![[264] [INTERVIEW] From Planned Paths to Creative Confidence w/ Megan Seibel Artwork](https://www.buzzsprout.com/rails/active_storage/representations/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBCT1kwYndnPSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--062c3ee7b72367d7a7773c11097c1912737051ac/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaDdDVG9MWm05eWJXRjBPZ2hxY0djNkUzSmxjMmw2WlY5MGIxOW1hV3hzV3docEFsZ0NhUUpZQW5zR09nbGpjbTl3T2d0alpXNTBjbVU2Q25OaGRtVnlld1k2REhGMVlXeHBkSGxwUVRvUVkyOXNiM1Z5YzNCaFkyVkpJZ2x6Y21kaUJqb0dSVlE9IiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJ2YXJpYXRpb24ifX0=--1924d851274c06c8fa0acdfeffb43489fc4a7fcc/cover%20art%20podcast-2.png)
Self(ish) Confidence
Your confidence is your superpower… but what if you don’t have any? It can be hard to show up as your authentic self. When we go out, or even scrolling on the couch, it's easy to get trapped in the comparison game, making it even harder to be beautifully you. Self(ish) Confidence is about finding your confidence, shining your light and taking action toward your unconventional life. Every week, we'll chat through barriers that could hold you back. Follow along with me, Jess Clerke, as we learn to find our confidence together and begin to share our magic with the world.
Self(ish) Confidence
[264] [INTERVIEW] From Planned Paths to Creative Confidence w/ Megan Seibel
What happens when the life path you’ve meticulously planned takes an unexpected turn? Join me and my good friend Megan Seibel as we share a heartfelt and candid journey through significant life changes and unexpected discoveries. From our first encounter at an empowerment event where I boldly declared not wanting to become a mom, to embracing motherhood and all its challenges, this episode explores the power of personal growth and evolving choices. Listen as we reflect on overcoming internal fears and doubts and the pivotal moments that led to embracing new opportunities that align joy and purpose.
Tune in for an episode filled with laughter, gratitude, and the celebration of confidence, creativity, and the incredible power of staying true to oneself.
Connect with Megan Seibel:
IG: @megwellness
Interested in the 2025 Self(ish) Retreat? Claim the last space here.
Thank you for listening to Self(ish) Confidence! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend or on your social media and tag me @jess.clerke so I can personally thank you for helping spread some confidence + love!
Check out my website at: www.jessclerke.com
If you're on instagram, come say hi!! 👋👋
My Personal Account ---> @jess.clerke
The Podcast Account ---> @selfishconfidence
Welcome to Selfish Confidence, a place where we can connect and be real about how hard it is to be your damn self. My name is Jess and my goal is to help you build confidence and belief in yourself to live any life path you want, even if it's unconventional. It's time to flip off societal pressures and connect with women who've also felt on the outside by their life choices. We're here to encourage you to grab the mic and speak your truth. I know it can be scary, but we're in this together. Let's get started. Hello, hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Selfish Confidence Podcast. It is a very fun day over here because I have my very good friend, megan Seibel here with us.
Speaker 1:How are you doing Meg?
Speaker 2:Hi, I'm good. How are you? You're very pregnant.
Speaker 1:I am when we're recording this. I am super pregnant and what's really exciting about Meg being here and we're going to talk about it a bit like she was one of the first people that I admitted that I was going to make a baby.
Speaker 2:I was so excited when the words left her mouth, because when I first came across you, when our paths first crossed, we were at an empowerment event and and it was for Keisha's Keisha's event, yes, and you were speaking on. You spoke in like a panel and you talked about how you weren't going to be a mom and I was like she's cool man, she's funny, she's cool, she gets up there a ton of energy. I'm like, I like that girl. And so I went and found you and introduced myself, because whenever I get a good vibe from somebody and the energy is good, I make it a point to connect with that person, because you guys, those are like, those are your people. You have to follow the spark.
Speaker 2:So I followed the spark and then we ran into each other again at another event and you were like Megan, guess what? And I was like what? And you're like, I want to be a mom. I was like, wow, that is so awesome. Like, and that's what's great too, is that you, as we grow and we change and we evolve, maybe motherhood isn't something you want right now, but maybe it's going to be something that you evolve into. Like that you decide you do want to experience that. But like no shade to people who don't want to be moms, I mean, it's a personal choice but I, for one, I'm so excited for you and, like I said, like you are going to find a new version of yourself in motherhood and she is so cool and she is so strong and I I'm excited for you to meet her.
Speaker 1:It's so funny too, because I remember you and you had a hat on. My husband likes to talk about these events of, like the women who have these hats, and you were like the version that I can see and I remember meeting you and I remember walking by you again. You're like hey, see you again. But it's so interesting because there wasn't a lot of time between those two events. That was like October, end of September, october, and then it was yeah, it was February.
Speaker 2:September and also I went through some huge life shifts as well. Like, after that event as well, I like decided to shift away from just wellness coaching and really go full into um content creation, like as a job, and um into my acting, which I was already already kind of doing acting, but I was having like a moment of hesitation because I was doubting that I could do it as a mom funny enough um and do it well. And you know so I yeah it's, it was a huge shift and I think that you know what happened. So, like, well, how did you I know we're going to talk about me, but like this is not about me.
