Podcast Episode: Megan Imbert, Emmy winner and tech marketing manager, on the frequency of courage

Transcript

‘Megan Imbert (00:00)

having me on your show. I'm Megan Inbert. I'm talking to you from Austin, Texas. So out there in America and my background is one where I don't ever feel like I can just be boxed in. For my corporate day-to-day job, I'm a senior director for a high-tech company doing marketing.

In fact, one of my team members on my team is there in Sydney, Australia. So yeah, I just have a very, very global lens to the world and I'm incredibly passionate around leadership and then also what's going on in the United States and other parts of the world in terms of how we're showing up as human beings. And I started my own podcast, I guess it was May of 2024.

and it's called the frequency of courage. And it's become just more or less a passion project, sort of a movement of helping hopefully inspire people to live courageously, not in spite of fear, but I think we get to the places of our edges by, know, where are we afraid? Where can we be more courageous? so yeah, it's been quite a journey where I am embarking a lot on

you know, my leadership, healing, all sorts of things, but day-to-day job is in marketing for a high-tech company.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (01:23)

Right, what sort of tech?

Right, that's good for everybody these days, isn't it?

Megan Imbert (01:29)

Absolutely.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (01:30)

And I saw something online about an Emmy.

Megan Imbert (01:34)

So when I was in college, I actually studied media technologies and marketing. And I started out with an internship within the National Football League, so the NFL. And I worked for the Washington, they're known as the now Washington Commanders. And I started out in public relations. And then my first full-time job out of college was as a TV producer.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (01:33)

So, going to it

Megan Imbert (01:58)

editor reporter within the team's ⁓ in-house broadcast department. So I actually did win an Emmy and it was awesome for my television production related, excuse me, related to the sports team. And so, yeah, my journey, ⁓ if anyone was to ever look me up, it has been a wild ride because...

I was really good at that job despite the environment. It was not a very healthy environment. It made national news. And I was since removed for a long time, as mentioned, working in high tech. And then in 2020, I was one of the whistleblowers actually against the owner of the team, Dan Snyder. And it turned into four years, 2020 to 2024 of investigations, including United States Congress,

attorney generals, et cetera. He is no longer the owner of the team. And the team has since had great owners and they've gone to some division championships and things like that. But the last five years has been a wild ride, but I did start my career out in television production and editing. Yeah, certainly my life is nonlinear, not boxed in. It's all a journey. So there's a lot of different routes we could go in today's conversation.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (03:17)

Absolutely. That's encouraging for people who do take a path that's not linear. And we do grow up, let me know if you had this experience, you grew up thinking you're going to maybe have one job for a long time or pick a specialty. Everybody gets that question. What do you want to be or who do you want to be when you grow up? And it's normally pick one thing. Did you find that you've had more freedom to change and do a few things at once like tech and a podcast?

Megan Imbert (03:48)

Yeah, it's interesting. think we do a disservice by asking children and young people what they want to do for the rest of their life and make it so that they have to go down a path. And what if they fail or what if they find out, I'm actually not interested in that and how many human beings on this planet are actually doing work because of what one of their parents had pushed them and they're not actually in flow, in joy and all of that.

My passion, even in college, I changed my major three or four times. I love psychology. I love environmental studies. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a marine biologist. I wanted to study the oceans. then, yeah, business came around. Then there was politics and law. And then finally, I was like, okay, you're going to do media technologies and marketing. And with that,

When I jumped from the NFL job into high tech, it was a contracting role for Symantec, another global cybersecurity company. And when that happened, it was such a great opportunity and a really great culture. And I thought about, wow, I guess I'm trading the jocks and for the nerds now. And I was learning so much more and I was always so intimidated of tech and math. count with my fingers. My dad and my brother went off to be computer science.

majors and I just never thought that that realm would be for me at all. And then when I embarked on it and I've been successful in it and on the marketing front, know, everything from events to content and working with customers and prospects and sales teams, it's truly these I don't want anyone listening to be intimidated of different fields because there could be a particular niche just for you. so, yeah, it's been an interesting ride in terms of

being able to try new things. And then I feel very thankful that I'm in this industry because I've been able to kind of flex my wings a bit in terms of having my podcast, having some passion projects. And it feels like at least I'm at, it's a company called Ninja One. I'm at a place right now where I feel like I truly can show up my full authentic self. And I don't think a lot of places in corporate America, people really feel that way. And I feel very lucky.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (06:05)

Is there more empowerment in doing a bit of everything in the right way, in a way that makes sense for you?

Megan Imbert (06:14)

So I have an interesting perspective of life being that it's kind of a journey and if, know, again, my baseline is kind of this frequency of courage, ironically, and it's sort of like if you try something, you're going to know in a faster way whether or not you're good at it or you have an interest in it. So instead of being, you know, fearful of trying something new or taking a risk, go for it.

And I do think, you know, we don't have a long time in this lifetime to try different things. And if you're miserable every day, you know, maybe there's something else out there to try. um, yeah, I think it's just a matter of like, the sooner you can start to try different things and have a diverse, you know, a portfolio that's diverse. I feel like everything is figure outable. And in the technology era that we're in right now,

What a beautiful time to be alive. Now granted, we need discernment. We need to be able to validate sources in our information. We're dealing with different problems, but what an amazing time to be alive where we can actually be sort of supercharged by technology, by AI, ⁓ to really have that be like our helper and help us discover. So I would say young people, if they have opportunities to do internships or

study overseas or do things that are experiential, I would say do it because it's an opportunity to learn something that you probably wouldn't have before and learn really quickly whether or not you might have an interest. So I've had critics and professors, friends, family members that have never understood me because I've had so many different interests, but I've never let that get me down.

It was more or less they were like, you're never really going to be successful if you don't go. you know, Kobe Bryant was a fantastic basketball player because that's all he did was basketball. And I think if you want to be extraordinary at what you do, sure, there's a, might be some imbalances, but I'm kind of over that way of living in terms of there's more to my life besides the job or the profession. There's an analogy of like, like Melanie, you're the tree and you're

your fruit is like what you're producing with work and then there's family and hobbies. And so my perspective of my relationship to work and doing this stuff has changed. And I feel like people have different interests and go for it, get curious. I think that's where the richness in life is.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (08:43)

Absolutely. And I do want to credit, you mentioned how everything is figure out a ball. That one is totally from Marie Folio. Good reference. And it's, I'm so fascinated by how some of your teachers or the people around you wanted you to specialize. We have been in a culture of specializing. So it sounds like that's something you had to really overcome.

