"Under Promise, Over Deliver" and Other Lessons for New Business Owners

Overview:

Brand & Web Design Agency Owner Megan Weeks sits down with Sam to reflect on some of the biggest things she's learned after her first full year of running her design business full-time.

Resources from Episode 18:

• Megan Weeks Design Co.
• Megan's TikTok
• Megan's Youtube Channel
• Motion.io TikTok Account
• Motion.io Instagram Account
• Motion.io Launch List

Episode Transcript:

[Designing Growth introduction plays]

[00:00:00] Sam Chlebowski: Happy Thursday everybody, andwelcome back to Designing Growth. My name is Sam Chlebowski, joining you foranother episode, and this week we have Megan Weeks joining us on the podcast.Megan is the owner of Megan Week's Design Co, which is a graphic design andbrand consultancy based in Nevada who helps wellness businesses create, refine,and develop strong brands that work across all platforms.

[00:00:26] Megan, how are youdoing?

[00:00:27] Megan Weeks: I'm doing good. Thank you. Thanksfor the intro. I love how you got every little piece of my like bio in there,that's awesome.

[00:00:34] Sam Chlebowski: Being a podcast host is askill that I've been slowly trying to hone in, so I appreciate it.

[00:00:41] Megan Weeks: Already impressed

[00:00:43] Sam Chlebowski: So, Megan. What I typicallylike to start off with asking all of our guests, and a question I wanna ask youis what led you into starting your own business

[00:00:54] Megan Weeks: So basically seven years ago Iwas still in college and it was like my junior year of being in college. Andthat's when I first sort of got introduced to like using Photoshop for graphicdesign. cause I remember one of our school projects and I majored injournalism, so it was kind of unusual to be doing design projects, but one ofour.

[00:01:17] Allowed us to createa flyer for like a local business in our city. And that's when I first got likea taste into graphic design, but I still didn't really understand that it couldlike become a full time career. So I didn't dive into it as much as I kind ofwish I did back then. but I definitely like found myself loving it and it felt.

[00:01:40] a passion for me,like from the get go. and I even remember like when I was really little, justalways being drawn to like creativity and crafting and projects. I first got alittle bit of a taste in a graphic design and then I started going down thephotography career and that's what I really wanted to start doing was likewedding photography and being a full-time photographer.

[00:01:59] But I think thatpassion of mine in photography so much now, because that's what. Allowed me tolearn Photoshop and the Adobe programs, And then right after college I wasworking at a marketing agency and that was when I really started using graphicdesign, I was able to create websites.

[00:02:17] I was able to createlogos and I was still using Photoshop. I wasn't even like super comfortablewith Adobe Illustrator or any of the other programs yet. But that agency that Iwas working for, they ended up going under. it was kind of interesting to seecuz I, learned a lot with like the project management situation at thatcompany.

[00:02:34] it opened my eyesjust how to work together as a team with clients. when they went under, that'swhen I got on Upwork, which was that freelancing platform. And that's when Istarted doing freelancing on my own. So seven years later, I finally took theleap into running my own business.

[00:02:50] So this is only myfirst year as a full-time graphic designer. I've always been doing it as like aside hustle. Um, but this is my first year being full-time with it.

[00:02:59] Sam Chlebowski: And I actually didn't knowthat until right now, and that is super exciting. So, I mean, reflecting onyour first year of, full time running your own business, what are the bigthings that you've learned?

[00:03:11] Megan Weeks: I'm actually kind of glad Iwaited to take the leap into doing it cuz I could have three years ago probablydone this. But I really set myself up before going full time with Understandinghow to manage clients, having the right contracts and proposals really havingthe client management process down so that I wouldn't be wasting months andmonths figuring that out instead of actually designing.

[00:03:33] I learned a lot inthat way that that's so important to have. The project management stuff figuredout before running your own business. but then also just like finding a goodbalance with yourself because when I did go full time, I did not give myselfany sort of break.

[00:03:48] I just jumped rightinto going crazy with it. Like from the moment I woke up to the moment I wasready for bed. and that I quickly realized you can definitely burn yourself outeven if you love it. finding that balance of still taking care of yourself, butalso, having your business. So I definitely learned that lesson very quickly.

[00:04:06] Sam Chlebowski: And the way that you approachthat I think is super smart that you were very intentional about setting upsome of these systems and processes before you went ahead and kind of jumpedin, both feet into the deep end. How have you organized your process forworking with clients? Because I think that this is something that reallyhelpful for other folks to know who are considering making a similar jump.

[00:04:29] What did thatprocess look like for you? What tools did you end up using for that?

[00:04:33] Megan Weeks: when I look back on, when Ididn't have any sort of tool, I definitely had a lot of like trial and errorand figuring out like how many projects I can handle at a time and how tocommunicate with my clients the best way. a good friend of mine was using DevSoto and that's when I first got introduced to programs online that can helpyou organize everything and have everything in one place.

[00:04:53] Um, so that's whereI have it currently. I have different areas of where I'm organizing thingsright now. Like I have my Google calendar and I have, dub sodo for thecontracts and proposals and more of like the forms that I need.

[00:05:05] Sam Chlebowski: Very cool, very cool. gettingclients, something we talk about a lot on this show. What have you been doingto get clients? Are you still on Upwork or are you getting also, you know, astream of clients? just like through your own marketing?

[00:05:17] Megan Weeks: When I was working at the agency,I always made sure to like, never burn a bridge and make sure that I wasshowing up as my best self. And I think that was what really helped me when Ifirst kicked off doing it on my own because, Word of mouth is so huge,especially where I live.

[00:05:31] Like our city ispretty small and people talk and you'll be surprised at how many people needgraphic design help. so that's what really helped me in the beginning. And thenUpwork was so successful for me four years ago. I feel like it's gotten sosaturated now, and unfortunately there's a lot of people on there that chargenothing for a logo, so it's hard to compete with.

[00:05:50] On Upwork. Um, soright now it's honestly social media. I try and make content every single dayand get on TikTok, get on Instagram, get on YouTube, and that's been huge forme cuz you'll reach people from all over the world, which is awesome.

[00:06:05] Sam Chlebowski: you know, You're pretty activeon YouTube, as well. Is that a marketing channel for your business as well oris it something like maybe just entirely different that you're doing?

[00:06:13] Megan Weeks: Yeah, I feel like so lucky thatit's turned into what it has now because when I first started on YouTube, it'sso embarrassing. I have videos that like are way old that I would do likefashion halls or like show the clothing I bought online and I was just doing itfor fun. Like I never thought YouTube would.

[00:06:30] Grow for me until Iposted a video like three years ago about my logo design process, and that'swhen I reached the whole graphic design community and I realized that there's aneed for more voices in the community. and that's when I got more and moreconsistent on YouTube. And at the time, I really wasn't doing it for.

[00:06:48] Financial benefitsor anything like that. I just loved making videos. I have like a passion forthat too. but I'm so thankful that I kept up with that because YouTube is in myopinion, the best platform for shelf life for your content. I have content fromthree years ago that are still getting a ton of views and that's been sohelpful for me in my business, and I would recommend it for.