Speaker 2:I know, but like, how did you go from in September? I'm not, I'm not a mom, and you know to I'm going to be a mom. Like what happened.
Speaker 1:Well, I'll give you a link to a podcast episode.
Speaker 2:Meg Honestly short version.
Speaker 1:Short version is like I spoke on that stage and something didn't feel right, that trip. Something didn't feel right Cause my husband and I went and hiked the mountains afterwards too, and just some like speaking on the stage and saying that it's like some something was off and I was like oh crap, something's off.
Speaker 1:And then I came home and I talked to some people about it and they're like, yeah, there's a baby for you. And I was like, shit, I don't want it. And then I had to really work through a lot of stuff of like why don't I want it?
Speaker 2:And what's the fears that?
Speaker 1:are there and all it was a long journey of like a lot of work. Yeah, figuring out why I was like. Every time someone said like, oh, I'm having a baby, my initial reaction was like oh, how gross. And there was a reason for that. There was some deep underlying fears.
Speaker 2:It's kind of gross to imagine somebody else having a baby, unless you're like an OB-gyn, you're you do that for a living. Yeah, I wouldn't even want to watch my sister have a baby and I love my sister and like I don't know if I could be in there, I don't know. But uh, I don't know, but somehow we do it and yeah, I mean, if you have that urge to procreate, do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it wasn't a natural thing for me. It took it took time to figure out but, then that event where we met again and I was crying a lot and I was like, oh, crap, there's something here I was like going to go speak at it and I was like I'm supposed to be here to speak, not to cry, and well, we did both.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I think we can teach through our healings Like right, it's not what we're doing. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:So why don't you tell us about you then and your life, and how you just got started on this journey, where you are now?
Speaker 2:Sure. So, uh, like I said, I'm an actor and a creator and I have been performing since I basically like begged my mom to take me to audition for a play, a musical, something I wanted to entertain, I wanted to perform and my first thing was a really kind of serious play Macbeth by Shakespeare and I was in that and I was small, I was like six and then I was in the King and I musical and I grew up in Bakersfield, california, so we had some professional theater. It wasn't like Broadway, but like it was like professional theater, and so I did that a lot growing up, like I was either in school or at rehearsals or at dance class. I just really had the opportunity from a young age to do something that I really, really loved and was also good at, and I didn't know like how much of a skill it was innately for me, like my zone of genius. You don't really think about that when you're a kid, you're just doing something that you like, right. And I think as adults we would be a lot happier if we figured out how to do the things that we really loved doing when we were little, that we just did for fun. How could we do them in our jobs? How could we do them in our daily life, as a hobby? How could we do them and incorporate them in? I think we would be a lot happier.
Speaker 2:But I was fortunate enough to have that, to have found that really early, and I didn't take it for granted, because when I was six I developed a seizure disorder and I had a big seizure that put me into intensive care when I was six years old. I was in the hospital for eight weeks. I had to relearn how to walk, how to talk, like everything. So pretty early on I was confronted with this health challenge, neurological challenge, like whatever it was. I mean, I came back from it. My mom says I was never really like the same. Like in school I'm like thanks, mom, I worked really hard and I got good grades, but like whatever she's like, well, you were the top class. I was like I was the top of the class of math in kindergarten. Mom, like, come on, but I, I had this deep appreciation for being alive and this, this awareness that I don't think you have. Like most children, I hope that they wouldn't have to go through that Right and have that. But I had that and I was aware of it and it didn't like it wasn't scary, it wasn't like oh my gosh, I almost died. I wasn't like depressed or scared, I was like excited. I was excited to just live and I kind of had like like an attitude of like I don't really care what other people think of me, I'm going to do what brings me joy, kind of thing. And so I sort of followed that.
Speaker 2:I studied theater in school, I went to Tisch at NYU and studied theater and lived in New York and then I moved back to LA and did TV and film and then I got into yoga because I just really found like safety and like calmness on the mat. I was really getting into nutrition at the time and so I really started my wellness journey, I would say, right after college and simultaneously was pursuing acting but like I was on the yoga mat like for that hour and a half 6 30 AM class every single day, like it. That like it was my job to work on myself Right and for my wellness. And so I really built those habits early on. And so I guess, like I mean I'm 45. So social media was not around If I wanted to be creative and I wanted to earn an income being creative? I would need to. I would need to do acting right Film and television, theater and I did all of that in my twenties.
Speaker 2:I met my husband when I was 20, right before I turned 28. And I was like, well, dang, I was. I was getting my master's degree in education at um university of San Francisco and I was gonna be a teacher. Cause I was like, well, I can do acting and I can also teach. I love little kids. I was directing shows at the school and I was um doing like I was working for the Shakespeare company up there and going around different schools and directing these plays and things for these little kids and just love, like I'm all. I'm really good with little kids. So I was like, well, I can do this, this is very secure. And at the time I had also the doctors.