And I'm wondering if one of the lessons you can give to younger people is that you can do some things that might not be your day job, but it's still fulfilling. Like the podcast that you're hosting.

Megan Imbert (09:19)

Absolutely. I think it's really important to get to know yourself and what lights you up. What do you enjoy? I don't think we're having enough fun in life and I have a really good friend of mine who came out with a book of let's retire retirement and the whole concept of like how people might be in jobs that they're miserable just waiting to retire or whatnot. The people that might have been critiquing me in the past and this has been kind of a lesson every day in my life. I start to look at

their assessment is really actually a projection of their own limitation and they're putting their limitation on me. And so when you start to get to that place of like, okay, that's great. Like, thank you. I realize you're saying this because you're concerned for my wellbeing or my safety and just changing the frame of it really helps. ⁓

Yeah, I'm trying to think. Sorry, I am.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (10:10)

They're concerned for you.

Megan Imbert (10:10)

I my

thought on that. Say that again.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (10:14)

They are concerned for you.

Megan Imbert (10:16)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think so. And I think that's the piece in life is making sure that if we know who we

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (10:23)

sweet. Yes. We're talking about how other people will, with good intentions, tell you which path you should be going on. And I think that's, that's so significant. I wanted to explore other areas like you're whistleblowing. And I think that'll be something to look into more, but the way that people do boxes in, they were taught that. you said that it shows their own limitations.

I could relate to that so much because I remember a moment in, I suppose, my mid twenties when someone who really cared about me said, don't start a business. You'll be spending too much money. Whereas there are all these low cost ways now. And I think there was even an assumption decades ago that you needed a whole office and so many things to do that. It's a different time. There is more freedom now.

Megan Imbert (11:15)

Yeah, and I think a lot, this might be a simplistic view of looking at life, but it applies to all categories. There's fear and there's love. And I feel like when we think about energy, the energy of fear is like scarcity or doom and gloom, failure, hatred, and then love is like abundance of good things and getting to a place of authenticity. so it...

I kind of apply this whenever I hear conversations where someone ⁓ is pushing someone down a different path. it's more or less if we start to question a few of the layers and the why, chances are we finally understand like, ⁓ they were afraid of doing that because of their safety or their need for security or them thinking and having a perception that owning a business is going to cost a ton of money versus you're going to have a completely different strategy.

I also think if there's young people listening, when people give you advice, and this is me, like I've never been married, so it's quite interesting too when it comes to like dating and everything, I don't take advice from people that I wouldn't want to trade their life with. And similarly, when it comes to like marriages and couples and people that I want to like potentially emulate a future relationship and like, I'm looking to see how you're living your life.

because there's a lot of performing and I'm about embodiment and it's coming from the inside out versus putting on like a show. So I just think it's kind of interesting when you start to, I kind of look at life as a little bit of a game now where it's like, ⁓ okay, most people want to be seen, heard, witnessed, loved. We all want the same thing. So it's just a matter of what's their baseline of how they're approaching day to day, right? It's like, are they...

afraid of something or are they here for truly like from a loving place?

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (13:08)

Absolutely. We do all want those same things. I can appreciate that so much because you've probably met people from all walks of life and the work that you've done. might have, well, you did work with high profile people and executives and probably coworkers or just communities of any sorts and the people in your podcast. And we all want to be okay. And we all want to make the most of the limited time we have on this planet.

for those of us who are at least thinking about that. However, everybody has a different approach. Life is short, let's be a workaholic or let's, life is short, let's take it steady and have time with the people we care about or something else entirely. Absolutely. There are so many different ways to live and you don't have to absorb and replicate everybody else's lives. You can't, right?

Megan Imbert (14:02)

Yeah. And when I was

younger, I would say I had that hustle mentality that must make yourself invaluable at an organization. I think that's how I got my job in Washington for the NFL because I was willing to work all those extra hours. I was willing to also not be treated as well. And then as I've gone down my journey of growth, maturity and healing, I kind of recalibrated the standard of what I even accept around me. And also

something I'm really passionate about is like the integrity of leadership, the radical responsibility, the standard of who I surround myself intentionally with every day. And I do think ⁓ when you work in corporate or you work in systems that have a lot of different people, obviously even just day to day in the countries and the communities that we're in, we encounter all sorts of types of people. And I think it's just really important

to recognize the boundary setting, the expectations, the standard of which you're willing to be treated. And in the United States right now, I am not a fan of this administration whatsoever, and I do not hide my feelings about that. And I was very nervous. like, if I, at the very least, if I'm coming from a loving place, all I see right now around this world are wounded men that ends up

hurting and it's just, it's so sad to me because it's like, that's how I see it. And so I feel like the more I can show up in a heart centered courageous way, I didn't even know that the word courage meant from the heart until shortly after I launched my podcast. And I was like, that's exactly what I'm talking about. Like if we lead from heart and consciousness and love, then I think that can help combat what's going on. ⁓

if as like a new paradigm of leaders comes about, how can we do that in a compassionate way versus, know, there's a lot of layers here that I'm kind of unfolding and I keep talking about on my podcast, a call for like, like humanity renaissance. We're sitting here with technology and phones and how very few people, well, at least in America, there's so much of the on the phone all the time.

and not actually getting curious and engaging with the person next to you or your neighbor or whatnot. So I feel like we're in this place right now of like, what are we doing? We're supposed to be connected to nature and connected to each other. And this capitalistic, now don't get me wrong, I love money, but this capitalistic, individualistic way of being I think has created like a cancer. And so that's something too that's been on my heart a lot in terms of how I decide to lead.

And there's this blurred line between personal and professional for me now. It's like, no, this is who I am, like the leader that's embodied from this place. And it doesn't matter what space I'm in. So that's what I'm hoping people can look at because they have this, that's my professional life. That's my personal life. It's like, that's all the same. Or the standard I have for the people around me is I don't.

I want to know who you are when you're at home versus when you're in the office too. Like I want to know who you are and your values and how you show up and you know, do you actually care about the people around you, et cetera. So sorry, I'm going on a little bit of a tangent, but I feel like it's all kind of interrelated.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (17:22)

No, it's awesome.

That part right there is something. And I remember learning about the history of how the public and private life concept evolved. And it's, ⁓ you could almost call it ancient. So long ago, there was the public space developing and then people had their separate private life. But

There was a point in history where people decided that is how it's going to be. However, I completely agree with you that, that if people are behaving a particular way in the rest of the world, it's, it's the same human being breathing in and out. It's the same, it's the same person. You're not, you can have different parts of yourself, but it's still them.

