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When was the last time you tried something new? Great leaders look for ways to innovate, but what often stops them is the fear of risk. Trying new things can fix a problem, but it can also result in failure. The thing is, you’ll never grow or become more effective until you try something new.
In this episode of In a Manner of Speaking, Elena talks with her dear friend, Natalie Megules. She’s a creative entrepreneur, a fantastic singer, and an amazing vocal coach. She’s also an incredible baker! In their conversation, they talk about how Natalie has created a “no-vacation-needed” life, as she loves on her kids, manages her voice studio, teaches her students, and bakes fabulous cakes.
Creating a Life She Loves: Natalie Megules’ Story
Natalie and Elena met when they were doubles in an opera, and quickly became close friends. At the age of 25, Natalie quit her job at a restaurant and began working for herself. Now, she lives a “no-vacation-needed” life.
When she and her husband got married, they went on their honeymoon, and didn’t take a vacation for 7 years. It wasn’t until they were on vacation that they realized they were living the kind of life where they didn’t need to have a vacation.
Although the pandemic caused a lot of stress and heartache, Natalie was able to pivot her in-person vocal coaching sessions to be online. Her job as a music director paused for while, but this created the space she needed to think about opportunities to make additional income. For her, it was engaging a passion that she had since college: baking cakes.
Now, she homeschools her kids in the morning, teaches her vocal students in the afternoon, spends time with her family in the evening, and bakes her cakes at 3am.
“I'm so very lucky that I'm in the position to make my own schedule,” Natalie says. “I would rather stay up all night till three in the morning making a cake and be able to put my kids to bed, instead of taking that one extra lesson that's going to push me into a late night.”
Natalie has arranged her life where she doesn’t say she “has” to do things; instead, she “gets” to do them.
“You don't have to answer to anybody else. This is the life you wanted and created where you are in control. You have chosen to be up at three in the morning baking cakes, because you don't want to sacrifice any time with your kids.” The amount of control she has over her life is something she wouldn’t trade for the world.
The Disruption: Natalie brings joy into every situation and her mission is to encourage others to do the same. Certainly, part of what allows her to have such joy is because her husband supports and enables her to do what she loves, and she is able to do the same for him. “We're just like each other’s super fans,” she laughs.
Her hope is to bring this same unconditional love into the world by encouraging others to take control over their own lives.
“We don't have to wait for somebody to sit in the big chair at the top to keep our communities for us,” she says. “That's in you—in your own heart and mind first, you know, before you get to the top. Before you get to, you know, picketing and protesting and changing legislation, you have to change this first, then you start with your family, then you start with your neighbors face-to-face, not online talking to human beings.”
According to Natalie, one person can make a huge difference, but they must take responsibility for their own lives and love unconditionally first.
Weekly Coaching Tip
Are you afraid of trying something new?
Great leaders always look for ways to innovate, improve, and be more efficient. However, what often holds leaders back is that they get stuck in a limiting pattern that they continue because they expect different a result. Furthermore, trying something new introduces an element of risk, and it can be hard to try something new when you’re not in a position where you can take a lot of risks.
The thing is, nothing changes when nothing changes. Your fear of trying something new can stand in the way of your biggest breakthrough yet.
Here are three steps you can enact to try something new:
- Take a look at what’s working and what’s not. Write those things down.
- Slow down and ask yourself, “What’s one thing I haven’t tried that I’m willing to try, knowing it might fail?”
- Track your results. What did you notice? What did you discover in the process that you were resisting? What are you glad you took the chance on?
Try these action steps and let us know what happens!
Let’s Get Social!
Want to hear more from Elena? Click here!
Connect with the beautiful Natalie Megules on LinkedIn, or Instagram.
Order one of Natalie's fabulous cakes!
This podcast was produced by the following amazing team:
John Biethan, President of Imagine Podcasting
Sam De Santo, Creative Director
Rye Taylor, Podcast Design Strategist & Producer
Meg McCarley, Brand Designer & Social Media Manager
Raejan Noh, Content Writer
Aaron Boykin, Musician & Artist (Get updates about Aaron’s music via Instagram)
