Craig Melvin is no doubt a familiar face on one of TV’s most popular morning shows. In this episode, he shares what it’s like behind the scenes.

Some of the most common questions I get since he took the seat of Today Show co-host in January are what is it like, and how has it changed for him? Melvin and I talk about that and more, including the weight of visibility, the emotional demands of the job, and the unexpected peace he’s found through a hobby that has nothing to do with headlines. 

From the Today Show to his garage candle studio, Melvin shares what he’s still learning about ambition, identity, and finding meaning in daily life.

What You’ll Discover:

• The surprising workload beyond the show itself (08:33)
• What it really takes to stay prepared under pressure  (14:02)
• Protecting your peace while living publicly (14:33)
• Why Melvin values interviews with everyday people most (19:44)
• The emotional cost of ambition, and how he’s reframing it (21:29)
• A surprising new passion for candle-making (31:42)
• How creativity is helping Melvin reconnect with what matters (34:44)

This is a powerful reminder that even at the top, people are carrying invisible weight. If you’ve ever felt the pressure to keep it all together, Melvin’s honesty might just offer the permission you didn’t know you needed to find your own groove.

You can watch this interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5pESGLeecaU 

For a full transcript and more, check out our blog post: https://www.lindsaycz.com/show-notes/craig-melvin-06  

Connect with Craig Melvin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craigmelvinnbc/ 

[00:00:22] Lindsay: It does, because that's part of why I go to my improv class.

[00:00:27] Lindsay: And I'm not. But the thing about that and what you just said,

[00:00:32] Lindsay: I'm not good at it.

[00:00:34] Lindsay: No. Last class, we were paired up with a buddy and then we had to be an inanimate object, and they told us what we were, and guess what I was... we were two sausage links.

[00:01:10] Follow me at Lindsay Czarniak and be sure to subscribe, rate, and review Things No One Tells You wherever you like to listen. Hey guys, and welcome to the latest episode of Things No One Tells You, or Tea-Naughty, as we like to call it. I'm Lindsay and this episode is one I was really excited about because this actually might be the toughest guest yet in terms of scheduling and figuring out when we could get him to do it. I did not have to go far, but I did have to work through a lot of scheduling snafus barriers but we're here. This is so exciting. My guest today is my husband, Craig Melvin, and, one thing I love working with him because that's actually how we met, and I'll go more into that in a moment.

[00:02:45] I came back, I did not know my station had hired a new news anchor. And, I came in on a Saturday to work the Saturday show, and I run upstairs, slide into the set, and this new guy turns around and says, "Oh, look who's back from China.” And I was just like, “Who is this person?” I remember because I was like, he's super energetic and gregarious and I've never met him or seen him before in my life. And anyway, it's such a fond memory. We actually have it on video because who would've thought that person would end up being my husband? And it was wild because in the years that followed, for a while we really had to keep it under wraps. And it was just a really special time.

[00:04:11] It was amazing. It's amazing for him. But it also has just been a lot of new normals and a lot of adjusting to new routines, and he has, honestly, I think handled it beautifully. And we are still absolutely learning. And now for a little levity, because we're talking about tv, my favorite TV show from when I was younger and one that I still watch.

[00:05:05] I am super excited because I'm waiting for Melvin to come into my little office here. Which, by the way, he hasn't seen this, so I'm very, very excited. He loves plants, so I've positioned this succulent just as a nod to him. We'll see if he points it out. I think he will. It looks a little unhealthy. We're gonna water that guy. My husband refused to tell me when I pushed him what the thing no one tells you that he wanted to talk about is. So, I really have zero direction of which direction this is gonna go. I can't wait to hear what he says and just react authentically in real time.

[00:06:36] All right, welcome. But where are you? Look, no, I'm super excited because this is your first time in this space.

[00:06:51] Lindsay: Yes. In this amazing corner. But also

[00:06:57] Lindsay: Thanks. This is what you maybe don't know, because of timing here. We're recording this a little bit before folks will hear it, but it's actually...