So I completely agree. And you referenced so much. So start somewhere. I want to know what was your experience with the part of your career that has less boundaries and what are you seeing with? I mean, I'm not looking to be ultra political. However, I'm wondering what's your experience socially now as well with how people are treating each other.

Megan Imbert (18:41)

Yeah, and before we go on with that, one thing I wanted to touch on too, something that I find interesting, and this might be generationally, older generations may have a different view of privacy. So when we think about social and we have experts, like actual science researchers, experts, even government officials at the time, they were kind of told like, don't be on social or have your life private. Whereas I think that has now caused

problems with the misinformation that's out there because some of these people that I think scholars that were kind of trained like, who cares about that digital brand that you have in your thought process, but it's allowed for media and others in power to kind of put out whatever messages they want. That's been feeding the masses. So I wanted to touch on that because I think we're in an interesting time when we think about the workforce, like six, seven generations in there.

And there's a different view of privacy. There's a different way of how we work. ⁓ In terms of my experiences where there were less boundaries, it was rooted in my fear. It was my worthiness. was my, I think it comes down to a lack of safety. I'm adopted and I've learned about my core wound being around abandonment and it's the root chakra, all this stuff, nervous system regulation, but

With that, that period of my life, it was, I needed to be the people pleaser. I needed to get the things done. I needed to go over and outside of the realm of the time allotted for work and be available 24 seven and all of those things out of fear of, ultimately, I think it's like a spiral. It's like fear of losing the job, fear of being broke, fear of being homeless, fear of dying. Like it all kind of trickles together. So when I had,

less boundaries or didn't know how to communicate my boundaries. You'll also see, I think, a lot of the really toxic environments, especially when you think about entertainment and sports and these roles that people will do for less money. There's a lot more younger people. And I feel like with the younger people, there's that ability to exploit them more so than some of the other, like an adult that's already had their, you know,

They kind of don't give a shit anymore and they're gonna say how it is not have as much, you know fear of consequence so I think that's something to where it's so important to shape younger people with that sense of safety and not not construing their identity into their profession and knowing that it's okay to have a full life in interests and Taking your vacation There's a lot of companies in the United States that have unlimited time off

They say it, unlimited time off. But so many people don't take their time off. And I'm a leader where I will reach out to each one of my people and be like, hey, I've noticed I haven't seen you take any time off lunch, even if you take Friday, whatever, to push that because we're not meant to go 24 seven and then be, you know, we need to be rest. Rest to me is required now. ⁓ In terms of my experience socially. Now I live in Texas.

and I'm in Austin, Texas, which is a little bit, one of the most liberal places of Texas, but I'm from Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and I would say tensions, it's interesting. I think there's an avoidance of talking about certain subjects. There's definitely family, especially in white America. ⁓

where there's relations, that it's all superficial conversations. ⁓ this has been both my own journey along with people I know. And I have really taken and adopted the concept of my chosen family. So that's my friends, that's other people. And it's okay if people have different beliefs, but it's also, well, what...

What does that mean for me? Like if you're trying to infringe upon my rights and the rights of other people, then like we have an issue. Like straight up we have an issue. I'm not living from a place of fear. However, I'm also not going to sit back and watch like I'm a single 39 year old dog mom with a podcast in Austin, Texas. I'm probably useless.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (22:41)

Thank

you

Megan Imbert (23:05)

to the administration that thinks women are only supposed to have kids. And it's not lost on me. And I've also been on record against a billionaire around the treatment of women and all of that, who was also a huge Dan Snyder, who was the owner of the Washington NFL team. So that whole billionaire group, right? So it's not lost on me, but I, again, I'm not gonna live in fear. What I'm saying with the whole humanity renaissance thing is,

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (23:17)

with it.

Megan Imbert (23:33)

How can I show up every day in my community and be friendly and try to have a conversation with someone that's different than me? ⁓ I think the scary part is that we all know that the United States has a lot of guns, regardless of criminals or normal everyday people, and some are responsible gun owners. The challenge I have is where it's a group of

people claiming to care about human life. But it doesn't add up to me when how quickly lives can be taken by mass shooters that we have in this country or whatever. To me, that doesn't line up. And also that whole conversation of being a pro-life person when we don't have health care and infrastructure, education that's set up for the full human. So

Tensions of course are rising. There's protests, there's all of that. I have not been back to DC since they've like launched the National Guard. From what I understand, it's just ridiculous. And I think we're in a place where the mass population, this administration, it's hopefully a time for people to wake up. I think there's a moment like apathy and being like, I'm just gonna...

focus on work or focus on something else. Meanwhile, there's all of this other stuff happening. I have a hard time ⁓ compartmentalizing. right now, ⁓

It's just different pockets of things that are happening, but yeah, it's not, it's this way of our nervous systems in my opinion, and I'm sure there's studies on this, the amount that we can be exposed to in 30 seconds of time is probably equivalent to what people years ago would have been their entire lifetime of tragedy and fear mongering and all of that.

I want to make sure that I'm not perpetuating any fear and I'm living my life in a loving way, but I'm also not going to be stupid and I'm not going to be naive either. So ⁓ it's a weird, it's a hard answer. I can't give a really good answer to that.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (25:42)

It actually is quite an answer. And I'll share that I hop along various parts of the political spectrum. And that helps me to befriend people who are in very different political spaces, because I hope that you've seen this as well in all of the pockets of politics. There will normally be a minority view who are trying to make the world a better place within

the space that they happened to land in. And what you're seeing, what you've been saying is that people are numbing away from talking about things because they feel scared. And you've been honest about your experience of the world. I feel really inspired by that because I'm trying to find my own balance and I think I need to learn from you. And this is

Starting this podcast, realized it's almost every single one is a bit like therapy. Oprah said that she never went to therapy, but she got the equivalent all the time talking to people. And it's, it's so true, isn't it? It is. So my experience was serious things happened last year and I couldn't not say anything because it was my reality for so long. It's the day in

Megan Imbert (26:31)

Hmm.

It's so true.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (26:57)

day out reality and you're probably seeing people in America where maybe someone is not getting what they need from a hospital or whatever it might be. And there's no other reality in front of them. And so how can they not express that? But at the same time, you're talking about the fear and I can relate to that so much because I completely agree. We're not built to be on edge all the time, wound up all the time.

