Do you have competing priorities and responsibilities? If you have a long list of ideas, and a never-ending to-do list that seems like you never have enough time to do them, this episode of the Lead with Love podcast is for you.
In today's conversation, I get cozy with my friend and client Meggan Hill.
Meggan Hill is the Executive Chef and CEO of Culinary Hill, a popular digital publication in the food space at culinaryhill.com. She loves to combine her Midwestern food memories with her culinary school education to create her own delicious take on modern family fare. Millions of readers visit Culinary Hill each month for recipes, entertaining, and skills and tricks in the kitchen.
Meggan juggles managing a team of 7 alongside her home responsibilities of raising 3 young children. I became Meggan’s business coach in 2017, and we still work together today.
In this episode, we talk about intentional tradeoffs and how to decide when is the right time to work on a project or when to say, “no.” We also explore what happens when you get stuck and what to do when the way you’re doing things just sucks the joy out of your day.
I walk you through my 5-step process on how to create your own Quarterly Plan in chapter 8 of my book She Builds: The Anti-Hustle Guide to Grow Your Business and Nourish Your Life. You can get a copy of my book at shebuilds.com or download straight from Audible at shebuilds.com/audible.
“I made so much money, but thought there had to be more to life than this. I was with my kids a lot and I worked a lot, but I wasn’t looking for a way to change the world. I wanted to contribute something to the world.”
— MEGGAN HILL
What you'll hear (and don't want to miss!)
Why Meggan said no to a big opportunity and the fears that came up [9:02]
How Meggan has been building the practice of saying no (including an example of how you can do it too) [12:21]
What inspired her to start a food blog and the moment when she realized she could make a living doing this [9:26]
How to get past feelings of stagnation with work [21:37]
Her big vision and the specific wins she’s celebrated since she began working with Jadah in 2016 [19:28]
The key shifts Meggan made to go from a 6-figure to a 7-figure blog, plus what had to be in place first to provide a foundation for this growth [27:56]
Tips and strategies for building out a team and receiving support you need [29:59]
What “intentional trade-offs” are all about, the questions you can ask to determine what yours should be [37:52]
Meggan’s 2022 intention and the role this plays day-to-day with her team [38:24]
“Even though there were so many reasons to do a cookbook, [such as] the backlink, the prestige, the bragging rights, and everything, I just decided to shelve it because I had so many other things going on. I felt like I couldn’t do justice to my vision of what a cookbook would be at that time, and I still haven’t done one. It’s still on my dream list, but I know it’s not today.” [Meggan, 9:55]
“I was trying to just figure out what might work, trying to learn how to take pictures, and it was a really interesting time. I was really busy with [my son] during the week all the time, so when my husband was home on the weekends, it was like ‘ok, I’m going to shoot 8 recipes today, everybody look out!’” [Meggan, 18:17]
“I made so much money, but [I thought] there had to be more to life than this. I was with my kids a lot and I worked a lot, but I wasn’t looking for a way to change the world. [Then] I must have read it in a book or heard it on a podcast or something, [but] I wanted to contribute something to the world, and I just felt very stuck.” [Meggan, 21:59]
“Food really connects people, and people have such strong memories around the meals that they ate, especially at the holidays, on birthdays, and things like that. To help people reconnect with that part of themselves, just through a 7-layer salad that I had when I was growing up or something like that, it’s really powerful.” [Meggan, 25:48]
“I could never do what I do now alone. Just the quality and the quantity [of content] that we’re putting out, and the level of expertise that we have, and it takes a village.” [Meggan, 29:08]
“It really helps that we have this huge history together, so you know everything that’s happened the last few years, which is a lot, and you know all the players and everything. I always just feel really supported that I can come to you and just leave you a message about whatever it might be, and you’ll see the patterns and help me figure the situation out.” [Meggan, 36:04, on being coached by Jadah]
“We are calmly, in a relaxing manner, testing recipes that we love for people that we care about, our readers. So we’re just trying to keep that at the forefront, but once you add a brand and their timelines, their right to edit, and they can determine so many things about what you’re doing, it takes the fun out of it, and it sucks the joy out of it.” [Meggan, 41:02]
“I really think I need to find a way to be out there in front of people and to be the face of the company, instead of just making the recipes and writing the words. I just really want to be there for the audience in a physical way that they can relate to, and to get to know them.” [Meggan, 47:42]
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