[00:07:10] Lindsay: It's the official launch day. The trailer is up for Things No One Tells You!

[00:07:20] Lindsay: No, but you are doing your recording on the day that the trailer is up.

[00:07:28] Lindsay: Yeah. I'll show you. Cheers!

[00:07:31] Lindsay: And thanks for being willing to be a guest.

[00:07:36] Lindsay: You always have a choice.

[00:07:39] Lindsay: No?

[00:07:43] Lindsay: No, the succulent is a nod to you. The succulent and the candle. Yeah, and the candle.

[00:07:50] Lindsay: So I was saying that in my mind I was thinking, okay, Things No One Tells You that maybe your focus, you would want it to be like Things No One Tells You about the importance of a side hobby, but I don't even wanna call it a hobby because now you are full-fledged into this candle making business thing. But what I was also sharing with the folks watching listening is that I have no idea what your thing no one tells you is that you wanted to talk about the thing on your journey. That, that you have found that you think has value in helping others? What's the thing that no one tells you?

[00:08:30] Lindsay: Is it work-related? Is it not?

[00:09:33] So there's not a willingness to necessarily pass along that information. So, there's a lot of stuff that comes with a job that I didn't fully appreciate that no one told me. And it's also, it's all- consuming. It's watching the series that you're interviewing this actress or watching the movie where you're interviewing the actor or, yeah. So that's the professional part that no one tells you.

[00:10:05] Melvin: This is nice champagne. What are we drinking?

[00:10:08] Melvin: We're going cheap on the podcast?

[00:10:42] Melvin: It's funny, I don't know if it was a lifelong dream, really. Yeah, no, I think it was one of those things that it became more of a dream the closer I got to it. But when I got into the business, you get into, especially back, back in the day in the, in, in the early aughts when you get into, got into the business, yeah. You dreamed about maybe hosting the Today Show, but it wasn't like a, it wasn't a tangible dream, like you just thought, oh wow, that would be awesome if it happened. And then it's okay, you're doing the daily ground, you're covering car wrecks and house fires and robberies and weird political scandals.

[00:11:49] Lindsay: Wow. Yeah,

[00:11:52] Lindsay: It does. And it's so crazy because we had our paths at a similar place at that time because we met in DC. So, it's interesting to hear your perspective on that. Real quick, back to the part about the show and the stuff that no one tells you about after. That's one thing that I observe from afar with you that I have started to share when people are like, what's it like? And the thing that's so impressive about it. But also, I think you're right. People just don't realize, I would venture, that the hours when the show is on…

[00:12:30] Lindsay: Because you've prepped for it.

[00:12:33] Lindsay: Also, because I'm always blown away by the amount of producers and prep and each segment has their own person. So, you are fully educated on what you are supposed to be doing, to react well in that moment.

[00:13:35] Because before January, I'd do a segment here, a segment there. But it's hard to explain to people. Because people who watch the show, I think, who've been watching for 73, 74 years and I think part of the magic is making it look easy and the shit's not easy and you don't realize it.

[00:14:02] Melvin: You don't wanna, in this day and age especially. If you screw up something small, it goes viral, or if you say something that's factually inaccurate or if you just generally make an ass of yourself like it, but you, it's, you walk on a tight rope every day. And so, I didn't fully appreciate that until I got the job, and so now I'm learning it. Now you just, you over prepare, and you have to do a, you have to do a really good job of keeping your blinders on in the morning and drowning out the noise.

[00:14:35] Melvin: In the car? You know this, in the car, on the ride in, I listen to a lot of gospel music. I meditate, and I start my trip with, it's about 55 minutes into the city. I start my trip with that, and then when I have about 45, 30, 45 minutes left, I pivot to just prep, and then I hop on the phone with the control room or the newsroom.

[00:15:23] It would be nice if we could simulate that on the show. And so, I was like, yeah, we should have the control room stand and clap the plaza stand and clap people in the studio stand and clap. And the, and Pete Breen, he was like, we can't do seven and a half minutes. I was like, I know, but what if we did it for 20 minutes, 20 seconds and then we would, and, so it turned into a moment. And then this morning we had, gosh, this is sad.

