In the early days of the Cellulite Investigation, your trusty cellulite analyst was a lonesome, anonymous blogger. I prefer to work deep behind the scenes, as my career history attests.
But you, dear CI readers, have been so welcoming and supportive that I decided to go ahead and properly introduce myself, first by using my first name (baby steps, Melissa) and now with a profile picture. I hope seeing the face behind the blog will give our little investigation a more personal feel.
How I Got My Start as a Professional Analyst
After graduating from Georgetown University with a degree in Science, Technology, and International Affairs, I started my analytic career as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy. I served in the military for five years before eagerly settling into my new job as an intelligence analyst with a certain Three-lettered Government Agency.
It takes a distinct type of personality to work in this field. Like most of my colleagues, I'm an unambiguous introvert who doesn’t mind spending long days in windowless rooms while researching complex technical issues. Even more unusual, I actually think it's fun!
Analysis involves more than just collecting “the facts” and assembling them into a finished product, as if putting together the pieces of a puzzle. Intelligence analysis is more like trying to assemble a puzzle when half the pieces are missing and you don’t know what the picture looks like on the top of the box. Plus, someone threw in thousands of pieces that go with different puzzles altogether.
Then, for reasons that may or may not be malicious in nature, other people mixed in random pieces designed to look like they belong to your puzzle but they actually don’t. Maybe the pieces fit together on one side, but not the other.
One of the main reasons intelligence analysis is so challenging is because it deals with ambiguous, ambivalent, and incomplete data. When the human brain confronts this type of information, it usually relies on certain subconscious mental processes to interpret the info at hand. These mental models are essential
for making sense of the world, but they also lead to common analytical traps.Professional analysts spend their careers developing specialized skill sets to help them avoid these cognitive pitfalls. While working for Said Government Agency, I won a Fulbright award to further study the art of analysis in the United Kingdom where I earned a master's degree from the University of St. Andrews. It was in this academic setting, with my head swimming in dense theoretical essays, that my professional interest in analysis and my personal interest in cellulite first came together.
At St. Andrews, I focused on a branch of International Relations theory that involves uncovering hidden assumptions and exploring alternative scenarios --skills I've called on throughout the investigation thus far. Since launching the Cellulite Investigation, nearly everything I thought I knew about health and wellness has changed. My research into cellulite altered my understanding of fat, exercise, nutrition, genetics, and so much more. For me, studying cellulite opened up a level of wellness I did not think was possible. I hope it will do the same for you.
**Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow: My Cellulite Story
Non-anonymous blogging works for me! This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday hosted at We are THAT Family. Welcome to everyone who is visiting from Friday Follow!
You might also like:
Launching the Cellulite Investigation (A Throwback to my Anon Blogging Days)
Contact the Cellulite Analyst
You Could Be a Valuable Source in the Cellulite Investigation: What's Your Cellulite Story?
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by Dr. Lionel Bissoon. 
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I'm glad it made you smile, Rosy. Always so nice to hear from you!
It's so nice to read a bit more about the people behind the blogs :)
It feels unnatural for me to "talk" about myself on the Internet but I guess that's part of blogging. :)
Thanks for your supportive comment, Becca!
So very nice to know a little more about you...You blog fascinates me for many (probably obvious) reasons.
Holly @ 504 Main
PS- You asked about the following thing on Friday Follow...yes..it is Google Friend Connect. I think there should be a gadget or widget for it (sorry I am a techy lame-o)
Thanks, Holly! I'm glad it interests you. Call me crazy, but I really do think we can figure out the cellulite mystery together. I'm especially excited because I just had my first complete success story come in via email this morning! I hope she will tell us all about it in an upcoming Cellulite Stories post.
Just stopping by to follow and say hello with Friday Follow.
Felissa
www.Felissahadas.blogspot.com
Friday Follow :)
Following your From Friday Follow
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Happy Friday Follow - Rita @ http://one2try.blogspot.com/
I'm following from Follow Friday. You can find me blogging here: http://www.couponclippinmommy.com/
Hi, following from Follow Friday.
Bethany
This, That, & T'other
thanks for stopping by my blog and helping make my SITS day so wonderful!such an interesting bio,
you sound like a very smart woman
Thanks, Elizabeth. I'm glad to have found your blog. Body image is such an important topic, and your artwork compliments the site so well.