Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Megan Krepakevich. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Megan, so glad you were able to set aside some time for us today. We’ve always admired not just your journey and success, but also the seemingly high levels of self-discipline that you seem to have mastered and so maybe we can start by chatting about how you developed it or where it comes from?
My self-discipline comes from focusing on the feeling *after.* The more I show up and keep commitments to myself, the more I become addicted to the boost in confidence and competence I receive after! A sure sign that a habit has become more solidified in my life, is when “it feels so good to feel so good.” It’s the feeling that comes after the action that keeps me coming back and sticking to my action plan.
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?
Like many, my path has not been a linear one, and my search for purpose has taken me down many career paths – from obtaining my degree in Criminal Justice, exploring my passion for beauty as a makeup artist, to finally finding my way here in the online space.
I’m sure you can relate – when you have big goals and aspirations, they are often accompanied by comparisons and ultra-high expectations of ourselves. Add in a dash of hustle culture, unrealistic body standards, and a highly curated social media landscape, and it’s easy to fall into self-criticism and feel like we’re never doing enough.
I’ve been diligently challenging this flawed perspective through my habits, content and online store. After developing stronger self-care habits and routines, I’ve finally realized that prioritizing myself doesn’t detract from my goals; in fact, it empowers me to reach them even more effectively.
I began observing evidence of this in real time, noticing that when my cup is full, I am:
– a better partner
– happier
– more patient
– healthier
– more confident
– more empathetic
– better equipped to respond to setbacks
I still have a long way to go, but my goal with my content and online store, Self-Care Era, is to serve as a resource to support women on this journey of true self-care and self-compassion.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Staying true to your vision – there is such an overwhelming amount of advice online that will tell you the *best* way to get to your goals. I think it’s really easy to lose sight of your values and vision when you get caught up in listening to and applying all the tactics that worked for someone else. Take note of the advice, test, and see what works for *you.*
2. Embrace the cringe – often it’s not that we don’t know what to do, it’s that we have fears surrounding the doing. Fear of judgement, of putting ourselves out there, fear of feeling “cringe.” But the magic is in the cringe! Each time we push through those fears we find it’s rarely as bad as we make it out to be, and find new confidence to take more action next time.
3. Be willing to fail – I love the quote “failure is a data point, not an end point” by Payal Kadakia. It’s easy to plan, plan, plan, and want to have every detail figured out before we get started or take action. But we have to take step one in order to be given step two, and there is so much to be learned by seeing what doesn’t work. Reframing the meaning of failure is a big one on the journey.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
My biggest area of growth in the past 12 months has been finally recognizing that rest is productive and prioritizing self-care unapologetically. Without me, there is no business. Without my health, I can’t have the impact I want to have on other women. As someone who can easily fall into the trap of measuring my value by how busy I am, the simple act of adding intentional time off to my weekly goals list has been game changing for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.selfcareera.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megankrepakevich/
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/megankrepakevich
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@megankrepakevich
