How it Started, How it's Going

We welcome Megan as our new teammate and share the real story of how Create Harmony grows from solo work into a true partnership built on intention, creativity, and connection. We talk about slowing down the noise, building confidence to share our work, and the bigger vision of helping people feel less agitated in daily life. 

• how Create Harmony evolves from workshops to guided meditations to a long-running podcast 
• why we know it’s time to add a teammate and what changes when we do 
• Megan’s career path through finance and tech startups plus layoffs and motherhood during COVID 
• what draws Megan to mental wellness work through yoga, reflection, and meaning 
• learning to talk about our work with more confidence and clarity 
• the long-term vision of helping people slow down and feel more connected 
• what we want to try next with guests, partnerships, and local pop-up events in Raleigh 

come back next week we've got more great stuff planned. 

To learn more, go to mycreateharmony.com 

Transcript

Intentional Rhythm And Gratitude

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome back to the Create Harmony Podcast. Let me tell you what you're gonna find here. In this space, we settle into an intentional rhythm, and it's one that helps us savor life's blessings and ground ourselves in gratitude. If you're longing to settle your soul, you're probably gonna find a lot here that you love. And if you enjoy being creative and having a little fun, there's a place for you here as well. Each episode will take a few minutes to celebrate everyday joys and remind ourselves to notice the goodness that's all around us. And today we get to expand that space a little wider. I'm going to be joined by a guest whose work and presence reflect much of what we value here at Create Harmony. Connection, intention, and a deep respect for the rhythms that shape our lives. So wherever you are, settle in, take a breath, and join us for this conversation. All right, so this is episode 170, and I am your host, Sally Burlington. And today we we've started having guests. We had a guest last week, and today we have our new teammate, Megan. She is with us, and I'm so excited for everybody to get a chance to get to know Megan and to meet her and to hear from her. So welcome, welcome, Megan. Hey everyone. Yeah, so I we're gonna start out. I'm gonna tell just a little we're this episode is called How It Started, How It's Going. So I'm gonna give a little bit of background, which Megan's probably probably already heard, but just for people who are listening, about how we got to where we are and how we decided that a new teammate was needed. And then I'm gonna let Megan tell her side of the same story. So basically, Create Harmony kind of started as me teaching workshops. Uh, this was pre-COVID and I was teaching a lot of workshops, and then I got really into guided meditations and did that a whole lot during COVID because you could do that over Zoom. And then it grew and grew and grew. And then the podcast, I think, is maybe four years old, but it's been a while. We've been doing a few episodes, but it's always just me. It's me talking and giving little insights and what have you. And so for quite a while, it has been feeling like that a new teammate would be needed. And I mean, maybe the Holy Spirit was telling me that, and I was probably ignoring it because I just didn't know what how to what to make of that. So then I sort of put it out there to the universe where can I find a teammate? And Megan, we the way that we know each other is that our husbands work together. We both have husbands named Rob and they work together. So I had texted her to say, Do you know anybody who might want a job like this? And she said, Let me think about it. And then time went on, time went on, months I think went by. And then she came back and said, Did you find anybody for that job? And I said, No, but if you want it to be you, great. So here we are. Megan is our new teammate, and now I'm gonna let I'm gonna hand it over to her and let her tell sort of her version of that same story. Yeah, thanks, Sally.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Um, so I have a background in finance, um, not meditation, ironically. And I had been working in finance for a really long time. I switched over into software startups. Um, it was constant grind, especially during COVID, lots of uh ups and downs, highs and lows. And during COVID, I also had both of my children. Um, so like March of 2020, COVID hit. My son was born at the same exact time. Um, so I was navigating um the corporate world while also becoming a mom, as many, many moms do. Um and I got laid off once when I was pregnant. It was a very appropriate layoff. It was like the whole team was laid off. Um, and so was I. And that was when I was pregnant. I decided after that that was my second child to go back into the workforce. And then um I had a few roles and then I was laid off again. So in December, Sally and I are sitting at a holiday party talking about what she's doing, what's I'm what I'm doing, and I'm currently unemployed. And Sally says, I really think that I could use somebody. Do you know anybody? And I have uh a lot of um women in my circle who are looking for some additional ways to stretch themselves beyond what they're currently doing. And I thought about all of them and I just thought, I don't think it, I don't know. I something had made me hesitate and say, I'm gonna hold off on telling her all these names of women who might be really great at this are and instead just sit on this for a while. So I sat on it for a few months. I was like, I think that person's me, actually. Um I think it's gonna be me. I hope it's gonna be me. So then I messaged Sally and said, Hey, uh, I kind of want that job you were talking about. I throughout all of my career have done yoga, which has a very intentional element of reflection and meditation is something that I strive to do more regularly. I love doing it. I just have not been able to make time for it as much as I'd like in my life. And so, anyway, a lot of what Sally, you have been doing, I am drawn to naturally. Um, so that is why I inserted myself into this wonderful, wonderful place.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Well, it is like a dream for me because what I love about Megan, what I love about you is that you have such an excitement for life and you're so you're like an all-in person. And I said this when we're such an all-in person. You just have so much energy and you get excited about things. And if you think you're gonna do something, you're like, okay, let's do it. And that is really the kind of spirit that I felt like we needed, just because so many of the ideas that I would have, I would think, well, I mean, should I do that? Should we try that? You know, what do you think? And there was nobody to ask, What do you think? So it's wonderful to have Megan in the mix to be able to ask. And most of the time, she either says, I don't know about that, I don't think that's a very good idea, or mostly she says, That's awesome, let's do it. So, um, and she's brought so many great ideas. I mean, already we've made connections with people that she knew, and she's always one of the things that I've learned about Megan as we've been working together is that she has a lot of people that are under the category of best friends. So she'll say, Well, my best friend's neighbor is gonna da da da da. We could call that person, and I'm like, okay, these are a lot of best friends, and I think it's awesome. Let's call all of them.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Yeah, I always have an opinion, I'm always excited about it, and I've always got a friend.

