Michelle Petties

Author, Speaker and Food Story Coach @Brand New Now Press

US

Michelle Petties is an author and speaker. Her memoir, Leaving Large – The Stories of a Food Addict, a category winner in The 2022 Memoir Prize for Books, features the award-winning essay, The Cake is in the Mail. Her memoir illustrates how events, experiences, and memories inform our beliefs, attitudes, and habits around food, eating, hunger, and everything else in life. For years Michelle worked in a fast-paced, high-pressure corporate world, as a top performer for the most influential brands in media, from Radio One and Disney/ABC to NPR/PBS member stations. Finally, the highly stressful and competitive media and advertising space took its toll on her mental and physical health. Looking at her today, you would never guess that she used to be morbidly obese, once tipping the scale at 260 plus pounds. After gaining and losing over seven hundred pounds, she finally discovered the “secret” to winning the battle between her mind, body, and food – her “story.” Michelle now teaches others how to find their food and personal truths during healing-through-writing-and-storytelling workshops. She now speaks to organizations, large and small, sharing her unique insight and her story of hope, healing, triumph, and transformation.The International Conference on Obesity and Metabolic Diseases - September 16-18, 2024 in Madrid, SpainWomen\'s Leadership Forum - Pitch Purse Competition: Speaker, April 19, 2023National Institute on Drug Abuse at theNational Institutes of Health, IRP Grand Rounds Keynote, March 23, 2023Power Up-Power of Change Women’s Conference, March 11, 2023Black Girl Health Foundation, Minds Matter DC, Opening Speaker, February 18, 2023Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts, January 25, 2023Herstory Women’s Symposium, November 12, 2022Enoch Pratt Free Library - Writers Live, June 8, 2022Impact Summit: Health, Wellness, Leadership, June 11, 2022Plank Now, Wine Later Wellness Event, September 18, 2022

The University of Texas at Arlington

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Communication and Media Studies

Wiley University

Early admissions student