By Tuck Communications
18 February 2026
Mellissa Tong TEE’21 has built her career around one core idea: storytelling drives connection, and connection drives results. A former TV newscaster and Hollywood movie producer, Tong is founder and chief storyseller of DuckPunk Productions, where she helps organizations strengthen customer engagement and increase revenue through storyselling.
After attending Tuck Executive Education’s Building a Successful Business program, Tong applied what she learned to launch her first online course and expand her business offerings.
Describe an ah-ha moment for you—a defining moment that changed the course of your life, career, or altered your way of thinking.
Back in 2014, I was going through some personal changes and trying to figure out my next move business-wise. For the longest time, I thought my superpower was in producing. But after taking a long look, I realized the through line that tied everything together was storytelling. That was a big ah-ha moment. I've rebranded the business since and the new direction is more aligned with my personal mission.
What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of?
Finished creating my StorySelling digital course. I've been doing this for other organizations since 2014, so many people have asked me over the years to do one for myself, but I never found the time to do it.
Describe a challenge you encountered in your life and/or career, how you were able to overcome it, and what you learned.
During the Pandemic, I almost abandoned my business and started a new venture to do something entirely different. But my mentor pulled me back and made me look at my skill sets. Then I realized, although I couldn't engage in video production at the time, I could still use my storyselling skills to help other businesses grow. That's when I started offering storyselling as a consulting model on top of video production.
Tell us about your experience at Tuck. What had the biggest impact on you, and why?
It was fantastic. It helped me look deeper within myself to be bold and actualize my purpose.
What would you tell someone who is considering coming to the program?
It's a must-do. You only know what you know, and don't know what you don't know.
How have you put everything you learned at our program into practice?
Yes. I just finished and launched a new product line, my very first online course called StorySelling, teaching entrepreneurs and small business owners how to apply storyselling in their business to build their brand, drive sales, and win more customers. And I sold my course to CVS at the WBENC conference in June 2025.
“[Tuck] helped me look deeper within myself to be bold and actualize my purpose.”
Who do you most admire and look up to? Who inspires you and why?
I admire people who use their work to help people: Brené Brown, Tony Robbins, Lewis Howes, and Oprah, just to name few.
What keeps you busy? How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
Work keeps me pretty busy. Outside of work, I go to a lot of movies and live performances, concerts, plays, musicals, dance performances, etc. I also like to go to museums and look at artwork and exhibitions for inspiration. Outside of that, I do a lot of walking and hiking to stay physically active.
How would you describe your life philosophy? How do you define “success”?
A good life is to be able to feel fulfilled and live on purpose. Success is knowing you can use your skill set to help someone else succeed.
What is your vision for the future?
My vision for the future is, to continue using my storyselling skills to inspire action and drive change.
In your opinion, what makes a good leader?
A good leader listens and never shies away from admitting fault and being vulnerable.
Explore upcoming programs from Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth.
Mellissa Tong is a TV Newscaster turned Hollywood Movie Producer turned award-winning storyseller, speaker/trainer, three-time #1 best-selling author on Amazon, and chief storyseller of a 25-year-old award-winning StorySelling agency and content production company, DuckPunk Productions, Inc. At DuckPunk, Ms. Tong works with organizations to enhance the connection between them and with their customers through storyselling. Some of DuckPunk’s corporate clients are Nissan, Verizon, Wells Fargo, California Department of Health, Old Navy, to name a few, helping them raise sales by up to 110 percent and engagement by up to 70%. Ms. Tong speaks frequently at national conferences and trade events. She has held trainings for the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, Westin LAX, SoCalGas, SDG&E, AIA, Sotheby’s, WBENC, NAWBO, NLBWA, and many other professional organizations.