How We Balance Creativity And Connection

SPEAKER_00 7:26

So you have always got a friend. So, sort of what's happening, the way that we're learning to work together is that we I'm still doing the the most of the content creation because that's I'm more of an introvert, so I like to like get in a room and start thinking up, you know, ideas of what kind of content we can design. And Megan is connecting us with people. She is helping us be able to make connections. We went on a little field trip to a local um mental wellness coffee shop, which is it's that's really not their name, but it's a coffee shop that says their title is Sip Through the Struggle. We went on a little field trip there and connect with some people that Megan knew, and we've got some local events lined up so we can talk about our brand and do all sorts of things. So it's been great. So, Megan, I will let you talk a little bit more about what you think, how you think things are going with the two of us and how it's been for you.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

I think that Sally needs a woo girl. Um yes, for sure. And I am that woo girl. And you are excellent at that. Uh, I was never a cheerleader in high school, which is ironic because you would think that I was one. Um, I think that so far it's been going really, really great. I think that Sally is incredibly creative. Um, she has an incredible uh reflective side and is so intentional with her time, which I wish I was more of. Um and maybe that's partially to do with season supply, who knows? But um I do think even if we were in the exact same position, Sally would be way more intentional and I would be swept through the wind like a leaf.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Um but it'd be so fun while you were doing it.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

It'd be the funnest leaf. Um but I I think that it's been going really great because of the fact that you are so creative, you are so intentional, um, you have so much follow-through and drive. And then I'm able to, I think, motivate you in some of the areas where um I think we have quick wins and easy potential. Um a lot of what I've done in the past in my career too has been like managing a program of things. So figuring out what the important pieces are and then pushing those forward and trying to get rid of the rest. Uh, if you get Sally and I in a room, we could talk about ideas literally. I don't think we would ever stop. We have so many great ideas. Um, so it's it's good to have two people to channel that energy and then figure out which ones are the right ones. And I think that between the two of us, we do a really good job at grounding each other. Yes, motivating each other enough to get the right things done.

Organization, Asana, And Self-Promotion

SPEAKER_00 10:16

For sure. Last week we had um Amy Cook on the podcast and we were talking about our partnership with their their mental wellness boutique. And that we said the same thing. We have no shortage of ideas. Follow through on the ideas. Maybe we need to beef that up a little, but just no shortage of like, and then this, and what about this? And you know, so we love creativity here at Create Harmony. That's why the word create is in the title. So we like to make we like to make things. So Megan has just been awesome. You have just added so much enthusiasm and excitement, and we just love that and infrastructure because you have helped us get organized in a way. Uh, I did not have the tech skills or maybe just the project management software skills that Megan brought into the mix. So we've both been learning how to use Asana and we've got all of our little tasks on there, and now Asana is running our lives, which is great, or running, running, totally running mine. Megan's got a whole life outside of that, but um, but it's it's really great, and I I love that. So that's been a big win, easy win for us. Yeah, I I thought that it was gonna be really, really hard for me to figure out how to use it, but you just made it so easy. So that was great.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yeah, I also think that one other thing that I help compliment you in is Sally doesn't love to talk about herself or her work as much as she should. Um, because she's an introvert and she's incredibly humble. It's helpful to have me promote what you do because what you do is so wonderful and so helpful for people. And I can help make connections as a as almost like a third, as a as a bystander saying, look at all this great work Sally's done. Come and partner with him, her, listen to her podcast, come on her podcast, be a guest, whatever it is, um, and seize those new opportunities in a different light because of the fact that sometimes it's a little uncomfortable because talking by yourself or because you're just so humble. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

