Meet Megan Billnoske

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Megan Billnoske a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Megan, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
Today, I have a husband, family and life that I absolutely love – a result of what I believe to be a solid family foundation, strong values and faith, good choices and an adventurous ambition to never settle in life. Each step was one that brought me closer to understanding myself and my purpose – but I must admit, I had no idea what was coming or where I was really going. Only now, in retrospect, is my ‘purpose journey’ so very clear.

I grew up in Katy, TX with my very supportive parents and younger brother. In high school, I played volleyball, was president of the business club (Future Business Leaders of America) and a member of DARE role models. Although I was active, my high school years were littered with being on the receiving end of bullying. As painful as it was, I appreciate it now because it planted a life-long seed of purpose to build up others – a purpose that my entire career would foster and grow.

In 2010, I graduated from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s in mass communications (Advertising) and Studio Art. After about six months, I landed my first job. I was a Houston recruiter for Texas Tech University – driving the Tech car and speaking to thousands of students and their parents. My job was to travel the Houston area and deliver personalized presentations about Tech and how to apply. I loved it!

After about a year, my inner voice nudged me to “think bigger”. My thoughts circulated around global travel, public speaking and doing something new (a very big energy maker for me). In a few months, I moved into the oil and gas industry, working as an international Corporate Trainer. The manufacturing company hired me for my public speaking skills, vowing to teach me everything else, which they did. Having never traveled abroad, I was ecstatic and mystified.

Much of the way I see the world today came from my 5 years there. As their first and only trainer, my training projects sent me to Canada first, then on to Scotland, England, Dubai, Singapore and Louisiana. Working so closely with all the employees, they became my family. I designed and implemented Microsoft classes to help them, brought in their first Learning Management System (LMS) so they could access online classes and led the training program for a company-wide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation so they knew how to keep doing their job in the new system.

Each trip was a blast. I met new people face-to-face and trained during the day. In the evenings, we went on exotic excursions like a Dubai Desert Safari or fish pedicures in Singapore. This is where I fell in love with cultures, knowing I could help them develop their skills and seeing that I was literally changing the world. At the age of 25, I was living beyond my wildest dreams and ready for more. Soon, that voice returned to “think bigger”. My quest guided me into a different industry called Professional Employer Organizations, or PEOs, as a Sales Trainer.

I was excited to expand beyond IT and HR training, and dive into a new world of sales. While I was there, I discovered a passion for DISC behavioral assessments, and ability they provided understand people in a whole new way. I enjoyed their culture, servant leader mindset and my team, but I was missing my days of training management and design. Time to go! Next stop – the construction industry. It was a grand world of monstrous machines, literally!

This equipment company is the infrastructure and support for Houston and engines that literally power the world. Little did I know that I would find another passion of mine here – working with college graduates. I was hired to design, implement and run their first Management Training Program, and I loved coaching and working with them! From my first meeting with the Vice President, he predicted that I would only realistically keep 2 or 3 out of the 14 graduates they had hired. Confused, I said, “I bet I keep them all.” He chuckled at my optimism, and we bet a hamburger on it. By the end, let’s just say that he owed me a burger.

The allure of the international world bubbled up again, so I moved into an international engineering company with subsea robotics, engineered Disney rides, majestic ocean vessels and ties to NASA. Learning everything our company did was amazing, and I was so proud to be part of such a cool organization. With about 8,000 employees, it was the largest company I had worked for up until that point.

And then…

March 2020. COVID hit.

Four months later, I inherited a new team, with folks scattered from Houston to Florida, Brazil and the UK. With work-from-home our new life, back-to-back meetings all day and everyday were the new normal. It was intense. COVID was devastating and scary for the entire world. All employees were at home, working more and more hours. I saw it in my direct reports, too. Mental health, burnout and stress were rampant and with no end in sight. So, I decided that my team would use MY TIME with them to take a break, since it was one of the only things in my control in our out-of-control COVID world. Everyone was working 20-hour days.