[00:07:10] Sam Chlebowski: It's funny how those things,if you are like the entrepreneurial type, how those little passion projectseither evolve into something you didn't expect it as the case with your YouTubevideo.

[00:07:21] Or provide you theskills for something that you need later on down the road. couple months ago Ihad a food podcast I was doing with my friend.

[00:07:28] Megan Weeks: That's awesome.

[00:07:29] Sam Chlebowski: of talking about food and foodstories and that was how I really learned like the ins and outs of podcasting.And that didn't go anywhere, but it set me up to be able to record this showeach week and to suggest it

[00:07:40] Megan Weeks: yeah. No, I'm a huge believer inthat. Like some of the things I've said yes to in the past, definitely like.Could be considered a failure or whatever, but it, led me to moreopportunities. yeah, I'm a big believer in that too.

[00:07:53] Sam Chlebowski: So I wanted to switch gearscompletely and ask you, as someone who is a designer, a brand consultant, Whatare some of your favorite brands out there,

[00:08:05] Megan Weeks: Well, I definitely have some dreambrands. I was thinking about that the other day, like dream brands I wanna workwith. I'm always drawn to minimalism and simplicity in abl in a brand. and Ilove Lulu Lemon, of course. I love their clothing, but I also love just howsimple everything is.

[00:08:21] It's just so likeattractive to the eye. And I find that so cool that it's just so minimal yeteffective. So that's definitely a brand I've always been drawn to. There's somany brands that I honestly just buy because of the look of it. of coursethere's makeup brands that I like, At Sephora, if you go in there, I'm alwaysdrawn to the ones with like the simple labeling. I just find that the mostbeautiful in my opinion. but I would say Lululemon is definitely up there forme in terms of a brand that I would love to work with one day.

[00:08:47] Sam Chlebowski: So we can talk Sephora for alittle bit because I am very familiar. I've been in there. Way too many timeswith my wife. Uh, but the shampoo that she uses all of Plex has some reallynice packaging in my opinion. I don't know if you've seen that before, but

[00:09:02] Megan Weeks: Oh yeah,

[00:09:03] Sam Chlebowski: packaging.

[00:09:05] Megan Weeks: I would agree. Yeah, thatactually reminded me too. This isn't in Sephora, but it's a brand called Pros.it's p r o s E and I recently purchased shampoo conditioner from them, cuz oneof my friends was talking about it and when it got delivered to me, it. Themost impressive packaging I've ever seen.

[00:09:22] They had likepersonalization all over it. Like they had my name on the box

[00:09:26] Sam Chlebowski: Whoa.

[00:09:27] Megan Weeks: this whole printout sheet ofwhere I live and how that's affecting my hair health. I just thought that wasso cool. I'm like, wow. They like really took their time to, to presenteverything to me.

[00:09:36] Sam Chlebowski: That type of stuff can be sopowerful sometimes. the folks that really. Change the game with their packagingof course is Apple. everybody's saving all of the Apple boxes that

[00:09:46] Megan Weeks: Yeah.

[00:09:46] Sam Chlebowski: a reason why you do that cuzit's not just a cardboard box. You're like opening an experience.

[00:09:51] And I don't knowabout you, but I have, I think, reused one of those boxes a single time

[00:09:57] Megan Weeks: Oh yeah. Same

[00:09:58] Sam Chlebowski: a phone by myself one time outof dozens by now Apple device.

[00:10:03] Megan Weeks: no, same here The other day, likeI had my Apple Watch box that I've had for like years. why do I not wanna throwthis away? And it's still in my desk drawer. Like I don't know what I'm gonnado with it, but it's nice.

[00:10:14] and same thing forthat hair brand, the card that they put in the box with the details of where Ilive and the environment, how it affects everything. I literally use it as abookmark in my book. So yeah, it works.

[00:10:27] Sam Chlebowski: I know that within yourbusiness you have kind of defined your niche as like wellness, businesses. Howdid you decide on that? Was that kind of a slow evolution or was that somethingthat you just said, Hey, this is where I want to be, so this is what I'm goingto kind of associate myself to? How did that process of kneeing down, comeabout?

[00:10:46] Megan Weeks: Yeah, that's a good question. Soactually this is the part I skipped over, but before. I majored in journalismin school. I was going for a nutrition major. I've always been passionate aboutjust wellness, nutrition and everything to do with that. but I'm terrible atscience. So , I changed my major quickly, but I always knew that was also apassion of mine.

[00:11:09] Before I niche down,I was like really afraid to niche cuz I was afraid I was gonna miss out onother people, not in the wellness industry I really like working with everyone.but I just found myself saying yes to projects that were below my benchmarkpricing and that just weren't really fulfilling me, as much as wellnesscompanies were So that's when I decided, why don't I just combine those twopassions and show up as an expert in that industry, visually for the wellnesscompanies. so far it's been great and I feel like it's allowed me to connectwith, more wellness companies. So ultimately it ended up working in my favor.

[00:11:46] but it took me along time to take that leap into nicheing cuz it is a. Thing to do when you areafraid you're gonna miss out on things. But I still get inquiries that aren'tsometimes wellness companies, and that just proves to me that you're stillgonna talk to people that aren't specifically in that area no matter what.

[00:12:05] Sam Chlebowski: The process that you describedand kind of how you found that niche over time is something that I've seenpersonally. when we were running brighter vision and is something that I'vekind of openly told people You have to look at the people that you have workedwith and the businesses you've worked with previously, and see what made thatwork, but also understand, the type of business that I want to work with aswell.

[00:12:29] And when those twothings kind of synergize that, Is the moment that it seems like at least mostof the people I've asked this question to where they're like, yes, this is whatI should be doing. this is my niche. So it takes a little bit of time and I thinkthat the example you had shared, how you would were doing, work on Upworkoriginally.

[00:12:45] That's like a greatway to build a portfolio if you are a new designer. But I do think. That momentwhere you have to decide to change the messaging on your website, change yourpositioning, maybe alter the services you're providing It can be scary and it'sbeen scary for me. I know you said that it's, it was a little nerve-wrackingfor you,

[00:13:04] Megan Weeks: Oh yeah.

[00:13:05] Sam Chlebowski: I guess what I'm trying to sayis if you make the jump, it's gonna be fine and there's a lot of benefits youcan get.

[00:13:10] Megan Weeks: Totally. like you said, Irecommend that new designers to not come out the gates with a niche. If youdon't really know if you like working in that area, I think a lot of times itmight sound really awesome to work for a certain industry and then it justisn't as great as maybe you think it might be or.

[00:13:27] It just might notlive up to like what you thought. So I think experimenting and getting thatexperience before deciding is really smart. like I said, you're not reallygonna miss out on clients they're not gonna be like, I'm not talking to her cuzshe's only wellness. They're most likely still gonna reach out to you if theylike your work.

[00:13:43] And that's somethingI had to kind of learn too.

[00:13:45] Sam Chlebowski: I wanted to talk a little bitfurther about client process. Within the first year of your business you sharedsome kind of lessons that you had learned and that was one of the big thingshaving a process for that.

[00:13:55] What are some of thechallenging hurdles that folks who are going full time into their designbusiness might face when they're managing multiple client projects at once thatyou've experienced lately? And how did you solve those things?