And to be real, I saw news occasionally about what's happening in America, but even with what's happening in Australia, if I was going to see all of the political news, I'd be stressing myself out when there's so much even happening in front of me and we can stay aware. But I really want to delve deeper with you on how do you stay grounded and keep perspective and stay connected with people?

Megan Imbert (27:47)

Yeah, I

have to give Dr. Amanda Hansen a shout out here. So she is a psychologist, but also runs programs, particularly for women. And I was in a six month program with her, I guess it was November to June or something. And there's a couple of things here. There's triggering words to people. Patriarchy is one of them.

But if we really start to look at the systems in place for thousands of years that by design women to be exhausted, women have the majority of autoimmune diseases, women are majority of the time caretakers for their children or their parents, and also now of course working in all these other things. So there's a lot around keeping, I believe,

keeping women exhausted and not having the conversations and not tapping into our intuitive abilities. If we want to talk about the witch wound, there's that too, the connection. So with women, whether it was, you know, think about midwifery or helping, you know, being tapped into nature and our intuition and the really powers that we have.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (28:48)

that for those who don't know.

Megan Imbert (29:04)

I mean, we have a life portal between our legs. Let's be clear, a lot of men are jealous that we can actually give life and there's a thing there. There's stuff to that. And from my vantage point, the witch wound is really around whether it's this life, past lives, ⁓ being the fear of death for speaking out, the fear of whatever the repercussion is and the abuses that happen to women in this

world. Like I am, I always have a flame of anger inside of me and I've had people be like, you're, you're, are you ever not going to be angry? I'm like, I can have joy and pleasure, but I'm always going to be fucking angry. Sorry for my language, but it's worth it. I'm always going to be angry about the treatment of women. And also of course there's poor treatment of men and young people. And so from my vantage point, it's getting to the place of

Our vocal cords, the formation of those, the same with our private parts within women. So when you can start to heal the trauma, you can also reconnect with your voice. There's so many women, and I would venture to say men, that have a hard time with speaking, and you were mentioning about having the podcast. The podcast was for me when I started mine. It was cathartic for me, and then as I was bringing people on, it was cathartic for them.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (30:06)

Thank you.

Megan Imbert (30:26)

and then listeners are hearing it, it's cathartic for them. It's truly a frequency and it's healing and I chills as I say this. ⁓ Those are my witchy gifts, you know? This is meant to be this type of conversation. But if I can help in any way, shape or form, helping a woman or a man reconnect with themselves and their own power, that's what we need to have happen. So in terms of how do we, Amanda Hansen will say, she'll use the concept

be resourced. So being resourced is being able to show up day to day in any setting and be able to hold the balance where in part of the training I'm in currently, it's around 80 % right here, 20 % to the other person. And really I'm an empath. I feel energy, I feel people. But if we remain steadfast in being resourced is when you're processing your emotions,

whether it's allowing yourself to cry, allowing yourself to scream, allowing yourself to dance, our bodies have energy that needs to move. So when you go through grief or anything, you need to be able to release that. Otherwise, when I believe, when it holds in the body, it manifests into illness, it manifests into other things if we're not properly treating it. So when we're resourced, that means we can respond to life, not react to life. It means we can...

approach versus avoid. So for me, I have tactics every single day where if possible in the mornings, like early morning, I have my time with my dog, Sky, who's made her appearance on the show. ⁓ We go for a walk and we literally sit in the grass. I'll go barefoot. It's nice and warm usually in Austin. So I sit barefoot with her. No music, no nothing. Listen to nature. I connect with nature.

Anytime throughout the day if something gets stressed, I take myself usually outside. I allow myself a timeout. As a leader, I tell my team, there's gonna be days where like, you know, you're gonna get frustrated or overwhelmed, but like, become self-aware that you know it's like, I need a moment. I need to walk outside. I need to give myself, I call it give myself a timeout. Making sure you're sleeping. Making sure you're eating the proper food and drinking water.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (32:15)

you

Thank you.

Megan Imbert (32:41)

Sounds pretty basic, but if you're not sleeping properly, if you're not eating properly, that shows up like what we ate today will impact us three days later. So from a resource perspective is being able to really modulate through the different kind of archetypes that exist within all of us. that's fine to be angry, but you know what? I can be angry and scream in one second and then giggle in another one.

where a lot of the patriarchy would be like, she's crazy. No, I just know how to process through things and not hold on to it. ⁓ becoming a resource person, I think is also on the pathway of becoming a safe human.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (33:22)

absolutely it's really something when you say the raw reality and then suddenly that must be just a bit too much for everybody I found that I what really

Megan Imbert (33:35)

You just gave me chills talking about being too much. I have poetry,

yeah, because I believe, and this is how I'm designed, I really, think one of the most beautiful things about me is that I can relate to the human experience. I can relate to the animal experience. The fact that I can feel so much, so much of my life, was, she's too much. And now I'm like, nope, I am, I am.

perfectly enough and I think that's the most beautiful part because I have the capacity to see and feel it all and Now have the ability to have the boundaries that I'm not gonna carry it all You know

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (34:13)

You would

love the podcast episode that I recorded before this one, because it was definitely touching on that feeling of just, okay, you're feeling things intensely, but you can't take on everybody else's thing. And you're bringing that to everybody as well. That even we are connected with so many people and some will say that there was a time in history when you'd be in a small village. And I even during.

Megan Imbert (34:40)

Mm-hmm.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (34:41)

pandemic for a little while I happened to be temporarily living in a small little village and there are only so many people around you but then now we are connected with so many people and the demands are so intense but you can't take on everybody else's you can't

Megan Imbert (34:58)

Yeah.

A place that I like to kind of practice and play a little bit, places like the airport, where most people, if you really pay attention, like put your, you will stick out like a sore thumb if you are walking through the airport without your phone in your hand and you're just like trying to make eye contact with people. You see people stressed out, ⁓ security line at an airport. Like the second,

you just like help somebody or you you allow them in front of you if they're stressed, just there's a pause. I've just noticed this like freeze happen. I'm like, it's okay. It's all good. Like we're good. And yeah. And I think the airport's an interesting spot because you have so many different, I mean, you every background at an airport or grocery store, usually an airport, cause it's crowded and people are in a hurry and they're frazzled.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (35:39)

You're being kind, you're being human.

