Philosophy for Life
Welcome to the Philosophy for Life podcast, hosted by Darron Brown, where we explore the profound questions and timeless wisdom that shape our existence. Join us on a journey of self-discovery and intellectual exploration as we delve into the depths of philosophy, spirituality, ethics, and the human experience. Through thought-provoking discussions, engaging interviews, and insightful analysis, we seek to unravel the mysteries of life and uncover the underlying truths that guide us. Discover practical insights and philosophical perspectives that can enrich your daily life, challenge your perspectives, and inspire personal growth. Whether you're a curious seeker, a deep thinker, or simply someone passionate about understanding the complexities of our world, Philosophy for Life is your gateway to wisdom and enlightenment. Subscribe now and embark on a transformative quest to gain clarity, find purpose, and embrace the profound beauty of existence.
Find me: https://linktr.ee/darron.r.brown
Philosophy for Life
From School Teacher to Business Strategist with Megan Wing
Ever wondered how the skills of an elementary school teacher could revolutionize the world of entrepreneurship? Join me, DeRion Brown, on an enlightening journey with Megan Wing, as we unveil the robust systems of her company, Six Figure Systems. Megan, a dynamic life and business coach, shares how her teaching background powerfully transforms the way entrepreneurs scale their ventures. Together, we're breaking down the barriers between education and business, proving that the classroom is a breeding ground for groundbreaking strategies in the digital marketplace.
Dive headfirst into the mindset shifts that redefine success in the entrepreneurial landscape. As Megan and I swap stories, from my online teaching escapades to Megan's coaching mastery, we reveal the undeniable impact of personal adversity and mindset training on our ventures. Discover the mentorship that acts as a beacon through the fog of entrepreneurship, and how the relentless pursuit of improvement often leads to profound personal and professional growth. This episode is a testament to the transformative nature of embracing change, pushing boundaries, and the relentless drive to elevate one's reality.
We round off our chat by examining the delicate dance between personal evolution and social dynamics amid the entrepreneurial hustle. Whether it's the strategic finesse needed for marketing or the delicate balance of nurturing professional aspirations alongside personal relationships, Megan and I tackle the complexities head-on. This episode is a treasure trove for anyone keen on mastering the art of business growth while maintaining their personal touch. Tune in for an episode that's not just about building a business, but about building a life rich in success and fulfillment.
Hey, what's up, guys? How you doing this is DeRion Brown, your host of the podcast Philosophy for Life. I have a business and life coach here with me. Her name is Megan Wing. We're going to talk everything from business growth, you know, life advice in general. You know I'm really interested about this podcast because we're both on a similar journey. You know I read a lot of stuff on self-improvement and then also I'm actually trying to build my brand at the moment. So, megan, can you give yourself a short introduction?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Of course and apologies for anybody who is watching this video I don't know what just happened with. There were fireworks on the screen. It was just a really exciting introduction. But hello, my name is Megan and I'm a life and business coach. Started as a life coach, transitioned to a business coach and I started my business. Six figure systems to help people who are entrepreneurs, really help them scale to their first six and multiple six figures using systems to help them make more and less time.
Speaker 1:So why did you make the transition? Because, honestly, I'm into that whole self-improvement guru space, like what made you go from the self-improvement space to the, to helping people build their business.
Speaker 2:That is a great question. So the interesting thing I was like in when we were talking beforehand, we were talking about the journey, of how I got to where I am, and one of the interesting things about my journey is that it was just like very not linear and just kind of like flowed from different thing to different thing. So what happened is I was receiving coaching for three years, from 2018 to 2018 to 2020. And, as we all know, in the pandemic, a lot of things shifted For me personally. I actually decided to start a life coaching business from scratch. I was a former elementary school teacher, so I don't know if you knew that about me, but I used to teach kiddos and I did not leave teaching because of the pandemic and the situations in schools. It just I knew that my business would give me the lifestyle and the time and financial freedom I was looking for. So I decided to go out there and start a business. I loved coaching like total self-improvement junkie, listen to podcasts every day on the way to school, would coach myself at school and I loved what I like, just the experience I had. I wanted to give that to other people, as so many of us do, like we feel the shifts in ourself and start the coaching business. And then I learned that having a business is like a very in depth learning experience. You can be the best coach ever and if you don't know how to run a business, that lovely, lovely business with really well intentions good intentions really will not get as far as you kind of hope.
Speaker 2:And I realized that I had to learn a lot about business. So I took time, invested in a bunch of programs, learned all the pieces that made a successful business and then figured that I could create systems around it to just like make a business. That flowed seamlessly. And I was actually in a couple of coaching programs and people kept asking me what do you do? How do you do what you do? Why does like it seems like something, you figure something out. And so it started as a really informal journey. I ended up having 18 clients at one point and 11 had a business and I was like huh, interesting. And a bunch of them also were like I want to start a business and so I figured it would be a good shift, knew about business coaching it knew how to coach people in business, and then I made the shift. So that was kind of like the journey from self improvement to business.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what age group were you teaching?
Speaker 2:Great question. So I actually taught first grade for six years, and halfway through that last year I switched to virtual kindergarten which was a wow yeah.
Speaker 1:how can the garden? How did you get kindergarteners to like pay attention? How was that?
Speaker 2:It was actually really so.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I found is that, within my kind of philosophy as you guys can probably hear in my voice I'm pretty energetic and I know that kids have an attention span of about 30 seconds, so I tried to like change my approach to the way I was coaching these are teaching these kiddos, and I was like how can I make this as engaging and lively as possible even though we're separate?