Speaker 2:I had another health scare. So I this all is all comes full circle because my passion is wellness and also performing, creation, entertaining. And I married. I found a way to marry the two, but it was because my life took all these twists and turns and acting didn't work out the way that I wanted it to. It wasn't easy. I didn't just get a sitcom and like, have a career, you know, like those other actors that just work, work, work. I also wanted a family but I wasn't really sure and I was really scared I'm going to have to choose. And I hadn't met my husband yet. I was kind of like in my late twenties and people were having babies. And my friends from school, you know, they were married already and I was like, well, I guess this is meant to be. I'm going to go back to New York, I'm going to do Broadway, you know, and I have my teaching credential for California and I have my master's in education. I can fall back on that, I can do something with that, I have some security.
Speaker 2:But again I had health scare again. So I went for my regular annual pap smear and they found pre-cancer cells on my cervix. I had come into contact with the HPV virus, which they vaccinate people for now, thank goodness and I had pre-cancer cells like growing all up inside me and that was like really gross and really scary. And so I made some huge changes. I became vegan, I started researching wellness and nutrition and reading and studying it even more, like I really actually became a student. I wasn't just interested in it. I was like committed to learning about it and becoming an expert on it for my own health, and I was 26 at the time.
Speaker 2:So this is about two years before I meet. I meet my husband year and a half. So I get healthy. I do all these things. I get healthy. The doctors were able to like laser off where they thought most of it was and, you know, recovered from that and I've had normal past years ever since. But they did it did make my cervix shorter. So so you know you need like a long, beautiful cervix to keep a baby up in there while you're pregnant and if it's too short, it can come early. That actually happened to one of my best friends. So, and recently around that same time. So I'm like, okay, great, maybe I'll never have kids.
Speaker 2:So I think we all have these fears and you know we do like fear can control us. It's a human, it's a human feeling, it's a very common human feeling. But on the other side of fear is our ability to create in our life what we truly desire, and I truly desired a healthy body at that point and also a family, and when it it came to, well, maybe I can't have this. Then I was like, well, no, no, I really want this. I want this more than an acting career. I want this more than going back and doing brought like I, I want this. And that became very clear. And so I just focused on my health and I focused on myself and I started teaching and, oh my God, I was drinking all the green smoothies, all the green juice, like I was like teaching a preliminary kindergarten class, finishing my master's.
Speaker 2:And then that fall, fall of 2008, I met my husband and once I met Ben, I was like a light bulb went off. I just knew he was my person and he knew I was his person. So, anyways, I met him, moved to San Diego and was like great, now I'm moving to a city I never planned to live in. I went to one open casting call for the theater down here. Didn't get anything. That really shot my confidence down, Made me feel like, not, I'm not going to do it. At the time there was not online casting calls or anything like that, because it was still again, that time is 2010. So, like, we have Facebook, but like if you were going to go into an audition, you had to be in LA. You couldn't live in San Diego, you could do theater in San Diego, but I didn't really want to do theater. I had done theater, I wanted to do commercials and TV and film.
Speaker 2:I thought and I was just questioning all these things, but I was also, I could also teach yoga and I had my teaching credentials. So I got a job teaching kindergarten down here and I liked that. I liked that. But then I got illegally fired by the school director because he was sexually harassing me and also I got pregnant and very sick, had to be hospitalized, and he was like harassing me to quit also and like bullying me and anyways, I ended up speaking up and suing him and he got fired because he was not just doing it to me. Usually those types of men do it to a lot of people, a lot of women specifically.
Speaker 2:So that was a really stressful first year of motherhood dealing with all of that and finishing that up. But I was like, well, teaching didn't work out, acting didn't work out, I'm just going to be a mom. I'm just you know what, I'm going to cut my losses. Like obviously I'm grateful for all the time that I had entertaining people, but that time is done now, like very dramatic right In my mind. I'm like I'm not. I am no longer Megan the actor, or Megan the teacher, or Megan. I am Megan, the mom cleans the house, takes care of the baby and plans the dinners, and that's sad to say out loud. But like I, that is like what I thought. It's funny because my mom worked and she had four kids and she did a really good job raising us and we were at all the extracurricular activities. But like I, for whatever reason, thought and I'm sure this will speak to somebody but I thought like well, it has to look this way for it to for me to do a good job.
Speaker 2:And I think I was struggling so hard as a perfectionist I had to do it perfectly that I cut myself off from everything that brought me joy before I became a mom. And even though my children bring me great joy, there has to be balance and there was none of the previous me left. So for the first two years of motherhood I didn't really know myself and I didn't really rebuild myself. I was very sad and very stuck. I lost a baby. Actually, just recently, um told my children this story because I feel like they were old enough to to understand, um, but I lost a baby in between the boys. That's why they're three years apart and not. I was kind of planning for like two years apart, um, but I did get pregnant when Calvin was 18 months old or a little bit he was a little bit younger than that 16 months old, something like that and I lost that baby at like eight weeks, and that was devastating. So now not only had I failed at all these other things, but I'm like, oh, I failed, I'm failing as a mother. Like I'm failing big time as a mom, and that was at my lowest point. That was at my lowest point, really.
