We were lucky to catch up with Megan Egan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Megan, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Early this past spring, it became apparent that my youngest daughter was excelling at horseback riding. She was asked to join the show team and explore her talent in that area. Meanwhile my older daughter was also really taking off in her sports and interests. I was praying about the best way to finance these dreams, seeing as I stay home with my girls and homeschool them. That night, I had a dream where I was making earrings from birch bark, and it was very detailed. The next day when I shared this dream with my husband, he noted that a large, old birch tree on our walking route had fallen in the wind storm that night! Together we walked into the forest where the tree went down and I harvested some of the birch bark and began to make earrings, and Pioneer Birchworks was born.

What I saw in my dream was a different process and different aesthetic than what I found when I researched what other similar products might be out there. It was good to know that I had my own lane, instead of stepping on anyone else’s toes. As the season progressed, I was thinking of my love for each and every Minnesota wild flower that I take note of on our walks. It occurred to me to try to preserve them in resin to wear in jewelry and since then I’ve combined wildflowers with birch bark and continued to explore those mediums. As my business has grown, I’ve found that as I’ve tried many other things and seasonal items, my customers keep coming back to the birch bark and wildflowers as their favorites.

This summer, my girls and I took a mushroom foraging class with @chick.of.the.woods. We enjoyed it so much, I added it to my list of things that I love to forage for. Out of that came an idea for the hand-painted wooden mushrooms with real botanicals that have been a top seller for me.

Megan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My career started out with a degree in Advertising and Business Management and I worked in advertising and digital marketing until we started our family. At that point, I chose to focus my energies on my two daughters. Since 2020 and the upheaval that came with it, we decided to try homeschooling and we have all loved it. We have thrived with the freedom and time it has given us to focus and discover new things as a family.

I’ve realized that I’ve always loved to make art and creative expression; however, I think internally I didn’t feel like there was an appreciation for it or a demand for it. People were more concerned with traditional career paths and making money. I’m so thankful for this opportunity to rediscover a personal creative outlet that has also been profitable. But most of all, I love to see the joy and delight on my customers’ faces as they examine and touch what I’ve made and hear them say, “You made these!?” Every time is like the first time for me when I realize that what I’ve created has touched someone else’s heart.

Another wonderful part of this journey is that I have involved my kids from the very beginning. I have been teaching them about entrepreneurship, and business skills. They have learned basics like engaging with people with confidence and seeing things through. They are gaining hands on experience in setting goals, and achieving them. We talk about finances, accounting and customer service. I believe these are real-world skills that will benefit them their entire lives. My younger daughter has been dabbling in macrame’ art and bringing what she’s made to my vendor events. I have her set up her own space next to me and really own that experience. She’s been able to keep the profit she has generated and put that toward her riding goals. The good news is we are in planning for her to compete in her first horse show this spring!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I am still at the beginning of my journey with Pioneer Birchworks. I have just completed my first busy vendor market season. I am as shocked as everyone else that I’m standing here on the other side of it, looking at my spreadsheet, saying it was a success. What I’d like to share with other creatives who might be feeling discouraged is: just keep going! I know that may sound incredibly cliche’. But, there have been so many times when I’ve looked at my work and thought: “Will anyone see any value in this?” “Does this look like something I brought home from preschool?” I’ve found that when I’ve been hyper-focused on my work for a long time, I start to lose perspective on it. I start to wonder if this is the best thing ever made or the worst thing ever made. This is when you need to remember your original inspiration; your ‘WHY.’ Go back to the beginning and re-focus on your core values and what brings you the most joy in creating. Perhaps you’ve gotten side-tracked by what you’ve seen on social media, or what seems popular. But those things won’t keep you going when it gets tiring. What will keep you going is that thing that is pouring out of your spirit. The thing that is genuinely your creation!

This is also a great time to find in-person sales opportunities and get real world feedback from actual people in your community — not just social media algorithms. When you see the joy you are bringing to real people and engage with them on a personal level, you remember why you are doing this again. And you get feedback on what people love the best so you can re-focus your energies. I think you will also find that what people gravitate towards is the same thing that brings you the most joy in making.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I really believe that 2023 will be the year of the pivot and a year of open doors. I guess we shall soon see if this is true! But even at these infant stages of my creative business, I’ve had to pivot many times. If something’s not working in your next season, even if it has worked in the past, that’s o.k. to let it go and pivot. What was right for your business last season may not work this season and we have to be limber enough to bend and not break.

My kids and I are currently reading an award winning book called, “The Door in the Wall.” The theme of this book comes from this quote: “Thou hast only to follow the wall far enough and there will be a door in it.” The characters in this book face unimaginable adversity and really dire circumstances, but they remain positive and focused on the needs of others and sure enough, opportunities arise…a door in every wall.

I have had generous and loving people in my life give me amazing open door opportunities as this business has been starting out. But some of those doors have closed just due to life circumstances. Instead of feeling stuck or hopeless, we just keep following the wall along until we find the next door. For example, one of my best, lifelong friends gave me the opportunity to have a display for my jewelry in her beautiful gift shop, Wanderer Gifts & Goods, during the past year. How kind and generous and what a help it has been to me! But now, her season has changed and she’s closed that storefront and focusing on her traveling Vintage business, Wanderer Traveling Boutique. So now it’s time to have gratitude for that chapter and keep an open heart and an open mind for what the next door will be.

I really imagined that during the school year, the business would likely slow down to give me time to focus on homeschooling and all of the sports and activities my family is involved with. But instead, it took off and I was insanely busy and traveling to vendor events every single weekend! So I really had to pivot to balance those priorities and meet all of the needs. It stretched me, but I am so thankful for it. Now that there is a lull in markets after the holiday shopping season, it gives me time to dream up new products and create — the best part! I am able to support my family in all of the craziness in this stage of life, but I’ll also find time to re-stock inventory for the next big thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.etsy.com/shop/pioneerbirchworks
• Instagram: @pioneerbirchworks
• Facebook: @PioneerBirchworks