Codeswitch Rebellion is a thought-provoking podcast for Black women who are tired of editing themselves to be seen, heard, or taken seriously.
Hosted by personal branding strategist, Melanie L. Denny, this show explores authenticity, identity, visibility, and personal branding without the pressure to perform professionalism, dilute your voice, or shrink your presence.
Through raw solo reflections and conversations with bold thinkers, creators, and leaders, Codeswitch Rebellion challenges the myths we’ve been taught about credibility, success, and what it means to “sound professional.”
This is a space for reclaiming your voice, honoring your rhythm, and building a brand rooted in who you actually are.
If you’re done code-switching for comfort and ready to show up whole, you’re in the right place.
What happens when you build something new, and the pushback comes from the last people you expected?
Dr. Melissa “Melz” Jones has been a dentist for 30 years. Her daughter Ariel is her co-founder. Together they built something her colleagues didn’t think a doctor should touch.
This is a fun one, full of mama-daughter shade, real talk, and a whole lotta laughs.
We get into why I side-eyed my friends at an Atlanta swap meet, the patent-pending idea that puts diamonds on your retainer, and who’s getting rich off our grills.
Dr. Melz asks if she can be herself on the mic. (You already know my answer.) She explains why they remade one gold tooth four times, even though it fit the first time. Ariel tells us exactly how she plans to pull up to Publix.
And the two of them still can’t agree on what grade Ariel was in when this whole thing started.
Nobody’s gonna dentist like Dr. Melz.
About Dr. Melz
Dr. Melissa “Melz” Jones is a celebrity dentist, entrepreneur, oral aesthetics innovator, and speaker, redefining the intersection of dentistry, luxury, and personal expression. As founder of Melz Grillz and the innovator behind the patent-pending Icy Ortho, Dr. Jones is expanding the possibilities of her profession beyond the traditional dental chair.
Alongside her daughter and co-founder, Ariel Jones, she is building a multi-generational business while inspiring other women to see their professional expertise as a launching point for innovation, entrepreneurship, and greater visibility.
Connect with Dr. Melz and Ariel Jones
Melz Grillz: melzgrills.co
Instagram: @melz.grillz
Ariel: @ariel.thebrand
Ready to stop toning it down?
Start With SELF is a self-guided identity process. Six modules, one weekend. Get clear on who you are, so nobody else gets to decide what’s a good look for you. Introductory rate: $97 → https://mellynated.com/self (https://mellynated.com/self)
Join the Rebellion:
New episode every Wednesday, sent right to your inbox so you never have to go looking. → https://link.mellynated.com/widget/form/U72K21nZfCOLHluvZPas (https://link.mellynated.com/widget/form/U72K21nZfCOLHluvZPas)
Come talk to me on Substack. Has the “tone it down” in your business ever come from your own people? Tell me what they said. → https://substack.com/@mellynated (https://substack.com/@mellynated)
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp4tHH05phcnjPgkXdhP1uDtcFaydNPbz (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp4tHH05phcnjPgkXdhP1uDtcFaydNPbz)
codeswitchrebellion.com
Your identity is the strategy.
14 Oct 2026
But We Gotta Get Paid
Sometimes it's not the client telling you to tone it down. It be your own people. Your mama. Your auntie. The mentor who looks just like you.
"Girl, I hear you. But we gotta get paid."
They mean well. So you listen, you play it safe, and save the real you for the group chat.
In this one, I get into where that advice really comes from and why it made sense for the people who gave it. I tell you about the day I went to lunch on my first day at a job and never came back. Then we look at the numbers on what playing it safe has actually gotten us.
I also tell you how I built a 300-member community by not giving a damn about toning it down, and what I say now when somebody I love tells me to play it safe.
Your people are out there. They're waiting on the real you.
JOIN THE REBELLION
New episode every Wednesday, sent right to your inbox so you never have to go looking. → https://link.mellynated.com/widget/form/U72K21nZfCOLHluvZPas
Ready to stop toning it down?
