Episode 225 · March 31, 2026
Melissa Phenicie: Founder of Balcony Women
with Melissa Phenicie, Founder of Balcony Women
33 min
Melissa Phenicie: Founder of Balcony Women
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In this episode
In this episode I sit down with Melissa Phenicie, the founder of Balcony Women, and I have wanted to have this conversation for a while. What started as a desire to help young people and widows in her own life has grown into a powerful, multi-generational nonprofit that exists to equip young men and women to recognize their unique gifts and lift one another up — while restoring hope and belonging to widows.
Melissa shares the "why" behind it all, including the night she went to bed frustrated that no one was doing something to help, and woke up realizing that someone was probably her. I love that she's so honest about staying in her comfort zone because she could control it — and how getting out of that cage was the only way to step into her purpose. Started in 2013, Balcony Women has grown from 85 widows at its first event to nearly 700 RSVPs, plus weekly workshops in schools and small groups springing up across the country.
If you've ever felt that nudge toward a purpose but had no idea how to begin, this one is for you. Melissa's message is simple and freeing: you don't have to know how. People will come your way, the right help will show up, and you were never meant to do it alone. We were created for community — keep going.
Key takeaways
- You don't have to know how to start — say yes to your purpose, take the next step, and the right people will show up to fill the gaps. Melissa never built any of this alone.</p>
- Get out of your comfort zone and do it afraid. We stay where we can control things and get the praise, but that's not where purpose lives.
- Choose to be a balcony person — someone in the balcony of others' lives cheering them on — rather than a basement person who drags people down.
- We were created to be in community. Despite all our technology, isolation is rising — about 60% of high schoolers through age 22 feel isolated, and roughly 75% of widows lose their support base.
- Your gifts and talents are meant to be different from your neighbor's — that's what makes a brilliant community, because we each fill in the gaps.
- Hurt people hurt people, and happy people want others to be happy. When someone is unkind, change your perspective, feel for them, and even pray for them — it shifts your own mindset.
- Don't be afraid to fail — you learn more from your failures than your successes, and they're often what takes your purpose to the next level.
- Balcony Women's curriculum is written and ready to share, so anyone — anywhere in the country — can launch a small group for youth or widows with Melissa as a resource.
Chapters
- 00:00Sponsor: Colonial Title
- 00:45Welcome to Sharing Passion and Purpose
- 02:00Meet Melissa Phenicie and the Balcony Women mission
- 03:30How it started in 2013: youth, widows, and full-circle community
- 06:00The isolation crisis — and why community matters more now
- 07:30Finding your purpose and the dream that became the catalyst
- 11:00God sightings: help showing up at every step
- 12:30The curriculum — taking Balcony Women nationwide
- 16:00Growth through word of mouth and widow-to-widow outreach
- 18:00Into the schools: workshops, bullying, and 'I'm not weird'
- 24:00The meaning behind the name 'Balcony Women'
- 27:00Volunteers and the multi-generational events
- 31:00Living the purpose: doing it afraid and modeling it for kids
- 34:00How to get involved and volunteer
“I had this dream that I was this big bird crammed in this cage — but I loved it because I could control everything. That was not what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to get out of that cage and do the purpose I was called to do.”
“You don't have to know how to do it. People will come your way. You will find help, and you don't want to do it by yourself.”
“Hurt people hurt people, and happy people want others to be happy.”
“I get it now, Mrs. Phenicie. I'm not weird. I was made this way for a reason.”
“Get out of your comfort zone and don't be afraid to make mistakes, because mistakes is where we learn.”
Resources mentioned
About Melissa
Founder of Balcony Women
Melissa Phenicie is the founder of Balcony Women, a multi-generational nonprofit she started in 2013 to equip young people to recognize their gifts and lift one another up, while restoring hope and belonging to widows. With a background in education, she writes the organization's youth and widow curriculum and leads workshops, monthly widow support groups, and large-scale gatherings in the Tulsa area and beyond.
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