#125: How to Own Your Voice, Do the Shadow Work & Show Up Unapologetically with Megan Hamilton, TEDx Speaker Coach & Impact Witch

What does it really take to show up, speak powerfully, and create lasting impact — especially when the world feels heavy? In this episode, I sit down with Megan Hamilton, also known as The Impact Witch, a TEDx speaker advisor, performance coach, and communication expert with over 30 years on stage.

Megan breaks down her signature four-part speaking system (rooted in Alexander Technique), what TEDx organizers are actually looking for, and the two biggest mistakes speakers make before ever stepping on stage. But we go deeper than strategy — we talk shadow work, nervous system regulation, and why so many women and non-binary entrepreneurs struggle with visibility (hint: it goes back thousands of years).

If you've been holding back from being seen — whether that's posting on Instagram, pitching a TEDx talk, or simply owning your full identity in your business — this conversation is for you.

In this episode:

• The visibility ladder: how to build confidence without overwhelming your nervous system
• What makes a TEDx pitch actually work (and what kills it)
• How shadow work unlocks the visibility blocks that mindset tips can't fix
• Why Megan rebranded to "The Impact Witch" — and what happened to her business when she did
• The difference between faking it and embodying it

Connect with Megan:

• Website: impactwitch.com
• Instagram: @impactmagic
• Program: Impact Magic now OPEN for enrollment!

Mindset to Market is a Luminous Creative Production. If you'd like to learn more about our business coaching program and group coaching container, please visit us online at DeborahcSmith.com.

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Mindset to Market is produced by Deborah C. Smith and designed to inspire and support big-hearted creatives in finding their own unique path, building a sustainable business, and creating financial, spiritual, mental wellness and abundance.

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Transcript

 Okay, guys, what does it actually take to own your voice, to own the stage, and create real impact \ My guest today spent 30 years on stage as an actor and a musician before turning that experience into a coaching method that's helped TEDx speakers, high-profile leaders, and everyday entrepreneurs finally break through the visibility blocks that they're experiencing. So she's Megan Hamilton. She's also known as The Impact Witch, and she's here to share so much with us today about shadow work, her four-part speaking system, and why embodying your whole self is the most rebellious business move that you can make right now. So stay with us. 📍 ​ Okay, you guys. Welcome & Introduction 📍 Welcome back to Mindset to Market. Today my guest is Megan Hamilton, who's also known as The Impact Witch. She's a speaker, a coach, a performer, and a communication expert with over 30 years of experience on stage, and she's the founder of Impact Witch, I hope I got that right, we'll ask her in just a minute, where she blends coaching, training, and a little bit of magic to help entrepreneurs and leaders step into their voice, own their presence, and, and actually create real impact. Um, and I'm so excited to talk to her about what that actually means. Megan has coached TEDx speakers all around the world. She's worked with high-profile leaders. She's worked with change-makers. She's worked with celebrities. And now she helps clients not only refine what they're gonna say when you finally get on stage, but, uh, literally how to embody it and how to show up when you're saying it so people actually believe you. So, and what I love absolutely most about Megan's work, um, from, from what I've learned so far, is how she weaves intuitive tools like tarot and energetic alignment into her visibility and her messaging. Um, and I think the, the gist here is that impact isn't just strategy, right? It's really embodiment and showing up as the whole person. So I cannot wait to get into this conversation. Megan, welcome to the show. Thank you. I actually need to take notes on how you just described, uh, what I do because it was really succinct. Uh, 📍 I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Yeah, this is great. We met... Um, I believe we met on Threads, and I believe because we were both- Mm-hmm kind of like raging against the machine about something- ... ridiculous that's happening right now, and we were both like, "Hi." Probably. Um, I love Threads for that. There's some really good, like, community vibes on that platform right now. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, especially in, during these times when - we just feel like you know, the Titanic is sinking and we're rearranging the deckchairs. Mm-hmm. Yep. Uh, yeah, I've definitely had some really positive moments on Threads. I find, I don't know about you, but I, I duck into it, and then I duck out of it. I'm s- when I'm in it, I, I really enjoy, you know, whatever I'm doing, but then I usually get derailed, and then I just, uh, I'm like, "Oh yeah, I should go and check out what's happening over here." I, you know, because I do marketing professionally, I'm so strategic about how I show up online. It's kind of- Mm-hmm ... Threads is the one place where I'm just scr- I actually scroll and just, like, randomly comment on anything. It's actually- Yeah ... for me, Fr- Threads is like, "Okay, I'm going to the park for a little while." Like, it's l- Mm ... a- and I, it interestingly, it's the platform where I make the most, the deepest connections, so that says a lot, right? It's actually social for me. Yeah, that's ... Yes. Well, and that's such a huge part of it. I mean, y- I'm sure that y- y- you must have the same, but when I'm talking to clients and they're, you know, talking about, you know, what's the strategy for Instagram, and I'm, you know, they're like, "I'm gonna post this many times a day," or, "I'm gonna do this," and I'm like, "Well, how much time are you gonna spend actually being social on Instagram and talking to people?" And they're like, "Oh." It's like, it's not just I'm just gonna post stuff and people will find me. It's, it's m- relationships and- Yeah ... having conversations and commenting and responding thoughtfully and, uh, you know, I, I think part of the reason that Threads can be so successful is that j- there's something about the algorithm in Threads that is connecting. I don't know if it's because it's more written than visual, but I mean, I'll post something, and all of a sudden, there's a whole bunch of people that I've never come in contact before that are aligned, and it's like, okay, well, this is really helpful. Yeah, they got that algorithm dialed in for- Mm. Mm ... you post a word, and the next 20 things you see are that word, you know, somebody's- Yeah. opinion on that. Well, it's totally, I, I mean, honestly I can't, I can't say I hate it 'cause it's- I know ... it's a good way to kind of align with the people that you do wanna have conversations with, and conversations are where everything happens, right? That's where the magic happens. Yeah. So- And it makes it more fun. Yeah, it's way more fun. Mm-hmm. Okay. Megan's Journey: Theater