We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Meredith McBride a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Meredith, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I’ve done a lot over the last two decades: bookkeeping, marketing, art, administrative work, motherhood, etc. For a long time, I mistook money and success as indicators of my purpose. There were many things that I dreamed of doing my whole life, such as motherhood, that I assumed to be my purpose, but often just left me unfulfilled and frustrated. When I let go of expectations, of what I thought any given job/task was suppose to be, and I listened to when my body/heart/mind were aligned – then I found the things that made my soul sing. That spoke to my entire being. When I have a gathering, whether it’s two people or 200, and each one feels seen, valued, and cared for – that is my purpose. That purpose, translates across every job, throughout every community, and in every interaction. It drives me each and every day. Twenty year old me probably would have thought that sounded cliché, but there is a “rightness” to it that words just cannot capture. It’s both a settling and a high vibrational joy.
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?
For the last two years, I’ve balanced 3-4 different jobs in various fields while being a single mother of four aged 10 and under. I often get asked, “so what do you do?” and I rarely have a succinct answer. I wrangle life. I recognize the beauty in the chaos and create a path towards order. I’ve been fortunate to have two business women, Louise Glickman and Victoria Frasher, come into my life and give me career opportunities that challenge me, grant me freedom and creativity, and allow me to find my place in the world. As the former Associate Director of ArtsvilleUSA, I got to build their Virtual Gallery of Artists, a new program that helps educate and equip artists how to become effective entrepreneurs through an extensive, free three month program. To be involved in the arts community in that capacity really helped encourage my own creative side. I’m also the Business Manager of Sage and Spice Catering and Market. I do everything from administrative tasks, to sales and event management. It’s exhilarating. To help people plan and execute an event, to fill their bellies with delicious food, and to witness the joy of special moments first hand, it’s exhilarating. It’s where I excel. It is also where I learned that I prefer working as a team. The staff at Sage and Spice are my family. We work seamlessly together in a way where we all function as both leaders and support crew and ego has no place. We work as a unit. Being a part of and helping to lead a team like so fulfilling. Not to mention the food is impeccable!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Hope – I use to really despise the word hope. I’ve “hoped” for various things over the years, and worked towards them to never seem them come to fruition. Then I read the quote, ““People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider’s webs. It’s not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go.” That is a hope I can tangibly attest to. That is how I live my life, and how I’ve taught my children. It’s not, “failure is not an option” or “try and try again” it’s more of hope comes from internal power. Internal certainty that I will rise again, and keep moving forward even when the direction I’m moving in may change.
Skills – Social Media. While I consume social media more than I’d like to admit, I like most, am not thrilled with its place on our society. It’s also crucial. It’s a way to communicate and engage with clients, business partners, potential/current employers, etc. I have been in many interviews that were not in any way related to marketing positions, but social media still wound its way in as a topic for discussion. It’s an area that it is necessary to be aware of the impact it has on business, even if you’re not proficient at all the ins-and-outs of how to do it yourself.
Transparency – I’m honest with employers and clients. If I do not know or have an answer to something, I say so, and that I will find out or learn. I’ve found this eliminates so much stress in trying to pretend, and ironically, has helped me with imposter syndrome. If I’m forthright with my weaknesses or lack of knowledge, but show a willingness, desire, and proactive energy towards learning and improving.
There is a lot of talk about how you can find a job that you love or make your hobbies/love projects into full time work. For some people, I think that can be great. For me, every time I made one of my hobbies into a career, it quickly stole my love of the subject. Attaching the pressure of financial stability or the ego of success to something I do in my free time because it brings me joy, it wasn’t a feasible match for me. I’ve found the core values in life that make me happy, and bring them into my career (whatever it may be) so that I do find joy at work or anything I do. It becomes less about the job/task and more about that I’m filling my cup where/how I need to.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
It’s an age old issue, but the balance of motherhood and work still; leaves me reeling. As the sole financial provider for my household in an area of the country that is not particular affordable, I’ve been working 60+ hour weeks, while still being engaged and present with my kids. While I’ve seen success, I’ve also seen so much fall through the cracks. There is power in recognizing that I cannot do it all. I am cutting back to one job for the next few months to recover and focus on the kids while they’re out of school for the summer. Financially, it’s not ideal, but I’ve prepared for it. I realize that while I can work long, ridiculous hours for seasons, it’s not a pace I can sustain long-term. This is a time for me to focus and grow at the career I enjoy the most, while also having time, space, and energy to enjoy my littles while they’re still little. It’s terrifying to step away from the certainty of my other jobs, but ultimately, I think this space will serve me well in the future.
Contact Info:
- Other: [email protected]
Image Credits
All photos were taken by me.