So, I implemented bi-weekly team meetings (double from what it was before March), where we used 1 hour to play team games, activities, share stories and a pajama dress up day for the holidays. We took a break to just be people – they were already working plenty! I also added a team-voted employee of the month award to foster team camaraderie. The winners would receive a virtual balloon drop or shower of confetti, along with a nice certificate. It was a blast!

As a result, we had the most communicative, knowledge-sharing, high-performing team that I have ever seen. It was here that I found my passion for leadership and growing a true team by caring about them. By the way, that same team chats together on What’s App to this day, and I still get personal calls and chats when they get a new job or a new pet.

With the economy shifting, I decided to move into an industry outside of oil and gas. This time, I expanded into one of the largest healthcare systems in southeast Texas and the Texas Medical Center. Their Organizational Learning and Development department was doing work with Disney Institute, Cornerstone LMS, Korn Ferry and DDI! I had never heard a company that was working with all of the top training vendors in the industry. I felt like I had found the training celebrity row, all in one spot, and I came running to join the team.

Within a few weeks, I realized that healthcare and I really have the same values – we love to help people. Simple, yes, but for the first time in my career, the core of who I was matched the company’s product: service. This is where I fully understood how it felt to match values and purposes with your job. It creates a whole new engagement level, and it’s not just some hocus pocus interview question people say to ask. It’s real.

With 29,000+ employees, the system had some amazing leaders who were thirsty for leadership training following the COVID pandemic. My team and I created, implemented and facilitated all their leadership programs in 2022.

I’ll never forget the day I had a helicopter pilot from Life Flight in a leadership class I was facilitating, sharply dressed and highly engaged. In another class, I met the director of the transplant department, drawing on flip chart paper with her table. They were just students in my class at that moment, but very often they helped people who are in their darkest hour. In awe, I thought,

“If I can help them with even a small bit of leadership skills to use in their high-stress roles, then I will be helping people that help people.” It was on a whole new level.

Activities outside of work also helped my purpose come into focus, as I enjoyed doing both. From my work as a volunteer with University of Houston, as the 2021 and 2022 Association for Talent Development (ATD) Houston Conference Chair, to the National Speaker’s Association (NSA) Houston Chapter President Elect (2024), each and every part has helped me learn so much about myself – a critical catalyst in finding your purpose.

In 2022, I reached a point that I never thought I would – very seriously, very intensely and very actively starting to make moves to start my own business doing exactly what I loved, but in a different capacity and challenge. I felt dead on the inside and from extreme work induced stress, my health was alarmingly impacted.

So, I left everything I had ever known – corporate safety, consistent paychecks, great benefits – and leapt into the ambiguity of launching and running a successful business called, IMPSIRE, LLC. Modeled after the Latin meaning of ‘inspirare’ – to breath life into, it matches my vision to breath life into students, leaders and organization though training, speaking and coaching. For years, I had been ashamed of my career journey, wondering why I couldn’t stay at one company for 30 years like the days of the past. Now that I work in all industries, I can fully appreciate the journey that got me the well-rounded experience that I didn’t know I was going to need.

As a final note, and to show that the purpose journey is ongoing for us all – as of last week, my purpose became even more clear. In preparing a new presentation called Yes, You Can! (stepping through fear by trusting your passion, purpose and path), I was adding some pictures to a slide to demonstrate a point, and low and behold, an even bigger AHA moment was waiting.

My first picture was one of an orange brick wall – normal like you would find on the side of a house, stacked neatly with rows and mortar. The next photo I showed was more like colorful Legos in a pile on the floor, in all different shapes and sizes. My thought was to illustrate how I wanted the brick wall of longevity at a company, but instead, my purpose journey just wasn’t that. It was the Lego pile instead – not even made of bricks, but plastic and rainbow colors! Then I saw another picture – one that showed me an entirely new perspective. It was a picture of a little boy, playing with colorful building blocks.