Megan Imbert (35:52)

I also noticed this in traffic. I took a mindfulness, it was actually a positive psychology class in college. I think everyone should take this. This should be something that grade school kids learn about. when you're stuck in traffic, but there's a sunset or I have one of my favorite songs on it and just focusing on that rather than like the person that just cut you off. And I felt like,

If I can think about the person cutting me off that maybe they're having the worst day of their life or something terrible has happened, it gets me out of that like, my gosh, you cut me off versus like, all right, get there safely. Don't cause a problem. But yeah, I think there's these tools like that, know, schools that should have like yoga instead of detention and...

helping kids, like, there's probably something else going on rather than punishing them, like, let's sit with them and understand what's happening. So, but here I am, I have no kids.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (36:48)

I can see so much in what you just said. Okay. First of all, the phone thing, you went back to that a few times and I have to really acknowledge that with you because we were trained in just, let's call it a couple of decades. It was really just a couple of decades out of all of history where

Megan Imbert (36:53)

Yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (37:11)

I mean, you're a similar age. You're just a little bit older than me. So we would have grown up just walking outside and having simple experiences, just living life essentially. And fast forward to now and you're spot on. Everybody knows that faces are in phones and it's, it's such a fine line. I get the workaholic moments, things like that, or I wonder what someone says up to whatever.

But we're not seeing the world around us anymore. We're not even looking at the space around us. And you're looking at kindness as well with helping people at the airport. People are skeptical of kindness now.

Megan Imbert (37:52)

So that's sad.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (37:53)

It really is. I don't know if you've seen that, but one of the most controversial things that I have done is be real with people who are often not feeling like they are allowed to even be real and connect with kindness.

Megan Imbert (37:55)

com.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (38:14)

But I hope you would agree that we also need to receive a little bit of that in return. We need to fill our cup.

Megan Imbert (38:21)

Yeah, and I still think primarily this is an inside job. This is where if I am filling myself up, if I am taking care of myself, if I without a spouse or a neighbor or a friend doing this myself, yes, capable of receiving, appreciate receiving. But if I have myself covered as best I can,

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (38:22)

Thank

Megan Imbert (38:48)

then there's not a lack, there's not a expectation of anyone else. I think this comes to kind of the radical responsibility of, you know, also limiting expectations for other people and realizing how we all have something that's going on in our lives. And ⁓ when it comes to like radical responsibility, I think it comes back to that resourcing part.

knowing what you need. No one's going to know what you need more than what you do. And so if you know that you must have lunch at a certain time or you're really angry at the people around you, imagine if you don't have lunch and then something you say something and it creates this ripple effect. That's the same thing with a ripple effect of positivity or being kind or helping someone out. I'm a big

gratitude person too. And even at my job, we have a Slack thanks channel and I try every week to pop something into that channel. And it's just, it's free. It's easy. It's not hard to acknowledge a teammate. And, you know, especially when you feel like maybe people don't see or recognize, ⁓ you know, what your needs are. I will say too,

You know, I had an injury in 2019 where I basically shredded my ligaments and tendons of my right ankle. I didn't break the bone, but I was like 19 weeks non-weight bearing, thankfully on a bottom floor apartment. But that was horrendous and that was the most severe injury I've ever had. But that perspective of having that injury was such a lesson for me that now whenever I see someone in a boot or I really slow down and ask how I could help them.

And it's just, I think it's a game changer because, know, at the end of the day, like I want to be on time to things, but if I'm going to be five minutes late because I was able to help somebody, you know, chances are than the person I'm meeting, if they have a problem with that, then I probably have a problem with them.

Yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (40:46)

The experience, the difficult experience that you had helped you to understand the human experiences that other people are having. I absolutely, and it teaches you a bit of balance. I'm wondering if you saw that in any of your life challenges because I had a slightly similar thing years ago. I got a tibial plateau fracture, so I did break a bone, but it's, I got less weeks of hopping.

Megan Imbert (40:55)

Absolutely.

Ow.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (41:13)

than you did, but I was definitely hopping around for weeks on end. And it forces you to be balanced and it forces you to say, okay, look, you only get this one body, how you're going to look after it.

Megan Imbert (41:26)

Yeah, and I also think depending on what happened during significant injuries, I think if you start to map your life to different moments in time, you're going to notice for me, I was go, go, go, go, go. And guess what the universe universe is like, you're gonna sit your ass down and stop for a second. And what and other friends when they start to do that, it's very interesting just to see like, what was happening? Was there something going on in a relationship? Was there something?

There's different correlations to different body parts too. Now, whether or not it's all true, it is really interesting when you start going down one of those rabbit holes of, okay, what was that? Why did I need to slow down? And yeah, your point on the balance part, if you can slow down and have stillness and meditation or just have a quiet morning, you can get more in tune with actually how your body feels. What I found in the last 10 years,

was that parts of my body were almost numb. It's only now that they're like, I'm feeling my body because so much was happening up here. I'm distracting. And I think a lot of times we'll use alcohol or use something else, bad food. It's fascinating to me as to we have all these organs inside of us and I'm not feeling anything. But now I do. And it was like,

is that pain? No, it's just you're digesting. It's like we're so stuck in our heads.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (42:53)

Two things there. Firstly, I am stunned by the parallel experiences. Seriously. So you were rushing around, maybe doing a lot, maybe over committing when you got injured. I can relate. That's what happened.

Megan Imbert (43:06)

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, and I think

a lot of people with foot or leg injuries, I guarantee you, there's stuff like that, just not slowing down. And I do think that the universe has a way of putting things in your path until you learn it and those lessons. ⁓ Yeah, I will never forget the day that I could finally stand, and that was such a painful experience, like learning to walk again.

but to be able to stand in the shower and I have a lot of hair and to like just wash my hair. I just cried in the shower, but it was like that immense appreciation for like water on, like it was just, it was a beautiful experience. Cause I, it wasn't the same like hands and knees like bathing and then it was just awful.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (43:51)

It's humbling as well because until those moments, we might only appreciate the career moments or things that the culture tells us to value. And then you don't appreciate the very simple things until they're taken away.

Megan Imbert (44:09)

It's so interesting you say that, my perspective now, like on the weekend, right? I'm like, okay, I got my workouts in the last couple of days. I had my grounding time with my dog. Last weekend, I picked up some watercolors and started painting, like doing things that were restful and relaxing versus all of this stuff.