I don't know if it's humble or if it's just not very confident, I'm not sure. But um I did, I mean, I had a long stretch when after I got into the podcast of it would go great, and I would record the episodes and I would feel really confident about it. I was like, Oh, that was so good. And people would say they listened and you know, all the things. But then when someone would ask me when I would be somewhere at a party, at a in the elevator, whatever, someone say, What do you do? And I would just be like, Uh uh I wouldn't, I would know what I wanted to say, but somehow I just couldn't get it to come out in ways that seemed like completely confident and whatever. So I've been working on that, and I think I'm a little bit better. And Megan is a huge help to help me to just you know step into those shoes a little bit more, and and that helps. That's you're in the shoes and they're fabulously fitting. So good. Thanks, thanks. That's a huge help, and just you know, help bounce ideas off and and all the things balance each other out. We do for sure. We do balance each other out, and we've talked about there's another possible team teammate in the mix for later in the summer. We've been talking to another young lady that we both think is amazing, but she's got it, she's relocating and doing some things, and so we're gonna um we're gonna just tease that right now and then hope you know keep our fingers crossed that that actually comes together and that she comes to join us because she adds a whole array of other amazing and awesome skills that are gonna put so much wind in our sails maybe late summer. So we're looking forward to that. So I also wanted to I just want to circle back a little bit and say, Megan, what I mean, what made you say yes to this? Do you remember what made you decide that it wasn't your friend or your coworker or whatever? Who how did you know it was you?

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Oh, that's such a good question. Um it starts back a while ago. Um so if I think about what I want to do in five to ten years, uh it's not working in software or tech. Sorry if I ever go back into it, erases from my record, but um it's not to do that, uh, even though I think I am can be naturally gifted in that, I think that I want to apply a lot of what I'm good at in that space to um like the nonprofit or uh the nonprofit industry or an industry that helps people with a fundamental or foundational thing that they're struggling with, right? And so when I was thinking about what's gonna prepare me for that one day, it this just felt like a good fit, even though we're not a nonprofit, right? You help people with their mental wellness. And um it just felt more in line with the space that I want to be in. Um it motivates me uh to my core as a as a human, not just motivated me for like a paycheck, right? To survive, motivated me as a human. Um and I think the only thing that didn't make me immediately go, me, yes, was that our husbands work together. And I was like, oh that good as well.

unknown 15:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Um, and so my husband always says that, you know, I'm I like you mentioned, I'm incredibly enthusiastic about things and uh say yes to a lot. I signed myself up sometimes for things without thinking. Um, this was something I really wanted to think through and make sure it was a good fit. But I think from the moment you said it, I was like, that's me. And then I was just like, let's let this pass. Don't say yes to everything. And then it kept coming back and coming back and coming back. And I thought about my future and I was like, I think this is more in line than me becoming, you know, uh a project manager or a program manager or a manager, whatever I was gonna do back in corporate America, just felt way more in line with that, and it also felt way more in line with what my family needs right now.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Yes, I can see.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Which is balance um and you know, joys in the little things. It just felt so in line with everything I'm going for in life right now. I can see that.

The Bigger Vision For Create Harmony

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Yeah. Well, when I was um at some point we were talking with our new new teammate, one of the questions she asked me was what is like my biggest dream, my biggest vision for where Create Harmony could go? What do you hope happens? So I'm gonna answer what I said to her, and I'm gonna let you think about what you think, if you have more to say on that. But my my answer, my off-the-cuff answer was I would love to think that at some point we moved the needle on people's level of agitation. Like I would love to think that somewhere out in the world, it wasn't just 10 people who were less agitated, it was like a significant amount of people who felt like they found the resources they needed to center themselves to live in less sphere, to not have to be so rushed and hurried and making all of their life huge life decisions from a place of like, I've got five minutes, let me see what I think about this. Um, so that that was kind of what I now whether or not we we'll actually achieve that, who who knows? Maybe, but that's my big vision and the how of that we'll figure out as we're going. So, do you have any thoughts to add about what your biggest vision is for create harmony?