[00:14:12] Megan Weeks: there's definitely a lot ofthings that can happen and I feel like something that you can't always plan foris the project not going exactly through the timeline as you wanted it to. cuzthere's been lots of times where. I know how many projects I can handle at atime, but if that branding project goes past the three week mark that weplanned for, it might run into my other projects, which will require me to be alittle bit overwhelmed and have a lot on my plate.

[00:14:39] So making sure thatyou account for additional time that could potentially happen that you mightneed is important because I used to tell clients oh yeah, I can do your logo inlike two. , but now I tell them like four weeks it's better to provide itsooner and surprise 'em that like we finished it early than to have to tellthem it's gonna take another two weeks.

[00:14:59] that's something Ihad to kind of learn is it's okay to tell them it'll take some more time. Andalso to let them know the amount of time it will take is dependent on thefeedback I get and how quickly you respond. that's something. Really importanttoo, because that can quickly get outta hand if everything gets run into eachother and you have 10 projects at once.

[00:15:19] that's happened tome before and it's overwhelming. So

[00:15:21] Sam Chlebowski: Under Promise and over deliverwas something that we basically had written on the wall of Brighter Vision,where like it's exactly what you just said tell a client it's gonna take longerand surprise them, that's gonna be a lot easier and you're gonna get a lot lesspushback than if you're consistently, setting up these deadlines for yourselfthat are unattainable.

[00:15:42] Because when you arethe business owner, You ultimately control the timelines and if you are toobusy, that's a change that you can make.

[00:15:49] Megan Weeks: exactly. So important. The worstnews to tell them like, oh, it's gonna be Another month now. Sorry.. that'sdefinitely a part of the process that I had to kinda learn as I went. but thenalso making sure that you have a good communication style set up.

[00:16:04] I remember in thepast I didn't really tell them I only like emailing or maybe we should just hopon calls. So there was clients in the past that would text me and talk aboutwork on text and that just also would get overwhelming. So I think having agood process up front of how you prefer to communicate setting those boundariesin your business too is I.

[00:16:23] Sam Chlebowski: I love that point that you'vemade, and it's something that Seems like on the surface pretty simple, but onceyou get into it is something that complex to an extent, but the reason why it'scomplex is because it's so incredibly important If you're not controlling.

[00:16:37] The medium ofcommunication and communication is happening across all of these differentsystems. you can't track anything. You can't log anything. You can't know wherethere's holes in the ship that you need to patch within your process,

[00:16:52] Megan Weeks: I just actually was making somecontent about making sure that you never start a project without a contract.Because even if it's like your friend or a family member or someone that youreally trust, I think it's important to have that process no matter who it isyou're working with, because you just never know, like you never know what canhappen and contracts just protect both of you two, and it makes sure thatyou're on the same page.

[00:17:14] And, that'simportant to have referring to my old experiences when I didn't have a contractand things happened where maybe the revisions went past the amount that Iusually let them go past. another month down the line, still working onrevisions and you're not getting paid for that.

[00:17:29] it's just importantto have that contract, from the get go no matter who it is you're working with.

[00:17:33] Sam Chlebowski: In your contracts, howintentional and how much detail do you have to provide to the scope of theproject to avoid that sort of scope creep.

[00:17:44] Megan Weeks: Yeah, I've been adding to my contractevery year for the past like seven years. mine, I would say mine's actuallyprobably smaller than most people's. , I just kind of go over the basics ofthis is the scope of the project. and then I also go into the details of likehow many revisions before additional charges.

[00:18:01] and then I also havean area for them to initial under the important parts so that I make sure thatthey're actually looking at it and reading it. another important, uh, line itemon my contract is that they're paying, on the payment plan due. and if theydon't pay on those payment plan due dates, that there could be an additionalfee for a late fee.

[00:18:19] Because I've hadclients in the past where they think that since the project isn't moving alongas they thought it would, that they don't need to pay until they get that nextdeliverable. But in reality, it's just, that's the payment plan that's set upand that's what they need to follow. So I have like line items that kind of goover those types of.

[00:18:38] Sam Chlebowski: When I've had to like, bringcontracts into conversations that, there was an issue for whatever reason, acontract is almost like a. Third party arbitrator for that conversation betweenthe client, you're basically calling over your manager to explain the rule to

[00:18:54] Megan Weeks: Yeah,

[00:18:55] Sam Chlebowski: you don't have bear thatblame, but you can say, yes, hey, I put it here. I clearly explained you needto pay even if this isn't, going to the schedule you had in mind because of X,y, and Z delays on your end. So yeah, it's, it's some really phenomenal pointsabout that.

[00:19:10] Something I evenreally talked about recently, but is so incredibly important to your business

[00:19:15] and the health ofit,

[00:19:17] Megan Weeks: yeah, definitely. Definitely animportant part of the process that I recommend doing before you even start thedesigning. Super important.

[00:19:24] Sam Chlebowski: and in the future, our goal ofwhat we're trying to do here@motion.ao, just a shameless plug, is, you know,right now we're focused on like what happens. Directly after the contract tothe end of that project. But within a couple months we hope to build out full,know, contracts, invoicing, proposals, right into the platform.

[00:19:43] So all of that canbe managed in like a streamlined system.

[00:19:46] And you can dothings like how you mentioned where, you don't have all of these communicationchannels, you just have one, which is, what we hope motion.io will become.

[00:19:56] Megan Weeks: awesome.

[00:19:56] Sam Chlebowski: outside of work, what do youlike to

[00:19:59] Megan Weeks: I actually play soccer , I playon a indoor soccer team and then so I'm not a reader, I usually hate reading,but I've been reading the Colleen Hoover books. I dunno if you've been hearingabout that,

[00:20:11] Sam Chlebowski: No, I haven.

[00:20:12] Megan Weeks: They're addicting. Like I've beenreading those in any free time I can get.

[00:20:16] And sometimes that'shard to come by, especially when you have your own business. It's you have tokind of make the time to go do those hobbies and do those things. But her booksare so good. So I've been reading those a lot. And, honestly just hanging outwith my boyfriend and my cat making sure that I do step away from the computerand, you know, just.

[00:20:34] Live your life too.Cause I think what I said in the beginning of not knowing how to find thatbalance at first and just working all the time, it definitely was catching upto me and I felt like I wasn't showing up as my best self every day because Iwasn't allowing myself to go get my workout in or go enjoy my time with myboyfriend and my cat and like doing those things that fill you up and make surethat you can show up your best self.

[00:20:59] It is important tohave those hobbies and get outside and step away. And actually I have realizedthat stepping away and doing things that aren't related to my work makes memore creative. So I'm a big believer in finding those hobbies outside of work.

[00:21:14] Sam Chlebowski: Yeah, and it's a a reallyinteresting point to me because yeah, you are a creative professional and youneed to have the energy to put that creativity into your business. I feel likeif you're caught up so often in the day to day, uh, that you don't have a timeto step away, it's like, you know, you'll just get beaten down day after daytrying to rack your brain for new creative.

