Dynamic Duos: How a tipsy tumble sparked a winning partnership

In Dynamic Duos, Mumbrella each week asks two colleagues with a professional and personal affiliation to share with readers the importance of workplace relationships in an increasingly hybridised world of work.

Elise Brando:

I love telling people how we met!!!

So we have a few mutual friends and when I was looking for someone to join my team at a previous job, they put Mel forward and thank god they did! We worked together and the rest is history…. We’re besties and work wives and partners in crime…

But the moment that we officially met IRL – I’ll let Mel tell the story 😉

Mel Bowman:

To cut a long story short we both attended an influencer event at the Moonlight Cinema, when the movie finished I stood up not realising that the few cheeky vino’s that I had been sipping on had gone straight to my head.

I ended up tumbling down the hill over the top of the bean bag where Elise was sitting… It was totally a meet-cute moment though… right?!

Well, at least it makes for a good story!

Elise on Mel: 

Most memorable moment with Mel: There’s definitely a few! When I joined Underscore and left my previous job, I always knew I wanted Mel with me to be my right-hand woman. When I asked her to work together again, we had a moment where we put on blazers “to feel corporate” and she signed the contract. It was such a nice moment between us as friends and staff members to know that we were back together and ready to launch Underscore’s influencer team together. And that we did!

During the first year of Underscore Mel and I hustled so much and now almost three years on, we are so lucky to have worked with some of the most amazing clients, including Tennis Australia, Sportsgirl, Cornish Sea Salt, AFL, Frank Body, Universal Store, Skechers, Cotton On, VANS, Warner Music, Sony Music & Untitled Group. I’m so proud of what we have achieved and wouldn’t be able to do it without her!

Best word to describe her: I can’t pick one!!! Charismatic, Intelligent and a force to be reckoned with.

Most annoying habit or endearing behaviour she has: When she breaks out into dance and fully commits to it!

Mel on Elise:

Most memorable moment with Mel: The beauty of working alongside Elise is that the energy she brings into work makes every day memorable. We have sacrificed many weekends for road trips to work at events, it never feels like a burden because we have the best time together!

My favourite pastime was definitely executing our own influencer event for one of our long-term clients, we had put so much work into organising every last detail so it was such a sweet victory when the day went off without a hitch – even the unpredictable Melbourne weather held up until the very last minute!

Best word to describe her: The only way to describe Elise Brando is ‘an icon’, anyone that knows her will agree with me!

Most annoying habit or endearing behaviour she has: We can be a little bit of a bad influence on each other, if one of us wants a sweet treat – both of us are getting one!

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