Speaker 2:And then I decided to pick myself up by my bootstraps, fix my ponytail, stop feeling sorry for myself, stop wallowing in self-pity, stop using living in San Diego Like it's such a beautiful place too. I love living here. But for somebody who had dreamed of living in either New York or LA and had spent some time in San Francisco and love that city too, like I, it was not where I wanted to be, but I wanted to be with my husband, so this is where we were starting a family. So I started, um, my friend was posting about online health coaching and I was like, well, I'm really really into wellness and I had taught some yoga, I taught some bootcamp classes, and I wasn't really doing that because when my son was born, I really, you know, I really wanted to just be at home with him and my husband and I both wanted that, yeah. And so I was like, well, I could figure out like how to build an online business. I guess, like I'm pretty smart, like she seems like she's having a good time. She doesn't have kids, though.
Speaker 2:So there was always that like self-limiting belief, but I'm like I'll just, I'll try it, I'll try it. I mean, it's fitness, I love fitness, like I'm good at fitness, I'm motivating. I'll just try and tried. And I grew a six figure business doing that and I surprised myself with how capable I was at not only running a business but at marketing. I got onto it. That's why I got onto Instagram.
Speaker 2:I figured out content creation when reels happened in like 2020. I hesitated a little bit. I don't think I really showed my true colors on reels or like really like allowed myself to create like that, because I was still again like trying to put things into like categories, like I'm an actor. That's different than a content creator. I realize now that much of what I, what, what I've always done, the way I, the way that I create, the way I write, the way I I work on characters, is how I create content too. It's just a slightly different way of like approaching it.
Speaker 2:But and I am maturity and experience right, I came full circle. But then I had to choose right. I couldn't cause. I figured out, I did build my online wellness business with, while my, my, my second son, so my I started when my oldest son was two, went through a pregnancy, while my, my, my second son, so my I started when my oldest son was two, went through a pregnancy, had my other son they're three years apart, they're 11 and eight now, but like they were babies, they were so little and I managed to figure out how to find myself again, how to rebuild my cause. I mean, actors are entrepreneurs right, they are, like they have a good at a certain craft, but they have to have that entrepreneurial spirit to get knocked down and get back up again to problem solve, to market themselves, to network, like all of that. I realized I'd taken all of that and what I was good at and put it into my online wellness business and it just wasn't for acting anymore.
Speaker 2:And then when acting, when 2020 happened, the vid kind of took us all down. Everything went on line for casting. So now it didn't hold me back that I was in San Diego. I could act again. So I self-submitted myself to a couple of things, booked some big commercials within the first couple of weeks, which is weird and it was kind of a sign. And I remember being on set and for one of the commercials I got to work with my children too, like they wanted us as a family, which was really fun and my husband they had to get him a drink. They're like this guy's nervous. You know he was just in the background, but he'd never done anything like that before and he he brings this up. Sometimes he goes, you know, megan, watching you on, like on that set, like you were just, like you were just in your element, like I had never cause.
Speaker 2:When Ben met me, I wasn't acting that much anymore. We went to a screening of a movie I had done, but then I wasn't in any plays, I wasn't really auditioning, like I met him and that kind of that part of my life paused in order for my relationship to flourish and to build my family. I really took a 10 year break from acting and, although I built my wellness business, it was that was like a, that was a new thing, that was a different thing. So it was almost like he had never seen that part of me before and he's like it was just so cool watching you just like. You were just like glowing, you were just like I am, like I know. Well, that's that's who I am, like I am. I am an actor, I'm a performer. I love, I love, and that's what I love about creating is I love the audience engagement. I love it when people consume a piece of content that I created and it makes them feel something that's like my favorite.
Speaker 2:So I guess the law, the, the ending of this whole story of how I got to where I am a lot of challenges, but just also like remembering who I am at the core and even though I got lost sometimes like it was for a reason, like I got lost in order to find myself again and I had to rebuild in every stage of my life it wasn't just motherhood. You've rebuilt yourself before you know. You rebuild yourself after a relationship ends. You rebuild yourself after you finish college and you're in the real world, like that's why your early twenties are so hard for a lot of people and if you didn't go to college, you're figuring out how to rebuild yourself after high school, like and and how, moving out from your parents and whatever it may be like. You are always evolving and I guess I I was good at intuitively listening to what was a yes for me and what was a no for me, and somewhere along the way I became a people pleaser and I think it was during my online wellness business phase, because I wanted to please everybody I wanted to do well.
Speaker 2:I became a people pleaser and I really started to care what people thought and I think also, being online and having like you know, I mean my comments are pretty like they could be pretty brutal and I had a piece of content go viral. Actually, the day that that, that the event we were at February I had a piece of content go viral it's still my best performing one where I'm like doing a dance at the school assembly Cause no other parent wanted to do the gritty and I knew how to do it and they wanted a parent to get up there and do it with the kids and then a couple of teachers did it. So I was the parent and why it upset them. It was for moms, not men. It wasn't about dads, it was about moms.
Speaker 2:Anyways, um, that really hurt my confidence. It sounds weird. I had something go very viral, but because I was getting negative feedback and I was not prepared mentally for negative feedback and I don't like negative feedback. I like constructive criticism from a director. I like constructive criticism from a good friend, like but just out of the blue, something that was that did also bring a ton of joy and made a ton of people laugh and people loved it and shared it and like they felt seen, they felt heard. It was like a small group of people that really tore up my confidence and again, I think also it was men. So I've had in the past run-ins with male bosses or men that I've worked with has been negative and it just really just like made me want to hide.
