I Asked a COO What She'd Tell Her 17-Year-Old Self

Welcome And Megan’s Career Origin

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome. Um, so we're really excited for our guest today. She went all the way from just a radiology tech all the way to the COO of her company, Smile. And we just kind of want to delve into that story today, see how she grew. Thank you so much for coming. Um, I kind of just want to walk through your story. So, kind of how did you get your start in just as a radiology tech?

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Yeah, you know, the the real honest truth is I was 16, 15, 16 years old, and I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up. That's how everyone watching this feels. That's why I'm exactly. And so I had a cousin who was an x-ray tech. And so I thought, you know, I can do that. I'll do that. I will be an x-ray tech. I grew up in a small town in Arizona, and really my goal was just let's get out of the small town. And so I became an x-ray tech, and that was at Smile, and that was 21 years ago. And then from there, I just kept taking opportunities as they came, saying yes to things that maybe I wasn't ready for. And eventually I have the absolute pleasure to run the company now. I'm the chief operating officer.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Yeah.

The First Big Yes

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Okay. Kind of let's go through that story. What do you think was kind of like the first moment where you where you really said yes and kind of allowed yourself to grow from a red tech to just something else?

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Yeah, that's a really great question. The I think it first happened. I took my first supervisor job and I actually said no. I didn't think that I was ready. I think that we do that a lot. We say no because maybe this isn't the right move or the right time, or I don't know, you just think that you're not the right person for the job. And so I didn't apply for the job. And someone kind of nudged me and said, Hey, Megan, you should definitely apply for this job. And so I took that, I took the position. It was a supervisor position at the Scotstock Road and Osborne location. I, the truth is, I was about to have my first little one. And so this was, I mean, I was, I was pregnant. I wasn't sure, like maybe I shouldn't do this right now.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

And I'm really glad I did because although it was a scary jump, it was really rewarding. And it was the first brick, if you will, that laid the rest of my career for me.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Okay. So you went from a supervisor. Where were you after that?

SPEAKER_00 2:18

So that's when things went pretty quick. So after that, I was a supervisor at our Scustill Rhode and Osborne location. And then from there, I just kept saying yes to opportunities. So you think that there's there's people. Maybe you know that people have been in the same role for a very long time and they're never gonna leave. And then things happen. So someone left, the manager left, so I went from supervisor to manager, and then I took over from there, and then again, just kind of just happened to be there and happened to say yes to opportunities that I maybe thought I wasn't ready for, but really turned out I was ready for it.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Yes, the real lesson here is just get over all that fear and just have to say yes to everything.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Absolutely. Now, there is a point in time when you maybe don't say yes to everything. That's like where I'm at now. I say yes to everything, and now I'm learning to kind of throttle that back and only say yes to things that bring value. But when you're when you're young in your career, I really do think that it's I mean, you should say yes. And I think that we talk about imposter syndrome. I don't know if you've talked about that on this podcast yet, but imposter syndrome is so real where you think I'm not ready, or is someone else better prepared? And really, it's just that little voice in your head that you got to kind of quiet that voice down so that you can just take on opportunities.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Yeah. What do you think are some? I know you've done like kind of a lot now that you're in this position, you've done kind of a lot outside of this position because now you're comfortable here and you've like grown in so many aspects of your life. What are some other things you've done outside of this? Well, let's see.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Okay, so I'm a Girl Scout troop leader. Okay, yes. That's another opportunity that I said yes. I said yes to an experience, and it has been truly incredible. And that's something that I wasn't really also prepared for or ready for, but they needed someone to step in, and so I said I would step in, and now I've been doing it for, I mean, over 10 years, and it's been really just a gratifying experience.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Yeah, are your girls still your girls are still in the Girl Scout, right?