to Coaching So you've spent over 30 years on stage, um- Mm-hmm ... first as an actor, I believe, right? You, you come from a performance background in theater. Um, how did that evolve into coaching and entrepreneurship? Yeah. Well, over a long period of time. Uh, but yeah, I'm a classically trained actor from the, uh, Toronto Metropolitan University, and that's I, I knew at 14 that's what I wanted to do. Uh, and I got into my, the school of choice. All the, all, you know, all the boxes were ticking, and then I got into the real world, and I was basically getting sent out for commercial audi- auditions all the time, and, um, I'm not... That's where I struggle. I, I really do struggle. Uh, musical theater was always tough for me. There's a, there's a, there's a part of me that really rebels against, um- shiny, flashy. So the commercial auditions, you know, they want, like, high energy and, like- Jazz hands ... th- th- there was jazz hands. That's ex- that's really clear. I mean, don't get me wrong- Uh jazz hands are awesome, but not everybody- I love jazz hands. But not everybody should be using them. No, and s- yeah, so, uh, I realized a few years in I don't think I wanna do this. I'm rearranging my life constantly to make it to these auditions that just suck. So I started writing my own stuff, and I got a few grants, and then I was producing my own plays, and that felt really great. Then I was like, "Oh, I can actually be in the driver's seat here. I like this a lot better." I just had to get over this idea that I was going to be an actor. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Uh- Identity shift ... so that took its time. Yeah. So then, uh, I was producing theater and making my own stuff for a while, and then I kind of in the background started making music and writing my own songs. And then that just t- the fire of that, the joy of that took over everything. And then I pursued being a musician full time for many years when I was living in Toronto. Uh, I, I recorded, uh, five, six, I can't remember now, uh, albums. Um, I toured f- across Canada and into the United States, all the way from Newfoundland to BC, which is our two, uh, coasts. And then my now-husband and I moved to Kingston, which is between Toronto and Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, and had a kid, and th- you know, things just shifted a little bit. Somewhere around 2013, I started getting interested... I was working at a university, and the students were doing these competitions where they had to pretend to be lawyers in these moot competitions. And I was curious about who was performance coaching them, 'cause I was thinking about all of the things I'd learned in theater school that we would talk about at the time, saying, "Everybody should know how to do this." Yeah. And they were like, "Oh, we don't really do that." And I was like, "Okay. Well, I would love to try to put something together to see if I can help them." That was feeling really ex- exciting to me, and they were game. So I put together this training, and the funny thing is, so that was 2014 when I started. It's the same training that I'm still doing now. I love that. I watched the video that's the intro to your current course, and I heard you talk a little bit about that. I think that's so fascinating. It's, it's like, if it works, it works, and there's something about marketing and, and sales, and kind of what are these, like, age-old kind of guidelines. They're not very different. Mm-hmm. The, the thing that attracts people to pay attention, the thing that magnetizes people to give you their attention, and then, like, to, to thereby, you know, build an impact, right, create an impact, is the same- Mm-hmm as it was 50, you know, years ago, 100 years ago. Like, sales and marketing tools are essentially the same. The platforms change. The trends change. Mm-hmm. The style changes, but the, the guidelines are kind of the same. Mm-hmm. Exactly. And so, you know, The Alexander Technique & Physical Presence the methodology I use for physicality, for example, which is Alexander technique, that guy started Alexander, uh, like, in the late 1800s It is still- Wow what they're using in performance spaces in, uh, you know, a lot of symphony orchestras have a Alexander coach to help- Mm-hmm ... with physicality. It's basically to, like, open up your body, support, uh, breathing, support a strong voice, uh, support, um, uh, f- from injury. So I mean, with any kind of performance, there's always the opportunity for injury if you're not doing something properly. And so it just really helps you understand how to carry your body. And then there's also, thankfully now, tons of research on it that supports all of the claims that it's had through the years. So that's where we start, Alexander technique, how to stand using the principles of Alexander technique. And that has been the case. I mean, that's what I learned 33 years ago. That's, it, it's the same way I carry my body still. Uh, a- and it's the same that I teach co- uh, that I teach folks. What's interesting to me is I get emails probably weekly now from people that I've worked with over the last 12 years They're still using this stuff. Yeah. And this is why I continue to use it, because it works, and it's simple, and it gives you a framework. 'Cause, uh, you've probably been in this situation where you get on stage or you're... The spotlight's on you and suddenly you blank, or somebody asks you a weird question and then it throws you off, and you're just like... That's when we start to panic because you're like, "I don't know how to get back on track in this situation." So now, with this, with this system that I use, it's four parts, it's very simple. You, you just know. You go back to one, and you start through and you get back into... So you actually have, like, a thing to do when you're off the rails, so you don't have to think about, "What do I do right now?" You're like, "Go back to one." Okay. Interesting. And that just helps reset and gets you back on track. So it's not only just like, "This is how I do this stuff," it is, "This is what I do when things get messed up." Yeah. And it's just... Uh, it's simple. It's, it's, you know, I... Sometimes I'm like, "Maybe I should do something more elaborate." And certainly the coaching is different, the speech writing is different, the speech direction is different. But the, but the same training that's applied to my TEDx speakers, to my small business owners who are working to feel better in marketing, it's all the same. Isn't that wild? It... I mean, I totally believe it. I mean, I've, If you have a block to speaking, performing, it's probably mental and emotional, but that can freeze up your whole body, and that's- Mm-hmm why people don't publish content that they create to talk about their business- Mm-hmm ... and won't use these free organic tools to reach people, and connect with them, and, like, build relationships, and sell their products. They, they feel genuine terror around- Mm-hmm ... you being judged, being seen as, you know, I don't know, fake or... There's so many- Mm-hmm ... I think, identity shifts that have to happen for somebody to really embrace it and say, "This is fine. I can do this." Um, I wanna pause for a