I celebrate that now where I'm like, yeah, my weekend. I gave myself a few hours just to watercolor. like, when was the last time I did that? know, it's like, I think that's part of where I want to start inserting play more in my day to day, not take everything so seriously. ⁓ Because I do think so many of our emergencies in life are not emergencies at all. And that's why we're all

not we're all, but a lot of people are on high alert, like fight or flight all the time, our adrenaline system crazy versus, know, a strategy I use in my day-to-day life is also I do padding between meetings and try to look at my calendar the week before to see what I can push, what needs to happen. So I have time to think or time to go for a walk outside, eat a proper lunch.

And I know that's probably more of a American problem where they're just, they're not taking their time off. They're not doing their stuff. Is it also in Australia?

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (45:33)

I that happens here as well. was

doing some work. I worked at a place for a very short amount of time. It was nearly three years ago and I saw people in a, they were lovely, lovely people, but they were in a room with no windows and just eating at the desk for lunch. And it's basically you're indulgent.

You're indulging if you're giving yourself even a moment to literally see the sun.

Megan Imbert (46:03)

Yeah, yeah, I'm not subscribing to any of that anymore. No. And it's silly when it's like the behaviors of being sedentary in front of a computer screen and not interacting with people or nature and eating properly and stuff. But it's no wonder for the last like decade or more, I'm bringing down my body's inflammation and like, I'm not going to have perfect results in a year or two. I even met with a

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (46:07)

No.

Megan Imbert (46:30)

holistic doctor, ⁓ where even my digestion, like the processes were not fully turning on because of all the challenges of stress and things. So I'm really thankful that, you know, I'll be 40 next year. And it's like, I'm ahead of the curve in terms of starting to say like, no, this doesn't work for me. I can still and probably show up even better by caring and loving myself.

And I'm being an example for my teammates too. ⁓ So yeah, think there's a lot that we have backwards in terms of, know, ultimately like my goal isn't just to like work my tail off and then on the years when I'm getting older, like that's when I live freely, you know? I wanna change that.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (47:18)

When we're a lot older, that's when other health issues will come along. And we're seeing now generations of people in their sixties, seventies, eighties, and so on, where they're having severe illnesses and they didn't have all these preventions because they might've spent the last few decades not looking after themselves. And it's so great that for this one, like I said, you're so close to my age. And I think that we're getting something from that because

This is an interesting point. I still identify with an earlier age of my thirties. feel younger than I am. However, when you're at this point, you're young enough to still do a lot, but you are lived enough. don't want to say old enough, but you're lived enough that you're aware of how much time is left, but also you're aware that if you don't look after this body, will break and probably more aware than when you were younger.

Megan Imbert (48:00)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Absolutely. And I think in terms of even my body awareness, but what we were talking about earlier, it's like, I am so intentional with my time, with the energy expenditure that I have. Like even knowing I'm going to do this podcast today, I didn't take, didn't, sometimes I might take some phone calls, like, but I was very much like, no, I want to be able to have energy to be able to deliver what is in our highest good for the show. So it's just getting to that place of like,

Energy management, people, relationship management. ⁓ I think that's been such a game changer so I can actually show up present. I remember when I think about people that I've enjoyed being around in my life, it's always the ones that are giving the undivided attention that made me feel seen, that made me feel heard. And I do think if I'm constantly on my phone or always thinking about what's next,

I lose sight of that possibility of having one of those interactions. And ⁓ even with the pandemic, I think part of the challenge where we're probably still gonna see the mental health issues coming out of it. But what I really missed because I moved to Austin in January of 2020 and then everything shut down in March, it was like new city, mid thirties. And people were not, they weren't talking to people they didn't know.

⁓ But I really miss that impromptu random, you know, talk up somebody at a coffee shop or you're passing by someone on street and you say something. So I'm hoping that we get back to that a little bit more. I will say for myself, before the pandemic, I was very much extroverted. And then being by myself down here for years, you know, which was wild.

barely knowing people other than some of my colleagues. ⁓ It was tough. And I think I'm finally, I mean, it's 2025, right? Finally coming out of that and feeling like, okay, like, ⁓ but with maturity comes, know, I like to go to bed by 10 o'clock. I'm not gonna be going out to, I don't like going out to the bars. Like my view of fun is totally different as well. But I just wanted to touch on that because I think that's something too, where like every day, like just,

How are you engaging with the people that you wander past? like an old person walking by, like you saying hi to them. Just like anyone's situation, you don't know what their life situation is at home and it can make a big difference.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (50:40)

You're very focused on connection and I understand what sort of experience you might've had in 2020 because although we're on the other side of the world, I needed to move eventually in 2020. And you're right where I was initially people were very connected to them. Eventually there were enough restrictions that we couldn't see everybody as much and

You're right. I moved to this current spot in 22. And even then the locals were all saying it was something else before COVID and everybody went out more before this. And seriously, it turned into a ghost town. Possibly. I think it's a bit more social now, but at least people are apparently socially different before that. So it's mind blowing knowing that you had that experience as well on the other side of the world. And I wonder how many communities

Megan Imbert (51:21)

Hmm.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (51:33)

are trying to relearn how to connect after all this time.

Megan Imbert (51:36)

Absolutely.

Absolutely. there was so much loss and the grief that people, know, grief never goes away. So I think that's a big one too, especially in rural parts of the U.S. that a lot of people might have died. ⁓ so I think there's a lot there that ⁓ when we talk about the access of health care and

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (51:38)

And so.

Megan Imbert (52:02)

Yeah, I found it to be really challenging and I couldn't help but think of cities like New York where people, have so many people, but then they were all kind of locked in there. ⁓ I do think now as we've come out, like I rarely drink alcohol now, I used to drink before. ⁓ I think that just, I think there is, at least in the circles I'm around, there's much more of a focus on health and wellbeing.

And I think the pandemic actually helped put a pause on some of that behavior where people did get kind of a wake up call around their work, the way they're living their life, their relationships. I'm sure divorce attorneys made a fortune. just...

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (52:46)

Everybody had breakups. Everybody. Not

literally, but so many. The percentage would be... a lot.

Megan Imbert (52:51)

I bet.

Yeah. And I think these are all things that we're still going to see the residual impacts of. And then when you think about the kids, the high schoolers and whatever that miss parts of their years and everything, I think there's just right now with the generation, the youngest one that's in here, not to sound like an old lady on here, how they don't all have that same like...

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (53:14)

Okay.

Megan Imbert (53:18)

business acumen training and knowing how to conduct and how to show up and what's work appropriate to wear and how to just be. So I think, you know, if there's any like people leaders on the line, I think this is where like the leaning in and mentoring some of the younger folks is gonna be really helpful because, you know, they only know what they know. And some of them really lost out on some of the experiences that we would have had. ⁓

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (53:46)

Absolutely. And I got the impression from what you said about your team that you are okay to really check with them. Are you okay?