[00:21:36] Megan Weeks: I'm sure a lot of creatives cantotally resonate with this, but not every day. I'm feeling my most creative, Iget creative at certain hours of the day and I've had to kinda learn what hoursthose are and really just diving into those times of the day.

[00:21:51] When I quit my nineto five job and took my business full time, I would feel so guilty not sittingat my desk from nine to five. And it was like the weirdest mental thing I hadto get over. Cuz I can work on my own schedule now and if I design. From likethree to five o'clock, I can just work during that time if I'm my most effective.

[00:22:09] because in themorning, I'm still kind of waking up and I've had to learn that over time too.it's okay to have my morning to do the things that make me show up the mostcreative later in the day.

[00:22:20] Sam Chlebowski: As a business owner, it's likeyou have that freedom and you've done the hard work to create that freedom foryourself. And I think that if you're not leveraging that to a certain extent,Why are you doing it in the first place? But I do resonate with that a lot,that wanting to sit at a desk from nine to five, from like normal workinghours. But then after time, and this is something I've recently gotten over,you realize that if I want to go do something else, if I have like stuff I needto go do around the house or just wanna take a break, I can come back to thisand work on it later at nine or 10 o'clock if I want.

[00:22:52] So, two finalquestions before we sign off here. One kind of fun. Second one, just morebusiness. the first one, the fun one. So I saw that you have this video seriesthat you did for a little while, the wine and design series.

[00:23:05] Megan Weeks: Yeah,

[00:23:06] Sam Chlebowski: Somebody who is, you know,really just getting into wine like over the past year.

[00:23:10] Megan Weeks: yeah,

[00:23:11] Sam Chlebowski: what are your favorite typesof wine to drink? Any, any Go-to bottles. Go-to regions, flavors, let it fly.

[00:23:20] Megan Weeks: Yeah. I have a favorite. It's alittle more pricey at the grocery store, but it's Naomi. The Miami Pinot War.So good . Um, but that's usually like an occasional bottle cuz it is a littlepricier.

[00:23:34] But I also reallylike the Trader Joe's brand of the organic wines cuz I've been trying to dolike more of the organic wines cuz I've heard that it has less like soul fightsand it's supposed to be better for you. trader chose organic wine is so goodand it's really affordable too.

[00:23:50] Sam Chlebowski: Naomi is one that I've hadbefore. actually a bunch of my in-laws like really love it

[00:23:54] Megan Weeks: Oh, really?

[00:23:55] Sam Chlebowski: wine prices where they live.It's like, you know, kind of deeper in Colorado are, you know, there's a biggermarkup out there, so come down to, here in Denver and buy it because it's, youknow,

[00:24:06] Megan Weeks: That's awesome.

[00:24:06] Sam Chlebowski: four or $5 cheaper.

[00:24:08] Megan Weeks: I need to do that. . Fly toColorado and bring a suitcase.

[00:24:13] Sam Chlebowski: Thanks for answering the funquestion. Final question for this episode if people want to learn more aboutyou, they wanna see your content, where should they go?

[00:24:20] Megan Weeks: Yeah, so I am the most active onYouTube, and you can just type in Megan Weeks and that'll come up on YouTube.But I'm also on Instagram and TikTok at Megan Weeks Design Co. And yeah, I'mactive on all of those platforms and I'd love to connect with everyone there.

[00:24:38] Sam Chlebowski: Amazing. And we will put linksto all of that in the show notes, uh, of this episode. Thank you everybody forlistening and joining in on this episode of Designing Growth. Megan, any finalthings to add before we sign off here?

[00:24:52] Megan Weeks: Thank you so much for having meon. I really appreciate it. And if I could tell anyone anything, if they feelthe pull and the drive to take their business full time. I say take the riskand do it because there's no such thing as failure. You're gonna learn nomatter what.

[00:25:07] Sam Chlebowski: I love it. Go do start thatbusiness, make that leap grow to that next level. I think that that is aperfect way to sum. This episode. Megan, thank you so much for sharing yourtime and your expertise today. Can't thank you Take care everybody, and talk toyou next week. Bye-bye.

[00:25:24] Happy Thursdayeverybody, and welcome back to Designing Growth. My name is Sam Chlebowskijoining you for another episode, and this week we have Megan Weeks joining uson the podcast. Megan is the owner of Megan Week's Design Co, which is agraphic design and brand consultancy based in Nevada who helps wellnessbusinesses create, refine, and develop strong brands that work across allplatforms.

[00:25:56] And a lot of whatMegan does is just rooted in simplicity and having the brand speak for itselfand developing, uh, you know, these beautiful brands that can tell the story.So, Megan, how are you doing?

[00:26:09] Megan Weeks: I'm doing good. Thank you. Thanksfor the intro. I love how you got every little piece of my like bio in there, .That's awesome.

[00:26:19] Sam Chlebowski: Being a podcast host is askill that I've been slowly trying to hone in, so I appreciate

[00:26:26] it

[00:26:26] Megan Weeks: already impressed

[00:26:30] Sam Chlebowski: Very cool. Very cool. Well, soMegan. What I typically like to start off with asking all of our guests, and aquestion I wanna ask you is what led you into starting your own business from,you know, maybe your background in design to where you are now?

[00:26:52] Megan Weeks: Yeah, so. Back in. So basicallyseven years ago I was still in college and it was like my junior year of beingin college. And that's when I first sort of got introduced to like usingPhotoshop for graphic design. Um, cause I remember one of our school projectsand I majored in journalism, so it was kind of unusual to be doing designprojects, but one of our.

[00:27:20] Allowed us to createa flyer for like a local business in our city. And that's when I first got likea taste into graphic design, but I still didn't really understand that it couldlike become a full time career. So I didn't dive into it as much as I kind ofwish I did back then. Um, but I definitely like found myself loving it and itfelt. Like, not easy for me, but it just felt like a passion for me, like fromthe get go. Um, and I even remember like when I was really little, just alwaysbeing drawn to like creativity and crafting and projects. So, It was reallycool for me to like see how you can be creative in an actual like career. Um,so that's when I first got a little bit of a taste in a graphic design and thenI started going down the photography career and that's what I really wanted tostart doing was like wedding photography and just being a full-time photographer.

[00:28:20] But I think thatpassion of mine in photography so much now, because that's what. Allowed me tolearn Photoshop and the Adobe programs, um, like super well. And then rightafter college I was working at a marketing agency and that was when I reallystarted using graphic design, um, for like clients. And I was able to createwebsites.

[00:28:44] I was able to createlogos and I was still using Photoshop. I wasn't even like super comfortablewith Adobe Illustrator or any of the other programs yet. I was still like verynew into. But that agency that I was working for, they ended up going under.Um, they actually, it was kind of, yeah, it was kind of interesting to see cuzI, I learned a lot with like the project management situation at that company.

[00:29:08] Like, it opened myeyes to like just how to work together as a team with clients. And um, whenthey went under, that's when I got on Upwork, which was that freelancingplatform. And that's when I started doing freelancing on my own. So seven yearslater, I finally took the leap into running my own business.

[00:29:29] So this is only myfirst year as a full-time graphic designer. I've always been doing it as like aside side hustle. Um, but this is my first year being full-time with it.