second on the TEDx stuff, because If you have TEDx in your bio, it kind of says to people, "I've made it to this next level because I was accepted- Mm-hmm into this s- highly vetted, uh, performance stage that has such a wide global audience." So, and you've coached globally TEDx speakers- Mm-hmm ... through this program that you created, and a whole high-profile leaders. I think politicians were on your list, if I'm correct. Mm-hmm. So I guess- Yeah. Diplomats ... I'm curious about- What you, I have a two-part question here. So one is, How to Land a TEDx Talk what do you think it really takes for people to land a TEDx talk? Does it have to do with... Is it mostly in the pitch, or do they have to... I mean, are they submitting videos, I assume, of them speaking. Is there some level of preparation- Sometimes ... that goes into, like, how they actually present themselves? That's part one. Definitely. Mm-hmm. I'll let you answer that first, and then we'll do part two. Sure. Well, you know, I put a... I actually did a workshop on TEDx last year, because I hadn't really seen one, and I have the benefit of being involved in TEDx on multiple levels. So so I'm the speaker advisor for the second-largest TEDx in Canada. Okay. Amazing. Yeah. Uh, and I have been since 2020, and then I've coached... So they usually give me the, um, the high-level speaker that they've brought in for the conference each year for this particular TEDx. So I'm usually coaching... Not only am I coaching the coaches, uh, but I'm also coaching the high-level speakers. And then I've, you know, as... Because I've been involved in TEDx for so long now, uh, people reach out to me to coach their TEDxes around the world. So the thing to remember about TEDx is every single one is different. It's run by different people. Uh, sometimes- They're not... It's not like there's one set of rules. Well- Except there is. So TEDx is very strict in terms of their rules and regulations. So you have to buy a franchise. You have to, uh, and every year you have to update it. There, it's very strict in terms of what's allowed, what's not allowed. Got it. And so you need to be conscious of that when you're working with TEDx speakers because if you break the rules, so for example, if you do, if you, if you, uh, make a statement and it's not vetted by the kind of research that they require, then you could lose your license. Got it. Or that person, their talk won't get uploaded to the main TEDx website, which is kind of where you want it to go. So, and, and that's happened. We've seen that happen, and it really sucks for the speaker. Uh, it sucks for the, the, uh, organization that's putting it on. But so those things are, are, you know, finite. However, within each TEDx, it's a, it's a different, uh, s- audition process. Uh, it's different in terms of how... Do they have it for one day? Do they have it for two days? Is it one Saturday and then the next Saturday? Uh, what is required in order to vie for a spot? Mm-hmm. Uh, whether or not you get a coach. So I've been told numerous times that, you know, ours kind of has the m- one of the best coaching, um, elements to the TEDx 'cause a lot of times you, there's a k- you know, a person who's kind of in charge of helping the people with coaching, but they've never done that before or they're just, like, only focusing on the talk. So You do wanna be, uh, somewhat strategic in terms of where you pitch, and then so much depends upon what the theme of the TEDx is that year for that particular organization. Right. Sometimes you know that in advance, sometimes you don't. So you might be going in with a pitch that doesn't even- Match their theme wouldn't possibly fit within their program, which, uh, this, I think is usually kind of bad organization on that TEDx's part because then you're just, you're wasting your time. I mean, what are you doing auditioning somebody... You're wasting your time with that when it was never gonna be a fit at all. So there's so many- Yeah, that's interesting different factors that go into pitching for TEDx. But the thing is, if you're really strategic about it, you can absolutely have that TEDx take you in places you didn't dream that you could go. But, and I say this to everybody and they're always like, "Ah," we're not approaching TEDx as a s- as a vehicle. That's not why we do it. You have to have a really fucking good idea. Yeah. And you have to believe in that idea and want people to know about it. That's your starting place. If that's not your starting place- It's probably not gonna happen. Yeah, like you need to be driven by a burning desire to get your message in the ears of people because you believe with your whole being- Mm-hmm it's gonna help them. Yep. That's the place to... It's so interesting you say that. I met the TEDx, uh, some TEDx, uh, coach, speaker coaches in Florida. The last couple years in a row I've been doing some conferences down there, and they sort of... I had a great conversation with this woman about that, and that's the first time I got excited thinking about it, when it was like, "Oh, it's not about- Hmm your career." 'Cause I'm- Yeah ... not motivated by some of the bigger goals like that. Like, I really wanna help women, um, and I'm kind of comfortable doing that in, you know, the lane that I'm in. I don't necessarily, like, see myself needing to be on giant stages. But I am driven by helping people feel a real spark of positivity and hope, and that, that- Mm-hmm was the first time I was like, "Oh, maybe I am interested in this." 'Cause it's not about- Right ... just kind of the numbers game. It's about impacting people, like your entire business. Yeah. Okay, so let's... Talking about the stage piece of it, you're coaching people who are ready to step on stage. They're getting ready to actually do a TEDx. The Biggest Mistakes TEDx Speakers Make What's the biggest mistake that you see people make when they're, when they're, when they're doing this? There's two. The first one is they do not give enough time to work on the performance. Mm. So I say, at the very minimum, you wanna have three weeks of a completed speech that you are performance training- Yeah performance directing. Finding where- You wanna know- ... you're gonna breathe, like where are you gonna move- Yeah ... like those little- 100% ... nuanced things. Yeah. Yeah. So many, uh... And, and people fight me on this, and they're, they're like, "Oh, I wanna keep tweaking it." It's like, nope. And usually your TEDx is gonna have a deadline, like a, like a, like a drop deadline of when your speech has to be finished- Yeah 'cause they have stuff to do on their end. Like the other thing is, you know, for our conference, I think there's like 60 or 70 people that, that put it together. There's so many people that rely on so many different pieces so that they can do their work, like the marketing people, like the- Yeah ... the folks who are, you know, doing, uh, teleprompters if that's something that your TEDx has. So it's not giving enough time for performance and the, and also not preparing enough. I mean, I recommend, uh, saying it every day at least once or twice a day, uh, as you're leading up. And once you're memorized, saying, just saying it kind of over and over again because you really, once you get up there, especially knowing that this does have the possibility to really skyrocket things for you, you just don't wanna be stuck trying to remember your lines. You just want them to be there really down, know exactly what you're doing, things are orchestrated from the perspective of your audience being able to take in as much of what you're saying as possible. 