From Day One to Year 23: Melissa De La Rosa’s Journey at Cox Media

Many young professionals feel a sense of anxiety around graduation, especially those with degrees that open up multiple career paths.  

Take Melissa De La Rosa, for example. She worked for her dad at his power tool company while she was getting her communications degree. By the time she graduated, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do; all she knew is that her dad’s company wasn’t right for her. 

“I never saw my place being power tools,” Melissa said.  

As a recent grad, Melissa took a chance on an entry-level sales assistant job at Cox Media, part of Cox Communications, in 2002. Even though she didn’t know about the cable advertising industry when she joined, she was eager to learn. 

“I was super-duper green,” she recalled.  

From her first day on the job, Melissa felt like she’d found the perfect fit. This year, she’s celebrating 23 years at the company, where she is now a lead sales support specialist. 

Over the course of her tenure at Cox Media, Melissa said she has formed strong work relationships, which helped her grow in her career and become the leader she is today.  

“I’ve had some really great mentors and some great leaders that have always been supportive and given me the tools that I needed,” she said. 

Melissa also explained that the biggest takeaway from her career journey is the importance of knowing how to embrace change. 

Over the last 23 years, she has seen major changes in the cable and communications industry. But she has learned that change is inevitable, and she’s better off today because of how she navigated and handled herself through every new shift in the industry. 

“I used to be petrified of change, and now I have learned to embrace the change and realized that change isn’t always negative,” Melissa said. “I'm proud of myself and the fact that I have found I’m more resilient than I thought.” 

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