Speaker 2:And so what I would do is I we delivered whiteboards to the kids and I would give a math problem or a spelling, a word to spell, and I would have them write it on their whiteboard and they would hold it up and I'd be like the grading scale that we used was between a one and a four, and so I'd be like Sasha, you get a three and Nicole, you get a three, and I would just like be like cheered it up and it'll be like all right, and now we're going to do a brain break, and it was just like very lively and exciting, and I think that's one of the reasons why I actually enjoy it Like it was.
Speaker 2:It was not something that I think most people would define as something that was interesting and intriguing, but I think it taught me a lot about, like, how to psychologically engage a tiny human and actually help them to grow and learn, and I truly think like I don't necessarily believe that everything happens for a reason, but I think you can find a reason for everything. And now, coaching virtually in large classrooms I'm like who's meant to be.
Speaker 1:You know they say that people who become millionaires, professions that transition into entrepreneurship, that actually become millionaires is teachers and engineers. So you know you're on the right track. I wonder does any of those skills that you use while you were teaching kindergarten any of those skills transition and help you into your own business right now?
Speaker 2:1 million percent. I think one of the interests. It's so interesting that you say that because I think the connection that my brain made from teachers and engineers is a deep understanding of how things work and how to shift and change things quickly to get the desired result you want Right. So I think that for me, what I'm hearing is that those two that's a skill and I think that absolutely has helped me in my business. I love understanding how the human mind works and I love understanding more about like human psychology and like the polyvagal theory, like just all these different nuances to neuroscience. I think I just love understanding how things work.
Speaker 2:Actually, going previously even further back, I actually wanted to get into medicine before teaching, so I but my favorite class I ever took in high school was anatomy, because I used to love understanding how things worked, seeing how I could put it together in a way that could make things better, and very much improvement minded and improvement seeking, and I think that the self-help kind of atmosphere also is very much in that same regard. It's like we want to understand how things work so we can create improvement, and so I think that's what really helped me to thrive. I think, within my coaching business is just always having that student heart and like always wanting to learn, always curious and just thinking about how we can make things better, and I also think that really served me in my business because I was like, okay, this is just like a new subject, I'm just learning a new skill, the skill of marketing. I'm going to learn the skill of sales and I'm going to go through and I'm going to invest in these kind of things to really create a robust kind of functioning business and then learning each of those pieces in depth. I think my teaching ability, of course, has helped me to explain all of the nuances of business to my humans.
Speaker 2:So that's where I feel like the strengths from the past have really helped me to propel my business forward, along with, like, I now have modules and I teach my clients and I have PowerPoints and things like that. That I I mean all my stuff is on Google Classroom still and it's so awesome because I'm like I know how to set up a curriculum to create success in, like out of tiny children, and one of the things I always say to people I'm like if I could coach 38, six year olds in multiple subjects online at one time now I had like 24 in my class but like and get like 150 grades per kid. I can coach adults to do pretty much anything. I'm like that is a walk, a kickwalk.
Speaker 1:I hear you. I think what I get from that is that you're a lifelong learner. I'm the same way. You know me being a former athlete. I'm so used to diagnosing an issue, finding out a solution to that issue and then implementing it, whether that, whether that solution, works or not. I'm just I'm always trying to grind and to find a way to become better with whatever I'm doing. You know, and I've kind of taken that from sports and applied to multiple different areas of my life. What I'm wondering is what the mindset training that you got into? I saw a few of your videos. They showed that you really were deep into mindset. You were trying to, I guess, share that, share that information, trying to build a business on top of that. What? Why did you get into the mind space field in the first place and why did you transition out of it?
Speaker 2:I'm like they're oh my gosh long stories. I was like I've got so much to share. I was like, essentially, when I first found coaching, I was actually in a dip in a relationship that I was in and actually to even backpedal a smidge before that, as a teacher, typically in North Carolina, where I'm located, I had a couple of other jobs along with teaching, so I would teach by day and I also was a yoga instructor by night, along with having like at 1.5 different jobs. So I was like always had my hands at different things to create some flexibility for myself. And with a yoga teaching, I got certified at a studio and the person who led my teacher training became a coach and it was through the Life Coach School, and in order to complete her training at the time, she had to coach six or 10 people, do six sessions for free, and so she just posted for all the other instructors. It was like who would like some free coaching? I'm doing this to get certified and for me, I'm always one. I'm like I always would love to improve. I'm like I've never heard of this coaching thing, but something to make my life better. Sign me up, I'm all in. And that was back in 2017. And when I did that, I learned it felt good. I was like, okay, this is really neat, but it wasn't the time or space that I needed at the moment that I received the free coaching and so I didn't actually continue with her.
Speaker 2:Come a year later and I was going through some struggles in my relationship and I hired a therapist, a counselor, and went right back in and I hired her as my coach and within that, that's kind of how I got started on the journey of learning more about my mind, learning how I could create the results I wanted. Like when I heard that my thoughts could create my results, I was just like, wait, are you sure I'm like that parent that just came rolling in my classroom did not create the results of me being frustrated. You may not control that and change the way that I respond to things in a way that's intentional and a way that I actually choose and feel empowered through. I was like what is this? I'm like I must learn everything and I got a little obsessive about it and I was like I'm just gonna learn everything there is to know, listen to a bunch of podcasts about it and actually to transition to having a business.
