We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Megan Moore a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Megan, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
The lawyer in me loves to define words, and I want to start there. Resilience is defined as (1) the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, toughness; and (2) the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape, elasticity. Toughness and elasticity. This makes perfect sense to me. I have certainly had my moments of toughness – jumping up from defeat and moving forward. I’ve also had my moments where I feel like I’m stretched beyond my limits, and yet, I can still spring back into who I am authentically.
Where do I get this toughness and elasticity? From my family, navigating numerous transitions at an early age, and plain old life experience.
I’m the youngest of five daughters (yes, all girls). I have the privilege of seeing my four older sisters navigate their lives. Observing them, I know that life brings its challenges and joys, and that women can tackle these changes at any age. Really. Any age.
My family moved a lot when I was a kid. I lived in four different states before I turned five. Because I was young, moving simply seemed like a part of life but it developed some toughness. I could pick myself up in a new place and make friends. Then during my teen years, I experienced another set of transitions that shaped my life. During middle school, my parents went bankrupt. We moved twice, the second time across the country from Aurora, Colorado to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. This was definitely a time in my life where I stayed down in the muck of things, and I didn’t feel so tough. But even in the muck of it, I did spring back into my authentic self: funny, talkative, fearless, and friendly. I still have a handful of friends from this period of my life, which means a lot to me.
The resilience I built from getting to observe my sisters and going through all those moves allows me to keep growing and changing. At 51, I’ve had 3 careers and garnered a wealth of life experience to keep me tough and springy!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My purpose in life is to inspire growth and change in a way that is accepting, vulnerable, and energetic so that the world is filled with resilient people who know they’re capable of growth. Even before I could define this purpose, I lived it. Now that I’ve defined it, I can see how my purpose propels my personal life, career, and my current business, Megan Moore, Inc.
With Megan Moore, Inc., I get to combine my experience as an educator and attorney to partner with people in growth and change. In essence, I work with people and organizations to identify what matters most to them, and then go after it. It’s so cool I get to be a part of these journeys!
My current passion is leadership development/team building. With my individual clients, the focus is on self-leadership. They explore who they are, what they value, and how they want to bring that to their careers. It’s transformative work that has led clients to get promoted, pursue work that fulfills them, and open their own businesses. My clients continuously amaze me!
With my small group, corporate, and organizational clients, the focus often begins with self-leadership and then turns to effectively leading teams to achieve organizational goals. With some clients, we spend a few hours work-shopping leadership or communication. Other times, I spend months with groups to hone communication skills and build accountability across an organization. I look for clients who are passionate about growth and really care about the people who work for them. This type of client can make magic happen. I love to witness and support that kind of magic!
Right now, I’m obsessing over two programs that I offer: Level Up (TM) Leadership and The Powerful Pivot (TM). Level Up was created by my mentor, Cami McLaren. This program fosters coach-style leadership, providing education and development of key skills, like curiosity, accountability, and communication. It’s great for organizations who want to develop emerging leaders or support current leaders and leadership teams. It inspires me to watch teams grow over the course of each session.
The Powerful Pivot supports people who want or are in the midst of a career pivot. I created it based on my personal experience making career pivots, along with my training as an educator and coach. In The Powerful Pivot, participants take a deep dive into purpose, values, and vision. They also get a healthy dose of creating and achieving their career outcomes. I love that this group allows me to bring together people from different professions and at varying stages in their careers.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I’d say three skills or qualities that have been most impactful for me are resilience, connection, and laughter. I already shared about resilience, so I’ll just add here: Life happens, which means you will have plenty of opportunities to strengthen your resilience. When you notice the challenge or feel the struggle, call on resilience and see what happens.
Connection with other people has been key for me. I have a knack for communicating with others, a skill I rely on particularly in networking situations. For example, I’m fairly certain I landed my first job as a lawyer in part because I was able to connect with a fellow Florida Gator during the group interview process. She showed me her football helmet signed by Steve Spurrier, and I shared that I went to high school with Danny Wuerffel. For anyone familiar with the franchise in the 90s, you know this moment was special.
I’ve also stayed connected to a handful of friends over the course of my life. In fact, despite living thousands of miles apart the last 35 years, I have remained close to my best friend from kindergarten! I also have friends from high school, college, and law school, who remain important to me. People connect in different ways, so I suggest being true to what feels right for you. That might be connecting in business situations or connecting through one or two close relationships. Whatever the connections, they will come in handy when it’s time to ask for help or celebrate success.
I bring my sense of humor to every aspect of my life. I love moments of belly aching laughter, and I love to make other people laugh. Yes – I’m the person who giggles at a funeral. There were times when I toned it down because I wasn’t sure if people would like that aspect of me. But laughter is a part of who I am, so now I’m more likely to bring it, worrying less about whether someone likes me.
In terms of advice for developing these skills, I suggest first deciding whether these are skills you want to develop. Don’t get too caught up in what other people are doing. Focus on your strengths and find what works for you. Any skill you want to develop requires practice, failure, and success. Decide where you want to focus and look for/make opportunities to practice.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
My biggest challenge right now? Consistency. I suspect many entrepreneurs and small business owners can relate to this. Consistency in revenue, consistency in client development, and consistency in my day-to-day. When you run your own business, every decision falls to you, and it can feel a bit lonely. When I’m feeling this way, it’s hard for me to stay focused and get to all the tasks in my day.
I’m also in the service industry, so my active client list fluctuates. That means I’m navigating changes in revenue month to month. This has been the biggest challenge for me after leaving a thriving legal practice. My husband is an equity partner in a law firm, which means he doesn’t have a consistent salary either. We do our best to manage income, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say we feel the pressure right now. I know an abundant mindset is important, but I find it challenging during leaner months.
The good news is, I learn new things about business development almost every week. One great thing about the era we live in is that there is free and inexpensive quality education all around us. So, when I don’t know something, like let’s say, the best way to leverage LinkedIn, I can find a free class or course to learn. I actually am diving into LinkedIn right now. Since staying focused on one things is also a challenge, I’m working on LinkedIn with a group of friends and small business owners. We’re learning together and keeping each other accountable. It’s actually fun!
I guess what’s true about me is also true about my business: it is / I am a work in progress. I look forward to getting through this consistency challenge, and I’m doing my best to have fun along the way!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.meganmooreinc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories/poweroftherightquestion/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coach-megan-moore
Image Credits
Gabrielle Fox Photography
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