We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Megan Mitchell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Megan, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I wish I could say it was easy to have confidence. In fact, I think that is the one thing women in particular often struggle with…self worth. Confidence comes from experience. However, the knowledge to learn from the experience is where we develop confidence. Self esteem sounds intimidating because of the word self. Confidence strong…self esteem low is a combination we see often. I can have confidence in many things, but self esteem depends on only me. Pressure!
The tips I do have on how I built up my self esteem by trial and error. Nobody speaks about the failures. I’ve failed more than I have triumphed. Self esteem comes from knowing you have already failed.
Lastly, talk to your peers. Listen. Build each other up.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Hello! I am the owner of Cactus Jack’s Saloon & Grill with my husband, Gary Mitchell. We have owned Cactus Jack’s for 22+ years. Although during the course of our ownership we have had a few hardships like the Flood of 2013 and CoVID 19, mostly we share a unique mountain experience. Cactus Jack’s allows me to support my community. I am the current Evergreen Downtown Business Association President. I have been part of for just a few short years, but have made an impact with improving marketing. Our annual events allow us to showcase our wonderful Main Street in Evergreen.
As President I have implemented programs to better our Downtown. I have started a recycle and compost program for all members. Doing business in an unincorporated town has its challenges. One of those challenges is trash. Landlords aren’t given many choices and often choose to take the easiest path. This program will allow landlords and businesses recycle and compost waste. This is a pretty new program and we look forward to growing it.
I am participating in the Class of 2024 Evergreen Leadership. This remarkable program teaches the history of Evergreen while linking current events. The Class will learn leadership skills intended to be used to enhance Evergreen as a whole. Each Class is expected to complete a project. Past projects have included the mural at the Century Link Building, Water Station among many others. I look forward to applying the knowledge onto others.
I work with a group of business leaders in Evergreen to discuss housing issues. We have limited inventory available in Evergreen for my employees. Most, if not all my employees spend anywhere to 30-70% of their income on housing and none of them own property.
Let’s circle back to Cactus Jack’s. We have live music on our beautiful patio along Bear Creek below the Spillway of Evergreen Lake. You can catch bluegrass, rock and roll, country and amazing cover artists from Memorial to Labor Day. The rushing creek roars as you enjoy a cold microbrew or craft cocktail. Make it a mocktail with all of our fresh squeezed juices and Daddy’s Homemade Syrup. Don’t forget the food. We have professionally trained chefs at Cactus Jack’s and you can tell by the taste. Try one of our Signature Widespread Burgers or Philly Cheese Incident. It is the best West of the Mississippi.
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with The Wrecklunds, Evergreens favorite band. Serving corned beef and cabbage and green beer. Show us your Shamrocks.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The first quality I think everyone should strive for is empathy. Empathy allows me to support my employees in times of need. The needs of my employees change constantly. By showing empathy and developing relationships creates a trust. Sometimes empathy does get me in trouble. Beware! Some people do take advantage. The difficulty is finding the balance of how much to give versus how much you can afford to give. A skill to learn is to listen. Most of us want to be heard. A good leader will listen, digest the information and offer sound direction. Being able to decipher what is important through listening has become key in dealing with both employees and patrons.
Lastly and area of knowledge boils down to what interests you. I am in my third semester at a local community college studying Spanish. I a few Spanish speaking employees. I wanted to be able to provide the empathy and listening that I spoke about above, but with a language barrier this was next to impossible. I had the pleasure of taking one of my Spanish speaking employees to breakfast recently and had a conversation in Spanish. All in all we spent 2 hours together getting to know each other. So knowledge is POWER.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
In my time as President of the EDBA I have had to deal with many strong personalities. It takes a lot to be a business owner. It takes a lot of assertiveness, vision and organizing. When dealing with an organization of business owners all of this is maxed to the fullest. I believe I have brought fairness. It has become an organization where “all for one and one for all” really means something. To answer the question, the area of growth most important is unifying.
Contact Info:
- Website: Evergreenlivemusic.com
- Instagram: CactusJacksEvergreen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/megan.n.mitchell.14?mibextid=2JQ9oc