'Cause right now, attention spans are- So low Yeah, rock bottom. And exactly, and getting people to be able to listen for 12 minutes is really hard. And so you also have to know audience psychology, you have to know communication. How do people take things in? This is why when I work through breath bars, for example, which is something you brought up, we're very specific about where we take breaths. Yeah. And that is not just for the speaker to be able to have enough air to have power to get through to the end of the sentence, which is very important, but it's also you wanna be taking breaks that grammatically fit with how our brains work in order to be able to absorb what you're saying. Yeah, like let the- So you wanna- ... point land. Yep. You wanna have breaks and, and, and certainly gaps so that somebody can absorb it, but also you wanna take a breath where there's a comma, 'cause that's a natural break in the thought. Mm. And that gives the audience a chance to just quickly... Like, what our brains do is we go over what we've just heard. Yeah. So that gives them a small beat to really absorb and then be able to keep following along. Um, I'm so fascinated by this. I'm, I'm... I feel like everybody, just every day entrepreneurs who are not necessarily speaking on stages would benefit from this type of training - Yes Leveraging Your TEDx After the Stage the second thing that I think is really important in terms of the TEDx because I think this is really one of the most important things. People see the actual TEDx, the, the conference, as the endpoint It's like, I've done my talk. Okay. Now I'm just gonna wait for the video to go viral. Oh. It is a many month long game after the fact. And, you know, I created this guide, uh, for the TEDx speakers within my... like, with the folks I work with and also within the TEDx, but it's also out there, um, as a freebie. Here's what you need to do in order for this to get legs and leverage your opportunities, and that involves getting in touch with local media. That involves, um, telling people in conferences that you want to speak at, "Hey, I just did a TEDx. Just wanted to let you know. When it's out, I'm gonna circle back to you and I'm gonna send the TEDx to you." So you make that initial th- um, point of communication when you've already s- kind of got an elevated status and you let them know you're gonna get in touch with them again. But if you are consistent with making sure that this opportunity you've had can have legs beyond just that moment in time, you can really make it go far. But it is v- you have to be motivated, and you have to plan for... This is, like, a year of my energy from the time I find out I'm doing the TEDx to the creation and the practicing and the delivery, and then the months afterwards where I can keep building on this to actually make it get me to the places I wanna go. Yeah. Yeah, that's such good advice. I feel like that happens a lot with, I work with people a lot on offer creation- Mm-hmm ... and it's like marketing, meaning like we're gonna package up your, you know, offer so that it can be seen for what it is so that people, when they come across it, they know right away what it is, if it's for them, you know, what problem you're solving, and kind of what they're getting and what the, what, what their investment level is, all that stuff. And it takes a lot of energy and time to, to get that package ready to show to the world, and then that's just the beginning. Yeah. Yes. Like you've spent, you know, sometimes three to six months of your life really- Mm-hmm ... refining this thing so that you're ready to go out into the world and run a viable business that can scale, and then you have to start selling it. Yeah. And people are like- Yeah ... "Wait, what?" Like- Yeah ... yeah, you have to still sell yourself even though you've just packaged it up and it looks amazing and you got all... You got here. We still have to- Mm-hmm ... now go take it to market over and over again. And that's, and that is where so much of the mindset work comes in because- Yeah you're like, "I'm pissing people off. Nobody wants to hear about this anymore, X, Y, Z." And then, you know, two months in, this happens to me all the time, maybe it happens to you, one of my clients who's, uh, you know, basically buys every single thing that I make, I'm chatting with her and, you know, I'm, I'm like, "Oh, well, you know, the- I've had several people come through this." She goes, "W- wait, what, what is that?" And I'm like, "Oh, it's the offer I put out two months ago." She's like, "I-" I haven't s- how have I missed that? And I'm like, I don't know. I literally email and talk about it constantly. You just, people... This is what I meant, too, about our attention spans. Yeah. They're so low. You have to believe, and the same with the TEDx, same with whatever you're doing. You have to believe deeply in it so that you can have whatever energy you need to be able to keep telling people about it, because you believe in it and you know it works. Yeah. And so that's, like, beyond whatever fear of judgment we have that people are gonna think we're talking about it too much or whatever, whatever we think people think about us. You need to have that passion for what you're doing in any capacity to be able to just keep going with it- Yeah ... and kinda get over yourself. No, I love that so much. I talk about this all day long till the cows come home with my clients. It's like one of the essential ingredients for me of an offer, of a business offer, is that it lights you up. If it doesn't light you up- Mm-hmm ... and I don't mean like I'm cool with it right now, but I might not be in three months. Yeah. It's gotta be something that is like really purpose... Like, I say I- Mm-hmm ... work with purpose-driven or mission-driven or heart-led, like, all those, like, you know, k- keywords or whatever. The reason I use those words is because I, I want people to have already self-identified that they're driven by a passion. Mm-hmm. Not because I don't think a p- a non-passionate person can't have success, but because the person who's got the flame is gonna do what it takes to make it last. And I want- Mm-hmm my clients to- Sure ... actually build income systems. And so- Mm-hmm ... they're not gonna do that if they're gonna flame out after six months of trying something and then just chase another shiny object. And so if they say, "I'm purpose-driven," I'm, like, self-weeding them without having to... You know, I don't wanna work with people for six months and then they just qui- they give up. Mm-hmm. So it's too much of m- it's I'm investing in you as well. Yes, you're paying me, but, like, I want you to succeed. S- totally. Totally, and you just proved your own point, which is that you're passionate about that, so you need to have people that are also passionate about that- Yeah ... so you can keep going. If you think that this person's just gonna crap out after the fact, after all that work, and you're like, you know, you're like, "I got my money," it's like, but it's so f- like, disappointing- Yeah ... ' cause I get excited. Well, I'm, you know, the recent TEDx, my client wanted a standing ovation. It was really important to her. She was speaking about her husband who passed away, and he used to get standing ovations. She's like, "I just wanna get that standing ovation," and she got it. And, like, tears are streaming down my face. I'm so excited for her. I mean, the talk, it, it warranted it, right? But, like, she, she reached her goal, and, like, it's so satisfying from a helper's perspective- Yeah when people get to that place and they, and they follow through, and it's very the opposite when, when they're like, "I just can't anymore," or, "I'm done." Yeah. And you're like, "Oh." I thought we were in this together. Yeah. Yeah ... I've been self-employed for 20 years. It's not- Mm-hmm ... no one's handing you anything. You gotta build it. Mm-hmm. It's not, it's not that hard. There's a lot of t- you know, we, the framework is, uh, out there for anyone to learn and build a business that's successful, but you really have to want it. You have to want it, and you have to keep finding whatever is motivating you, and, and go with it. And so, you know, for example, my business was called You Be You Skills up until last August, uh, or maybe September. It came to me as a download impact witch. I wasn't planning to change my business. I'd been in business for seven years as You Be You Skills, uh, for that point. It was established. And all of a sudden that came, and I was like, "Oh." But th- how excited I felt about that name, I was like, "Okay, that's what I need to be able to do all of..." I mean, you could just see it unfolding in front of you, right? You know what it's like. It's like- Yeah. No, integration ... it's the front end. It's the back end. It's the, like, the messaging. It's like, I'm gonna redo everything. And then I really was, like, asking myself, and I was like, "Yes, I am." And then so then I knew I could do it. Um, but then- You need to have that drive and that excitement about it, 'cause otherwise you're not gonna do it. Yeah, absolutely. So I wanna talk about the decision to change your name, but before we go there, I feel like a lot of entrepreneurs really struggle with this visibility piece that we've been talking about. Mm-hmm. And, like, What Actually Creates Impact what actually creates impact? Yeah. So, when we talk about impact, when someone's speaking, for example, what do you think, well, how do you define, "Okay, now we can measure that you made an impact"? Like, what does that- Mm ... actually mean? Yeah. Well, it's a connection. I mean, an impact is a literal connection, right? And so when you have a connection to something, there's a transformation that happens. For example, um, you know, if you're giving a speech and it really connects with somebody, it really impacts them, they're gonna leave, and if you have a call to action in that speech, they're gonna actually do it. Yeah. And that's what we want, right? So- It drives transformation, it drives action. Yes. So for example, with the same TEDx speaker I was talking about, she, um, she speaks about music and about, uh, how important music is, which is something you and I both are interested in as well. And, uh, she teaches music teachers how to scale their businesses and, and, like, be very successful as music teachers. And she believes that music is one of the most important things that should be taught in schools. And so what she wanted was for people to leave, and so she had a call to action, which was, uh, "I want you to wake up tomorrow morning, and I want you to put on your favorite song, and I want you to just, like, think about how, how important that song is to you." And I said, "Okay, that's a really good start," 'cause it's giving them a call to action. It's making them think beyond this talk. I said, "But what about if right now..." So this is where the impact comes in. In order for this to have a bigger impact, what if you have them think about their, what their favorite song is? So they're not waking up tomorrow and being like, "Oh," and then somehow get sidetracked in all the million directions we could. We're gonna think about what that favorite song is. And she said, "And tomorrow morning, I want you to play it, and then I want you to send it to somebody in your life who you know will really enjoy it." Oh, I love that. So it's like I'm having you do something now that's gonna have a bigger impact. That's going to ch- help more people actually do it than just, um... It, it's the same thing, but what you're doing is helping them actually do the thing, because you're giving them essentially better instructions. So by impact and, and by having a bigger impact, it's like, it... Let's say for small business marketing, Everybody wants to be everywhere. They're like, "Well, I better be on TikTok, and I better be on Instagram, and I better be on LinkedIn, and I better be on YouTube Shorts, and I better be blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I have to be all the places in order for the people to find me." And so you get this kind of... And it's like, I'm just gonna make a podcast episode, then my VA is going to, make content for each of the things based on that. It's like, you are better off just having a podcast and that being the only place where you're focusing so that you're intentional, uh, that you, like, you- you're really thinking about it. Right now, it's just, how can I do s- the most amount of things? I'm doing all the right things. Why isn't it working? It's like, because how you market on Instagram is different than how you market on YouTube, is different- Yeah ... than how you market a podcast, is different than how you do email marketing. And so if you actually want to have impact, if you want this stuff to have more life than just flinging spaghetti at the wall constantly and hoping that it sticks- You have to get intentional. And so in terms of visibility and impact, we want the stuff that we make to go further. We don't wanna be just chucking out content constantly. That's the biggest path to burnout. Yeah. But if you're creating intentional content intentionally within the platform that you're delivering it, if you choose two rather than 16, you're gonna have a bigger impact. Yeah, and you're gonna be able to go deeper, and I think what, what I've noticed when... So I've had this conversation with every single client I've ever worked with. I'm like, "I want you to just pick one and learn it, understand it. What are all the things that you can do? What are all the tools?" Mm-hmm. Make it so easy. Get really- become an expert at LinkedIn, or become an expert at Instagram. Ob- obviously, it's based on the research. Where's their client hanging out? It has to be driven by- That's- ... the end game ... and that's another really important part ... it is. And that's- Yeah ... it's crazy to me how much time people will spend on a platform, like gutting themselves and performing and tap dancing, and the person they're selling to isn't even