Speaker 2:So, um, even though I worked a lot this year as a content creator and I I earned a really good income and as an actor as well, it was hard for me to show up. It was this last year was really about me building my confidence again and it's like, wow, we go through it, we. We work on our self-limiting beliefs, we work on our confidence and it's, it's a continual thing. It's, it's a continual thing. It's the work is never done, it's never done. You have to continually, like fill yourself up with that belief and like, stay true, stay to the course, have faith, like keep showing up, because the world will try to deter you, it will try to tear you down, but again, like, you can always choose to start again and and it's not even starting again, it's just to continue, um, and not give up on yourself. So, yeah, I mean I've gotten here through a lot of just just doing what I love.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and I remember that too from your story, when you spoke at the Galentine's event that we were at about like, just like all of the different avenues that you take.
Speaker 1:And like this podcast, I we knew we could go into like a bunch of different directions with everything that you've done and, as someone who is so multi-passionate, like you have a lot of different things that you love, like nutrition and wellness and motherhood and career life and content creation and being like all of the things like you're there's so many different things. How has it been, with all of these different hats that you wear, all these different things that you love, putting them all together in this world of content creation or in this world of like Meg, like how did you find the confidence to be like, hey, I'm all of these things, sister, like I am everything, and that's okay. I hope you are loving this episode with Meg as much as I am. She is just such a bright light and such an inspiration to so many. I love hearing more about her story and diving into her truth and if you are looking for a space to be able to do that for yourself too, you know that the rooms that I step into and the rooms that I create and the communities that I create are a place for you to be able to practice having more confidence in the outside world, whether that is for you in your workspace or in your home life, or a little combo of the two.
Speaker 1:For me, it's often a combo of them all when I need to work on a little bit more confidence that we have one spot left for our selfish retreat literally one bed left for our upcoming retreat, happening May 23rd to 25th, just outside of Halifax, nova Scotia. We are doing it at this beautiful spa. It's called Ocean Stone Resort and Spa. It is right on the ocean. It has incredible views, wonderful accommodations, delicious food and, of course, a Nordic spa experience that you are not going to want to miss. We'll be able to have a whole evening of relaxation at the spa. We'll also be doing things like sound baths and diving into your human design and checking out more things about you that are going to help you to have more confidence in your life, and if this sounds like something that you're like, okay, I could get on board with this.
Speaker 1:We do still have a few payment plan options for this one spot left, and you will have to snag that spot pretty quickly if you want to grab the payment plan and even if you want to save your spot to be there. I am so excited about this retreat and now that I'm not pregnant anymore and my energy is back, I cannot wait to dive into your confidence and really see you step into that magic that you totally deserve. So if you have any questions, check out the show notes below so that you can get all the information you need for that final spot at the Selfish Retreat happening this spring. And if you have any questions, check out the show notes below so that you can get all the information you need for that final spot at the Selfish Retreat happening this spring. And if you have any questions, feel free to send me a DM, send me an email, and we can chat about the spot. And if it's a good fit for you, let's get back to the rest of the episode with Megan Seibel.
Speaker 2:So it's a couple different things. I have a best friend who I've had since I was five and I mean he's pretty honest with me and he's also a creative, and so I feel like if you have people in your life who understand you and are maybe this not made up of the same thing, but are in the same world and they can have a perspective because there's been times where I wanted to quit, and if he's saying no, don't quit, and my husband's saying no, don't quit, and I definitely don't talk to my mom anymore when I'm having doubts of self-confidence because she doesn't like to see me hurt, and so it's hard for her to have the perspective. And I think it's interesting because I would hope, as a mother, like we, will be able to do this, but then again, we're always going to be their mom. So I do hope and pray that they become friends with people who know them and love them and are able to be that like sounding voice of reason, you know, and that they end up with a partner who loves them and knows them and and really helps them blossom into their best self.
Speaker 2:But it's a lot of failure, to be honest, like a lot of times where I wanted to quit. And then I'm like, okay, well, why do I want to quit what's not really working anymore? What am I, what am I not good at, and am I trying to? Okay, well, why do I want to quit what's not really working anymore? What am I, what am I not good at, and am I trying to be really successful at something that maybe some there's there's, there's a million other people who are better at me as far as, like, business owners, the type of business owner that I realized that I am is that I'm the brand and I was trying to sell something that was somebody else's idea. You know, like the fitness programs and and the other nutrition programs, and although they were helpful and they helped people and it was my coaching inside my group, there was, it was draining me, I was exhausted, and so the exhaustion was, you know, the first thing. And then the burnout happens, and then the like, anger and resentment almost happens, because you're like forcing yourself to show up and do something. Um it, it was scary. I mean, it was scary to step away from that and and go. Okay, well, is it gonna work out Like am I? Am I, is my instinct right? Am I as good as I think I am at this thing Because I'm, I'm not, I can do this other thing, but does it bring me joy? And and is it in my zone of genius? And that's what another girlfriend told me. So I have a lot of really good friends that I open up to and talk to when and that's not easy for me. But I've learned over the years that those really good friends who you can open up to when you are doubting yourself are the friends that literally will say you know what? You're being a perfectionist, you know or no? This is your zone of genius. Are you insane? Like you, that is what you are.