[00:15:53] Melvin: Oh yeah.

[00:15:54] Melvin: It's a Wes Anderson movie. You had Brian Cranston, you had Tom Hanks, you had Scarlet Johansson, you had Benicio del Toro, you had Michael Erra. You had, I mean you had a, the stacked cast and it, it, was quite the, it's quite the film. But, the question out of it was, what do you do for seven and a half minutes? And his response was after like 30 seconds, you're like. You start clapping with everyone because you feel so awkward, but then you go from that to today, I think it was today, Robert De Niro was talking about Tribeca, with Jean Rosenthal. And I've interviewed De Niro a number of times. It's never easy because he's one of these guys, Robert de Niro is 81 years old. He's got. He's got a catalog of films and some TV shows, but mostly films that span generations. He's been interviewed a lot,

[00:16:55] Melvin: So, you can't ask him a question. He hasn't been asked. And so, part of the fun for me is CO is trying to come up with that one thing that he's never been asked or come up with. That one moment that he's never experienced. And I love meeting the parents, and you got Robert De Niro talking about milking like cat tits and milking himself. And, so I'm like, of all the memorable lines you've delivered, Mr. De Niro. Did you ever think that milking a cat would be one of your most memorable? And that becomes the challenge. The greatest challenge is to overcome the sameness that consumes us. And I enjoy the challenge.

[00:18:02] Melvin: But you know this, you've interviewed thousands of people over the years. There comes a point where you've interviewed someone dozens of times. And so, the challenge is trying to get something out of them that they haven't shared before or to get them to show a side of themselves that they haven't shared. And that's hard.

[00:18:32] Melvin: Yeah. And finally, it's like marriage. 90% of what makes our marriage spectacular is I spend so much time listening,

[00:18:45] Melvin: Let your listeners and viewers just decide for themselves.

[00:19:03] Melvin: And some of 'em are really bad,

[00:19:08] Melvin: I still don't. But I'm being serious.

[00:19:11] Melvin: I don't like celebrity interviews because most of them have been interviewed

[00:19:19] Melvin: And, if there's something controversial, they've got a team of people around them who have coached them on how not to answer a question. And no, celebrity interviews aren't my favorite. I enjoyed interviewing people who are just ordinary people, and I hate to use that adjective, but

[00:19:44] Melvin: Famous, whatever that means now, but those people who've overcome something extraordinary or done something extraordinary, I like catching that person the day after they've had the best day of their life. And they didn't, and they didn't see it coming. that lights me up. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I don't enjoy. Like A-list movie stars and spending time with them. I'm not saying that, but I would just rather, I would rather have the other end of the spectrum, if that makes sense.

[00:20:11] Melvin: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:20:19] Melvin: Professionally, no one. Also, I would also add to that, I don't know how much time we have for this podcast. Take your time. No one also tells you the sheer sacrifice. That is required to make it. I use air quotes deliberately, like I don't I think that a lot of people don't understand how hard you have to work, how much you have to be willing to give up, how much you have to second guess yourself and your decisions, and feel like an imposter, how much you have to experience all of that. To eventually make it, and even when you make it, whatever, that, again, whatever that means, if you're doing it right, you still don't feel comfortable. You still feel like you constantly have something to prove professionally, and I think that's, I think it's a good thing.

[00:21:29] Melvin: You climb a mountain, you get to the apex, and you look around and you're like, wow, this view's amazing. What do I do now? Do I stay at the top of the mountain? Do I climb down? Do I go back the other way? The way I came up? You don't. But no one tells you that. It's like you gotta, it's like climb the mountain, climb the mountain, climb the mountain. You get to the top and you're like, oh wow, this is pretty amazing. And then you go, “Okay, do I go to another mountain?” What do you do? And so, then it becomes, then the challenge becomes staying at the top of the mountain.

