Mary Melton Is Someone We Really Like
Image by Bryan Derballa
by Audie Metcalf
From intern for LA Weekly, to writer and editor for the Los Angeles Times magazine, to editor-in-chief of Los Angeles magazine, to Alta Online’s editor-at-large, to Editorial Director at Godfrey Dadich Partners, Mary Melton has fashioned a trailblazing career born of her love, and gift, of language.
We like Mary.
Full disclosure: the questionnaires we do with all these interesting, unique, inspiring women are put together by a few people here behind the scenes. Which is why there’s usually no byline. But the person writing this intro is me, Audie Metcalf, editor-in-chief of The Candidly. Hi, hello. I was lucky enough to work with Mary at Los Angeles magazine when she hired me as the digital editor for the magazine. And she was the first woman in charge who showed me that true leadership didn’t have to look like dominance. And that excellence didn’t ever have to be compromised.
Mary is calm under pressure, carves out brilliance from extreme limitations, and always lets the best idea in the room win, without ego. All of her answers to our questions are smart, honest, and intentional.
Not unlike Mary herself.
The Candidly Questionnaire
1. What’s something you really like about yourself?
Innate curiosity.
2. What is your biggest challenge?
Oversubscribing—to creative projects and endeavors, to streaming channels and publications and newsletters, to commitments, to information, to life. (See “curiosity,” above.)
3. What kitchen or house tool do you use daily that’s changed your life?
My entire soul is cleansed when I use my Waterpik.
4. When do you feel most confident?
I don’t exactly look forward to working out and then, without fail, stand a foot taller after I do.
5. Are essential oils anything?
They whiff of Ponzi schemes but I do put a drop—just one—of clove oil in my smoothies on the advice of Dr. Kristi Funk, who’s a renowned breast-care expert. High in those fabled antioxidants.
6. How do you create boundaries?
It’s not easy. By prioritizing what and who is really important in my life and reminding myself it’s OK to say “no.”
7. How do you dampen self-critical thoughts when they get too loud?
Breathe, focus, and shift flow. Freshly baked brownies also help.
8. Describe the most “you” outfit of all time.
Safari jacket, snug pants, and my beloved vintage riding boots. I missed my calling as a silent film director—or a guide on the Jungle Cruise.
9. What meal can you make the hell out of?
Being a native Californian, I’m a firm believer that a salad constitutes a meal and I let my creativity run away with me in that department. I’m the official salad creator / contributor for all family events.
10. What book has made the biggest impact on your life?
Two stand out from college. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I’d never read such a raw and affecting memoir; it opened my eyes to a world I knew nothing about, and influences my book choices (seek stories that make you see and feel something new) to this day.
And Southern California Country by Carey McWilliams; an alternative history of a place I love and thought I knew well, it pushed me, ultimately, to make a career out of understanding L.A.
11. Apart from family, what woman do you deeply admire?
No one woman but all the single moms.
12. Which Insta account is creating the greatest content and why?
@bluezones studies and celebrates the habits of the world’s longest-living people—how they eat, drink, sleep, socialize, and keep purpose in their lives.
The feed not only takes you to gorgeous locales, but provides lifestyle tips and recipes. I’ve been making meals from their Blue Zone cookbook throughout the quarantine. My son will say, “Tonight let’s eat in Sardinia!” Lots of beans are involved.
13. What quote or phrase has really stayed with you?
“The days are long but the years are short” lands pretty hard right now.
14. What’s your most effective form of therapy?
Travel. Gets me out of my head and out of my own way. I miss it—a ton.
15. What’s your approach to mending conflict with people you work with?
Looking at the matter, as best I possibly can, from their point of view.
16. How do you feel about cilantro?
Friendly. (Guacamole is a food group, after all.)
17. Describe your actual bedtime routine.
Kid to bed, counters wiped, digestivos poured, binge show devoured, doors locked, teeth and face cleaned, sheets turned down, book opened, one page read. Conk out.
18. What’s the best thing you’ve ever read on the internet?
Ever? Impossible. Though Sarah Cooper as Trump has been a visual salve these last few months.
19. What’s your relationship with bangs?
A rather recent (and not always ready-for-Zoom) DIY embrace.
What is your single favorite:
Wellness product that *actually* works: My morning concoction of hot water with lemon, honey, and a shake of cayenne.
Lip balm: Bag Balm.
Jeans brand: Levi’s.
Mascara: Maybelline Great Lash.
Robe: An Only Hearts kimono I’ve had forever that’s aged well.
Sex Product: Mood lighting.
Last-minute gift: I’m a book lover and a book giver.
Bra: Whatever the miracle fitters at Wizard of Bras hook me up in. Right now, Montelle Intimates.
Shampoo: Alba Botanica Plumeria.
Comfortable shoes: Red-leather Born sandals that I will resole until death do us part.
Splurge skincare: Sunday Riley’s Good Genes.
Drugstore skincare: Cetaphil cleanser.
Everyday bag: A handbag made from an upcycled kilim rug my husband bought me in Santa Fe that is totally delicious and tough as nails.
Guilty pleasure TV show: Any BBC mystery set in an idyllic English village with an unnaturally high murder rate.
Drink: Rioja for romance, gimlet for giddiness, tea for serenity.
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We have to eat.