And then it hit me…

I always thought my purpose was to support other people, but in that moment, I realized that my purpose didn’t involve bricks at all. My purpose was to build people up because I know what it’s like to be torn down. Torn down by unethical leaders, toxic supervisors, vicious direct reports, restricting corporate cultures, glass-ceilings of several kinds and others thinking they could control my career, haha. It never stopped me though – I just kept moving through career opportunities, leaned on my support system when I felt crazy and stayed true to my values.

So, my purpose was shaped by my entire career journey of being open minded and finding happiness. I made each decision by my top two values – integrity and fun. I started out with knowing what I enjoyed in school and now I have a career bigger than my dreams, with a laser focus on a purpose that drives my actions and company every single day.

No matter where you are on your purpose journey, know that your oil is not cheap. To shine your light into the world takes oil in your lantern, and it requires trials and tribulations to earn it. Whatever you’re called to do will be challenging. It will not be easy. If you’re called to build people up, be ready to endure what it’s like to be torn down. If you’re called to bring joy to others, be ready to endure what being joy-less is like. If you’re called to care for others, be ready to endure the struggles of not receiving care. It’s different for everyone, but the root is the same – purpose. It’s only then can your words and your message be fully authentic, powerful and humble.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I love what I do, and I’m just getting started! Career wise, I am the proud owner and founder of IMSPIRE, LLC – a consulting company specializing in strategic and out of the box leadership training, speaking and coaching. I also believe sharing stories, humor and creativity helps the world grow and evolve, so I also publish a newsletter called Lead Where You Are – a collection of leadership lessons learned from my travels around the world.

Also, I have also been blessed to be nominated for the 2024 Houston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award, as well as the upcoming President for the National Speaker’s Association (NSA) Houston chapter. I believe that by working hard and loving what you do, all sorts of doors will open…always. Plus, as of this year, I have expanded my business services as an Authorized Partner for Everything DiSC! It’s a step further into doing more of what I love, in addition to helping the world have stronger, servant leaders who help, and not hurt, people.

Outside of work, I love cook nights at home with my best friend and love of my life, Chris.

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. Core Values

I think the first skill is your set of core values – knowing what is deeply important to you helps you set boundaries for anything that comes your way. When life choices get tough, those values are a great way to check yourself, the situation and decisions being made. To start developing those, make a list of the top 5 words that describe what you find important. Then, change and tweak them over time as you find what is important to you. (I’ll give you a clue – if you think about the last time you were very angry, it’s probably because someone violated a value. So, put that one on your list!)

  1. Communication

It doesn’t matter if it’s with a spouse, friend, boss, direct report, presentation or email – communication will make or break your career. My advice for developing this is getting to know your style of communication and how it resonates with others (Everything DiSC is an excellent tool for this). By being self-aware, you’re able to adjust your style to be more effective, while still being yourself. Learn the right channel for the right communication – ex: a long conversation is probably not an email. And congratulations for a team is probably not a text message. Communication is how you connect with people, so become a student of it.

  1. Humbleness

You will need great courage to find your way through your career and your life. Things will happen that are amazing and reassuring, and other things will bring you to your knees. Don’t worry! It’s all part of the journey. When you have those highest of high moments, remember all of the help of others that got you there. Remember the sacrifices they made, and the hard work you put in to make it happen. When you get recognition from an executive for the work your team did on the project, be humble in shining the light on them instead of yourself. You’ll need the confidence to do things, but the humbleness to know it’s not all about you.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am looking for students, leaders and organizations who are ready to are ready to have fun strengthening their skills, amplifying team performance and achieving legendary results. I have 13 years of experience, ready and waiting at your doorstep to help propel you to your goals.

Let’s have a conversation! You can find me on LinkedIn, or at my email at megan@meganbillnoske.com. And if you don’t want to chat just yet, connect and follow me on LInkedIn, Instagram or Facebook – I’m always posting content and ideas to help you on your journey.

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