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Yes, they are. They actually filmed a podcast here in this in this studio, and it was super special for them to be able to be here.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Yeah. Oh, I love that. Okay. Um, going back to

When No Protects Your Path

SPEAKER_01 4:29

let me think. I had a question in mind. Oh, yeah. Going back to kind of what we were talking about earlier, what do you think are some things that you've kind of said no to? What do you think you've really had to just like where you've really had to take a stand and just say no to something that you weren't really sure about? How do you differentiate between yeah, those things?

SPEAKER_00 4:46

That's a really good question because you don't want to not be available for opportunities. So there was a time early in my career, this is before I took that supervisor job. One thing that I really wanted to do was become cross-trained. I was an X-ray tech and I wanted to become cross-trained in CT and MRI. And at the time, they needed someone to fill in for a supervisor position in X-ray. But that would have meant that I needed to stop my training in CT and go and do the supervisor position. So if you, if you think about it, that could have been a moment where I said, let's go into a supervisor role and maybe I can keep going from there. But I really wanted that experience to be MRI and CT certified. And so I said no because I knew that that wasn't the right thing for me. I really wanted to get this training within MRI and CT, and that's where I ended up being a supervisor within the MRI and CT department, not the X-ray department. So saying no in that moment was the right move for me so that I could later say yes to something that really I wanted to do more. Yeah, totally.

Women-Led Teams And Authentic Leadership

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Um, the medical field is kind of like increasingly female dominated, as we've kind of seen over the years. How do you feel like you fit into that?

SPEAKER_00 5:59

I'm so grateful that it's female dominated. I think it's it's so wonderful because it's not that's not the reality everywhere else. When you look at C-suites across different, different, you know, industries, it's not female dominated. And at SMILE alone, we have a sm uh, our CEO, Carrie Ransll, she obviously is a female. And it's so great to be on a board of directors at Smile where it's it is female. I mean, our CFO is Jennifer, she's a female, obviously, and then Jen is our CAO. And I love it. I love that female energy. I think that we are such just natural, you know, natural leaders, natural problem solvers, nothing against men. We love we love all of our men too, but I'm just here for it. I absolutely love the female energy.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Wait, I know that's amazing. Wait, that's so fun. I didn't know, like basically everyone who was a leader there was just way.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Yeah, we do have our our CIO, yeah, AJ, but it's great because we, yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Wait, that's so fun. Um, what do you kind of um just look for when you're like coming up with these female leaders, when you're figuring out who to pick really for these positions?

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Um, I'm gonna pivot there and talk a little bit about our C-suite being female dominated. Yeah. And it's it's such a cool experience because, like I said, many other industries, C-suites, are not dominated by females. And one thing that I really appreciate that is that we and and Carrie and Jennifer and Jen, we all create this culture of vulnerability. It's okay to be vulnerable, it's okay to be your authentic self. And that's so important when you're in a job. I mean, we give so much to our careers, so much to where we work. And it's really important that you can show up as your true authentic self and not have to put this big armor on. And I really appreciate that because when I can show up as my authentic self, then I can be the best leader for my team. I mean, there's so many benefits that come with being an authentic leader. And I really believe that because maybe not because we're female dominated, but we allow that energy to be there.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

Oh, absolutely. Have you had any experiences in like um like kind of different areas where it hasn't been as female dominated? And have you noticed any like differences?

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Yeah, I have. And not only that, with it sometimes the just old school mentality of leadership, I think that leadership in general is kind of changing to where I hate the term soft leadership skills, but it, but that's what they say. So soft leadership skills are the like emotional intelligence and that kind of side of leadership when the old school leadership is uh more like just like hard and aggressive, kind of, yeah, like just black and white, get it done, leave your stuff at the door, we're here to work, which I mean, sometimes you need to be able to do that, but just in general, it's like I said, we spend so much time at work, and it's so important that we are able to be ourselves so that we can show up for our team. And people really just want a leader that they can relate to, a leader that they feel like cares about them. And I think that really shows up more in this new wave of leadership, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

What do you think are some changes that like Smile specifically has made in their leadership that you think is like just a really good reflection on just women in leadership in general?