[00:29:43] Sam Chlebowski: And I actually didn't knowthat until right now, and that is super exciting. So, I mean, reflecting onyour first year of, you know, full time running your own business, you know,what are the big things that you've learned?

[00:29:57] Megan Weeks: Yeah, so I'm actually kind ofglad I waited to take the leap into doing it cuz I could have three years agoprobably done this. But I really set myself up before going full time withlike, Understanding how to manage clients, having like the right contracts andproposals and like really having the client management process down so that Iwouldn't be wasting months and months figuring that out instead of likeactually designing.

[00:30:25] Um, so I feel likethat really, like I learned a lot in that way that that's so important to have.The project management stuff figured out before running your own business. Um,but then also just like finding a good balance with yourself because when I didgo full time, I did not give myself any sort of break.

[00:30:45] I just jumped rightinto going crazy with it. Like from the moment I woke up to the moment I wasready for bed. and that I quickly realized you can definitely burn yourself outeven if you love it. Um, and finding that balance of like still taking care ofyourself, but also, um, having your business. So I definitely learned thatlesson very quickly.

[00:31:10] Sam Chlebowski: And the way that you approachthat I think is super smart that you were very intentional about setting upsome of these systems and processes before you went ahead and kind of jumpedin, uh, you know, both feet into the deep end. What? How have you organizedyour process for working with clients? Because I think that this is somethingthat really helpful for other folks to know who are considering making asimilar jump.

[00:31:36] What did thatprocess look like for you? What tools did you end up using for that?

[00:31:42] Megan Weeks: Yeah, so when I, when I look backon, when I didn't have any sort of tool, it was, I definitely had a lot of liketrial and error and figuring out like how many projects I can handle at a timeand how to communicate with my clients the best way. So I actually, a goodfriend of mine was using Dev Soto and that's when I first got introduced toprograms online that can help you organize everything and have everything inone place.

[00:32:10] Um, so that's whereI have it currently. And, It's a little bit like, I have different areas ofwhere I'm organizing things right now. Like I have my Google calendar and Ihave, um, dub sodo for like the contracts and proposals and more of like theforms that I need. Um, so that's what I am using right now and it does help alot to have everything in one place sort of so,

[00:32:36] Sam Chlebowski: Very cool, very cool. And withclients and, you know, getting more clients, something we talk about a lot onthis show. What have you been doing to get clients? Are you still on Upwork orare you getting also, you know, a stream of clients? Um, just like through yourown marketing?

[00:32:54] Megan Weeks: Yeah, so I. I really thank a lotof my like success in getting clients to saying yes to like so manyopportunities in the very beginning. Like when I was working at the agency, Ialways made sure to like, um, never burn a bridge and make sure that I was likeshowing up as my best self. And I think that was what really helped me when Ifirst kicked off doing it on my own because, Word of mouth is so huge,especially where I live.

[00:33:21] Like our city ispretty small and people, people talk and you'll be surprised at how many peopleneed graphic design help. Um, so that's what really helped me in the beginning.And then Upwork was so successful for me like four years ago. I feel like it'sgotten so saturated now, and unfortunately there's a lot of people on therethat charge like nothing for a logo, so it's hard to compete with.

[00:33:44] On Upwork. Um, soright now it's honestly social media. Like I just, I try and make content everysingle day and get on TikTok, get on Instagram, get on YouTube, and that's beenhuge for me cuz you'll reach people from all over the world, which is awesome.

[00:34:03] Sam Chlebowski: Amazing. Yeah. Something I'vebeen seeing as well. Um, you know, you're pretty active on YouTube, um, aswell. Is that a marketing channel for your, for your business as well or is itsomething like maybe just entirely different that you're doing?

[00:34:16] Megan Weeks: Yeah, I feel like so lucky thatit's turned into what it has now because when I first started on YouTube, likeit's so embarrassing. I have videos that like are way old that I would do likefashion halls or like show the clothing I bought online and I was just doing itfor fun. Like I never thought YouTube would.

[00:34:36] Grow for me until Iposted a video like three years ago about my logo design process, and that'swhen I reached the whole graphic design community and I realized that there'slike a need for more voices in the community. Um, and that's when I got moreand more consistent on YouTube. And at the time, I really wasn't doing it for.Financial benefits or anything like that. I just loved making videos. Like Ihave like a passion for that too. Um, but I'm so like thankful that I kept upwith that because YouTube is like, in my opinion, the best platform for likeshelf life for your content. Like I have content from three years ago that arestill getting a ton of views and that's been so helpful, helpful for me in mybusiness, and I would recommend it for.

[00:35:28] Sam Chlebowski: It's really cool, especiallylike, you know, and I've had this a couple times with things that I've donewhere like I started them as just like this passion project and it fizzled out.But it's funny how those things, especially if you are like the entrepreneurialtype, how those little passion projects will like either evolve into somethingyou didn't expect it as the case with your YouTube video.

[00:35:50] Or provide you theskills for something that you need later on down the road. Like a couple monthsago I had a food podcast I was doing with my friend.

[00:35:59] Megan Weeks: That's awesome.

[00:35:59] Sam Chlebowski: of talking about food and foodstories and that was how I really learned like the ins and outs of podcasting.And that didn't go anywhere, but it set me up to be able to like record thisshow each week and to suggest it when we're talking about like marketing andinitiatives for, uh, motion dot, I.

[00:36:16] Megan Weeks: yeah. No, I'm a huge believer inthat. Like some of the things I've said yes to in the past, definitely like.Could be considered a failure or whatever, but it, it led me to moreopportunities. So yeah, I'm a big believer in that too.

[00:36:34] Sam Chlebowski: So I wanted to switch gearscompletely and ask you, you know, as someone who is a designer, a brandconsultant, What are some of your favorite brands out there,

[00:36:49] Megan Weeks: Like,

[00:36:49] Sam Chlebowski: that you've worked?

[00:36:51] Megan Weeks: Okay, well, I definitely havesome dream brands. I was thinking about that the other day, like dream brands Iwanna work with. Um, so I'm always drawn to like minimalism and simplicity inabl in a brand. Um, and I love like Lulu Lemon, of course. I love theirclothing, but I also love like, just how simple everything is.

[00:37:14] It's just so likeattractive to the eye. And I find that so cool that it's just so minimal yetlike effective. So that's definitely a brand I've always been drawn to. Andthen also like there's so many brands that I honestly just buy because of thelook of it. And I'm trying to think of another one.

[00:37:33] Like of coursethere's makeup brands that I like, like. At Sephora, if you go in there, I'malways drawn to the ones with like the simple labeling. I just find that likethe most beautiful in my opinion. Um, but I would say Lululemon is definitelyup there for me in terms of a brand that I would love to work with one day.

[00:37:51] Um, that'sdefinitely up there,

[00:37:56] Sam Chlebowski: So we can talk Sephora for alittle bit because I am very familiar. I've been in there. Way too many timeswith my wife. Uh, but the shampoo that she uses all of Plex is, has some reallynice packaging in my opinion. I don't know if you've seen that before, but

[00:38:14] Megan Weeks: Oh yeah,

[00:38:14] Sam Chlebowski: packaging.

