WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
Melissa LuVisi
Chief Strategy Officer , tab32 by Vanessa Labi
Melissa LuVisi describes cloud software with the same enthusiasm as she uses to talk about the arts . “ I truly believe the arts are the gateway drug to critical thinking and innovation ,” says the chief strategy officer of tab32 , a cloud-based dental software .
LuVisi grew up in Grass Valley , earned her B . A . in art history from UCLA in 2009 , and held curatorial and directorial positions at Los Angeles art museums and galleries before diverting to business development . After a few years as executive coordinator for the startup restaurant chain Tender Greens in Los Angeles , an experience she credits with giving her “ access to entrepreneurship ,” LuVisi took on an administrator role at FedEx Ground ’ s real estate department in Pittsburgh . While gleaning “ insight as to how big corporations run ,” she helped build its auditing department from scratch .
At the same time , she founded her first arts business , an online curatorial site which she later sold to a strategic partner . She started her next independent venture , the one-woman marketing firm LuCurates , when she moved back to Northern California . While working at The Urban Hive coworking space in Sacramento , she met tab32 CEO Kiltesh Patel , who became her client . In 2018 , after six months of building marketing campaigns for Patel ’ s startup , “ he kind of gave me an offer I couldn ’ t refuse ,” she says .
As the tech company ’ s first fulltime employee , LuVisi began in sales , presenting dental offices with the benefits of bringing their scheduling and charting systems up to date with tab32 ’ s faster , more comprehensive cloud-based software . She says that some doctors and dentists haven ’ t adopted new technology since digitization in the 1990s . “ We wouldn ’ t make a phone call using an iPhone 1 ,” she says as an analogy .
In fall of 2021 , following stints as tab32 ’ s vice president of marketing and sales and director of business development , LuVisi moved into her
“ I truly believe the arts are the gateway drug to critical thinking and innovation .”
role as CSO . With her hands “ in a little bit of everything ,” she primarily works with the company ’ s leadership team to develop and refine processes .
Though some of tab32 ’ s 100 employees are remote , including a small team of engineers and product associates in India , LuVisi works from the company ’ s Rocklin office alongside about 40 colleagues . “ Especially with a technology company ,” she says , “ it ’ s hard to have your pulse on everything that ’ s moving so quickly and to have appropriate communication if it ’ s not face-to-face .”
Since joining the dental field , LuVisi has taken an interest in women ’ s influence in it . “ There are a lot of industries , in health care especially , where women make up the majority of the people … but they don ’ t make up the leadership .” She says she ’ s proud that tab32 is the exception , with “ almost 80 percent women in leadership roles and about 70 percent women employees .” Last fall she spoke on a Women in DSO panel about electronic medical record software , and this March she ’ ll be featured on another , where she says with a laugh that she will be “ very pregnant onstage .” ( 2021 was a big year for the strategist , with a promotion , a wedding and a baby on the way .)
LuVisi hasn ’ t left the arts behind . Having recently moved to a paintingfilled home in Midtown Sacramento , she ’ s happy to be able to attend “ different art events and get involved in the museums here in the Sacramento region .” She ’ s also a board member of the Bay Area organization De Colores Arts , which aims to foster connection and self-expression through inclusive art classes . “ My heart will always be in the arts ,” she says .
Vanessa Labi is assistant editor of Comstock ’ s and an arts writer . She writes narrative essays and gives cultural recommendations in her newsletter , The Vessel ( VanessaLabi . Substack . com ). See her work at Vanessa-Labi . com . On Instagram @ Vanessa . Labi .
54 comstocksmag . com | March 2022