Megan Imbert (53:55)

Yeah, I am. actually, if I get a sense of something and I've had past people that have reported into my organization at different companies or later found out about like domestic violence or friends that have, you know, lost someone to suicide or whatever, like some serious stuff, I will always.

And I'll word it this way, which might sound a little funny, but I'll be like, so I'm calling to check in on your heart today. And I don't think a lot of people in corporate America do that. It's like, obviously I care about the work, but the person, like, how are we doing? know this, you know, whatever's going on. ⁓ And if what we were talking about earlier, things that might happen in the U.S., if there's a tragedy or something that has me shook up,

I will actually be the leader that's vulnerable and say something first of like, hey, I'm not gonna have this call today or I'm not in a good space. So I think courageous conscious leadership is about being vulnerable first. And that way people have the permission and hopefully will feel comfortable letting you in on what's going on in their life and try to figure out how to either work with me or there's resources available. And I think when you're a highly intuitive person,

I tend to pick up on things of other people that might be on other teams and then I'll kind of let their manager know. And usually I'm pretty right. And I'll hear about it later of like, wow, thank you. it's just like, just like if you're tuned in with people and you notice somebody's off, like just checking in goes a long way. So, and in fact, this current organization, I actually sought out a job where I could be hybrid. So I could go in the office and work from home.

Because I was craving, I wanted that human connection and I love the culture of the company I'm at. And it has been awesome just because there's certain days I'm in the office and we're cranking everything out and everybody's hanging out and then I can work from home. I just, I knew that I needed that connection, especially coming out of the pandemic.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (56:02)

You do, you need the connection. And I'm wondering about the vulnerability that you talked about because you are in leadership. People have so many forms of leadership and I had questions for myself that I could learn from you because I at least focus on maybe when I'm organizing an event, I'm with a bunch of people and I'm still the center of the wheel and

So people are in all sorts of types of leadership. And so I'm wondering when, if you could give advice to people who are in that sort of situation of being responsible for a group in whatever sense, they might wonder how much can they reveal without being judged for it? What can they reveal when still looking traditionally professional? And how can they balance that with opening up to say, look, everybody

I'm here for you but I have quite a headache today or whatever it might be. Where can people find that balance?

Megan Imbert (57:01)

Yeah, I think it's

a great question and there's discernment that's needed. So certainly goes back to like even that self-awareness of like if you're going through a really hard time and maybe there's a group happy hour with drinks involved. If you know that having some drinks is going to make you feel terrible and probably blurt things out that you normally wouldn't, it's having those guardrails for yourself in place as well where it's like.

how will I be under certain situations? If it's something where, I think some blanket statements of like, hey, I just wanted to let you know that I'm dealing with a personal matter at the moment and just wanna make sure you know that ⁓ this is how and when you can reach me if there needs to be some kind of boundary or, ⁓ I think depending on what it is,

Sharing is fine. I tend to be a bit more of an open book, but not really divulging details. ⁓ Like for instance, if I have someone in my family that's going through a sickness or something, I'll be open with my team about that because some of that might be unpredictable and I just want people to know like, this is weighing on me or this just happened. Also on the transverse, good news, I like to share with my team too. ⁓

I never want to pry with anyone else, but if you're a leader and like you're going through something, I think that's what often gets missed is that the middle management in companies, they're usually weighing and balancing the expectations from above while also helping out with the individual contributors. And honestly, you could have a great day and then you're hearing something terrible from someone. And it's like, again, back to the boundary of like, this is not mine, but I'm here for you. Okay. And we work through it.

So think it depends on what the topic is that you feel comfortable with. from there, I think if you feel like you're going to be judged, think that shows where there's more work to be done in terms of getting to that place of this is my truth and it's okay. Everyone's judging you anyway. That's what I've come to realize. It's like, they already are. They're already judging you.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (59:19)

Nice.

Megan Imbert (59:19)

So depending on what it is, sometimes it's showing the human and showing the real. ⁓ And then from an appropriate standpoint, I think that's just using discernment of like, say you're going through a divorce and you don't need to tell your team the details of whatever happened. like, it's just, think keeping it high level will be enough. Yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (59:44)

Dot points for sure. I absolutely adored that line that they are judging you anyway. It goes both ways because the internet will tell you people are thinking about themselves. They're not even thinking about you and it can feel reassuring, but on the flip side, if you are in the center of a group, if you are responsible for people, people are going to criticize something. So.

Megan Imbert (1:00:12)

Well, and again, think that back to if people are judging you and you find out like if they're bullying behind your back or saying anything, in my opinion, it shows so much more about them than it does about you anyway. So it's kind of like, yeah, like it's more about them. Like you have strong opinions about it. How do you really feel about it? Yeah. Or what would you do in my situation?

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:00:12)

You're finding freedom in that.

Megan Imbert (1:00:36)

You know, I think it's interesting to like flip it back at somebody a little bit of like, Hey, if you were me, how would you approach this? I think that's a good tactic for anyone, especially if it's coming from like a leader or someone that has authority quote unquote over you is, you know, it's very easy to criticize. Brene Brown's really good in her books that she writes about, like about being in the arena versus not being in the arena.

and how there's tons of critics. But if we push it back to someone else, like, hey, I'm curious your perspective, if you were me, how would you approach this? Or, you know, it just sends ⁓ kind of a message of like, seeing it from forcing someone to see it from your perspective, or possibly, possibly putting themselves in your shoes.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:01:21)

You have all of the points. This is flying perfectly. Renee Brown being in the arena. I remember hearing that, that story, so to speak. And it reminds me so much earlier this year, I got so much criticism from someone who was not willing to do the same work I was doing. So it's easy for people to complain, but they wouldn't want to be in your shoes.

Megan Imbert (1:01:44)

Yeah. And even as I lead teams and say my individual contributors know all of the tactics and the process, if I have a different expectation, I will usually say like, do I have blind spots here? What am I missing? That way I'm not changing something that really derails them or takes longer. And like I've become, you know, a challenge for them. So I tend to think the more questions we ask, the more curious we are. ⁓ it's going to lead to a better result at the end of the day.

in terms of all of it.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:02:15)

That's a lesson for everybody right there. Ask questions and be curious.

Megan Imbert (1:02:20)

curiosity.