[00:38:16] Megan Weeks: I would agree. Yeah, thatactually reminded me too. This isn't in Sephora, but it's a brand called Pros.Um, it's p r o s E and I recently purchased shampoo conditioner from, fromthem, um, cuz one of my friends was talking about it and when it got deliveredto me, it. The most impressive packaging I've ever seen.

[00:38:36] They had like personalpersonalization all over it. Like they had my name on the box and like

[00:38:43] Sam Chlebowski: Whoa.

[00:38:43] Megan Weeks: this whole printout sheet of likewhere I live and how that's affecting like my hair health. And I just thoughtthat was so cool. I'm like, wow. They like really took their time to, topresent everything to me.

[00:38:55] So yeah, that one'sreally cool.

[00:38:58] Sam Chlebowski: Yeah. That type of stuff canbe so powerful sometimes. I mean, I think the, like the folks that really.Change the game with their packaging of course is Apple. You know, everybody'ssaving all of the Apple boxes that

[00:39:14] Megan Weeks: Yeah.

[00:39:15] Sam Chlebowski: a reason why you do that cuzit's not just a cardboard box. You're like opening an experience.

[00:39:20] And I don't knowabout you, but I have, I think, reused one of those boxes a single time

[00:39:26] Megan Weeks: Oh yeah. Same

[00:39:27] Sam Chlebowski: a phone by myself one time outof like, you know, dozens by now Apple device.

[00:39:33] Megan Weeks: Yeah, no, same here The otherday, like I had my Apple Watch box that I've had for like years. I'm like, whydo I not wanna throw this away? And it's still in my desk drawer. Like I don'tknow what I'm gonna do with it, but it's nice.

[00:39:47] Sam Chlebowski: Yeah, just like in inherentlytied to this, this just cardboard box that you could totally throw.

[00:39:55] Megan Weeks: Yeah, and same thing for thathair brand, like the, the card that they put in the box with like the detailsof where I live and like the environment, how it affects everything. Iliterally use it as a bookmark in my book. So yeah, it works. I mean, I thinkit's just nice when, especially the personalization, it's like you don't wannathrow that away when it looks really cool.

[00:40:18] Sam Chlebowski: Yep. Totally agree. Totallyagree.

[00:40:21] Megan Weeks: Yeah,

[00:40:25] Sam Chlebowski: So I know that within yourbusiness you have kind of defined your niche as like wellness, uh, businesses.How did you decide on that? Was that kind of a slow evolution or was thatsomething that you just said, Hey, this is where I want to be, so this is whatI'm going to kind of associate myself to? How did that process of kneeing down,uh, come about?

[00:40:48] Megan Weeks: Yeah, that's a good question. Soactually this is the part I skipped over, but before. I majored in journalismin school. I was going for a nutrition major. Um, I've always been likepassionate about just wellness, nutrition and everything to do with that. Um,but I'm terrible at science. So , I changed my major quickly, but I always knewlike that was also a passion of mine.

[00:41:14] So, Before I nichedown, I was like really afraid to niche cuz I was afraid I was gonna miss outon other people, not in the wellness industry because I, I really like workingwith like everyone. Um, but I just found myself saying yes to projects thatwere like below my benchmark pricing and that just weren't really fulfillingme, um, as much as like wellness companies were because I did have thatadditional passion for it and I understood it better.

[00:41:46] So that's when Idecided, why don't I just combine those two passions and show up as like anexpert in that industry, visually for the wellness companies. So, so far it'sbeen great and I feel like it's allowed me to connect with, with more wellnesscompanies. So ultimately it ended up working in my favor.

[00:42:06] So, but it took me along time to take that leap into nicheing cuz it is a. Thing to do when you areafraid you're gonna miss out on things. But I still get inquiries that aren'tsometimes wellness companies, and that just proves to me that like you're stillgonna talk to people that aren't specifically in that area no matter what.

[00:42:32] Sam Chlebowski: It's really nice for me tohear the story too, because the process that you described and kind of how youfound that niche over time is something that I've seen personally. Um, when wewere running brighter vision and is something that I've kind of openly toldpeople is like, Hey, You have to look at the people that you have worked withand the businesses you've worked with previously, and see what made that work,but also understand, hey, this is the type of business that I want to work withas well.

[00:43:07] And when those twothings kind of synergize that, Is the moment that it seems like at least mostof the people I've asked this question to where they're like, yes, this is whatI should be doing. Like this is my niche. So it takes a little bit of time andI think that the example of what you had shared, how you would work, weredoing, uh, work on Upwork originally.

[00:43:28] That's like a greatway to build a portfolio if you are a new designer. But I do think. That momentwhere you have to decide to like change the messaging on your website, changeyour positioning, maybe alter like the services you're providing a little bit.It can be scary and it's been scary for me. I know you said that it's, it was alittle nerve-wracking for you,

[00:43:49] Megan Weeks: Oh yeah.

[00:43:50] Sam Chlebowski: I guess what I'm trying to sayis like, if you make the jump, it's gonna be fine and there's a lot of benefitsyou can get.

[00:43:56] Megan Weeks: Totally. And I always, like yousaid, I recommend that for like new designers to not come out the gates with aniche. If you don't really know if you like working in that area, because Ithink a lot of times it might sound really awesome to work for a certainindustry and then it just isn't as great as maybe you think it might be or.

[00:44:18] It just might notlive up to like what you thought. So I think experimenting and getting thatexperience before deciding is really smart. And yeah, like I said, you're notreally gonna miss out on clients that they're not gonna be like, I'm nottalking to her cuz she's only wellness. They're most likely still gonna reachout to you if they like your work.

[00:44:38] And that's somethingI had to kind of learn too.

[00:44:42] Sam Chlebowski: Very. Very cool. Yeah, andit's, you know, it's all a process. I wanted to talk a little bit about, youknow, a little bit further about client process. And I know, you know, withinthe first year of your business you shared some kind of lessons that you hadlearned and that was one of the big things that, you know, having a process forthat.

[00:45:02] What are some of thechallenging hurdles that folks who are going full time into their designbusiness might face when they're managing multiple client projects at once thatyou've experienced lately? And how did you solve those things?

[00:45:19] Megan Weeks: Yeah, so there's definitely a lotof things that can happen and I feel like something that you can't always planfor is maybe the, the project not going exactly through the timeline as youwanted it to. Um, cuz there's been lots of times where. I know how manyprojects I can handle at a time, but if that branding project goes past thethree week mark that we planned for, it might run into my other projects, whichwill require me to be a little bit like overwhelmed and have a lot on my plate.

[00:45:54] So making sure thatyou account for like the additional time that could potentially happen that youmight need is important because I used to tell clients like, oh yeah, I can doyour logo in like two. , but now I tell them like four weeks because you neverknow. Like it's better to provide it sooner and like kind of like surprise 'emthat like we finished it early than to have to tell them like, oh, it's gonnatake another two weeks.

[00:46:19] So that's somethingI had to kind of learn is like, it's okay to tell them it'll take some moretime. And also to let them know that like that the amount of time it will takeis dependent on the feedback I get and how quickly you respond. Um, that'ssomething. Really important too, because that can quickly get outta hand ifeverything gets run into each other and you have like 10 projects at once.

