I am often asked about my professional story…the “how” and the “why” and the “what is your secret sauce…?” To which I have humbly smiled and said, “There is no magic sauce. It is the the truth of hard work, my network and sacrifice.”

Earlier this year, I found myself ready and willing to share my story when I was asked by a group of influential individuals who made a convincing argument to chat about my path to ‘success’…and today..I am felt compelled to write it down and share it with all those who are in search of defining success for themselves, defining what step to take next, and to provoke…

The goal of this is to provoke inspiration…each of our paths are unique and it is the uniqueness of our drive and intent that enable our ‘success.’

The goal is to leave these words out there to provoke a discussion…of why writing your ‘why’ down has power behind it…it defines your intent, your brand, and is the epitome to making it happen.

The final goal is to remind that each of us define ‘success’ differently…it is an individualized statement…defined and labeled uniquely for each of us and to be owned and capitalized on by us. Never to be defined or determined by others or by societal ‘norms’ and ‘expectations.’

With that…here we go…the story starts with a girl born and raised in Boulder, CO…

I was raised with more than most in some views…and without most…in some views. I was fortunate in where I grew up and yet grew up simply and with a childhood that hardened me to life at an early age. My father believed in hard work and enforced that. I had my first job at the age of 13 babysitting and mowing lawns. During college I entered the world of the restaurant industry, and that became my home and solace for the next 10 years. I found the gift of food & wine, I had my own event planning company, I developed a network of foodies that to this day are some of my best friends. I graduated from my undergrad and lived and traveled the world…and food & wine allowed me to live out that passion. I had little (sometimes nothing) to my name but I felt fortunate to be having the experiences I was having. Yes when asked if I felt successful or fulfilled…there was always something missing. In my late 20s, when most are telling you that you should have life figured out…I pivoted it all…I made the decision to go back and get my Masters, in Criminal Justice. Yes…I was going to be an undercover CIA agent…bad ass, taking names, and making an impact.

Little did I know what the universe had in store for me…Telecom. Yes…telecom. And for the past decade I haven’t turned back…game changer.

You see…there is an importance to a foundation that I established in my younger years…hard work, perseverance, education, grit, understanding change…I felt my thoughts and goals were reasonable and valid because I was following a path that those I surrounded myself with ‘expected…’ – sports, school, graduate, job, … (straight line).

When I went back to get my Masters…I changed the narrative…and my ‘straight line’ started to take its real ‘first curve’ and it has been a windy road ever since then, one I wouldn’t trade for anything. The beautiful complexity of life. I realized I am the type of person in my professional life that likes to risk, to stand on the ledge, to try it on, to fail fast, and to define the rules…to do what has never been done before.

Telecom became my safe haven for risking, learning, and building a newly defined foundation. It became my family…About 3 years into my career in telecom, I felt like I was hitting walls (though ‘successful’ I wasn’t getting where I wanted…or at least not ‘fast enough.’) So…I wrote down my goals and what I wanted. From the title, to the type of company, to the details of what I would need to do to make it all happen…and I set out working with my mentors, my network, and my own grit to go make it happen. Every 6 months I would revisit it, check in how I was progressing, make sure the words and wants still aligned…

Those goals and ambitions follow a simple recipe…that to this day I use…RRSIF (yes, after a decade in telecom…I am creating my own acronyms!).

Revisit. Redefine. Share It (Make it Known). Invite Feedback.

Writing it down changed my path…not overnight…but how I defined success changed and started to create new curves in my journey that I never expected and yet have been the best building blocks and moments of my success. Before I wrote down my goals, I thought I was living what I believed to be my path. I had finally made it in corporate America, I had what I believed was an ideal personal life, and everything seemed aligned…

Yet…WRITING. IT. DOWN. CHANGED. EVERYTHING. Life hit me in the face and said “Meghan…you ready to truly embrace change? You ready to understand why you are here?” Deep breath…embrace it…I told myself…”You are about to become the best version of yourself…so get ready for the challenge…”

And if you are wondering…yes, the goals (or the exact words) have evolved and changed…because I have learned…of what ‘success’ is all about…passion and heartbeats…

I had to learn how to pick up new colors…what do I mean by this? Well…the color black is my jam, my go-to…my favorite. If you know me, you know that is where my comfort is…and a good bet to place on what color I normally pick daily out of my wardrobe. That said…I not only had to re-learn black (my foundation)…but I knew I had to embrace some new colors…Or as a colleague told me during this time…”Meghan, just add a pop of color every now and then.”

Those pops of color allowed me to re-learn who I truly am and that vulnerability and learning, wearing, and accepting new colors is part of life…part of what success meant to me…

I had the goals written down…I loved the color black more than ever before and appreciated what a ‘pop of color’ brought to the fold…and now I needed checkpoints to keep myself honest and accountable…I came up with three…

PULSE CHECKS.

PASSION CHECKS.

NORTH STAR FOCUS.

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Pulse…do what makes your heart beat…

Passion…make sure you never stop letting the music play…

North Star…always follow your North Star. There are many ways to get there…but don’t follow others North Star…your ‘success’ is yours and yours only.

There is a quote from Leadership on the Line that says “To lead is to live dangerously, to risk…because when you lead people through difficult change, you challenge what people hold dear – their daily habits, tools, loyalty, and ways of thinking…With nothing more to offer than perhaps a possibility.”

To own who you are, to look yourself in the mirror, to define and own your own success take courage. It takes vulnerability. It takes a day at a time. It takes telling society that you can break molds and define your own path. It requires you to make sacrifice and fail and admit where you are wrong…

For my…my ‘success’ in my career has come through having strong foundations, inviting change, surrounding myself with those that have believed in me and given me a voice and platform to be courageous and show ‘success’…It came through writing it down, redefining those goals, and updating it as the years have passed…and most importantly, it has truly has shown through when I knew that heartbeats and passion will never guide you wrong…but you will never have a straight path, and you must be okay with that.

So…when I am asked now “What is your secret sauce?” I answer…

The secret sauce is knowing what I define as ‘success’ and knowing who I truly am, and also knowing I have edges to soften and areas to always be better…The secret is to go create your own curves…and never allow anyone, anything, any failure or any success define the narrative of ‘how it is’ and ‘has to be done.’ Anything is possible. The secret sauce is go disrupt…in a way that creates what has never been thought of or done…surround yourself with those that believe in your and empower you…and never give up on YOU.

I am grateful for where food & wine brought me…how I stumbled into Telecom…and how it has become a career, a passion, and a curve in my road that I smile about every day…how fortunate am I to be living this life…My ‘success’ continues to unfold…the story is far from over…and what an amazing journey it has been…

#youarewhatyoudo

#anythingispossible

#defineyourownsuccess

(transcript from “The Rise to the C-Suite from ACW May 2021 Interview)