We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Megan Galane a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Megan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?
It is not possible to run a whole business on 1 software, nor should you. I love to keep systems simple and diversify at the same time. Your business should never be 100% reliant on 1 software!
Why? Because what happens when 1 software is down, are you ok with business stopping…
We are not doubling/duplicating tasks, however I love it when a system has the ability to play on the strengths of each software, use it to the maximum, but also have ways that your business can run without that software.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Have you ever stopped to visualize what your best life looks like?
Personally, I dreamed of waking up next to the partner of my dreams, relaxed and ready for the day. Starting my day with meditation, exercise, and a nice walk with my dog in the cool morning air.
For business, I like to start the day by handling money making tasks that are focused on growing my businesses, followed by a quick review of KPI reports my team submits on a regular basis. Then, focusing on client facing tasks within my genius zone & that excites me!
This looks like teaching on Whiteboard Wednesday and the Incubator, Q&A Hours with our Incubator students, supporting and leading my team towards our vision, prepping for 1:1 client calls & doing my content creation in bulk (because who wants to be camera ready everyday!)
No where on my dream day, do I mention long hours working & doing the day-to-day activities of building systems, operating other people’s systems or making sure I do 100% of the work within my business, even though that is what my business does.
If you have never taken the time to ask yourself this question, right now I want you to think about:
What does your best life look like? And does my business currently support that vision? The truth is more often than not I’ve come across plenty of people in business who have never asked this question. They had an idea, put their head down and executed a business. Then look up one day, a year or two later, and question whether this business is what they truly want.
In the online world we hear so much about starting your business and all the steps you should take but somehow what gets left out is the question of the vision for not just your business but also your life.
Thinking about this is what helps you build a business with intention and I want to help you achieve that. Whether it’s having more control of your time so you can spend time with loved ones or focus on doing things that you’re passionate about! The possibilities are endless once you have a clear picture and you can realign your goal to support that.
Next, ask yourself do you have time to do the things that you truly love? I didn’t, which is what led to medically diagnosed burn-out in 2016 at the age of 25 (that is a pretty hard diagnosis for doctors to actually give!)
Getting you & your team to think ahead and feel confident in problem solving and implementing the solutions needed. You are never “in a box” or stuck in a position here.
After hitting what felt like my own personal rock-bottom, I knew something had to change in order for me to grow.
In order to grow, sometimes you need someone to push you in the right direction. Without direction, you can easily feel overwhelmed and lost. Ultimately, I realized that in order for me to grow, I needed the right team, super simple systems to run my business & a strong foundation. This would open doors for me to have the freedom I desired!
Anyone can build systems – but who actually cares for the client’s business & is passionate about you being successful.
There were times that I just wanted to hide under a rock hoping that the ball of anxiety sitting on my chest would go away & I just could not create the mental space needed to get work completed.
The only peace I had was going to sleep. I would sleep to escape my nightmare of a life. I could not continue the route I was headed. I was diagnosed with severe adrenal fatigue, hormonal imbalance (premenopausal at 25), vitamin deficient, and a relationship that was draining every ounce of energy I had left.
I am just like you, my business was not perfect. Then, I became obsessed with being PROactive & letting go of the reactive lifestyle & business.
When someone owns the situation we can give praise, we can give support, and we can give feedback. You are never in trouble for owning something.
As a business owner, I felt pressured to work all the time, I wasn’t present with my family, I was afraid to leave the computer and seconds away from emotional breakdown & constantly feeling of angst & stress in my chest. This is not the type of “no excuses” I am referring to here.
I mean, when something goes wrong – what is the solution & how fast can it get fixed. Taking extreme ownership is a 2-way street as a partnership we feel strongly about.
Honesty is a great judge of character; especially when it comes to building a business and making sure that we are not surrounded by “yes” people but instead by those who may give us the truth regardless of how uncomfortable it may be.
Typically, we are entrepreneurs & realistically there is never a “cap” of income, there is a “cap” however in our time and capacity! You may love the work that you do, but hate the overwhelm of deadlines, missing family events & feeling capped financially due to being maxed out.
The goal is to work less and make more money. The only way to do that with your team is to build an open line of communication with honesty & integrity in all directions.
When I was surrounded by people that told me what they thought I wanted to hear & feed my ego was the fastest down-turn to my income, my confidence & overall my business. Sadly, none of those people preached systems or removing me from the day-to-day, they continued cheering for the numbers I was achieving, not my health.
We don’t believe in 1 size fits all, encourage individual initiatives
I was raised to “think outside the box,” your business is not & does not have to be a one-way only business model.
With the strategies provided, you have the opportunity to mold & create the life that you have always dreamed of & the business that supports that. Which is not the same as the next persons.
That could mean 1 business or multiple businesses. That can mean 1 business with multiple streams of income. Whatever YOUR dream is for your life, your business should help you make that dream your reality.
I personally like a healthy mix of diversity, multiple business, all with multiple streams of income & a real estate portfolio. Did I build them all at once, NO. Am I still building, YES. Am I 100% present all the time, NO. Do I have a team that manages the day-to-day, YES! Do they make mistakes, YES. Do I make mistakes, YES.
My dream is to take up overlooking the water without an alarm & know everything is taken care of. I choose to work that day or I have a set schedule of 3 days or less.
This doesn’t have to be yours, but stop building a business that removes you from the reason why you started your business & use your why to fuel you to reach your systemized dreams.
You have everything to gain & nothing to lose.
My mission is to let you work less, make more (money & impact) while working in your genius zone.
To do this, you need simple systems that support your team, who are happy to help you generate revenue because of the impact you & your business has on them and those who you serve.
How does living your best life sound now?
I am not the only one who wants life to be as simple and impactful as possible.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
CONSISTENCY.
Show up when I don’t feel like. Love on my team even when they mess up. When something goes wrong, fix it or communicate efficiently with who can fix it with clear expectations.
All of which I believe falls under being a CONSISTENT CEO.
My team shares regularly horror stories of companies or leaders they have worked for previously where the CEO/manager was not consistent with communication, expectations, pay, literally anything in their business. Why do I mention this under building my reputation well, the only way that I could continue to show up & nurture potential clients, current clients & past clients is because I am not doing the tasks. My team does the tasks while I am able to be client facing in making sure they are beyond happy with their experience.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Connect with your team.
You can be bringing your newest member into a mess, but if they feel like they can communicate with you freely & feel supported they will clean that mess up and turn your business around.
This is not conversations getting to know them personally, it is being honest with what is going on and asking for help as a leader. Openly letting them know you don’t have all the right answers & that is part of their job to help you solve these problems to become a better company.
I believe when you bring on a team member you are selling them on the vision of where your company is & where it is going.
Being that you are selling someone to invest their time & energy in building your company you are responsible for the trust they are putting in you, which then goes back to you being a consistent CEO & doing what you say!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.megangalane.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megangalane/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meganegalane
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megangalane/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeganGalane
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjTskXklJ88sE3Z8HrIC8TA
- Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@megangalane
Image Credits
Saber Media