there. Yeah. So we do research first, obviously, but once we're clear, okay, yeah, this is a u- good use of your time, there can be a return on investment here in terms of connecting, building an audience, making an impact, then it's like, don't just leap to... You don't just take that one piece of content and try to spread it over five different platforms. Like, they all have different algorithms. They all have different ways that people speak and connect, and they all have different rules and guidelines and, and sort of vernacular. Get- become an expert in the one and go deep on the one, is the, kind of the advice that I've been giving. Uh, and I don't, I don't think... I mean, it always, it creates a bigger impact because people get- Yep ... to actually know you. You c- get more comfortable. It actually lends itself to greater visibility because just in the identity upgrade, right? You're like, "I actually know how this goes now. I know how to work this. I'm feeling more," what? Confident, right? Mm-hmm. It's like, okay, I'm building this confidence. So is there some type of tool, trick, something that you work with your clients on that can help us get ourselves unstuck from this, this, this mindset of like, "I can't talk about what I do professionally because the world is on fire"? Yeah. I think we have a real, we're at a real conundrum, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. Yeah. Uh, well, I mean, first of all, I think it goes back to that piece of passion and, like, why you're showing up. And so, you know, usually the why, so for me, it's I want, um, women and non-binary voices to, uh, be empowered to speak up so that we change this terrible system that we find ourselves in. I've been saying this before we got to this place in history. It's, you know, and, and, you know, the, the stuff that people are fighting against in terms of visibility goes back to... I pull out this book on every single almost thing for many years. Mm. Women Empowered- Women Empowered ... by Mary Beard. If you go back in history to the early days of public speaking and when that was beco- that was, like, a thing and it was, we're, we're trying this thing, um, women's voices were excluded. Uh, they were criticized. Uh, they were made fun of. Um, women were not allowed. This is, this is how the idea of, you know, essentially visibility and platforming and staging, like, women were... It, they cared about it enough that they carved it into tablets. Yeah. So what I say to people is, when you feel, when it's difficult for you to be visible, when it's difficult for you to say yes to speaking at a conference, when it's difficult for you to show up in a, a social media video- There's history there. You can rest assured that it's, it's not just you and your weird quirks. This is ingrained in all of Western society- Yeah ... whether we are aware of it or not. So first of all, we go with that. And then, and then I say, "And you're not gonna undo literally millennia of patriarchy, you know, on this one talk. But what you can do is figure out how to not care about that and make what you're doing be the carrot that guides you forward, that is more important than any of the other... than your high school boyfriend seeing you on Instagram and saying, 'Oh my God, who does she think she is?' than your, you know, whatever, whatever. All of that stuff." And how do we get there? The methodology I... Like, we talk about mindset a lot. What I do is something called shadow work. And so that is essentially looking into the yucky, mucky, dark side of your psyche to actually figure out what is going on, why you can't show up. 'Cause you might know that you can't, but you probably don't know why. Yeah. And it could be so many different reasons. This is also where therapy is so amazing and so helpful. So doing shadow work and therapy combined is, is my, like, chef's kiss of, uh, the, the true way to not just, like, fake your way through it. I hate the phrase fake it till you make it, and I can explain why if you're interested. But instead, to actually figure out what's going on, do the work to move through it, to know who you really are, not just this version of yourself that you want everybody to see, and then come out the other side as your whole self. Then showing up is a whole different ballgame. And I'm not s- it doesn't happen overnight. Yeah. This is long game stuff. This is like one day... So let me... I'll give you a great example. Not a picture in the world exists of me in shorts past age 25. I haven't worn them. Uh, body image stuff, right? Most of us have this. I posted a video of myself working out in shorts and a sports bra maybe two weeks ago. If you had told even... I'm 50- almost 52. If you had told even 45-year-old Megan that she was gonna do that, I would've been like You're crazy. Never in my life will I do that. Never in my life will I do that. Um, and the best part was that I... And I've been on stages for 33 years. People have been looking at me w- in a spotlight for a really long time It, it, I, I am, we all have our shit that we're dealing with Yeah And I posted it, and it wasn't even a big deal. Like, I thought to myself, I mean, it's a very big deal, but it wasn't like, "Oh," a shaking hand, like, "Oh, can I press send? I don't know. Uh." It was like, "No, this serves the, its purpose. Um, I'm gonna go ahead and do it." The freedom in that is like, and this is, you know this, I know this, your clients know this, your listeners know this. Nobody told us how much inner work we were gonna have to do No ... to be successful in our businesses. But I think that being an entrepreneur is, like, a f- really badass thing to do. Yeah. I think it is so rebellious, especially at this time. And so if we're talking about, like, showing up when all these assholes are ruining the planet, this is my way of saying, "I can do it my way. I don't have to buy into the system that you're pitching, which sucks, and which, like, was never made for me, and in fact exists to keep me down." Because when all of us actually start really reaching our truest powers, if all of us could show up in sports bras and gym shorts- Yeah ... we would not have this government. I know, I know. Oh my God, this is like, whew. Do we have time for another hour of this podcast? I mean, I think it's a good ch- intersection, though, a good transition into kind of like the identity work, the shadow work, and- Mm-hmm Shadow Work, the Witch Identity & Integration the embracing of this concept of the witch, and even putting it in the title of your business, and- Mm-hmm ... really embodying and embracing it as a part of your business brand. Mm-hmm. I think there's an entire, you know, lane of witchcraft and business that is so fascinating. It's just this really deeply, um ... It's, it's, in my opinion, it's women who have really figured out the magic that is a part of being the ultimate creator, literally. Mm-hmm. And embracing it fully, uh, unapologetically, and then finding all the different ways, discovering and exploring all the different ways that we can use the guidance tools and the natural systems that are available to any and all of us at all times. If it could be something as simple as like, you know, scheduling your work around the cycles