Annie Melbert

Associate Writer

You might say winning has a way of following Annie around. 

Less than a year after she arrived at Villanova University, the Wildcats won the NCAA tournament. Before she graduated, they’d won it yet again. ESPN may give credit to the three future NBA players who arrived on campus at the same time as Annie, but basketball, like life, is ineffable, abstruse, and a few other big words Annie likely learned while she was there. So who’s to say her presence didn’t make all the difference?

Before coming to Rare Bird, Annie worked as assistant director of marketing at a beloved Indianapolis prep school, and then at a local agency, where she produced video and social content for clients in healthcare, aviation, and beyond. She now does both for our equally wide-ranging roster of clients.

Outside the office, she loves to bake with her mom and sisters, flooding sugar cookies in vivid colors before dragging feathered chevrons through the wet icing, with white polka dots scattered around the edges. The results look like something from a Mass Ave. bakery, though the Flock is reserving judgment until she brings us a batch. Maybe two or three batches, to be honest. (We like to be thorough.)

When she’s not wrestling a brief into a brand story or chasing the perfect line across a dozen drafts, this ABBA-loving folklore enthusiast loses entire evenings to YouTube videos about Appalachian legends, and she enjoys making the case for roasted vegetables to anyone who’s written them off.

“Olive oil, seasoning, and a few aromatics will change your life,” she says. “Some things just shouldn’t be steamed.”

Favorite movie line?
“Have fun storming the castle!”—The Princess Bride

Don’t tell anyone, but ________ can make me cry.
Any movie with a dog in it.

What’s a piece of advice that actually stuck?
Salt your pasta water!

Are you more like a fine wine or a cheap tequila?
Wine. Sometimes bubbly, sometimes dry, and best surrounded by charcuterie.