I’m Melody Laughlin. I bring stories to the page, clarity to complex work, care to travel planning, and personality to the web. Across everything I do, the thread is the same: thoughtful ideas, carefully brought to life.
Explore my books, leadership experience, travel businesses, and website work below.
Melody
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Creative perspective. Experienced delivery.
ONE THOUGHTFUL APPROACH, FROM THE FIRST IDEA TO THE FINISHED WORK.
01 / AUTHOR
Stories that connect people and ideas.
History, leadership, and the connections between people, work, and place.
FEATURED BOOKA return to the place that shaped me.
LOCAL HISTORY · WATERTOWN, NEW YORK
Where the River Runs
A Complete History of Watertown, New York
Watertown is where my story began. In this book, I explore the city’s history and the Black River’s place at its heart, tracing the people, industry, and changes that helped shape a community.
It is a project rooted in my connection to home and my belief that the stories of a place deserve to be remembered.
I bring people, priorities, and systems together to help organizations move complex work forward. My background includes 25+ years in program and PMO leadership.
25+ years
Program & PMO leadership
Governance, portfolio prioritization, executive reporting, and hands-on technology delivery.
$35M
Finance transformation
Co-led a Jacobs back-office transformation spanning finance, HR, reporting, and business systems.
5,000 pages
Web delivery at scale
Led creation of the Learning Network e-learning portal at Lightspan / Plato Learning.
My work includes enterprise governance, portfolio prioritization, Smartsheet PPM, and technology program delivery. I welcome conversations about leadership roles, contract assignments, and consulting engagements.
Through The Cruise Travellers and Curated Voyages, I bring careful planning and personal attention to cruise vacations and the business behind them.
OWNER · DECEMBER 2019–PRESENT
The Cruise Travellers LLC
I lead business operations, client service, supplier relationships, marketing, and growth for my travel agency. Client engagements and group voyages bring together budgets, documentation, payment deadlines, transportation, suppliers, and events.
Client delivery: Coordinate the details of individual trips and group travel.
Business operations: Manage supplier relationships, deadlines, and client communications.
Digital systems: Create CRM workflows, proposals, website content, and marketing campaigns.
My luxury travel division brings together a distinct brand, an editorial website, and a personal approach to service. It is a practical example of how I connect positioning, content, design, and client experience.
Brand development: Present a clear identity for a defined travel audience.
Website and content: Organize cruise collections, destinations, and inquiry pathways.
Personal service: Translate client preferences into thoughtful travel planning.
A business owner’s perspective on client needs, competing priorities, clear communication, and follow-through. This experience is especially relevant to travel and hospitality organizations, service businesses, and website clients.
Focus: Present a distinct luxury travel brand. My work: Site design, editorial content organization, and clear paths through cruise collections, destinations, and inquiries.
Focus: Connect travel expertise with client inquiries. My work: Content, page design, specialty resources, blog publishing, and consultation pathways within a WordPress site.
Experience gives me structure. Curiosity gives me direction.
My path has included teaching, software and web development, and more than 25 years in project and PMO leadership. I’m also an author and the owner of The Cruise Travellers LLC.
That mix shapes how I work. I enjoy the creative part, but I also care about the planning, the details, and seeing an idea through. Whether I’m researching a chapter or organizing a website, I want the result to feel thoughtful and useful.
Originally from Watertown, New York, I now call San Diego home. Writing, history, travel, and design give me plenty of reasons to keep learning.
An idea to explore? A next chapter ahead? Let’s connect.
Whether you’re interested in my writing, looking for an experienced leader, planning a journey, or creating a website, I’d love to hear what you have in mind.
A return to the place that shaped me.