Speaker 2:I knew that in the future I would love an opportunity to have the flexibility to work from home, just in case I had children. And I knew that actually my co-tast was she was like where do you want to be in 10 years? And I said, working from home. And I just finished my national boards. At the time she's like you know, you can't teach from home. And I was like, oh no, I was like Jackie, what am I gonna?
Speaker 1:do. Yeah, that's a problem.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've got a problem. And she had hinted at. And the interesting thing I literally think that one of the reasons why I transitioned to being a business coach now is I the she asked me. She was like you've listened to 700 podcasts. You coach yourself every day. Do you think maybe you want to start coaching business?
Speaker 2:And for me I was like, oh no, having a business is so hard I can't do that. That sounds impossible. And so and no one in my family had really had a sole apprenticeship like this, like other people had dabbled in business and had, like brick and mortars, but it was never like an online service space, like a lot of businesses are now, and so I really didn't know anything about how to grow a business and it was extremely intimidating. And one of the things that my coach said she was like I would guide you. She's like I will absolutely help you through this process. And so I continued working with her still work with her, to the say absolutely love Jackie.
Speaker 2:And one of the things that I found is that a lot of us, I think the traditional careers fulfill a lot of our strengths, but I think that the opportunity of entrepreneurship is that we can actually like really get into our zone of genius, really get into something that we love and are passionate about. And I think the only learning curve is the how behind entrepreneurship. And I think it's like kind of serendipitous that, like I was like I will never start a business because I don't know how to run a business and now I teach other people how to step into their zone of genius, how to get into the things that I'm passionate about and make it really easy for them to help other people. So that was a really long answer. I'm sorry it was, but let's dig into it. So you know there's a strong.
Speaker 1:There's a strong correlation between improving your mindset and starting a business, because in order for you to start a business, you have to basically become the type of person who can start a business and actually keep that business up and running. I had my own self improvement mental journey throughout the last years, throughout the decade really the last decade and one of the things that I noticed while I was improving my mindset not only was my thinking changing, but my environment was changing. My social circle was changing the people who I had friendships with and also the people I had relationships with. What I want to know from you is you working on yourself and improving your mindset? Did that impact your social life in any kind of way? Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, it did. Excellent question. So I really don't think that there everything. I don't necessarily believe that everything happens for a reason, because there are some really dark things that happen in the world. However, I do believe that you can find a reason for everything and I do think that there are people that we connect with and they're meant to be in our lives for certain periods of time, and I also think that it might not be forever.
Speaker 2:And one of the things that I found as I started my business is I had a lot of fear around being coming visible, allowing myself to be put on social media, allowing myself to really speak out about something I was really passionate about, and I had a certain community around me and it's interesting because I had expectations of current people in my community to that I thought were going to be extremely supportive. I also had expectations that there were going to be people who would be very judgmental and not supportive, and that fear kept me just coaching, without sharing anything about it, from May of 2020 to August of 2020. So there were months where I was just so scared of becoming visible. And, to come back to your point of connections and relationships, one of the things that happened for me is the people who I actually expected to be more supportive. There were some people I expected to be supportive, like my family and some of my really close friends, that stayed that way and it was wonderful and it just developed our relationship to the next level.
Speaker 2:There were other people, like I had a partner at the time that we actually grew apart and he ended things, I think, potentially in due to the business, but also just like we shifted apart. I also had another group of friends that we shifted apart and really haven't spoken with them in a very long time, and so I have that just like a love and appreciation for them, for what they meant to me at that time, and I also realized that they were in my life for a certain time period for a reason and served the purpose that they needed to. And now I've refilled that space with people to get me to the next piece of my journey, and that's one of the beautiful things about it is that like, even though it could feel really there's just a dissonance, there's an uncomfortable nature to having people that you love, especially for someone who, like loves humans, and I just want to have all the relationships and friendships I want to help.
Speaker 1:You want to help them, you love them always.
Speaker 2:And I think, like that was an interesting shift that I wasn't expecting, is that the close people, some of them actually shifted out of my inner circle entirely, shifted in different ways.
Speaker 2:The other interesting piece, though, was that some people who I was very concerned about would be like the harshest critics became my biggest supporters, shifted into a different aspect of my life.
Speaker 2:The other thing was like posting on social media people who I didn't even know, I had a like a deep connection with from high school, from college, like people I hadn't spoken with in years, came out of the hoodworks and were like, whatever happened to you in 2018, I watched you. You're a different person. They were like you are on time for things you actually, like are really showing up more confident and authentic, and they were like, if that is what coaching did, I want some of that, and now to this day, they are some of my deepest, most intimate friends, and we are still extremely close to this day. So I would say, for like, I don't know For me, I just want to like encourage people, to like just kind of trust the process, trust the relationships are in there for a reason, and I want to know, like, if you experience like something similar, with the relationships in your life probably shifting.
Speaker 1:I definitely have experienced something similar, you know, before. I remember when I first started experiencing this early on during my journey. People can see you changing without you even. You know expressing it. People can see it in your demeanor, the way you can communicate. You know your light, your glow. You know people know when something's a little bit different about you. And, yeah, I started getting jealousy from people that I loved. You know, I've always told people I've lost more sleep over the loss of a friend than a loss of a romantic partner and definitely friends and family. You know, people have gotten jealous. I mean, it used to, it used to bother me, but it's something that still continues to happen and it's been about 10 years since that process started. And what I, what I understand now is that if you really understand the laws of nature, things like that really don't faze you. What I want to say during the pandemic I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and she was telling me that people just want to be around people that like them. This is during the Black Lives Matter thing and she she was referring to like race right, and I say, yes, people want to be around people that are like them, but not that look, not necessarily look like them, people who think like them.