[00:46:44] Um, that's happenedto me before and it's overwhelming. So

[00:46:49] Sam Chlebowski: Under Promise and over deliverwas something that we basically had written on the wall of Brighter Vision,where like it's exactly what you just said where, hey, tell a client it's gonnatake longer and surprise them, that's gonna be a lot easier and you're gonnaget a lot less pushback than if you're consistently, you know, setting up thesedeadlines for yourself that are unattainable.

[00:47:12] Because when you arethe business owner, You ultimately control the timelines and if you are liketoo busy, you know, that's a change that you can make.

[00:47:22] Megan Weeks: Yeah, exactly. So important.Cause yeah, that's the worst news to tell them like, oh, it's gonna be another.Another month now. Sorry. Like, it's better to just be like, okay, this istypically how long. Um, and yeah, that's, that's definitely a part of theprocess that I had to kinda learn as I went. Um, but then also making sure thatyou have like in the process, like a good communication style set up.

[00:47:50] Because I rememberin the past too, like I didn't really tell them like, I only like emailing ormaybe we should just hop on calls. So there, there was clients in the past thatlike would text me and like talk about work on text and that just also wouldget overwhelming. So I think having a good process up front of like how youprefer to communicate and like setting those boundaries in your business too isI.

[00:48:15] Sam Chlebowski: I love that point that you'vemade, and it's something that is, Seems like on the surface is like prettysimple, but once you get into it is like something that is, you know, not only,you know, it is complex to an extent, but the reason why it's complex isbecause it's so incredibly important If you're not controlling.

[00:48:35] The medium ofcommunication and communication is happening across all of these differentsystems. It's like you can't track anything. You can't log anything. You can'tknow where there's holes in the ship that you need to patch within yourprocess, and there's no way of like streamlining everything.

[00:48:53] Megan Weeks: exactly. Yeah, it's veryimportant to do. And then also, I just actually was making some content aboutmaking sure that you never start a project without a contract. Because even ifit's like your friend or a family member or someone that you really trust, Ithink it's important to have that process no matter who it is you're workingwith, um, because you just never know, like you never know what can happen andcontracts just protect both of you two, and it makes sure that you're on thesame page.

[00:49:24] And, um, yeah,that's important to have because I, I'm like re referring to my old experienceswhen I didn't have a contract and things happened where like maybe therevisions went past the amount that I usually let them go past. Then we're likeanother month down the line, still working on revisions and you're not gettingpaid for that.

[00:49:44] And it's justimportant to have that contract, um, from the get go no matter who it is you'reworking with.

[00:49:52] Sam Chlebowski: In your contracts, howintentional and how much detail do you have to provide to the scope of theproject to avoid that sort of like scope creep.

[00:50:04] Megan Weeks: Yeah, I've been adding to mycontract every year for the past like seven years. Um, but I, mine, I would saymine's actually probably smaller than most people's. , I just kind of go overthe basics of like, this is the scope of the project. Um, and then I also gointo like the details of like how many revisions before additional charges.

[00:50:26] Um, and then I alsohave like an area for them to, to initial under like the important parts sothat I make sure that they're actually like looking at it and reading it. Um,and then another important, uh, line item on my contract is that they'repaying, um, on the payment plan due. and if they don't pay on those paymentplan due dates, that there could be an additional fee for a late fee.

[00:50:49] Um, because I've hadclients in the past where they think that since the project isn't moving alongas they thought it would, that they don't need to pay until they get that nextdeliverable. But in reality, it's just, that's the payment plan that's set upand that's what they need to follow. So I have like line items that kind of goover those types of.

[00:51:13] Sam Chlebowski: And some of the things youpointed out are just, you know, a highlight for me, like why contracts are soimportant

[00:51:18] Megan Weeks: Yeah.

[00:51:19] Sam Chlebowski: a contract to me, and whenI've had to like, bring contracts into conversations that, you know, there wasan issue for whatever reason, a contract is almost like a. Third party likearbitrator for that conversation between the client, where you call this other,you, you're basically calling over your manager to explain the rule to

[00:51:43] Megan Weeks: Yeah,

[00:51:44] Sam Chlebowski: you don't have to like bearthat blame, but you can say, yes, hey, I put it here. I clearly explained itlike, Hey, you need to pay even if this isn't, you know, going to the scheduleyou had in mind because of X, y, and Z delays on your end. So yeah, it's, it'ssome really phenomenal points about that.

[00:52:01] Something I evenreally talked about recently, but is so incredibly important to your businessand the health of it,

[00:52:07] Megan Weeks: yeah, definitely. Definitely animportant part of the process that I recommend doing before you even start thedesigning. Super important.

[00:52:19] Sam Chlebowski: and in the future, our goal ofwhat we're trying to do here@motion.ao, just a shameless plug, is, you know,right now we're focused on like what happens. Directly after the contract tolike the end of that project. But within a couple months we hope to build outfull, you know, contracts, invoicing, proposals, right into the platform.

[00:52:38] So all of that canbe managed in like a streamlined system. And you can do things like how youmentioned where, you know, you don't have all of these communication channels,you just have one, which is, you know what we hope motion.io will become.

[00:52:53] Megan Weeks: awesome. Definitely important.

[00:52:58] Sam Chlebowski: Very cool. So outside of work,what do you like to do?

[00:53:04] Megan Weeks: Yeah, I, I actually play soccer ,I play on a indoor soccer team and then I love to right now, so I'm not areader, like I usually hate reading, but I've been reading the Colleen Hooverbooks. I dunno if you've been hearing about that, but.

[00:53:22] Sam Chlebowski: No, I haven.

[00:53:23] Megan Weeks: They're addicting. Like I've beenreading those like in any free time I can get.

[00:53:27] And um, sometimesthat's hard to come by, especially when you have your own business. It's likeyou have to kind of make the time to go do those hobbies and do those things.But her books are so good. So I've been reading those a lot. And, um, honestlyjust like hanging out with my boyfriend and my cat and like making sure that Ido step away from the computer and, you know, just.

[00:53:50] Live your life too.Cause I think what I said in the beginning of like not knowing how to find thatbalance at first and just working all the time, it definitely was catching upto me and I felt like I wasn't showing up as my best self every day because Iwasn't allowing myself to like go get my workout in or go enjoy my time with myboyfriend and my cat and like doing those things that fill you up and make surethat you can show up your best self.

[00:54:18] It is important tohave those hobbies and get outside and step away. And actually I have realizedthat stepping away and doing things that aren't related to my work makes memore creative. So I'm a big believer in finding those hobbies outside of work.

[00:54:36] Sam Chlebowski: Yeah, and it's a a reallyinteresting point to me because yeah, you are a creative professional and youneed to have the energy to put that creativity into your business. I feel likeif you're caught up so often in the day to day, uh, that you don't have a timeto step away, it's like, you know, you'll just get beaten down day after daytrying to rack your brain for new creative.