of the seasons and your body's, you know, ebbing and flowing of your menstrual cycle. If it's something as, you know, simple as creating little rituals in your day-to-day. Like, everything I do in my business is ritual based. Mm-hmm. All of the plans- Mm-hmm ... and events and- Mm-hmm ... literally everything we do is planned, is planned around the, the lunar cycle. Um, I don't- Though advertise that or talk about it much, and we had talked about this off-camera, I was like, I love, I would love to hear what, what was the thing that made you just say, "You know what? I wanna pull this in and actually own it and really claim it"? And, and what are some of the things that you do in practice that makes that real for you, that makes the witch part of your impact witch brand, and how that identity shapes the way you work with clients. Yeah. Okay. So it was an evolution. I was in a, uh, business program, uh, led by Erika Tebbenes, who is now a, a very, very dear friend. And I had been doing, uh, I had been working with moon cycles and tarot for years. I mean, I got my first deck when I was 23 from my best friend. And I've always been interested in occult stuff, and witches, and, um, magic, and, you know, I've always gravitated to sort of, um, uh, books of that nature as well. Uh, but I w- I don't even know. Uh, like 10 or 11 or 12 years ago I guess, I started reading tarot again more regularly, and just getting to know my deck, uh, without having to look at the book. And then I started working with the moon cycles. I got really interested in the idea of being intentional, and the moon cycle seemed like a really great way to remember that there are times in your life when you do actually need to focus on what you wanna bring in, and there are times in your life when you do need to focus on what you wanna let go of. Mm. So with the new moon, we bring things in. We think about what we wanna manifest. With the full moon, we think about what we wanna release, what we wanna let go. Yeah. And then I started really feeling like th- I was onto something for me with following the moon cycles and leaning into this kind of side of myself that had always been there, but I was being more intentional about it in my, in my brain. And then I'm in this, you know, program with Erika Tebbenes that I mentioned, and- I thought to myse... I wanted to come up with something for the holidays that was like a, like a low-priced offer that I had. I think it was two, maybe a year and a half, like, full-time into my business. And I was like, "D- I don't know. I, I, I'm kind of thinking of offering tarot readings." But that's so off-brand for me. My brand at that point was very professional, corporate. Like, I wanted to get... I still do a lot of corporate workshops, uh, and I l- and I actually really enjoy it, more than I thought I would. But I enjoy it way more now that I'm f- totally myself and not the professional Megan that, you know, was at this point in my business. And I was like, "I kinda want that part of me..." I mean, I choose people based on the stuff. So, you know, you and I were talking about this before. There's, like, little tells that you give sometimes in your social media. Like, here's a tarot pull, or I'm just gonna put a couple crystals by my computer when I take a picture of my workspace. Yeah. That's literally why I took a $7,500 program when I first started, was because she posted a picture that had two little crystals by her computer. I'm like, "Yep, that's it." I'm not even kidding, and that's a big investment. So- Yeah ... then I was, I... So they were... And everybody there was like, "Absolu- you should absolutely do it. You... Totally. Give it a try. What's the worst that could happen?" I'm like, "Well, I'm gonna totally ruin my complete reputation." 'Cause you know how you think you're gonna make one small move and everybody's gonna be like, "I'm done with her. Forget it." Yeah. Thought I could hang with Megan, but now she's a witch. Yeah. No, she's a, she's a witch. She's so flaky. What does that even mean? Everything she said about research before, she was just kidding. I sold out. Oh. I launched tarot readings. I sold out. I love that. So then fast-forward six months from then, I'm still in this program, and Erica says, "Okay, I want everybody to go back over the last six months and figure out where the majority of your clients came from." Oh my God, tarot readings. I had, so people had given them as gifts, people had given them, uh, had bought them for themselves. They were curious about it. These $29, tarot readings were leading to two, three, four, $5,000 clients. Yeah. Um, and that was like, that's a pretty good indicator of not only what people want, but what happens when I'm actually doing stuff that I'm really into. Yeah. I think- 'Cause it was easy to sell. Easy to sell. I didn't even think of... I was like, "Of course you want a tarot reading. Who doesn't?" Yeah. No, I love it so much because it really is just like the proof is in the pudding. It's like when we step fully into our whole selves- Mm-hmm ... and we integrate all the pieces of our lives that we, you know, are deeply passionate about, but we've been keeping in these isolated, you know, different- Mm-hmm silos. For me, that's been music. I, you know, uh, my list- Mm-hmm ... I think everyone that listens to this podcast now knows, or I talk about it all the time now, but music has been the biggest- I mean, non-professional path that I have traveled the deepest and the longest in my life, you know, creating works of music, creating works for theater, uh, writing songs, working as a songwriter in, uh, many different capacities. It's really what motivates everything that I do. Even when I was running a wellness-based company, now working as a coach for the last 10 years, and I, I, I love my businesses, and I'm very passionate about the work that I do. Mm-hmm. But the most other passionate thing in my life is music, and for a very long time I kept those things separate. Mm-hmm. And so integrating those has just helped. It really is like the missing ingredient. It helps you blossom into who you actually are. Mm-hmm. And it feels like you... It's like a return to self. Yes. You feel the security in the allowing yourself to be the whole you, and then with that comes this removal of, like, whatever was blocking because you're like, "Oh, I, I have all the pieces now." Mm-hmm. That's the way it felt for me anyways. Totally. A- and that's the shadow work. Like, that's how that unfolds. I was doing shadow work for myself, pulling tarot cards, journaling. Like, that's how I do it. I ask questions, and I go deep, and I'm like, "Well, why is this the case? Okay. Well, why did I feel this? When is the last... When is the first time I remember feeling like this?" Or, "Oh, this is because some guy in grade five told me that I was... that my voice sounded screechy." Yeah. " This, this is why I'm afraid to... This is why I think that nobody wants to listen to what I have to say." You know, like, all of these sort of layers that come out. A- and s- and so, you know, going back to the shadow work part, I was doing that for myself for years, and then a client was just... could not get past this block, this visibility block, and I was