Speaker 1:So if you're improving yourself, you're basically becoming a different person and your mode of thinking is changing. So, because your mode of thinking is changing, the people you're around before they're not thinking like that. So for them to keep that relationship alive, they have to bring you down. They have to bring you down back to who you were so that that relationship can survive, because they're not going to meet you up there. But if you continue to work on yourself, it's just natural that you're going to continue to learn more things. You're going to become a different version of yourself consistently and then during that process, you're going to meet some people, you're going to lose some people you're going to, you know, you're going to consistently grow.
Speaker 1:So that's the way that I see it. I see that if you're on the self improvement journey, you know, especially when it comes to romantic partners, you have to be with somebody that is at least with the version of you that you like. If you like yourself, if you like who you are, and you find somebody during that, during that stage of your life, life, that you're happy, you have a great relationship. But if you're down and out, you know you really don't like the position you're in in life, you don't like the way you look, necessarily, and then you find somebody that falls in love with that version of you and then you start working on yourself. Then you're going to be, you know, in the danger zone because they're not looking for the healthy, motivated version of that person.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:How do you feel about that?
Speaker 2:I couldn't agree more and I think that, like you know, it's like I think that one of the things I've learned on this like self improvement journey is that there is no like point when I'm going to be necessarily the best version of myself. You know what I mean. It's just always a process of continuing growing and learning and I think that there are just different levels and phases of our lives where we're like just in a different energetic capacity and things like that, where we're really either quite active and we're like okay, like this is I'm feeling, like I'm in a good energy, and then there are other times when maybe we might not be in this. I'm avoiding like labeling, like good and bad. You know it's not necessarily like good or bad per se. However, one of the things that I do think is that, like, one of the things I've noticed is that, as I've shifted again not necessarily like I'm better than I was before, because I think it's all like subjective However, I do think that where I've shifted, it's brought the people that I need at that level, and so it's like I think that I can appreciate and love the people who, again, like I said in the past that were just like a really perfect fit for where I was in my life and the phase I was in, and I'm like it was a great match.
Speaker 2:And I also think that that shift to people being maybe we need like different people and, like you mentioned, like the energy that you want to be with people who are like you and it's like I think that that just naturally like brings people into your life and like attracts people in and repels the people who aren't necessarily meant to be in your life in that time. But I will say that like it is so interesting on the entrepreneurial journey, the friends that I have made are some of the just they're just so interesting and so fun and it really like I'm like, oh, this is where I think I was supposed to be all along, like I went to a master. I'd like just a retreat this weekend with some of my very good friends and from all vastly different walks of life, different socioeconomic backgrounds, different races and things like that, and I think it just was such a fascinating and beautiful culmination of all these driven people that were ready to change the world and ready to make the world a better place, and I think that that's one of the biggest shift I've experienced, like you mentioned, painful. Painful at points.
Speaker 2:I love the people, but it was. It just wasn't meant to be, and I think that the world was like hey, we need to switch this up a little, like figure this out. This is not a good fit for you and if you aren't willing to remove yourself from the situation, we're going to make that situation You're. You're going to get out of this situation, whether you like it or not, and I'm like OK, I'm learning to just go with the flow a little bit more than clinging to the past.
Speaker 1:It's, it's. It's wild, because when you work on yourself, you get to that stage. You start meeting people. You just realize, like, how amazing there are, how amazing people really are, like how many creative people that really are out there are, people who resonate with their message. I've been meeting people from, I've been meeting all kinds of creative people. Since doing what I'm doing and this, my circle continues to grow and I'm still, you know, honestly shocked by it. What I want to do, I want to, I want to. How did you, when you transition from being a teacher to be an entrepreneur, like how did you get the confidence to completely quit your job and then start your own business? Or did you slowly transition from being a teacher into a starting business?
Speaker 2:So I was very fearful at the beginning. I was like proceeding with caution heavily. I did feel like it was something that was a piece of my purpose and something I really felt like I was genuinely meant to do. However, I wanted to do it in a way where I felt safe to expand and grow without putting myself in like necessarily, like I would say like harm's way, because, like you can just go in and go like hard and your business and just like start, and that just wasn't for me. So what I did is I started my business really in August of 2020. And I just announced it on Instagram. I thought I was going to coach kids, by the way. So I started as a coach for children because I was like I taught kids I could do this, and then it was a conflict of interest as a teacher. So I was cool Because I was coaching them on academics and it was like advanced tutoring.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it was like illegal. And so I was like and again what I mean by like the world could just shifted me where I needed to be. It was like I was so heck, like just bent on me being this version for the children's, and I posted on Instagram and that's when all the people from college and high school were like, oh, I'm going to be a teacher. And then high school came out, so I ended up within that first little bit, I actually signed six clients that I had and I did 10 months initially because I it was 10 months of her school year, so, like, perfect, this is exactly what's going to be what takes them to the next level. So I, I coached them all the way through this the summer of 2021.
Speaker 2:And so during that time, I was learning, learning how to market. I invested in every possible coaching thing I could Because I didn't know anything. I was literally just like I, even though I had experience in learning, I was not a marketer. I did not know how to sell. I did not know how to bring people in like meant bring in leads. I no idea how to plan for a business. So what happened is I created just kind of like ways to think about business. In that time failed, learned a lot, but I realized that I was like I really wanted to go all in on this business for a year. I was like this is the time when I left, so I saved up enough to live for the year from those six clients. I actually replaced my teaching salary with that with the that clientele and ended up going full time in the summer of 2021 and seeing what would work. And so much went wrong and it was really scary.