Speaker 2:So choosing not to do the things that aren't in my zone of genius? Like I don't have a newsletter anymore. I don't, um, uh, what am I not doing? Well, I'm not like coaching people one-on-one or even in group, and I thought about that a lot last year. I was like I'm going to take a couple months break and then a couple months break, and then a couple months turned into a long, a long time and I started getting all these jobs for content creation and also for acting in a lot of auditions, and I was like, okay, well, I'm too busy to even take care of people like I used to as a coach, but I can still help people through my Instagram.
Speaker 2:So it really morphed into I am a certified wellness coach. I'm a certified holistic nutritionist. Do I sell meal plans? No, do I sell meal plans? No. Do I have an online accountability group? No. Am I going to run a challenge? Yeah, if I do, I'm going to run it in my stories, because I have a ton of people who are engaged on my Instagram that could do a five-day challenge through my stories. I'm not going to put them, take them off of the app and put them into a. Is that the best use of my time right now?
Speaker 2:And and I thought about it, I really did, cause I do want people to be healthy, but I can have a bigger impact if I am putting all of my time and energy into creating and that's what I'm best at. And and I can't. I don't know if I could like do something else and do it as much and as well and feel as good, I guess. So it was really trying a lot of things, narrowing down what was in my zone of genius and also how I felt when I was doing it, because, although we're capable of doing a lot, I feel like it's really important to do that self-discovery and the personal development to figure out like, what are you best at? Because even in February, when we ran into each other again at that event, I was speaking at that event and I've spoken at events before and I enjoy it, but it makes me so nervous. I would rather like I kind of was like oh God, I'm going to talk, but I really wish I had like prepared some sort of song or dance.
Speaker 2:I could just get up there and like no, seriously, because that's what that is how I express myself. I express myself through song, movement, visual like, and I like to tell a story. But I mean I did get up there and I told a story and I had positive impact on people. So that was awesome and it was a great experience and I loved that event. I love Crystal.
Speaker 2:But I think that at the end of the day, we're good at a lot of things, we're really good at a lot of things, but we have to ask ourselves what do we enjoy doing Like? My husband is an engineer. He enjoys doing math. He he enjoys doing Legos, puzzles, crosswords, anything linear. But he's also appreciative of the creative right Because he has a good sense of humor and he's like he's my soulmate. So of course he thinks I'm funny and we have a lot of good laughs. But we see the world very differently. That's why we compliment each other so well. But I express myself and I have this deep desire to entertain and to pick people up out of their mundane and like make them feel something, whether it's like in their motivated, inspired, to like go work out, or like go make a salad, or like eat a healthy lunch, you know or there, because that's just my life. I'm just sharing that. But my I think my creative work that I'm probably most proud of is my off the cuff stuff. That's just inspired through me and it's through a feeling.
Speaker 2:It's when I had COVID and I was like feeling like death. This last October or was it October, I don't even know November I was scrolling through Instagram and I came across like a Cardi B video of Cardi B talking about like how she didn't want to cook and like she needs a chef and all. I was laughing so hard and I was like this is funny, I, I, I. It wasn't even a thought. I was like I'm going to film this and I I literally had watched it maybe three times. I set it up. I said, hey, honey, just be behind me. I'm like just listen to what I. I'm just going to do something real quick, you know. And he's like, whatever you know, we're kind of making. He's he was making dinner because, actually, because I was very sick with COVID, so I set it up and I pushed play and I just did it and it felt so good to just like create and that was off the cuff raw. People loved it, they shared it. People redid it. They dider at the core, but also an entrepreneur and a creator.
Speaker 2:And another thing I would say, too, to the moms is that I had to figure out why I started my wellness business. I had to figure out how I was going to earn income, because my husband was not. We had a lot of debt and he wasn't making very much of his job at the time and so it would have. It was really important for me to figure it out, and so I figured it out for my family, and even though I was scared and even though I wasn't like I didn't dream about being an online business owner, I did it, and I did it well for myself and for my kids, for my family. And I think that when we have a really strong why and a purpose, we can pull out of ourselves like this, like we can pull a lot out of ourselves that might surprise us, you know.
Speaker 1:Right and and now that you do have like this platform that you've built for content creation and all of these pieces that you put together on it. Like someone listening to this right now has a dream of creating content this year, where do you think they should start? Because it can be really overwhelming, especially even to see where you are, megan, and be like, oh well, I can't do what Megan's doing, like Meg is like really good at this, or even off the cuff, like what the f is off the cuff, like I can't that. So what would you tell the person listening to this right now who wants to start something like what you've been building, but has a lot of limiting beliefs or has some fears around it?
Speaker 2:Okay, well, don't try to be like anybody else. Your most authentic self that's what off the cuff means is my most authentic version of me that my closest best friends and my husband and my kids, like my family, get to see? Um, I figured out how to be that girl in those moments and how to capture that. So for a lot of people like I follow a lot of different creators. I have a lot of different friends on Instagram that create very differently. You might get inspired by the way someone does it and I would say try that way, but you might not be the mini vlog person. You might not be. You might be a mean girl, you might you might not even be your face.