[00:54:58] Megan Weeks: Totally. Yeah. And just lookingat a screen too, it's like not good . It's not good for my eyes, not good foranything for a long period, and I feel like, I'm sure a lot of creatives cantotally resonate with this, but not every day. I'm like feeling my mostcreative, like. I get creative at certain hours of the day and I've had tokinda learn what hours those are and really just diving into those times of theday.

[00:55:25] And I used to feelso guilty, like if so, when I quit my nine to five job and took my businessfull time, I would feel so guilty not sitting at my desk from nine to five. Andit was like the weirdest mental thing I had to get over. Cuz I'm like, I canwork on my own schedule now and if I design. From like three to five o'clock, Ican just work during that time if I'm gonna be like my most effective.

[00:55:50] Um, because in themorning, like I'm still kind of waking up and I've had to learn that over timetoo. Like, it's okay to like have my morning to do the things that make me showup the most creative later in the day. Um, so that's definitely been somethingI've had to learn too.

[00:56:10] Sam Chlebowski: You, you know, as a businessowner, it's like you have that freedom and you've done the hard work to createthat freedom for yourself. And I think that if you're not leveraging that to acertain extent, Why are you doing it in the first place? But I do resonate withthat a lot, that wanting to sit at a desk at, you know, from nine to five, fromlike normal working hours.

[00:56:33] But then after time,and this is something I've like recently gotten over, you realize that like,hey, if I want to go do something else, if I have like stuff I need to go doaround the house or just wanna take a break, like I can come back to this andwork on it later at nine or 10 o'clock if I want.

[00:56:48] Megan Weeks: exactly. Yeah. And I've had to kindof realize like, what's the point of me sitting at my computer from nine to 12if I'm not gonna be productive? Like I'll be more productive if I just diveinto. The certain hours of the day where I'm gonna be like completely focusedand in my flow state. So that's been helpful.

[00:57:06] And this kind ofjust made me think of something cuz I, for a while, for the past two months Iwas struggling with like productivity and like cuz when you are your own bossand when you're at home alone working by yourself, it can be hard to like staytrue to like your time block schedule. Not get distracted and stuff.

[00:57:25] And I was findingmyself like feeling that way for a while. So I started implementing some newproductivity things that have helped me so much. So I got this little like timeblock cube where it like times you for 30 minutes and then it goes off. And forme, like the 30 minute mark was perfect cause then I could get up and go on awalk or like do something else and come back and change to the next. So findingthat like kind of flow too has helped me too. But yeah, getting over that guiltof like, it's okay that all these other people are working at nine o'clock. AndI also, sorry I'm jumping all over, but I remember hearing this one girl saythat she's like solar powered, like she needs like the sun and like just natureand outside to like sit down and have that energy to work.

[00:58:12] And that resonatedwith me too, cause. I need to do something before I just set up my computer.

[00:58:20] Sam Chlebowski: Yeah. Yeah. I also, I lovethis, uh, time block cube. Just like looking at pictures of this, I think Ineed to get one of these. This

[00:58:27] Megan Weeks: Yeah. They're so helpful. I sawsomeone on TikTok with them. I'm like, I think I need that

[00:58:34] Sam Chlebowski: Oh, that is great.

[00:58:35] Megan Weeks: Yeah, it's helpful. Cause Ioriginally, I was just like time blocking on my Google calendar, but like, It'snice to actually have like an alarm right in front of you, like go off like,okay, now you can move to the next task. And then I can see the time liketicking. So I feel like, okay, I need to focus, need to get to work and yeah,it's so helpful.

[00:58:57] Sam Chlebowski: I love it. I love it. So, twofinal questions before we sign off here. One kind of fun. Second one, um, youknow, just more business. Uh, the first one, the fun one. So I saw that youhave this video series that you did for a little while, the wine and designseries.

[00:59:16] Megan Weeks: Yeah,

[00:59:17] Sam Chlebowski: Somebody who is, you know,really just getting into wine like over the past year.

[00:59:21] Megan Weeks: yeah,

[00:59:23] Sam Chlebowski: what are your favorite typesof wine to drink? Any, any Go-to bottles. Go-to regions, flavors, let it fly.

[00:59:32] Megan Weeks: Yeah. I have a favorite. It's alittle more pricey at the grocery store, but it's Naomi. The Miami Pinot War.So good . Um, but that's usually like an occasional bottle cuz it is a littlepricier. Um, but any of the mi wines are amazing. Um, and then that's m e m oI, I think that's how you spell it. Um, so those ones are really good.

[00:59:56] But I also reallylike the Trader Joe's brand of the organic wines cuz I've been trying to dolike more of the organic wines cuz I've heard that it has less like soul fightsand it's supposed to be better for you. So the trader doors trader choseorganic wine is so good and it's really affordable too. I like their likeChardonnay, their swab blanc. Those ones are really good.

[01:00:23] Sam Chlebowski: Amazing. Yeah. Uh, Naomi isone that I've had before. It's um, actually a bunch of my in-laws like reallylove it

[01:00:30] Megan Weeks: Oh, really?

[01:00:30] Sam Chlebowski: The, like wine prices wherethey live. It's like, you know, kind of deeper in Colorado are, you know,there's a bigger markup out there, so they'll like come down to, you know, herein Denver and buy it because it's, you know,

[01:00:43] Megan Weeks: That's awesome.

[01:00:44] Sam Chlebowski: four or $5 cheaper.

[01:00:45] So, yeah.

[01:00:46] Megan Weeks: I need to do that. . Fly toColorado and bring a suitcase.

[01:00:51] Sam Chlebowski: Because you are in, uh, you'rein Reno, right?

[01:00:54] Megan Weeks: Yeah. Yeah. Nevada. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:01:01] Sam Chlebowski: I love it. Well, thanks foranswering the fun question. Final question for this episode is if people wantto learn more about you, they wanna see your content, where should they go?

[01:01:11] Megan Weeks: Yeah, so I am the most active onYouTube, and you can just type in Megan Weeks and that'll come up on YouTube.But I'm also on Instagram and TikTok at Megan Weeks Design Co. And yeah, I'mactive on all of those platforms and I'd love to connect with everyone there.

[01:01:31] Sam Chlebowski: Amazing. And we will put linksto all of that in the show notes, uh, of this episode.

[01:01:37] Megan Weeks: Thank

[01:01:37] Sam Chlebowski: Until next time. Thank youeverybody for listening and joining in on this episode of Designing Growth.Megan, any final things to add before we sign off here?

[01:01:48] Megan Weeks: Thank you so much for having meon. I really appreciate it. And if I could tell anyone anything, if they feelthe pull and the drive to take their business full time. I say take the riskand do it because I mean, there's no such thing as failure. You're gonna learnno matter what.

[01:02:08] Sam Chlebowski: I love it. Yeah, you heard tohear her, to hear first folks go do it. You know, start that business, makethat leap grow to that next level. I think that that is a perfect way to sum.This episode. So Megan, thank you so much for sharing your time and yourexpertise today. It has been, you know, really awesome to hear about yourjourney and get all of these tips that you have learned, you know, along theway firsthand.

[01:02:32] So can't thank youenough.

[01:02:34] Megan Weeks: thank you.

[01:02:36] Sam Chlebowski: Take care everybody, and talkto you next week. Bye-bye.