Speaker 1:We're going to dig into that. We're going to dig into it.
Speaker 2:I was like my friend, yeah.
Speaker 1:I want to know, I want to know do you think that that's going to change in the future? As far as like teaching kids online, the reason I said that because everything's become a lot more digital, People's I want to say a pan when it comes to college education is actually, I want to say just people are looking, looking at colleges, not necessarily the only option. So do you think that in the future, sometime because you're more familiar with this niche, niche than I am Do you think that sometime in the future, possibly that business you were thinking of teaching kids online do you think that'd be something that will be pretty solid in the future?
Speaker 2:So I think there are just so many nuances to that. I think that at different stages of a child's development, I think there are different motivators, drivers and things that can help them to excel. So, academically, I do think there's a huge opportunity online. I loved, even when I was in person, incorporating a lot of like interactive reading materials that could really help me clone myself and support my students to grow. So there was like things that I would have them, they would listen to a read aloud and that replaced my ability to have them read it aloud and that was really supportive and helpful.
Speaker 2:I do think that there is a huge component of social emotional development that I think is a little bit more. It's I'm not going to say it's impossible, but I would say it's more challenging to replicate in an online space. I think for me, I was like I love like connecting with my kids and I felt I felt a knowledge base of them so somewhat online and when they came in person for testing, I realized there were so many aspects that child that, because I hadn't had the time or like, like there's, I would say it just felt a little bit different when.
Speaker 2:I get in person, and so I do think there's opportunities there. I think that, especially as we are becoming more emotionally and socially developed, as I think maybe it's more imperative at a younger age. However, I do think that, like from what I've heard from the colleagues and friends that were in the I am purely speaking to lower elementary, but in the- high school and upper element, upper education.
Speaker 2:I found that that disconnect during growth was also really, really challenging to navigate along with, like things like that. Like again, I love social, emotional health. That's actually one of my the big pieces I loved about teaching and I found that I think it's not impossible, but I do think that there's just a lot of opportunities for growth, for education system, for technology to advance in a way that I would like be like. This is a A to B fit. I think there are and I also think that there is ways that, like online school, you could probably progress faster and maybe an academic form than you maybe would in person, and so it's like it's a catch 22. And I would say what is like the goal of education overall, and that's where I think it's both.
Speaker 1:You make. You make some really good points. You know, I do think that things are going to be digital and I think it's a plus if it gives you the opportunity to learn something a lot faster than you would have if you were in a classroom. But one of the downsides of the digital space is that you lose that human connection, and one of the only spaces that people really get that human connection is at school. You know, I've noticed that people have become a lot more socially awkward. I mean, I'm sure you've seen this on the internet. There's there's YouTube channels about dissing women. There's YouTube channels about dissing men. You know, and really, what it comes down to. People are afraid of the opposite sex. They don't know how to communicate, you know. They don't know how to communicate with the person. They don't know how to vet for a person. They don't even know how to vet for their friends and a lot of these social skills that you know people are angry about, they're missing. A lot of the ones are getting a lot of the, a lot of the videos. They get a lot of attention.
Speaker 1:Today. These weren't issues, I want to say, when I was in my early 20s, you know, because it was kind of. College is one of those opportunities where you have the chance to challenge your belief system, because we all came from different walks of life. There are people that you know they necessarily look like you and people who you know they just had a different mode of thinking. But college, because we didn't have these social media, wasn't what it is today. I just came out. I remember that people understood that if you were going to have friends, if you're going to get a girlfriend, you know you had to speak, you had to open your mouth. You know you had to challenge yourself in that way. So it's definitely something that we are losing as a culture and if we take that away from kids and children, I'm not sure they'll. They'll have another opportunity that we need to find a balance in the culture, you know, definitely to bring, bring back those social spaces.
Speaker 1:Regarding your business, I want to know about the struggle, you know, I know for me starting my business. I originally I was teaching software development. I was teaching mobile software development and I know it's a good space to to make money. You know, because you know tech is growing. People want to know and learn how to code, but things didn't just grow the way I expected to grow. You know I made some money but I didn't make a living off of teaching software development and I'm learning more. You know you grow faster if you actually join, if you purchase other people's courses. You go to seminars, they teach you things that you that are like no brainers now. But how was that journey for you? You know that that that struggle at the beginning to where you are now.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness Well. So I think that as a culture I think it does develop in school A lot of times there is a right answer, right. So I think that, like a lot of times in even in a traditional career, that you have expected results and outcomes and you are trying to reach those goals and outcomes based on your output and you are, there's a very clear path, right. So we've got a clear path. It's like okay, if you do this, if you call this person, if you make this amount of money, then you will get this amount of income and retire all these things. I think that was a really big shift for me as an entrepreneur. I had to go through learning that there was no right answer, that there was no necessarily like magic bullet that I could do to make my business work. However, I do find that there are common threads through businesses and that is the thing that I kind of clung to. I was like, okay, every business, from you to Amazon, has marketing. You need to know how to market yourself and communicate what you do to the population. So I was like, okay, I'm seeing that as a trend. As a service-based business, I'm going to like learn for people who are in a similar state, just maybe like one or two steps ahead. Say with generating leads. I was like how, as this teacher from North Carolina other than my friends and family how do I really create a new network and learn how to position myself in a way of that genuine service that can help people? So I needed to learn how to bring in leads and nurture my leads so I kind of encompass those like managing leads. And then I needed to learn the skill of sales. I need to understand what. Because I knew that coaching could help people and I would get on consult calls and I'd be like I can help you and people would tell me all about the things they need to support with and I had a really hard time connecting what they were saying like to working with me. So I had to learn that. And then I also had to learn how to plan. Like I knew how to plan for a school year, I knew how to plan for anything else in my life.