[00:22:40] People are going to watch this and hear this, and they're like, Craig Melvin's complaining. He’s got it pretty good. He's got a beautiful wife. He's got amazing kids. He’s got a great job, he's got all these wonderful trappings of life, and he's... And I'm not complaining. All I'm saying is that there's just a lot of stuff that people don't tell you about. Keeping all of those things and maintaining all of those things and juggling all of those things… I think you could charge me for a therapy session after this. This is that. She got me with the champagne. That's how she softened me up.

[00:23:38] But you're the only one that's had that struggle. Certainly, others can relate to it on some level. There are still things you experience along the way that people will experience in a different scenario, a different way. So I just really do think there is so much power in even sharing what you think those things are because at the end of the day, sacrifice and understanding that you might not see the full picture until you get there and wow, that's hard. That's something that people can relate to and it doesn't matter what their circumstances are. I agree with you. Like sacrifice. We talked to Brian Hernandez, the jockey who won the Kentucky Derby, and his wife said that his son, when they were talking about, can we win it again? And he said, "Dad, don't go for it again because that means you're not gonna be here. You weren't here at all that whole year after." So it's from perspective and sacrifice. And he talks so much about just the crazy sacrifice. 'Cause he is gone from December until March if he's lucky. And then probably a lot after that. Do you know what I mean?

[00:25:32] And I don't know if I would encourage them to get into the family business. Because for you it was weekends. You miss a lot of weekends when you're covering sports. For me, it's elections, it's Olympics, it's mass shootings, it's whatever unexpected call in the middle of the night. It's not being able to be present. After 8:00 PM because I've gotta watch a show or a series or read something.

[00:25:59] Melvin: Yeah. But the reality is most of them aren't. And that's something else no one tells you. I watch a lot of crap and I'm proud of you for that because, but, again, no one tells you that. Like every actor or actress or musician you interview, albums, not gonna... show's not gonna be wonderful. The film's not gonna be an Oscar winner, but you have to watch it. So that and you also, for me at least, it's always been important that whoever I'm sitting across from that they know I'm taking the assignment seriously. I think that's the biggest thing.

[00:27:02] Melvin: Keep the circle tight. I, and you know this, a lot of the people that I deal with now, I've dealt with for 20 plus years, I don't... part of it is, as I get older, I'm even more of a creature of habit, but I don't, deal with a lot of people that I don't know, that I don't trust. And if I'm dealing with them, I'll ask people that I do know and trust about them. I don't deal with unknown quantities. And it's funny because at some point, I guess I developed that reputation because people now have said that to me, like people. I know you don't like to talk about it. I'm like, that's not what it's about.

[00:27:57] Lindsay: Personally, I think it's funny with us because we're very opposite.

[00:28:04] Lindsay: But it's great. And you played along, because this is the beautiful complimentary color of orange.

[00:28:11] Lindsay: No, I did not. What are you… Now that is a blatant lie. I did not.

[00:28:17] Lindsay: I said it was great.

[00:28:25] Lindsay: You had already come in, like in that, but it is, it matches your candle.

[00:28:59] Because I don't know. I think that people can sometimes veer off track when they, first of all, when they pretend to be someone that they're not, comfortable in their own skin. They surround themselves with people who pour leeches. Like I, I've said this to you before. I will say, the older I get, the more I'm convinced that people are just trying to take money.

[00:29:50] Lindsay: It is also interesting because of the way that our industry is evolving. Can I share that you have Tom Broca's couch in your office?

[00:30:02] Lindsay: I think it's the coolest thing. You have Tom Broca's couch from back in the day. When I watched the show when he was the anchor. It is when you think about the way that television is continuing to evolve. Yeah. And then when you're talking about the things that no one tells you, it's this constant conveyor belt of just having to understand how to evolve. And also, like you mentioned, the social media factor like that is, that's intense. Like it was very different back in the day. I'm sure.

