Meet Megan Van Der Baars

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Megan Van Der Baars. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it 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?

One of my favourite mantras that I love to live by is…”confidence comes from keeping the promises you make to yourself”. I hold myself to high standards and goals (sometimes too high!) but I have found that by meeting my goals and doing what I say I am going to do has given me more internal validation than anything else.
I have not always been a confident person and to be honest, it is still a daily battle to be kind to myself. Over the last twenty years I have really used fitness to overcome this. Fitness has truly changed my life and I have always used workouts to help channel anxiety and think through problems that do not seem to have a possible outcome. When I am very anxious or…have a conflict in my PR business that I cannot seem to think my way through I find a walk works absolute wonders. Sometimes you need to take yourself out of your mind and into your body and it is also just a proven fact that endorphins make any and every thing better!
I also like to remind myself of all of the things I have achieved and made it through so far…and that I can and will continue to succeed if I work hard and am kind to others and myself.
The confidence again, is such a work in progress but…I pride myself in always doing what I say I will do and…saying something nice to myself in the moments when I may need it the most.

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?

What I love most about my career and life is how different every day and each aspect of it is! My most exciting and fulfilling role yet though has been becoming a mom two months ago to a beautiful daughter. Since having a daughter my work has become much more intentional and is now fuelled by such a larger purpose. In between being a mom, I am still teaching spin, Hiit and Pilates classes. I am loving seeing my fitness career progress further in terms of inspiring women who are currently moms, pregnant or dream of being a mom one day. My classes still are for any and everyone but speaking to women about how to prep their bodies for the most physically challenging moment of their life (giving birth!!) and/or coming back to fitness after having a child has been SO fulfilling.
On the PR end, I am continuing to evolve my focus to solely be on fitness and wellness. While I do still love fashion, beauty and more…I have found I feel the most successful and happy with helping fitness and wellness businesses and really have the knowledge behind this field now. My business continues to specialize in media relations and partnerships and it has been incredible to have my clients support me as I have become a mother now.
Thinking more longterm, I absolutely see myself using all of my customer service, marketing, PR, management and fitness skills to own my own brick and motor fitness and wellness facility. I am continuing to take the steps to work towards this goal and am really enjoying my time in still learning from the bests in the business.

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?

It may sound cheesy but…being kind and making time for people to feel heard has been so impactful in my success. In early days of my career I was often told I was “too nice” and now looking back-I think that was the worst critique you could give someone. While being “too nice” may not work in certain fields…I have chosen two careers-fitness instructor and publicist-in which being nice is such a strength. I love to make people feel included, heard and appreciated and I truly think this is what has led to my success.

The second quality that has led to my success is the constant urge and passion for self improvement. I love to listen to podcasts, read self help books and follow people on social media who truly inspire me. I have never been content with staying in one place in my life and have often found that as soon as I accomplish something my brain goes to”what’s next”? While sometimes this can be a weakness and am continuing to strive to stay as present as possible, I do believe it has helped me continue to push my own expectations of myself. As I mentioned before, nothing feels better than doing exactly what you said you were going to do!

The third one that I myself am continuing to work on is choosing your battles. Instead of reacting out of urgency and a “now” mind state I try to reframe my thinking on what will most protect my peace. Of course there are things worth “going to bat for” but through being more selective on these things, I preserve my energy for the things that really matter to me…my daughter, my family, my friends and my clients.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am always looking for new and inspiring people to collaborate with! I am a firm believer in focusing in on what you are great at and outsourcing the rest.
A great example would be..I would LOVE to start an on demand fitness platform. This being said, I am NOT a tech or financial person so I am looking for people who are also passionate about fitness and wellness who can bring these sort of skills to the table.
I also am always looking to work with new clients who have fitness and wellness facilities to bring my fitness programming, community building, partnership and PR skills to their businesses.
I firmly believe not one person can do it all and it is always incredible to add people to my network who share a passion for self-improvement, fitness and overall physical and mental wellness.

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