Yeah, I have a whole episode on the courage to be curious. And it goes back to all the things we talked about today. Like if you're curious about your neighbor, you're curious about that person that's different from you, and you're coming at it from really a place to try to understand versus, you know, make a stereotype or a judgment. And that's usually where you're to get to some kind of understanding or

you know, wow, you might've opened up a door of some new world for you to explore.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:02:49)

It's great going back to that courage as we perhaps wind up the episode at this point, because we are living in a world where we're going to need courage and you are seeing so much politically and socially over there and over here all sorts of things are happening. But I think that even everyday realities are becoming so different from what people can cope with, cost of living.

and the different expectation for work. think we're beyond, we're beyond the era to some extent where people can only do nine to five. A lot of people are feeling pressured to do a lot. We're just, we're scared of everything these days. And so I want to really steer this back to reassuring everybody and asking you, okay, how can everybody take a breath and find the humanity in this

current form of the world that we're in.

Megan Imbert (1:03:46)

Yeah, it's a lot and it feels like the world could be on your shoulders. And I think there's exactly that. It starts with looking at ourselves in the mirror. It starts with what would be the perfect life? What would be the perfect day? How do I enjoy the world around me? How do people show up for each other? At the end of the day, I think no matter what someone comes from,

we have the same goals as human beings, ultimately same needs, same desires. It's just matter of how much trauma and other things have gotten in the way and blocked that hope and possibility. And I feel like getting still, having like a daily practice of being still and I like to journal.

And sometimes I journal just whatever is in my head just to get it out on paper. And so it's not blocking my brain. But I think if we can like really look at what's possible, and I do think there's a lot of nervous system healing work that that can be done. And that could be nervous system yoga to I am a fan of plant based medicine in a responsible way where it can actually literally

help rewire your nervous system and being committed to looking at what is the one thing that we can do differently every single day that could be maybe it is going to bed earlier, maybe it is eating a better meal or calling up a friend or saying I'm sorry, taking some responsibility for something. It's gonna start to chip away in these positive ways of like helping get your world feeling like it's on the right path and I think

when it comes to finances and those sorts of things, you know, for me, it became an exercise in my self-worthiness. It was a part of, I am worthy of making money. And there's a lot around energy of money and the fact that if you have a relationship with money that there's never enough.

or money is bad because billionaires exist. I also don't think billionaires should exist. I would never be a billionaire because we would have all the problems solved for hunger and like all of those things. But if we have a relationship with money where it was scarce or it was bad, changing that took, now I look at money and I grew up that way where it was like I had two jobs when I was 15. I was always hustling and I couldn't wait to grow up though too.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:06:06)

you

Megan Imbert (1:06:14)

I needed to play more. But if we look at money the way I do now as a tool, a tool that can be used for good, it's powerful, it's okay. And as a woman to say, it's okay to have money. It's great to have money. We're worthy of having money. It's changing that relationship. then thinking about no one is forced to do right now. I mean, other than

illegal slavery and things like that. But like, we're not forced to do what we're doing on a day to day basis. think having an open mind to the possibilities and also to our point earlier around technology and these different ways of making money or something that might light you up and maybe a hobby turns into a passion, turns into money. So I think it's really looking at your day to day life and getting doing that like place of what lights me up and

What could I do to start getting on a path or who am I surrounding myself with? Again, being very intentional. If you're surrounding yourself with people that there's never enough money and they are negative all the time and it's always someone else's fault, that vibration, that frequency, like I want nothing to do with that. Get yourself in rooms with people that are dreamers, are creative, are artists. The state of the world right now, we need...

dreamers and creative people and artists to also show us what's possible. So I would say getting that time for yourself and then think about like, well, what are they doing? Or again, that courage to take a risk, the courage to reach out to someone to have a conversation. It's some basic things that could like start chipping away at building a better path. But I think for me, it came down to I'm worthy of having an incredible life. I am worthy of having

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:07:45)

Thank

Megan Imbert (1:07:59)

All of my dreams come true. I don't even know what all those dreams are, but I know it's possible because I'm worth it. And so I think that is the exercise for everyone that your self love and your worthiness becomes like the baseline for all the interactions in your world. And if you want to see beauty in the world, then you're going to see it just like the duality. If you want to see the pain and the ugly, but I'm choosing love and to see things in as much of a beautiful way.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:08:22)

Thanks.

Megan Imbert (1:08:26)

I used to feel very guilty of how am going to have joy and there's all this pain and suffering in the world. Then I realized, no, I'm allowed to have that joy and not feel guilty about it either and do whatever I can to try to help anybody that's suffering.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:08:37)

you

Megan, I want to express gratitude for you for your courage and how you're prioritizing creativity and self care. The way you've talked about reducing stress, can tell you I was all about what to eat and I realized that we can be too stressed out that it's that that can get in the way of whatever else we are achieving and

Megan Imbert (1:08:42)

Thank

Mmm.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:09:07)

I'll be real and say that I went into this conversation at the beginning, knowing that you have an Emmy and you were brave enough to be a whistleblower and you work in tech. And I appreciate so much that the lesson you have learned amid all of these achievements is actually that you needed to find balance and self care within your

intense compassion for the world. Everybody can learn from that. This conversation has been empowering. And it's such a line to say that this has healed me a little bit because it really has. I to thank you so much for being on the show.

Megan Imbert (1:09:53)

Thank you for having me. I think this is so cool and it's fun because I've been thinking like, I want to get on more shows. I want to have more conversations. so thank you for allowing me the space. And I'm really, really excited just to see what kind of ripple effect. Hopefully people get a little nugget from what we're talking about today. And you know, it just is a positive ripple in the world.

I love the fact that you're in Australia too. It's like, is this going around the world? Let's do it.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:10:23)

It is. Have you talked with people from Australia much?

Megan Imbert (1:10:27)

⁓ Yeah, I have members of my team. So being in tech and working for ⁓ global companies, I know quite a few people that are usually in Sydney or Melbourne. So I'm saying Melbourne wrong, Melbourne. And I did go to Australia a couple years ago and I popped by Melbourne, Sydney and Cairns. I did a little snorkeling. It was amazing.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (1:10:39)

Right.

I've never done that. That sounds fun. I think you have more fun than I do. Okay. I'm... Yes, thanks. It was great to talk to you and we'll keep in touch and have a great rest of your day. Bye.

Megan Imbert (1:10:53)

Yeah, you need to go do that. You need to go do that. Well, thank you so much.

Thank you, you too.