Speaker 2:I have this one friend who just does really hilarious memes where it's like screenshots of movies or shows or moments and then she writes the most hilarious captions and she'll do like a stack of them. And she actually got shut down with her original account. She rebuilt it. I watched her rebuild the whole thing to like she has more, more, a ton of followers, um, and does really well. So she knew what type of creator she was.
Speaker 2:I I'm not that kind of creator. I create based from like, emotion and movement. Um, because I'm very theatrical, but I would say you have to just figure out how to find your voice and your style, and the only way to do that is to just start trying, is to just start taking action. I would say, if you, if you have a goal of creating content this year, you do one reel every single day, and some of them are going to be good and some of them are going to be bad, and it doesn't matter if they're good or bad, it just matters that you're working that muscle, because you'll feel it when you, when you create something, that is, that it was fun for you to create it in that way, and you're like oh my gosh, that was fun. I think we forget that, like the fun part, that's what we're innately, that do more of that. If something is really fun, do more of it because it didn't take a lot of effort on your part. It may have taken some time, but if it didn't take like you don't feel exhausted afterward, energetically drained, in a bad mood. You're in alignment. That's, that's good. Keep going in that direction. And then, when something doesn't feel in alignment, that's when you got to have a talk with yourself. Right, you got to like figure out like, well, maybe what I'm sharing or my niche or whatever. But I mean, when I got started, I listened to different podcasts about content creation, I walked, watched YouTube videos and all that stuff was great.
Speaker 2:But, honestly, how I found my style was just doing it and not holding myself back, like, if I remember, it was 2021 when I did my very first ever like I danced for a reel and it was just a little dance I had made up and I put it to like a Taylor Swift song and I was. It was at the very beginning of the year of 2021. And I'll never forget I was like my heart was pumping, my pits were really sweaty, I was so nervous but I just was like just do it, megan. So I cause I had heard the song and I just kind of felt in my body what I wanted to do. So I just pushed play or record and and I didn't even edit, I just I just put it up and people loved it and I was like so then 2021 was the year where I was doing a lot of like these, like little dance reels, but I was still working in a lot of wellness and coaching and marketing for my group and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:It wasn't until this last year where I really was able to unleash myself and content. For me. This year was harder again because I had the confidence dip, because I had something go viral and a lot of mean people. So I had to find my confidence again, and the way that I found it is just through taking action and having the time of like you know, and whatever your reason is for getting on like, do you want to teach people? Do you want to entertain people? Do you want to? Are you is? Are you on there Cause you're marketing for, like, a business or service that you have? Like you have to figure out why you're on Instagram. I mean, everybody wants to create for a reason, so you have to know what that reason is, and then you just have to find your groove and you do that through taking action and creating every day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, every day, every day. I still think it's so interesting that people were mean to you about that reel, Like I think it's a really great reel. Like I don't understand why the men went crazy. The men went crazy Well they were.
Speaker 2:They were upset that men do it too and they thought it. They thought so people. So here's the thing about Instagram is a lot of people will post things um to get a reaction, whether it be negative or positive. I am not strategic like that, so I didn't think about it being read a certain way and it was. So it was so far back that you also maybe didn't think at first, when you're first watching it, that I was the creator, like it almost looked like I was.
Speaker 2:She could either I don't know, like being very like, like they were like who is that? Oh, is that Patrick Mahomes wife? Like you know? Da, da, da, da, like it was really I don't know. It got, it was like a really lot of conversations I don't really know, um, like if they thought I was making fun of them or but then I was serious. I don't really know. I don't know who knows why things do the way they do. But they were offended, but it didn't matter because even though I turned off the comments, it's still got so much reach and so much share that a lot of brands followed me and came to me, not because of that one, but I just got a lot of engagement and a lot of reach just in general, a lot of new followers from that, and then that led to more followers.
Speaker 2:You can charge more money and, as a creator, but I will say, when you start doing anything for an income, you have to keep yourself in check because, um, you can take it at least me, like I can take things a little too seriously, and then it's not fun anymore. Whenever something isn't fun, I'm like, uh, I don't want to do this anymore. So there's a little bit of that. So you kind of have to like, do your best but then focus on, um, the action of just showing up and doing it, whatever. It is not necessarily like the quick result, because the quick result is not going to be the thing that you want Ultimately. The thing that you want is going to be the thing that's worth waiting for. So that's the thing that's going to come in time, right?
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, yeah. Is there anything you want to do differently going forward this year?
Speaker 2:Um, I don't want to hold myself back, uh, trying to make things perfect, and I don't want to uh, doubt myself. Um, I'm going to start creating over on YouTube and do long form videos and I'm really excited about that, that. But yeah, I just think perfectionism and self-limiting beliefs were just banging at my door all year in 2024. So I think this year I really want to just let myself really fly and like, do more of the off the cuff stuff and not be, not try to be structured and not try to be literal, like linear, because I'm not. I'm not that, and if I need that for my business and my brand, I'll hire someone to do that. I'm not. I'm not going to try to do that, because when I try to do everything, it drains me and I can't create from a place where I'm like drained. So I'm going to protect my peace and my energy a lot more this year and not, um, try to do it in a way like I said before. Don't try to do it in a way that looks like somebody else, because your version of it is going to look different, like there could be two different podcasters and it's going to look different. They're both sitting in front of a microphone, but how they plan and prepare for the episode, how they show up the style of talking, like the type of guests. It's all so different.
