Former North Texas chapter member wins reality TV show

By Dave Lieber
YankeeCowboy.com

This is the start of my 5th year as a NSA/North Texas member. My only regret is I didn’t join 20 years sooner.
I can’t say we’re the best chapter because I’ve never been to another chapter’s meetings. But I can say I’ve never had more fun with a group of folks than you.
You never know who you are going to meet.

A couple of years ago — as a member of the Joe Charbonneau Academy (I liked it so much I did it twice!) — I met Melissa, who was also enrolled. We lived near each other and had a bit in common.

Melissa D'Arabian

She and her husband had moved to Keller, Texas because of her his job. Their small kids were adjusting. She was wading into the speaking profession at NSA.
She was active in her new community, too. She had decided to use her business background to volunteer for Keller’s economic development board.

When I gave her background on Keller’s failures in this regard (the biggest retail name in town is some guy named “For Lease”), she smiled and said, “Well, it’s a new day. Let’s see how I can help them.”
She was genuine and direct. Her bright eyes and smile were welcoming. She was a natural.
Maybe you know who I’m talking about. Her full name is Melissa d’Arabian. She became a national celebrity in August when she won the reality TV show, The Next Food Network Star, in which contestants show off their culinary skills.
Just as important, they have to show off their abilities to talk on camera. She must have been good. Of the 10 contestants, she was the only one without professional cooking experience.
Now she gets her own 6-week show on the network — Ten Dollar Dinners With Melissa d’Arabian — shown Sunday mornings.
And NSA/North Texas gets another brag. She’s one of ours! This adorable, good-natured former North Texas mom (the family recently moved to the West Coast for hubby’s job again) won because she was so authentic the judges fell in love.
You had to see her on camera. She looks through the lens right into your heart. Her words about her background and her family caused goose bumps in viewers across America.
Ed Peters, her former dean at our Charboneau Academy, said her people skills were obvious from the start.
“We’ve always known as speakers that the key to success with an audience is ‘connecting’ with them,” Peters says. “I’ve always referred to that connection as ‘It’s not about you; It’s about them.’
“No one personifies that idea as much as my former student in the academy. Melissa d’Arabian. Melissa figured out very quickly that making her ‘performance’ about her audience, and not about her, would be her competitive advantage. It worked. It always does.”

Dave Lieber, one of America’s last remaining crusading newspaper columnists, runs WatchdogNation.com which helps Americans protect themselves against evildoers of all stripes.