Words by Megan Smith
Photography by Diane Cu

Biggest fear as a businesswoman?

Speaking up for myself without hurting anyone’s feelings when I say “no.”
I often have to make important decisions every hour (sometimes it feels like every minute) of the day and I can’t always say “yes.” Ultimately, I’ll have to turn down an opportunity or turn down something I’d love to work on because I know that it’s not necessarily going to be in my best interest or because I just don’t have the time.
I don’t have issues with saying no, but sometimes the hardest part for me is explaining why, so that there’s no misunderstanding. I always want those folks to know that just because I respond with “no,” it doesn’t mean that I’m a bad person or that we can’t be friends.

Biggest sense of accomplishment as a businesswoman?

My biggest sense of accomplishment in business is making time to live a normal life.
It has always been very important to me to be able to put all my work aside at the end of the day and spend quality time with Todd, my family and dear friends. For many years in my early career, I was so driven and focused on growing my business, expanding my client base and leveraging more opportunities that I forgot how lovely it was to just have a sane home life.

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