Slowing Down And Real Connection

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Yeah, yeah, I love that. I think that is so spot on. I think that there's like two big themes that I see often with create harmony, and one is um like slowdown, right? Uh detach yourself from the noise of the world. And the noise of the world is I think what people view as necessary now, and it's not like you don't have to look at your phone every second, you don't have to consistently be um distracted. It's so easy to do that. And if we can help people to not be distracted by what we call life now, which is not life, right? I would that would be lovely. And then also we focus, I think, a lot on connection as well, right? And um community and like the joy that the simple connections in life can bring to you. And I think also bringing that back to what you know, I think of from my childhood when I think of connection, I think of like going outside, playing in the grass with my neighborhood friends. Like I if we can make people find peace and just like connection and slowing down and getting rid of honestly the technological distractions. Yeah, I just feel like if we could do that for the masses as well, that would be so incredible because I think that's what's causing a lot of our issues. Yes, for sure. We're missing those things. And I feel like the more that we can remind people of that, the better.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Yes. Megan, you're really, really good with connection. Like you that word cut seems to come up, I notice, for you a lot that connection is one of the things you're good at and one of the things you really need. And I I think you really do bring that into the mix a lot. And not that I I I mean, I like connection, but I also need my own space and my own thinking time. So I love that you are such a connector and so into that. I think I think that really helps round out the offerings that we have in a lot of ways. So I would love to know um a little bit more at some point. You don't have to answer this right now if you're not if you're not ready, but at some point I'd love to know like what is your what does connection really mean to you? But you may not that might be too deep for today's podcast. You can think on that a little bit. Maybe we'll do another podcast and we can say what does connection really mean um to everyone. Yeah, to everyone. We can get other people to weigh in, that'd be great. Yeah, um because I think we don't I think a lot of the problems that we have as a society is that we aren't we don't feel connected enough, we don't see each other, we don't feel a sense of belonging in the spaces that we we dwell, and that's that's an issue.

Podcast Guests, Pop-Ups, And New Ideas

SPEAKER_01 21:14

So I feel we constantly focus on the things that uh make us isolated or different more so than we focus on what connects us. Yes, which is really easy to do. Really easy to do. Yeah, those are the things that are generally yelling at you instead of the when you slow down and you look through the through the grass, you can see what what's actually connecting you as a human instead of what's making you different. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Well, we talked a little earlier about the fact that we have so many good ideas and things that we want to do and all that. And I just wanted to hear if you have anything to say about anything you're most excited about from those ideas. What kind of stands out to you that you're like, well, cannot wait until we whatever.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

Yes. I well I think two things. It goes back to me being a connector. Really? How about that? I'm really excited for a party. I am really excited about having more people on our podcast. Um I think that we we've been talking to some people who are going to come on our podcast and just exploring some ideas, Sally and I. And first off, meeting these different people with all these different backgrounds and ideas and what wellness is to them and what they bring to the table is so fun and so incredible. So I'm super excited about that. And also I feel like you know what got me into my yoga practice back back way back, I took a class in college and I took a tiny step in that direction. And like however many years later here I am still practicing yoga and I'm obsessed with it. And so our podcast guests might help us take a tiny step in a direction we might have never anticipated for ourselves that might be life changing and it might be nothing, but I'm really excited about that.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

I love that idea.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Yeah just like a tiny little baby step.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

I know I'm going to look at that list again and think what tiny baby step do I need to take I love that.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Right. Once somebody gave me this book called Qi Running um it was actually somebody who works in her husband's offices. And then I never knew so much about Tai Chi. And it's so interesting. It's just like the little things and people are like oh chi looks so boring. And when I read the book I was so intrigued by it. I never thought I would be intrigued by it. And I by no means practice Chai Chi, but it's super cool. Maybe maybe in the future you're going to be a Tai Chi guru. You know maybe so I'm really excited about our guests and I'm also really excited about us potentially getting out there and in the field. So um we're planning on doing some pop-up events at places to have people learn about what we do, who we are, what we're trying to help provide the community and that's obviously local to where we are which is in Raleigh. But I'm really excited for that because of the fact that we'll get to maybe meet people that we wouldn't have gotten to meet and show them some of the tools that we have for them. And and and then also even maybe be like hey do you want to surprise yourself every quarter with a seasonal subscription box. Like this can be a present to yourself. What's better than treating yourself to something so I feel like the combo of those those two things I'm really really excited about. What about you, Sally?