Speaker 2:Same thing for any business that we're doing and I think that, as long as we can do it from a place where we feel really good, energized, excited, clear headed, like we're just trying to, our purpose is just trying to make the world better. That's all of us want, that right. We all want to share. We all want to make the world better in whatever way we want to share. We all want to make the world better in whatever way we want to contribute, and so that contribution is going to be different for everybody, because everybody is so different. We have different talents, skills, backgrounds, the, the tasks that I think before I let myself worry about and get lost in, and that's just not. That's not where I want to be. I want to be, um, energized and able to to do what I'm really really good at.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, yeah, girl, I can't wait to see what you're doing this year. I'm so excited. Thanks, Jess. Can you tell everyone where they can see your content, where they can check you out, where they can find your new YouTube long form that you've been doing? Where can everybody connect with you, Meg?
Speaker 2:So my Instagram is at Meg Wellness and over on YouTube it's at Megan Seibel. So M-E-G E, I, B, E, L and um, where else? I have a podcast to um motivated minutes. So if you go to make wellnesscom that has links to everything as well, Um, you can go to the website and find it that way or search it where you listen to your podcast. But that's where I'm at. I'm not, uh, not on Snapchat or anything Is anybody on Snapchat.
Speaker 2:I'm not on whatever Twitter is, I don't know. I sometimes post on threads but, um, mostly I do. I I'm on Instagram every single day and my DMS are always open, if you guys want to say hi, and I over on YouTube and I'm going to post a long form video every week, at least for the month of January, and then I'm gonna see how I feel, but I, I think I kind of want to do it the whole year. I don't know, we'll see.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really want to challenge myself.
Speaker 2:I really want to like see you know what happens. But yeah, that's where you can find me.
Speaker 1:Oh, amazing, and I'll put that all in the show notes. So if you're listening and you're driving right now and you're like, I did not spell her last name, don't you worry, it's down below, that's okay. Meg also said she didn't know how to spell her last name for the first year of marriage. So we're fine, but I do have a few questions that I ask every guest that comes on the podcast Sure, want to go? Yeah, okay, let's go, let's go. What's your favorite compliment to receive?
Speaker 2:Ooh Um, you're funny If I make somebody laugh, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you are funny, thank you. So are you what's your favorite thing to do to boost your mood when you're feeling guilt? Uh, when you're feeling grumpy, I was going to say guilty, whoa. When I'm feeling guilty.
Speaker 2:I work out. Um I well, have I eaten something? Do I need to eat a snack? Am I hangry? Low energy Cause I haven't eaten in a while, probably. So I eat something that I put on really good music and I go for a walk.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, oh yeah. Especially a walk in San Diego I would. That would make me feel pretty good too. It's pretty beautiful here.
Speaker 2:Especially right now. I feel I actually feel guilty for like not enjoying it Like or giving my husband a hard time the first year he's like I don't know what to do here. Oh, this is the way I wanted to live. I'm like God. I gave him so much grief. Lord, let me be the most amazing wife to make up for the first, like two years where I was complaining all the time.
Speaker 1:And you're like wait now I live in San Diego. Like, how freaking cool is that? Own it. I love living in San Diego. I love that. Do you have a song or a quote that boosts your confidence?
Speaker 2:Ooh, I'm not like a quote person. I mean, I love quotes, I love reading them. I will get lost in the quote. Like the quote accounts on Instagram. Um, but music is my jam and a song that, like, boosts my confidence. Um, pink, raise your glass. Such a good song. Um, also from the troll soundtrack. What's that? What's that song? Um, the one that justin timberlake dances to the music video? I know what you're talking about and I can't you're probably going to have to edit this part, but let me find it.
Speaker 1:Um, this is the one that's like uh, about dancing, isn't it? Can't stop the feeling. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Can't stop the feeling by Justin Timberlake, that's a good one, but, yeah, anything that's like, I don't know Also, I, I don't know Also, I mean a Whitney Houston, I want to dance with somebody. Yeah, I like, I like a lot of things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too. Me too, I love those suggestions. Well, thank you so much for being here, megan, and for sharing your truth and your light with us. We need people like you who are sharing their message online, so I'm so grateful for you and so grateful for your time here today.
Speaker 2:Thanks, jess. Well, I am so happy that you asked me and so honored to be a guest on your podcast. I think what you're doing is magical and amazing and so needed, because confidence is something that we need to do life and to enjoy it so, and I'm super excited for you and your new baby on the way.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I'm excited too. Let's have a baby.
Speaker 2:You have the baby, I'll send you a gift. Okay, you already had yours, right, I'm not having any more babies, I am done, um, but I am so excited for you and thank you so much for having me on.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm so glad to have you here. Thanks, Meg, Thanks Bye. I am so glad we could hang out today. If you love this episode, send it to a friend or share it on your social media and tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me sprinkle some confidence in the world. And don't forget you are magic. Let's show the world your shine.
