Education
DePauw University
B.A., Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
1991University of Virginia
M.A., Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education
2000Chicago Theological Seminary
M.A., Divinity
2016Podcasts
44:37817: What It’s Like to Be an Ordained UCC Minister With Melissa Douaire, Whole Person Conversations [Main T4C Episode]
Melissa Douaire is an ordained United Church of Christ Minister who served as the Associate Minister of Pastoral Care at First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn in Chicago. She currently works as a grief counselor and runs a company called Whole Person Conversations whose mission statement is “moving from a..
Career Path
Interview Highlights
“I want to make sure that people are supported and you have to get this grief conversation normalized and we need to be sympathetic to the symptoms and the feelings and the behaviors of grief.”
Best Career Advice
“Trust professors as people that are there to help and nurture you.”
Career Challenge
“The greatest failure I had was not believing in myself because I wasn’t fitting the boxes in the way that I thought we were supposed to… And my career challenge was I did not protect my career when I stayed home to have my children. So I worked the first year my son was born and then I was off for 20 years and I did not protect my career in terms of my earning ability and what was deteriorating in that was my self-confidence.”
Skills
Leadership, Relationship Building, Coaching, Scheduling, Writing
Professional Interests
Mentorship, Theology, Grief, Religious Education, Community