like, "You know, I've been doing this shadow work. Would you, do you want, do, do you wanna give it a try?" And what we, what we re- This is a woman who spoke on the regular and had to take a beta blocker every single time. She'd been speaking for years, and she could not get over this nervousness that would come over her We figured out through shadow work in that session where this was coming from, and when I tell you it is as stupid as an ex-boyfriend of hers from high school who said this one thing to her, and she had just never made the connection. And then we go, okay, this doesn't mean that overnight she doesn't have to take beta blockers, but it does mean she knows why this is happening, and now we know what we're working on. Instead of tr- just trying to, like, tips and tricks our way through this situation, we know that now we have to untangle the layers that have happened because of this stupid ex-boyfriend's comment way back when. Yeah, in the '80s. Yeah. Ex- yeah. But that's like- Damn, the damage that was done in the '80s. Well, every decade. I and people give these offhand comments sometimes. They have no idea that this person is gonna carry this for however long. Yeah, it's so, so true. But that's... Yeah. But that's why we wanna get to the actual source instead of You know, fake it till you make it, because if you just keep faking it, you just feel like you're faking it, and you're not actually embodying it, which is why you have to do the work to go right into it and figure out what you're actually dealing with so that you can work on it and come out the other side. So I could talk to you about this for literally hours. Yeah. Um, I feel like we're just, just tou- uh, just scratching the surface, but I wanna ask you, um, for someone who knows that they're meant to be seen, right? They have this yearning. They feel like they're, they do have a purpose. They do have a, um, um, a mission or a reason, whether it's speaking or content or leadership or, you know, being of service in some way, but they're still holding back. Mm-hmm. First Steps for the Reluctant Visible What would you say to them right now? What would you say to them as, in, in terms of, like, here's a first step to take? Mm-hmm. Um, therapy. We laugh, but- Look, I, I don't... Like, therapy's not necessarily for everybody. You've gotta have a, the right therapist, et cetera. But, like, any kind of, uh, g- shadow work certainly. Any kind of sort of, like, real figuring out how to be honest with yourself about where this stuff is actually coming from, because you, you, you do know. You've just either layered it with so many different Band-Aids or, um, it's too difficult to look at or it's, you know, you haven't figured out how to deal with the feelings of shame or whatever the case. Like, all of that stuff. That is one of the most important things, and the next thing is what I call a visibility ladder. So you wanna think about where are you now and where do you wanna be, and every rung from where you are now up until you, where you wanna be, that's the visibility ladder. So we're not trying to get to I'm gonna... I, like, right now, I have to take a beta blocker to give a presentation to I'm gonna speak at the SkyDome of 25,000 people next week. That is the surest way to in, to make sure that, like, you'll never get past this. So what we wanna do is work with your nervous system where you're at, and every rung of the ladder is built according to your capacity, your nervous system, what sets you off. What we wanna do is gradually increase according to your needs so that you can reach that top rung, but it's not gonna activate you into You know, like the, . when we are in that activated place, your executive functioning stops. Like, y- all of your resources get turned to something else. Yeah, lizard brain just kicks in. Mm-hmm. Lizard brain is like, "Get out of here." Yep. So what we wanna do is have techniques that we have built when we're not in that activated place, just like what I was saying earlier about the speaking system, so we know what to do when our brains aren't working properly, and we don't have to try to, like, come up with some kind of plan when we... Our memory's not working, our, our executive functioning isn't working, work, working, working. We wanna have these tools that we've built ahead of time so that we can go, "Okay, I know that me feeling like I'm gonna die right now, I know I'm not gonna die. What are the things I can do to help move this-" charge in my body so that I can actually make a proper decision instead of panic decision. You answered it perfectly. So good. It's really true. We just need to learn how to con- like, work with our energy systems and understand how our bodies are functioning so we can move ourselves from a place of fight or flight into a place of calm and groundedness so we can continue on the path to do the work that we're here to do. It's, it's really... I thank you so much for all the wisdom that you shared, um, on, during this, this call. I really appreciate it 'cause there's just so much, power in getting to know oneself and using these tools. Mm-hmm. I think it's just really one of the most powerful entrepreneurial tools that we could have is just this just deep inner knowing and learning to listen to and hone that muscle of the GPS and just, you know, really understanding, like, what we're here to do, and not letting anything get in the way of that. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Where to Find Megan Megan, where can we find you? What, what's something that you, what do you have coming up? What are you working on? What's the best place to find you online? All the things. Yeah. Well, uh, my website is impactwitch.com, and I just launched, Impact Magic. So that's where you learn the four-part speaking system that I was just talking about. Uh, and in the end of April, there's gonna be two new sort of subsections of Impact Magic. So everybody has to start there. There's Impact Magic for Speakers and Impact Magic for, uh, small business owners. Oh. So that's where we take this work and then make it work within the different structures of goals that we have beyond that. Love it. Uh, . And then I'm gonna have this program that's self-study, that we meet once a month, uh, in a group. So that's how I've kind of shifted my business in the last little bit. So yeah, impactmagic.com, and on Instagram it's @impactmagic, and that's where I spend most of my, uh, marketing time aside from my email list. On Instagram? On Instagram. Okay. We are gonna come stalk you on Instagram and befriend you. Do it. So, so good. Um, thank you so much. Anything, any last thing you wanna share before we sign off? Just, just that it, the power of truly connecting with yourself and really getting through all of the stuff that makes you uncomfortable about yourself is so worth all of the difficulty it is to actually work through that stuff, and you see it reflected exponentially in your small business. Ah, A Woman. I love it so much. Thank you so much for being here today. And for all the, all the beautiful folks journeying with us today, thank you for listening. Thanks for always being a part of this, this podcast. And as always, until we meet again, may you be vibrant.