Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Meghann Birks. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Meghann, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

As a neurodivergent woman with ADHD, I’ve always been more comfortable with risk than most, with varied results. My impulsivity means that I’ve travelled a lot, owned several businesses, had some really wild adventures and trusted my gut when I met my now partner, agreeing to move to Australia after knowing him for only a few days. It’s also meant I’ve struggled with addiction, debt and, over the years, have really questioned how capable I was.

Toward the end of 2019, I was burned out after the company I was doing sales for had gone through a massive period of growth and change. For the first time in my life, I left a job with nothing lined up and ended up taking a job cleaning houses. I just wanted something with little emotional or mental investment, and no need to respond to emails after hours or manage invoices and accounts. Just when I was starting to get bored with it, I got incredibly sick with pneumonia and ended up in hospital. It was touch and go for a few hours and really scary. Once I was discharged and at home, I literally had a midnight epiphany as my fever broke and made a promise to myself to do what I’ve always wanted which is to coach and write full time. I sat up for hours that night, writing for the first time in years and many of those pieces are in my first book of published poems, Slightly Damaged; Totally Divine.

After a long, slow, boring recovery 2020 came along and I was ready to hit the ground running…just as the world came to a halt. Here in Australia, where I live, we experienced some of the world’s longest and strictest lockdowns. With two kids at home, it was a challenge but if anything it reinforced my commitment to building my business as soon as I could. All of this coincided with turning 40 and really getting clear and honest with myself about who I am and what I want. So one of the biggest risks I’ve taken in the last few years is to show up as “me as I can be” in my personal and professional life- the good, the bad and the ugly. Although it’s vulnerable and scary at times, it’s meant that I have absolutely attracted the clients who are a good fit for me, and my business is consistently growing as I work with women all over the world to support them in embracing their complexity.

Meghann, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I became a Certified Professional Coach in 2007, long before it was a well known industry. I’ve always used my coaching skills to some extent, but didn’t start working for myself full time until 2022. Now my business, Meghann Birks Coaching, is thriving. I work with clients, almost entirely women, all over the world, most of whom are diagnosed as, or suspect they are, neurodivergent.

My clients are brilliant, many at the top of their profession and career and often in executive roles, but the chaos they constantly feel creates friction. I work with a limited number of people 1:1, with group coaching and online course options launching this year as well. I also host a podcast Sisters in Stoke, which shares women’s stories of how they found the thing that lights them up and how their lives changed when they went all in. I’ve gotten to speak to some incredibly inspiring, smart and provocative thought leaders because of this.

With additional training in Somatic Trauma Therapy, I describe my work as where the science meets the soul, meaning that I’m giving my clients very practical, evidence based tools and strategies to help manage their symptoms or challenges AND we are doing the emotional work of coming to terms with how our experiences have shaped us in both positive and negative ways. There is no cookie cutter approach in my practice; it is highly individualized, intuitive and responsive to the client’s needs but what is consistent is my aim of helping each person make the hard things easier, and the good things great!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My practice has been built almost entirely by word of mouth and by appearing on podcasts as a guest where people get a sense of who I am. Working with me is not for everyone, and I have no interest in diluting who I am to be more palatable to a wider audience. I’m a great coach with solid skills and experience but the way I deliver it is too high energy for some people, but that’s OK. As terrifying as it was the first few times I told a potential client “I don’t think we’re a good fit,” (bye money!) it’s meant working with people who are a good fit and whose employees, friends, partners and others in their circle are also my kind of people. I call us Team Too Much and we’re pretty rad. I think having lived experience as a woman with late diagnosed ADHD keeps me in the trenches with my clients, and very connected to what they need.

I’m also very clear with potential clients about what coaching is and is not (I think this can get murky), and what I expect so I don’t think there’s a lot of surprises for them, other than how quickly and dramatically their life can change.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn a lot about what I should and shouldn’t do as a business owner, in terms of cultivating a brand or image. Don’t swear. Use good lighting. Post consistently. Great advice, but my brain doesn’t work that way. It was pretty exciting for me when I started to realize that, yes, I could learn and get advice from mentors and other professionals but ultimately, I get to choose how and when I show up.

Have I maximized my growth by doing it this way? Probably not. But have I built a business in a sustainable way that allows me to enjoy the things I love and be there for my family, including homeschooling my youngest son? Yup.

By being radically committed to my own integrity, I’ve created a job I adore, which allows me to serve in a really potent way and the opportunities coming up for me this year are huge!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.meghannbirks.com
• Instagram: @meghannbirkscoaching
• Facebook: facebook.com/MeghannBirksCoaching
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghann-birks-5655a510/
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Gcff5LbH1nQ45my0LqwSm?si=9afee69c81f94891

Image Credits
Miranda Mayle Photography