Class of 1990

MEL (SCHNEEBERGER) ROBBINS is radio's hot new advice guru.

When life coach Robbins dispenses advice about getting out of a rut, she speaks from experience. "I've had six career changes in 14 years, so I'm literally living the work that I do with other people to help them change their lives," says Robbins, whose show, Make it Happen with MelRobbins, can be heard daily from I to 3 p.m. EST on several AM stations nationwide and on www. bordersmedia.com.

The former public defender, litigation attorney and dot-com executive has been slowly leaning into a media career since starting her life and executive coaching business in 2001. Robbins parlayed a 2006 Inc magazine cover story into a radio hosting gig with Sirius (which she left for national syndication in May) and in August assumes yet another role: giving advice on CNBC's The Big Idea. "I think of myself as being at the intersection of business and life," says the Michigan native, who lives outside Boston with her husband, Christopher, and their three young children.