of it. Take life with a grain of sand because it offers so much more and you can get so much out of it if you’re just trusting of the process and humble with the choices you make.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.planeandcheesy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissacancio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissacancio22
• Twitter: twitter.com/melissacancio_
• Other: www.melcancio.com