After 15 years in tech, Mel Hoeppner thought she knew what success looked like.

Then chronic illness forced her to step away from the career she'd spent years building.

What followed wasn't just a career pivot—it was the beginning of The Healing Habit, a wellness brand born from her own healing journey.

In this episode of Second Act, Mel shares the deeply personal story behind her transition from tech executive to founder, and the practical lessons she learned while building a consumer brand from scratch.

From experimenting with ingredients in her own kitchen to finding manufacturers, validating demand, building an audience through storytelling, landing wholesale customers, and even using AI as a personal founder coach, Mel offers an honest look at what it really takes to build a business with purpose.

Whether you're launching a startup, navigating a career transition, or redefining success on your own terms, this conversation is packed with practical insights and a reminder that your next chapter doesn't have to look like your last.

• Recognizing when burnout is something more serious
• Making the difficult decision to leave a successful tech career
• The story behind building The Healing Habit from scratch
• Finding manufacturers and validating a consumer product idea
• Growing a brand through storytelling and social media
• Landing wholesale customers without a big budget
• Using AI as a founder's accountability coach
• Overcoming analysis paralysis and building in public
• Redefining success beyond job titles and income

The Healing Habit
https://thehealinghabit.com/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/thehealinghabit.co/

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mel-hoeppner-76930624

00:00 From Tech Executive to Health Crisis
03:32 The Diagnosis That Changed Everything
07:41 Choosing Health Over Career
09:57 Learning to Slow Down
12:09 Finding Clarity Through Stillness
13:18 The Book That Changed Everything (Anti-Cancer)
14:49 From Kitchen Experiment to Business Idea
16:35 Building a Consumer Brand from Scratch
19:48 Validating Demand Through Storytelling
22:22 Why Social Proof Matters
23:05 Cold Outreach & Landing the First Customers
24:36 Life as a Solopreneur
26:00 The Tech Stack Behind a One-Person Business
26:51 Using AI as a Founder Coach
29:15 Overcoming Analysis Paralysis
31:18 Redefining Success
32:27 Milestones, Community & Support
37:44 More About The Healing Habit

What does it actually look like to build a life beyond your job title?

In this episode of Second Act: Lives Beyond the Job Title, Gayathri Geetha speaks with Alexandra Levich, a tech product leader who has led major platforms at Google, Meta, and Tinder, while also building a real estate investment path and serving as an elected trustee for the Mountain View Los Altos School District.

Alex shares how her identity expanded beyond work, why motherhood made her a better leader, how she thinks about real estate investing through a product management lens, and what it takes to balance tech leadership, investing, public service, family, and personal growth.

This conversation is for anyone who has a strong career but is wondering: What else could my life include?

We talk about:
• Building a portfolio life without walking away from your career
• Why second acts do not have to mean starting over
• How real estate investing works at a practical level
• What tech teaches, and does not teach, about investing
• Running for school board and entering public service
• Managing multiple commitments through systems, teams, and support
• How to start exploring your next path in the next 30 days

The biggest takeaway: you do not have to burn everything down to build something new. You can create parallel paths, expand your identity, and design a life that is wider than one title.

Chapters:
00:00 The real challenge of a portfolio life
00:48 Meet Alexandra Levich (Alex)
01:47 Identity expansion beyond the job title
04:25 Real estate investing as a second path
06:37 What tech doesn’t teach you about investing
07:50 How to evaluate a real estate deal
10:27 Product thinking and real estate
13:14 Getting started as a new real estate investor
14:16 Why Alex ran for school board
19:26 What school board work actually looks like
21:30 Managing multiple commitments
23:29 Systems, teams, and support
24:30 What a portfolio life actually gives you
26:01 Alex’s five-year plan
27:02 Advice for exploring your next path
28:32 Closing thoughts
28:49 Outro

Tags: #Career • #Wealth • #Purpose

Music Credits:

• Track 1 ID: YDW7UIT055Q5FPQB
• Track 2 ID: 3VDCV70HXRPMR6FI
• Source: Royalty-free media library provided by Riverside.fm
• License: Content used in accordance with platform end-user terms for creators. [1, 2]

For nearly two decades, Bosky Mukherjee played the career game the way many high achievers are taught to: work hard, climb the ladder, and never leave without a backup plan.

She rose to the C-suite, became a company president, and built a reputation as the person who could always push through. But behind the success, her body was telling a very different story.

In this episode of Second Act, Bosky shares the moment she realized staying had become riskier than leaving, how a heartbreaking question from her young son changed everything, and why she finally walked away from corporate life with no next job lined up.

We talk about burnout, identity, women in leadership, the glass ceiling, sponsors vs. mentors, commercial fluency, and how Bosky built her second act as the founder of PM Dojo and She Trail Blazes.

This conversation is for anyone who has ever wondered:

What if the life I worked so hard to build is no longer the life I’m meant to live?

• The health scare that forced Bosky to stop and reassess her life
• Why high-achieving women often become “workhorses”
• The difference between work ethic and unhealthy proving
• Why women hit the glass ceiling
• Why mentors are not enough — and why sponsors matter
• What commercial fluency means for senior leaders
• How Bosky built a business without waiting for the perfect idea
• Why paid pilots matter more than praise
• How to start building optionality before you need it

If this episode resonates with you, subscribe to Second Act for more conversations about identity, reinvention, ambition, and life beyond the job title.

00:00 Can I leave?

00:38 Meet Bosky Mukherjee: From C-Suite to Second Act

01:09 When Staying Became Riskier Than Leaving

04:16 The Turning Point: Health and Family

04:41 The Workhorse Identity and the Cost of Proving Yourself

09:57 Bosky’s Mission to Help Women Break the Glass Ceiling

12:26 Why Women Hit the Glass Ceiling

16:15 Mindset, Strategy, and Letting the Right Balls Drop

18:36 Why Work Harder Stops Working: Sponsors, Influence, and Commercial Fluency

26:27 After the Health Scare: Choosing the Next Move

29:44 Building a Real Business: Paid Pilots, Storytelling, and Scrappiness

44:03 Advice for Anyone Considering Their Second Act

50:45 Future Aspirations and Personal Growth

Bosky Mukherjee is a founder, product executive, advisor, and coach helping women leaders and founders build influence, revenue, and optionality in a changing world of work.

She is the founder of PM Dojo and She Trailblazes, where she leads programs like Leadership Edge for senior women leaders and Founders Edge for women building revenue-generating businesses. Her work blends commercial fluency, storytelling, product strategy, and lived experience as a former C-suite leader, working mom, and immigrant.

Through her work, Bosky helps women break the glass ceiling — whether that means rising into bigger leadership roles or building a business of their own.

Links:
She Trailblazes:https://www.shetrailblazes.com/
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bosky/

Tags: Second Act podcast, women in leadership, career reinvention, C-suite burnout, women founders, leaving corporate, commercial fluency, Bosky Mukherjee