Episode 2

Melissa Lanz Quit Her VP Job With $2,500 and No Plan. Then Built an 8 Figure Subscription Business

She quit with $2,500 in the bank, no plan, and one non-negotiable: don’t lose the nanny.

Melissa Lanz spent 15 years in corporate, climbing to VP at a global marketing agency, managing international teams and making multiple six figures, before three moments in quick succession told her something was deeply wrong.

Her boss didn’t know she had kids, after two years of working together.

Her husband looked her in the eye and said, “I don’t really like you anymore.” Instead of getting defensive, she paused, and thought, I don’t like me either.

She accepted a $75,000 raise to stay. Two weeks later, she walked it back.

She quit with $30,000 in savings, a $2,500 startup budget, no real plan, and one non-negotiable: don’t lose the nanny.

What she built was The Fresh 20, a meal planning subscription service that grew from 23 subscribers at $15 each to more than 120,000 active members, an 8-figure business, a HarperCollins cookbook, and features in InStyle and the New York Times.

Then a hack wiped out half a million dollars and 75% of her subscriber base overnight. She rebuilt, and launched The Subscription Lab, coaching other founders through the journey she had just lived.

In this episode of Her Big Leap, Melissa talks through the three wake-up calls she almost ignored, what the first months looked like on 400 cold emails and a $2,500 budget, the year the hack nearly destroyed everything, and why going back to corporate never crossed her mind, even when things got dark.

She also talks about what she is doing now: helping women founders work through the identity piece that money and business success alone can’t fix.

ABOUT MELISSA LANZ

Melissa Lanz has built three businesses over 15 years. The Fresh 20, The Subscription Lab, and her current practice working with women on the identity work behind their next chapter. The second, third, and fourth acts most people never plan for. Find her at melissalanz.com and on Instagram @MelissaLanz.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Melissa Lanz online: melissalanz.com
• Melissa on Instagram: @MelissaBakerLanz
• The Fresh 20, Melissa’s meal planning subscription business
• The Subscription Lab, her coaching practice for subscription founders
• Melissa’s cookbook, The Fresh 20: 20-Ingredient Meal Plans for Health and Happiness 5 Nights a Week – Budget-Friendly Natural Recipes, published by HarperCollins
• Watch the full conversation on YouTube

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So glad you’re here. I’m Sarah Janzen.

Corporate ladder-climber turned 7-figure entrepreneur. Inspiring and helping other women make their own successful leap. Taking my Fortune 500 sales. & marketing experience + Master Coach credentials to help other women with the clarity, confidence, and strategy to build a business they love.