Speaker 2:But there are specific things that you need to do as a CEO of a business even if it's just you and you are a solopreneur that you need to do to drive your revenue and make sure your time is being used effectively. The other interesting thing, like for me, is that I have ADHD and so my brain just is already wanting something more concrete and wanting something that keeps me focused on times when I might be in a little bit more of a creative spell. So what I did is I learned that for each of those pieces of business, the more I invested, the more I learned and I realized that there were ways to make it work for everybody and I was like, okay, I need to statistically make this business inevitable to fail. So that, essentially like for me, that's what I did that first and I still do. I still like learn all the time and I'm learning from different mentors and things like that, like you mentioned at the beginning, and one of the things that was so it's like, first off, learning all the things was a challenge. You were like what were the biggest struggles in that first year? I didn't know what I didn't know, so I had to learn really all the things and compartmentalize, just like I was. You were mentioning like what is the strength of a teacher? I'm like I can see the curriculum, I can see the like overarching plan, so I learned how to do that.
Speaker 2:And then the secondary issue that I experienced in that first year full-time, and also in my last year, part-time, as a teacher was that there were a lot of social, emotional struggles that I was facing as an adult, not just something I was teaching the kids. I was like I went through a breakup and I went through some like really intense things that went on in my life. I had to switch grade levels and teams. There was so much that happened personally in that year, so it also not only learning how to structure and scale a business, but I also had to learn how to manage my emotions and mind in my personal life that wouldn't interfere with my business and essentially what happened is it did.
Speaker 2:I learned because a lot of the things in my life did create an impact in my business, even as a coach, even though I knew how to manage my mind. It was just like a really heightened level when my security was online with my business and but then you learn. You learn how to like ride the waves of solo entrepreneurship, you learn how to manage the business and you learn how to manage the life around it, and I think those were the two. That was the biggest struggle that I experienced in that first year was that like, oh, you don't know anything about running a business, let's figure this out. And also, just because you have a business doesn't mean your life stops, so you've got to make sure you have a plan when things hit the fan.
Speaker 1:If you know what I mean I want to know, like, how did you learn how to sell yourself Cause? I feel, like I'm starting to figure that out. But that's definitely I mean. Once you ace that, everything else is a lot easier. Like, how did you learn how to sell yourself?
Speaker 2:Okay. So I actually have an odd. I was like it was interesting that those are the things you want to talk about, cause I was like I actually have a really unique, I think perspective on this. I think that, depending on what your business is, I think that whether you are a service or product, I think that there are different results that you can offer potential clients that you need to communicate. So for me, when I was Megan Wynn coaching, people were investing in me not an idea right. When I shifted to the career fulfillment initiative, which was my original general coaching slash career coaching practice, people were investing in career fulfillment.
Speaker 2:The first, I think, aspect of sales in my mind is creating a compelling reason why for someone to work with you, and I think by creating a product or an offer around a result that someone can expect to work with you, that is the first step. I call it like a profitable offer or a compelling offer, something that people want and fills a need that's already in the population. So that is the first piece. As you're thinking about selling yourself, how can you market, not you, but an idea that you create and a problem that you solve? That would be like the first piece of it. And then the second piece is what are the aspects of that? I call it like you've got your offer up here and then you have your pillars underneath it, almost like a house.
Speaker 2:And so for me, with the career fulfillment initiative, I had the pillar of overcoming burnout, time management, generating confidence, creating work-life balance and developing a long-term plan. So that was the way that I, when I was doing a consultation and when I was learning how to sell myself and my coaching to people, I wasn't just selling working with me for 10 months, I was selling creating confidence over the course of 10 months. I wasn't selling my price point at the time, I was selling. You will learn how to overcome burnout and manage stress for the rest of your career and life, not just in this business but overall. And I think that's an aspect I see a lot of businesses like kind of a missed opportunity for them to be like. I think it's difficult to describe something that's an intangible growth without having that. It looks like you had a thought. I was like.
Speaker 1:I want to know, like you said, you let your business, you have to have your main idea. Then you have like pillars that are associated within that, the major scale of the business, the major idea of the business. What is the most common issue that new entrepreneurs deal with? I understand burnout, I understand balance, but which one of those are commonly the main issue that you found that entrepreneurs run into?
Speaker 2:So I have found that when I'm thinking about the results of a business right, if you are looking to grow a business my now so for six-figure systems my offer now is that there is what's causing, I think, the burnout.
Speaker 2:If we look a little bit deeper, is lack of ability and understanding about the structure of business, along with the levels of confidence, burnout, like those are all incorporate work life balance, long-term plan, time management.
Speaker 2:I think those are all infused within having a career and within having a business.
Speaker 2:For sure, but what I found the biggest struggles to be at the beginning is that you're passionate about something and you don't know how to make.