Surprises, Seasons Of Life, And Closing

SPEAKER_00 24:46

I am probably the most excited about having teammates that is you yeah I mean all the things you said for sure I'm excited about that particularly our impact on the local community just because those are the people that are right here at us and I I'm excited about you know forming more partnerships making more connections I'm definitely excited about and curious about all I mean I was looking earlier today at the list of potential podcast guests that we have and I was like oh we need to get that one now we need and it felt like I just wanted to hurry up and get them all you know because they're they're all really interesting and quite diverse. So we have a wide range. I did tell Megan that someone reached out to me this man reached out to me that specialized in the prevention of rodents and I don't think we are going to pursue that one. That we we put a pin in that because somehow that didn't seem like it aligned with the brand as as much as necessary but the rest of the ones seemed really really exciting. We love what they do but yeah we're glad that they're doing what they do it but we don't want to talk about it on our podcast. So or at least not now maybe at some point maybe later you know maybe we'll we'll venture in that direction but anyway so okay what about this is there anything about this work so far that has surprised you anything that you feel about that let me think if I can answer that is there anything that has surprised me I'm surprised at how easy it is for you me to have you I mean how much we've gotten done in just a short period of time I feel like oh gosh that was great.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

That's been surprising yes I have been surprised at how much we've gotten done and also how much we have left to do yeah how many ideas we could generate in a 10 minute period. We we give ourselves a lot of tasks. I also am surprised at when so when I was starting to do some of the work and just like sit with like okay how do we generate some of these ideas and how do we do it I was surprised at while I'm working how peaceful I feel because I've never felt peace and it I've loved jobs I've had.

SPEAKER_00 27:00

Yes peace but this I don't know if I would call it peace. Yeah this is a different kind of work I agree.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

And so it just felt so calming and soothing and I was like whoa this feels good and like yeah it it's great to like your coworkers but it's also really great to feel like you're relaxing while working.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

Yes I don't always feel totally at peace while I'm working but I I have said on the podcast before that so much of the time you know particularly when I'm just doing audio I have to then listen to it again and edit it and you know there's a lot of me listening to myself and so much of the time I'm like you know what you're you needed that today like the person that needed to hear that more today was you and you should be listening because sometimes I'm like scurrying around like calm yourself and slow down and I'm going 100 miles an hour. So I I feel like I one of the things that has surprised me about this work is how often I needed to hear the things that I ended up saying.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

And I guess that's just we can thank the Holy Spirit for that I guess but yeah um one other thing is I for my New Year's I'm a big resolution girly I love resolution and nobody likes them. Like I also like icebreakers again don't understand sorry if anybody else yeah yeah my old team used to make fun of me like oh here's an icebreaker Megan go have at it you're the only one who's enjoying it um but I set a New Year's resolution this year to be really intentional with my time which I just realized is so ironic because I paired myself up with the most intentional person Sally and it's been it's like so great to like have an influence and that's been surprising to like have you as an influence of my life to be intentional when I was like I want to be intentional this year. And so that just dawned on me right now.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

I love that oh we're having real time insights real time insights real time insights I love that that's awesome well do you have any questions for me that you want to ask or anything you want else you want to mention talk about share how how so how it started how it's going okay yes would there be anything you would have done differently so far oh that's a good question I don't I will say no to that with the exception of sometimes some of the stuff we're doing I'm like well why didn't I think of that that was so odd like I've been doing this for several years and that was such an obvious well we could have done that you know so I guess I'll answer it like that. There's nothing that I would do differently about our working together but just so many of your ideas and the way the ease with which they've come together I'm like well shoot man I could have been doing that for a couple of years now but that's okay we'll get there. I'll get there slowly see I'm slowing down I'm slowing down that's what it is getting there slowly right you are being intentional and deliberate yes for sure and I was also in a different season of life now a little more I was in a season of life where I was building a huge pool in my backyard and taking a leadership role in my church. So and two of my children graduated from things one graduated from high school and one from college and that is no small thing I'll say the seasons of life I have realized can really influence your capacity to go out into the world and I I don't think enough people give themselves grace for it. I I think that's a huge deal. I think that is a really big deal that people don't always recognize that you're not and not just the seasons of life but the seasons of the year. And sometimes we talked about that a lot in winter well being that when it's dark and cold your body doesn't want to do all those things that you put on your resolution list. It's dark and cold and you need to rest um and then in the middle of the summer maybe you do want to do that. So I think that's a big that's a big insight. So anyway. Well thank you thank you for taking out time to be with us and thanks to everybody who listened along we have so much you're gonna be hearing about all of our good ideas are going to come together and we are glad that everybody tuned in and come back next week we've got more great stuff planned. And what I say always at the end I'll say until next time peace.