[00:30:35] Lindsay: And to go out there on the plaza. When you guys go on the plaza or like you didn't have that? People now trying to take, like I know how much you love to take selfies

[00:30:49] Lindsay: Okay, so the candle business. This is…I think it should be,

[00:31:05] Lindsay: So I didn't know though, what I said is, I didn't know what you were gonna say. The things that no one tells you is, I wasn't sure which direction you were gonna start in, but, so my thought was that we were probably gonna talk about the importance or the desire for a side business, a side thing.

[00:31:27] Lindsay: I just, no, I didn't say hustle.

[00:31:41] Lindsay: And specifically with your hands.

[00:32:12] Lindsay: I love this vessel. But we can't do this vessel 'cause you said it's too expensive.

[00:32:19] Lindsay: I like the texture. This is very…

[00:32:22] Lindsay: This is a, what do you call it, anthropology type, or like a terrain, which is a one, one of our favorite stores.

[00:33:00] Sometimes they remind you of someone or some place or some thing or some event. They evoke memories. and I enjoy that. I enjoy the candle right now that you're burning, It smells like an office. It smells like one that I burned downstairs in my office, which is not nearly as fancy, but there's some leather in that. It's more of a masculine scent.

[00:33:26] Melvin: Yeah. There's no tobacco in there.

[00:33:36] Melvin: Why, but why do you hate it?

[00:34:15] Melvin: Yes, yes and no. I, because I think that for me, this is a passion project. Like it's a, it's something I've become passionate about and it's a project.

[00:34:29] Melvin: But I hear what you're saying. I think, sometimes yes. When people. They use it and it can sound dismissive as if it's not something that someone is serious about. It's, oh, that's their little thing that they do on the side.

[00:34:44] Melvin: I start with no. I used to start with, yes. And then I realized a while ago that no is far more powerful. I can't control a lot of my life anymore, but I can control a lot of my free time. And so if I'm doing something outside of my assigned hours of employment, it's gotta be something that I'm passionate about. It's gotta be something with my fam, like in the end and all, and you and I have had this conversation, sometimes the friction that we have on the weekends is, my favorite hobby is doing nothing.

[00:35:41] Lindsay: So, it's socialization.

[00:35:56] Lindsay: Because if you say no, if multiple times, then people are going to stop asking,

[00:36:02] Lindsay: But you can't do that if you wanna have friends and you wanna be good friends. So, yes. A lot of what we talk about is how do you balance and split the difference. Balance, because you've gotta, it's, you've, gotta find a middle ground.

[00:36:22] Lindsay: That's not true.

[00:36:25] Lindsay: I can, but then you just don't go.

[00:36:55] Lindsay: Back the candles. What, so you started experimenting and then what? Because from there, and from my perspective, it only grew like your real desire to do it.

[00:37:37] And but I just, I enjoy it and I think, I also think candles, this is gonna sound cheesy and hokey I know, but I think candles are one of those few things that bring a lot of people just joy, just the sight and just light smell and just light.

[00:37:51] Melvin: Yeah. it's, you see a candle burning, it brings you down. It's like rubbing a dog's belly, and I like that. And I've really enjoyed trying to create fragrances that are unique, that also for me personally, conjure, conjure up certain memories. So yeah, it's a weird hobby. I know people sometimes are.

[00:38:20] Melvin: They look at me with three eyes. They're like, really? The Today Show guy's making candles. Wow. That's pretty sad.

[00:38:27] Melvin: You and my wife, you have to see it.

[00:38:35] Melvin: I've already done it. The Betty Jo. You know the Betty Jo Candle?

[00:38:41] Melvin: It's named, yeah, it's named after my mother. I'll break some news for you here on the podcast. If and when we launch a line of candles, it'll be in the first batch of fragrances. Because it reminds me of the pound cake that she used to make when we were kids and for a while to help make ends meet, Mom... She baked cakes on the side. I can still see the bundt pan that she used to use. And so yeah, she used to make a lot of pound cakes and so it smells like pound cakes she used to make.

[00:39:19] Melvin: No, that's a good question. No, I saw a fragrance bottle and it said pound cake, and I was like, I wonder if this smells like mom's pound cake. And I took that bottle and I added some other stuff and played around with the recipe. And then after a while I was like, it's pretty, pretty doggone close. So no, I didn't set out for that.