Speaker 2:You don't know how to take your passion into something that's profitable, and so that's when you need to learn the skill of marketing, the skill of sales, the skill of lead gen and the skill of planning. And when you can have that foundation, then those other skills like time management, confidence, work life balance, whatever they might be for the entrepreneur I feel like those come after you've got that foundation. But I think that if you don't have the foundation of like even just understanding the nuances of a business, I think what I've found is that most people are burnt out, but not necessarily burnt out because of the mental side of burnout, but it's like the the inaction of bull side of burnout, where they're like I just don't know what to do and so I'm banging my head against wall. I heard like throwing spaghetti at a wall, feeling like I'm building the plane as I fly it, and that lack of understanding is just like compounding the burnout they might experience.
Speaker 1:You know, I know for me, when I first got into the entrepreneur space, like I thought that things were just gonna happen.
Speaker 1:A lot, you know I thought that I thought I had the idea. You know, I was gonna make this YouTube channel, it was gonna get so much SEO, people are gonna find me and it just it would just blow up. And, honestly, after three years in, I'm just learning how to, you know, make YouTube work. For me it's. I had to purchase a course, I had to join Somebody else's program, I had to buy books on YouTube and understand the algorithm, so it's kind of I got a feel for how I was conflicting my message and how it wasn't really how I my videos weren't finding my target audience as fast as I wanted to find them.
Speaker 1:But, um, my point is that you know, I know, when I started, it was a lot of money was just Going out of my pockets and it wasn't coming back into my pockets. Like, how did you go through that process? Like, did you, when you were in a relationship, was that person keeping you above water? Like how, how long did it take you to actually start living off your income?
Speaker 2:Such great questions. First and foremost, I Think you meant ask a good question, earlier, and I wanted to come back to that and then also hit on the financial side, because it's so important.
Speaker 2:So the first thing that I want to offer is that you were talking about SEO and you were talking about how it took a long time to Figure out the algorithm and figure out a way to Market and sell yourself and your business, to get it going. One of the things that I've noticed is that when you have something that you're like able to describe that intangible result. What I found is that the things that could be your pillars can be known as keywords. So if you think about so, keywords meaning for anyone who doesn't know those are things that are Things that people are searching. So if you think about someone who'd be a good fit for you, what are they googling? What are the things that they are on top of mind? And what's happened with social media recently is that the algorithm becomes a search engine. So the more you talk about the things that are looked for, the more you'll be able to reach and market to the audience you want.
Speaker 2:So what I think about, like with your business, is, like you've got the front end of your business.
Speaker 2:That really, and to tie back into, like the financial, like how I had to shift the finances in my business is I realized that if I was going to create a compelling and scalable Six figure, multiple, six figure to seven figure business.
Speaker 2:What I realized is I needed to be marketing the same thing that I was selling, the same thing that I was delivering. So when a customer came in, they got a cohesive experience where they were like okay, I'm learning about confidence the whole way through, and when you do that, what happens is you get referrals, renewals and testimonials, and so when you've got like that, building your business on the front-end side of things, I think that creates a really Just like a robust message for anyone else who is like looking to learn from you, looking to grow from you. And I had to figure that out for myself and it took a long time and I'm so glad that you're like, on those shit, it's like if you're like okay, I figured it out, I've learned, I figured out the books and now I'm like finally stepping into, like that I get it now with space. So applauding you for that.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's. It's a lot to learn it. It took me a while to figure that out, like really my whole first year. It was just kind of like trial and evaluate, I like to say so. Within that. That was like the first piece of things. But then the second piece with the financial stability is if anyone on this is an entrepreneur and is listening to this, there's something very important for you to know. Please do not build your business necessarily fully with personal Savings. I did that at the beginning of my business. I put all my life savings into my business, close my 401k and what I found it. Yeah, you don't just did all the things because you don't know.
Speaker 2:You literally like yeah, took out loans, like did all these things to finance my business and depending on the level of business that you have.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I found is that a lot of entrepreneurs who are very passionate and have these passion projects, don't understand business finances. And when you are a business owner, what happens is you are able to use credit, you're able to use different things like that to build your business, and you can initially take out a lump sum that you can pay back over time instead of just paying it all up front. I never I even have a credit card, a personal credit card until 2021, and I didn't get a business credit card. I kid you, not until 22.
Speaker 2:I do Because I was a teacher, just paying it, like if I don't have the money for it, I will work more after school. I will pick up some nanny and jobs, things like that, and it was really that hurt.
Speaker 1:It Did that hurt your credit at all.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:No well.
Speaker 2:For me, though I it was like I did end up paying, like I eventually, like when I would make the money, I would pay it back slowly, have to pay interest, but I can invest in really big ticket items like I I um, one of the most amazing masterminds I got to attend was with a woman named Stacy and within her mastermind. I Paid 25k every six months, but I got connections, I got the relationships, I learned things that I never would have been able to figure out on my own, and I made that back and then some because of my willingness to Really invest more than I could. I Was relying on the partner for like kind of income, and then that shifted very quickly, surprise how long were you guys together?
Speaker 2:eight years oh.
Speaker 1:Wow, so this, this was like the husband you guys made each other in college, or you know it was, yeah, it was.
Speaker 2:We didn't expect but totally meant to be. I was like wishing that human well. But yeah so we that happened and I was kind of like relying on that person for income. I was like, wow, okay.
Speaker 1:I work, were they in support of your goals, because this is a common issue with you. Know people that are entrepreneurs like, how do you balance your, your, your business goals and then also be a balance your relationship? Because, I don't know, maybe you're putting a lot more time into your business. Your partner gets you know, they feel like you're not spending enough time with them, or it could be even worse than that your partner doesn't support your dreams. I, you know what do you think it was? And if it's too, if it's too fresh, it's okay too.
