Mel Carr, 46, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was homeless at 15 and spent 30 days in a children's hospital after a drink-driving accident. Now she runs a nonprofit and an imprint that highlight the stories of self-made women from around the world.
From Oklahoma to homelessness
Mel had an ordinary upbringing in Oklahoma until her parents divorced when she was 15. Her mother moved to Hawaii after falling in love with a scuba diver. Mel said she "tried that life, but it didn't work" and returned to Oklahoma after going from a straight-A student to nearly failing school.
Back home, her father—who was not her biological father—"didn't want me," leaving her homeless and couch-surfing. She said she "couch-surfed and stayed with friends and relatives until they kicked me out," worked part-time at Red Lobster, and rented her own studio flat in a frightening part of town. Nobody noticed she was struggling.
Building Her Write to Rise
Mel said: "Everyone had their own lives, and I kind of felt like a nuisance." She forged her dad's signature to sign herself off school and found more work. The experience later spurred her to create the nonprofit Her Write to Rise, a network that aims to help women through media and events.
She said: "I felt that if someone had been there to talk to me, listen to me and give me guidance, my life might have turned out differently. I'm so grateful for working hard to get where I am today, but I don't want other women to have to struggle like I did. So I set up Her Write to Rise."
Accident and recovery
At 16, living alone, Mel struggled. She didn't know how to work the heating in her tiny studio. She remembers lying in bed, freezing, when two men climbed through her kitchen window. She said: "They were right next to my bed, and I remember thinking, if I stay here and I don't say anything, I don't move, they won't know I'm here. I didn't have much, but they took all my clothes and kitchen gadgets and then left."
One night after work, she had three strong drinks before driving home. She said: "I fell asleep at the wheel, and I drove right into a cement wall. They had to use the jaws of life to get me out of the car. I spent the next 30 days in the children's hospital. I was in a coma for a few days with a brain injury. When I regained consciousness, I couldn't even remember the names of my family who had come to see me."
Mel had a brain injury and six broken bones, effects she still struggles with today. Her mother flew back to be by her side as she recovered and relearned how to walk and talk. Together, they returned to Hawaii for the next decade.
Finding her sister
When Mel was 17, her mother told her she had an older sister given up for adoption. Mel said: "She refused to tell me anymore. She told me that our father, who was not the man I thought of as dad, was not a good man. She got pregnant with my sister, gave her up, and then got back with him, had me, and they were together for two years. She told me he was a mean man and she didn't want me ever finding him."
Mel worked in hotels, eventually reaching executive and management level. She earned her high school diploma in secret at age 30. She traveled the world, lived in Australia and the Marshall Islands, married twice, published multiple books, and set up the Six Figure Chicks imprint, sharing success stories from female entrepreneurs globally.
When she was 43, she pressed her mum for information and took a DNA test on Ancestry. Thirty days later, results matched a woman named Sarah, living on the East Coast of the US, who was searching for her mother. Sarah had been adopted at six months old by a couple from Virginia. Mel said: "I messaged her, and we immediately connected."
Mel said: "Three years ago, I flew to Oklahoma to meet her. I was so scared picking her up at the airport. I didn't know how to act, if I should cry, laugh or hug her. And she had the same feelings. But the minute we hugged and cried, it was like we'd known each other our entire lives. We are so similar, but so different."
The pair now meet three times a year, and Mel loves being an aunt to Sarah's 12-year-old daughter. Mel said: "It feels amazing to have a sister. It filled a gap in me. One of the reasons I created Six Figure Chicks was to find that sisterhood. And then I found my sister, and there are no words to describe the amount of love I have for her because it was just automatic."
Her dad has since died, and Sarah and Mel never found their biological father. Mel, now single, plans to move to Virginia next year to be closer to Sarah and her daughter. She said: "I'm not tied down. I can work from anywhere. I can't wait to be near my family. I want people to know that you can build something amazing using pure resilience and a whole lot of persistence. I want other people to see my story and realise, 'Wow, if she did that, I can do it too'."
