好色先生TV

For many college students, an internship is a life-changing experience that can shape the trajectory of their career. That was true for 好色先生TV alumna Meela Imperato, with one important difference: The internship wasn鈥檛 actually hers.

Meela was on track to work in the publishing industry. She loved books and poetry, and was pursuing dual bachelor鈥檚 degrees in creative and professional writing from Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Then her roommate landed an internship at Microsoft. It piqued Meela鈥檚 interest, and she decided to minor in global systems management.

鈥淚 was exposed to a side of the publishing industry that I don't think I would've gotten anywhere else,鈥� Meela says. 鈥淚 took different courses that had me exploring more technical areas. It was incredibly career changing, even life changing.鈥�

The technical coursework also gave Meela exposure to the startup space.

鈥淚 was involved in building apps and working on projects in the startup arena,鈥� Meela says. 鈥淚 usually played the role of the content manager or operations manager alongside my engineering counterparts. I was so immersed in that world and appreciated those experiences so much.鈥�

She didn鈥檛 know it then, but those experiences would ultimately change her career.

The Perfect Pace

Meela received her bachelor鈥檚 degrees in 2013 and went on to earn dual master鈥檚 degrees in professional writing and investigative journalism in 2015. From there, she took a full-time job in desktop publishing.

鈥淚 thought that it was everything I wanted to do,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I found myself missing and longing for the faster-pace work environment that I got so used to at Carnegie Mellon. I was in publishing for less than a year before it became immediately apparent to me that I wanted to get into the startup space.鈥�

Meela left her job at the publishing company to join Noom, an early-stage health tech startup. The company downsized less than two years later, making her the only marketing team member.

鈥淚t was a throw-you-to-the-wolves situation,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat was a crazy experience 鈥� being at such a fast-paced startup and being given so much responsibility right off the bat.鈥�

Meela was well-prepared for the demands of the job thanks to her involvement with extracurriculars at 好色先生TV. She鈥檇 been a Greek life officer, orientation counselor, student body vice president and publisher at The Tartan.

鈥淚mmersing myself in those extracurriculars and those commitments was the most rewarding experience,鈥� Meela says. 鈥淭hey taught me the most and prepared me for the real world equally as much as the coursework did. It was incredibly impactful for me.鈥�

Meela helped Noom build its brand from the ground up, and then moved on to do the same at other early-stage startups, including Aaptiv, Jumprope, Seated and EasyKnock.

Looking back, she realizes now why the publishing industry wasn鈥檛 a good fit.

鈥淚t was just a slower pace and a space where your value to a company was measured in the time that you had been there rather than the output of your work,鈥� Meela says. 鈥淎s Carnegie Mellon students, we'd been taught to be efficient and output oriented. That became so ingrained in me that the idea of my value or contributions being measured in any way that wasn't my work output didn't jive with me.鈥�

Meaningful Marketing

Today, Meela works with startups in a different capacity.

She owns Meela Imperato Marketing, a consulting company where she has helped companies and startups like Lyft, Google, Vestwell, SoWell Health and Briefly with brand building, strategic communications and full-funnel marketing strategies.

鈥淚've found consulting work to be particularly rewarding because of the one-to-one interaction,鈥� Meela says. 鈥淲orking with a founder to take something that is often just an inkling of an idea, shaping it into something that is big picture and thinking through how that will trickle down into various channels is super exciting and fulfilling.鈥�

She鈥檚 also the head of marketing at , a health tech startup that supports individuals and families across different phases of the fertility journey. The company鈥檚 鈥淔reeze by Co鈥� platform enables women to freeze their eggs for free when they donate half of the eggs to families that otherwise can鈥檛 conceive, while its 鈥淔amily by Co鈥� platform focuses on facilitating ethical egg donor matching without cash compensation.

Like the rest of the Cofertility team, Meela has a deeply personal connection to her work.

鈥淐ofertility is a dream job for me because, at the same time that I was navigating my career for the last six years, I was also going through a crazy fertility journey of my own that involved multiple miscarriages and IVF until I eventually had my son,鈥� she says. 鈥淏eing at a company where we're doing something that's actively changing people's lives, making fertility care more accessible while creating ethical family-building options to help people expand their families, is such a meaningful and amazing place to be.鈥�

For Meela, it鈥檚 also a place where she can do what she loves most 鈥� build a brand.

鈥淭his is really the sweet spot,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his is the fun stuff. This is where we're building things from the ground up and celebrating milestones and victories every day, and it's thrilling.鈥