Melissa Young grew up in Metairie, LA, where she attended Mount Carmel Academy before moving to Baton Rouge, LA to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Louisiana State University. When Hurricane Katrina hit her hometown of New Orleans, Melissa decided to move back home and transfer to University of New Orleans. Upon moving home, she realized that Engineering was not the career path for her, and she completed a bachelor’s at University of New Orleans in General Studies with a focus in Business and Marketing.
Melissa Young has been working for the annual Cocktail Festival Tales of the Cocktail® and their partner Non-Profit, the New Orleans Culinary & Cultural Preservation Society for seven years. As a member of the Tales of the Cocktail® team, she plans and executes over 200 events within the five-day festival. This year’s event will take place July 16—20, 2014. The Tales of the Cocktail® festival anticipates over 20,000 attendees and an economic impact of over $14 million for our city. Beyond the New Orleans Festival, Melissa has had the opportunity to manage Tales of the Cocktail® on Tour in Vancouver, British Columbia (2011 and 2012) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (2013 and 2014).
Melissa was recently thrilled to be a 2014 Spotlight on Success Honoree. This gave her the opportunity to raise over $170,000 for March of Dimes New Orleans. In her free time, Melissa loves spending time with and posting Instagram photos of her German Shepherd, Dutch.