Melody Dodderer

I was lucky enough to be born in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where I was raised and home schooled by a single mother who is legally blind. We were poor, so very early on, I learned the importance of saving and budgeting. After working hard at school, I started college when I was sixteen years old. During my college years I focused on American Sign Language and deaf culture in order to be an interpreter for the deaf. Fresh out of college at eighteen, I experienced my first bit of culture shock when I visited South Korea for a two-month trip. At nineteen, I moved to Italy for a year with my dog, CJ, taking up the Italian language, and since then I have traveled to twelve different countries. I have backpacked solo through Ireland, Mexico, and Nepal. The most difficult hike I've experienced was when I hiked the nearly 18,000 feet to the Thorong La Pass via the Annapurna circuit. I decided I wanted to try my hand at opening a business so, working three jobs and saving every last penny, I opened a small and quiet coffee shop without taking out a loan by the age of 24. It is now my pride and joy and it runs by itself without me working there. Since it doesn't need me, I occupy myself by being a full time real estate agent with Keller Williams. I love to experience new things and to keep my life from growing stagnant; I hope to live this way as long as I exist.