Speaker 2:No, no, it was two years ago. I was like we are good. I just I feel like with that Situation and in that relationship, I felt like there was just so much lack of information About the entrepreneurial space. I think it was. I Think that it just that partner. It wasn't what they expected. I was very vulnerable, I shared a lot of personal information and I think what happened is they just it was a new level of Visibility for them and I think that that was not super ideal. I think we were also.
Speaker 2:Again, I didn't realize it, but I think I'm very thankful that they realized that we were definitely like like that piece of our life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I Ain't. One of the things that I learned coaching when we had relationship struggles, like four and a half years in, was that Like how to meet my own needs, and I'm so grateful for that lesson. I feel so self-sufficient and independent and it was perfect. And I also realized that Within that, I, kind of like, was just like yeah, like we can figure things out, and I think the other person just wanted Something different and we just really didn't communicate because I was like I'm just very self-sufficient.
Speaker 2:So I was listening to one of the other podcasts that you had on and I was like hearing about somebody else talking about relationships and I'm like, oh yeah, we just like didn't communicate and I think that, first and foremost, the, the willingness to communicate with the first piece and it wasn't there on both sides and then the just general skill set of communication and like, again, like having a model for you for how to relationship, how to do those kind of things. Yeah, there's no school for that kind of stuff, so I think that that was just really good learning. And, yeah, like with my new partner, he is Wonderful, he is so insupportive of my dreams and I think again, like you mentioned, like we started at my after almost like instead of like, so he got to Love and see me, had stepped into that, and I think it was easier your growth curve and it's stepping into Megan, is stepping into the person that God made you to be.
Speaker 1:You know, when you're On the internet space are saying that if a woman's over 25, she's she's, it's over with for her. You know, I'm telling I'm like these guys that are given advice. They don't have experience with you, know the opposite sex, they don't have relationship experience. Because a lot of us are chasing an image or something that society told us Was right for us when we're young, because we just don't know. And then it not. Until you really understand who you are Are you ready to really step into a healthy relationship. But you don't. You only learn that through experience. You know, but I don't want to dive too deep into that. What I want to know is because we're almost close to the end.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, time just flew by, okay. So I Typically ask people this question at the end of the show. But I want to know If you can give like. I'm wondering how I should word this, because we've spoken about self improvement, we spoken about business, we talked about a few different things and I Want to know for somebody that is trying to change your life and to change you know and become a better person to you know, chase their dreams or whatnot like, what kind of advice would you give them?
Speaker 2:Be open and optimistic and that just like kind of came to me. I don't know why, but those are the two things that I think. First off, our brain is hardwired for negativity. It takes five positive thoughts to replace every negative thought. So if you are, I think that if you can learn how to reprogram your mind to think in a more Operate it maybe not necessarily optimistic, but opportunistic Mindset, I think it's going to serve you in ways that you never really imagined. I think that for most of us, I think if we can overcome that like that fear response in our brain to do new things and actually follow our Passions and our dreams and our desires, I think you're gonna find that your life is extremely fulfilling and fruitful in ways that you really never imagined. So that's a like opportunistic slash, optimistic side of things, and I would say open would be the second thing.
Speaker 2:I'm a planner by trade. I think that because of ADHD and many other things that my brain loves to have a plan and it likes to, it feels a lot of safety and certainty in it, kind of knowing what's next, and I found that everything that I had planned has not gone planned at all. It's like nothing I had planned is actually what my life is right now, and it's so much better than I ever could have possibly imagined. Like I mean, I was supposed to be a doctor, married at 22 With two kids, like that's, that was the plan, and every single time the plan changed. And so what I realized is that, like make plans, have that certainty, have that vision and that like excitement and that dream, keep that alive. And also be open and flexible, because even when nothing ever goes exactly as you plan, it leaves room for the magic of it all.
Speaker 2:And just like not magic, oh, that sounds so cheesy. Oh I was like wait, I was like cancel that I was like, but like the like, the what it's meant to be, like you can just and you can enjoy the present moment even more. My partner really helps me to do that, because I'm very much future and like plans and organizing things, and he's like let's just like enjoy today and it's been so refreshing to be like. It's just such a good. We balance each other extremely well in that way, and that's what I would offer to other people too that are like me Find the good and Allow things to guide you where you need to go, megan wing, thank you for being on the show.
Speaker 1:I really enjoyed this conversation. I tried to find you on social media.
Speaker 2:I looked up your name.
Speaker 1:It was a bunch of people who, like you did you did Reviews for a few different coaches on Instagram, so I kept seeing like different pages, but I saw your face. So, if you can, just you know, throw your Instagram out there and then we can end it with that.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay, so it's Megan and, or Megan wing coaching on Instagram at Megan M E G a N W I N G coaching Co a ching. So that is my Instagram and Feel free to connect with me on Facebook. I'm Megan and with an E wing there Literally any Form and I can send you guys that information as well. If you want to put it in the show notes for your people, I would be happy to connect on there and I've been having some Instagram Nuances and just like experiencing and learning, and I've heard that from people before that it's been a little tricky to find me. So if that is a situation, my email is also Megan wing coaching at gmailcom, just to keep it real simple.
Speaker 1:Hey, megan, I loved our conversation. Thanks for having you. I mean thanks for coming on to the show, and I'll catch you next time. Right, have a good one.
Speaker 2:Thank you have a good one you.
