Writing and Journaling Coach, former Attorney
Kentfield, CA

Melanie Vetter is a life and journaling coach and founder of Wellfleet Circle. She has helped hundreds of people find more joy and resilience and move more fully into the life they long to live by digging into their stories within them. Melanie is a trained and certified Guided Autobiography Instructor through The Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies.

Melanie is a graduate of Smith College and Harvard Law School. She started her career at the law firm Morrison & Foerster and AMB Corporate Real Estate. Melanie is the co-founder of the non-profit Tax Aid and has been involved in multiple non-profit boards. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of The Cape Eleuthera Institute, the parent institution of The Island School.

After leaving the corporate world, Melanie rediscovered her love of storytelling and writing. She was inspired by her maternal grandpa who told stories of loss and redemption, kindness and love, hard work and results as a way of showing how to be a good person, just like him. Melanie began her work with people in their 60s and older as a way of creating and sharing this type of legacy.

Recognizing that the act of writing and reflecting on our own story is a powerful and valuable goal in and of itself, Melanie has expanded her work to focus on reflective journaling with a broader age group. She hopes to use her time at DCI to hone her storytelling, writing and teaching skills and discover how to bring the power of reflective journaling to teens and college students.

Melanie is the joyful parent with Chip Vetter of three 20-something kids (and one crazy dog) and lives in Marin County, California.

DCI Fellow: Chip Vetter