Melanie Lockert

Melanie Lockert is the personality behind the award-winning blog, Dear Debt, where she chronicled her journey out of $81,000 in student loan debt. Through her blog, she inspires readers to break up with debt by writing their very own breakup letter to debt. In 2015, Melanie (and her journey out of debt) was named one of the top five most inspiring personal finance stories of the year by Yahoo! Finance. She currently works as a freelance writer and event planner. Melanie and her work have appeared in Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Yahoo! Finance, INC, and more. Originally from the Los Angeles area, Melanie moved to New York City to attend New York University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and a Master of Arts in Performance Studies. After stints in New York City and Portland, Oregon, she returned to Los Angeles, where she currently resides.