Start With SELF is a self-guided identity process. Six modules, one weekend. Get clear on who you are before anybody else tries to tell you. Introductory rate: $97 → https://mellynated.com/self (https://mellynated.com/self)
Come talk to me on Substack. Who told you to tone it down first, and what were they protecting you from? Drop it in the comments. → https://substack.com/@mellynated (https://substack.com/@mellynated)
Research mentioned:
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent (1993), the origin of "respectability politics"
American Express, 2019 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report: https://blackenterprise.com/black-women-entrepreneurs-earn-24000-average-revenue-according-to-report/ (https://blackenterprise.com/black-women-entrepreneurs-earn-24000-average-revenue-according-to-report/)
Stackla Consumer Content Report (2017): https://laopinion.com/latinowire/stackla-survey-finds-authenticity-drives-brand-affinity-and-consumer-created-content-influences-purchases/ (https://laopinion.com/latinowire/stackla-survey-finds-authenticity-drives-brand-affinity-and-consumer-created-content-influences-purchases/)
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp4tHH05phcnjPgkXdhP1uDtcFaydNPbz (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp4tHH05phcnjPgkXdhP1uDtcFaydNPbz)
codeswitchrebellion.com
Your identity is the strategy.
7 Oct 2026
Is Shape-Shifting a Black Woman's Superpower?
What happens when the Black girl who learned to survive through silence finally decides to speak?
My guest this week has spent her whole career on that. Dr. Ayana Tyler Hardaway is a sociologist and the author of From Crack Mother to Wildflower, and in her book she calls codeswitching "shape-shifting." She says it's our superpower, a gift that got passed down so we could survive.
We did it because we had to, and nobody's wrong for that.
But a lot of us left corporate, started our own thing, and brought all that behavior right into our businesses. You do it long enough and you don't even have words for it anymore. It's just how you move.
So is it really a superpower?
We got a scholar in the house for this one, OK? She went back through her own story, then her mother's, and built a 5-step writing method to help us rewrite our truths and get back to the root of who we really are.
I ain't gonna hold you, it is not sexi work. But if you keep saying you want to show up as yourself and you don't know where to start, start here.
Ugh...this conversation came at the perfect time for me, and you'll hear why.
Take the drab gray blazer off, boo.
About Ayana
Dr. Ayana Tyler Hardaway is an award-winning author, sociologist, educator, and founder of Wildflowers and Co. Her memoir, From Crack Mother to Wildflower: Writing to Transgress, introduces the Sankofa Writing Method.
Connect with Dr. Ayana Tyler Hardaway
Website: https://ayanathardaway.com (https://ayanathardaway.com)
The book: https://www.amazon.com/Crack-Mother-Wildflower-Writing-Transgress-ebook/dp/B0DD5HKJK9 (https://www.amazon.com/Crack-Mother-Wildflower-Writing-Transgress-ebook/dp/B0DD5HKJK9)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ayanathardaway/ (https://www.instagram.com/ayanathardaway/)
Join the Rebellion
Join the Rebellion. New episode every Wednesday, sent right to your inbox so you never have to go looking. → https://link.mellynated.com/widget/form/U72K21nZfCOLHluvZPas (https://link.mellynated.com/widget/form/U72K21nZfCOLHluvZPas)
Ready to stop shape-shifting?
Start With SELF is a self-guided identity process. Six modules, one weekend. Get clear on who you are before you decide how to show up. Introductory rate: $97 → https://mellynated.com/self (https://mellynated.com/self)
Come talk to me on Substack. What gift did you put a blazer on? Tell me in the comments. → https://substack.com/@mellynated (https://substack.com/@mellynated)
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp4tHH05phcnjPgkXdhP1uDtcFaydNPbz (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp4tHH05phcnjPgkXdhP1uDtcFaydNPbz)
codeswitchrebellion.com
Your identity is the strategy.
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