[00:40:22] Lindsay: Is there anything that you have discovered on your candle making journey that you think is worthy of sharing, that could be helpful for other people?

[00:40:40] Lindsay: I love that.

[00:41:10] Huh, D-Wade, I would've never guessed that you were a wine connoisseur, and you like to spend time in fields picking grapes and or like you start talking to Shaq. Wow. You really do enjoy DJing. You spend hours like on the ones and twos. It fills you up. Yeah. Or you start talking to actors who, like we had Seth Rogen on. He's got a fantastic show on Apple and he's talking about like this pottery,

[00:41:47] Melvin: And so you start realizing that a lot of people who we have been deemed successful, who've achieved, professionally, reasonable modicum of success, they have things on the side that I'm fairly certain now. Make them better at what they do primarily. Does that make sense?

[00:42:13] Melvin: I know.

[00:42:17] Melvin: And it's made you so much funnier, too.

[00:42:21] Melvin: That's not true. No.

[00:42:46] Melvin: That's the first I'm hearing of it. Did you pick sausage or they assigned sausage?

[00:42:57] Melvin: What kind of sausage?

[00:43:02] Melvin: Butterball… kielbasa...

[00:43:27] Melvin: Sweetie, you were, I know you were a good sausage.

[00:43:38] Melvin: I don't think that I know three things that you don't know about me.

[00:43:45] Melvin: Sweetie. I think if I told people three things you didn't know about me, that'd be a little weird.

[00:43:49] Melvin: Okay. Three things that most people don't know about me. Oh. I wash my hair twice a week. Is that weird?

[00:44:06] Melvin: Never more, never.

[00:44:09] Melvin: It depends on the day I get my hair cut.

[00:44:11] Melvin: Yep, yep.

[00:44:15] Melvin: I think so. That was a weird thing to share. So that's one thing people don't know about me. It's the second thing people don't know about me. I check my bank account multiple times every day. No, but just to make sure I haven't been scammed. 'cause we do so many stories about scams and fraud that I'm, you asked about things that people don't know about me.

[00:44:39] Melvin: The third thing that people don't know about me is. I cry by myself, probably a couple times every week about random things.

[00:44:55] Melvin: In the car usually. So, no way you can see me.

[00:45:00] Melvin: Usually on the way in, but not

[00:45:06] Melvin: This is gonna get dark real fast, and a lot of it's about, death and people, I just, I, or a song might move me, or, a memory might I, I'll have a memory of a grandparent or it's just, yeah. But it, but I, but not to God. People are just really gonna think that Craig Melvin's a whack job. I find it to be, again, quite cathartic.

[00:45:32] Melvin: Yeah. I don't usually cry in the house. I keep my crying outside the house. Sometimes I cry.

[00:45:41] Melvin: Gee, what kind of podcast is this? The last thing that made me cry, a mutual friend, a mutual friend of ours died. And there was a song that was played at his funeral that was on my playlist, and he, we were at a funeral on Friday, and then on Monday when I was on the car ride in the song just popped up, like it was just the natural next song. And so, I cried then. K. Alright. Cheers.

[00:46:17] Melvin: This wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

[00:46:22] One thing I appreciate about Melvin is he always comes to play, right? He's just, that is something that I take for granted is his jovial happy personality. Here's what though, I, when he's talking about, first of all, the candle hobby, it, I really am proud of him because he has approached this in a very methodical, thoughtful way. And I have no doubt that this is going to become something that he's just very excited about and that I think other people will enjoy too. But when he talked about the pressures of the job and also the movies, literally y'all, he is watching every single movie that he has an actor on that he's gotta interview.

[00:47:39] But anyway, thank you, Melvin, for joining. And for those of you listening, I would love to hear what you loved about this episode. Thank you so much for listening, for watching. Don't forget to follow us at TNOTY, Things No One Tells You and subscribe. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Lindsay, and I'll see you next week.