SPEAKER_00 9:22

I that's a good question. I don't know if we've made Smile has a really great culture. I I've worked at SMILE for 21 years, and it's just it really has been. We've my predecessor, she was our previous COO, also a female. And it's we just have a really great culture of that we care about people. Yeah. And I'm not I'm not saying that's you know male or female energy, but it really is just the culture of SMILE that we really care about people, relationships really matter. And again, that's important, especially now. I mean, when there's so many pressing, just different pressing things in a job. And I mean, it's so cutthroat out there, if you will, that you want someone that's gonna care about you as a person, care about you just as you show up to work and take care of your patients.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Was smile always like this female dominated, or like was there a time when it just wasn't as Yeah, it honestly it really has.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

And I think that's what drew me to SMILE when I when I was in my clinicals. I had the opportunity to work at my the hospital where I was doing my clinicals, and I and I did, I worked there too, but I chose to come to SMILE not only just because of the female leadership, but I chose to come to SMILE because they invest in their employees. And I really wanted to grow and I wanted to, like I said, do MRI and CT and do lots of different things. And I knew that I would be able to do that at SMILE versus a hospital where you kind of get you you get pigeonholed into what I mean, maybe not now, but at the time, you get pigeonholed into what what they needed from you in that moment.

Picking Employers That Invest In You

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Yeah, absolutely. What do you think is like something important that young girls and just young people in general really should look at when kind of choosing where they want to work and choosing what they want to do?

SPEAKER_00 11:02

I, you know, that's a really great question. I think I was thinking about this. I was thinking about coming in and chatting with you, and I was thinking about my experience. And what I think is really important is that you are the young girls are just open to opportunities. Yeah. Um, and saying yes and and getting out of the your comfort zone to where there were times in my career where it wasn't the most convenient thing to do what I was doing. I lived in all the way south, and the opportunity for me was all the way north, Scottsdale. And it was like, okay, fine, I'll just drive. But now I hear so many people that inconvenience, they they get stifled by inconvenience. And I just encourage everyone to just take the opportunity. So, what if it takes you 45 minutes to drive there? You'll be okay. Listen to some good music, call a friend, call your mom, call your dad.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Yeah, absolutely.

Girl Scouts Lessons On Work Ethic

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Um, so obviously you are now a Girl Scouts leader. Um, what do you think is something that you've kind of noticed in the young girls and something that you've kind of tried to instill in them as one of their leaders in hopes that they kind of grow into the best possible versions of themselves that they can be?

SPEAKER_00 12:09

That's a really good question. I'm probably harder on them than they like me to be, but I do it and I try to encourage them to show up, look me in the eye, have a good handshake, do the things that you don't want to do, don't give me sass. I'm always the one kind of telling them the things like that because I'm trying to prepare them. Although my oldest Girl Scouts are only 14, I'm trying to prepare them for the workforce and not to be expected for things to be given to you, to work hard. Work ethic is so it's so important. And I'm not saying that it's going away in the younger, but we are in this Amazon, if you will, where everything is quick and I need it now, and I have uh DoorDash, and I mean everything is now. And so sometimes that the power of just waiting your turn, pausing, doing the steps is just really good for the girls. And so that's something that I try to instill in them. I don't know. I think sometimes they get annoyed at me, but hopefully someday they'll maybe it'll stick.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Hopefully it will. Right. I mean, we were talking about this earlier. Like you sometimes need to do the harder things in order to actually grow yourself as a person. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

The other thing I was telling my daughter Ruby recently, too, is that she was talking about how, you know, she's in sports and doing and she's also in honors and doing all the things that she doesn't have time. I'm not gonna have time to do piano and this and that. And I think that women, and maybe it's not just women, but we sell ourselves short so much that you would not believe how much time you have in a day. We all scroll, we all doom scroll, we all do a lot of different things. And if you just throttle that back a little bit, you will have time to do all these things. And so that's something that I try to remind them that you definitely have time and you will be surprised with what you can accomplish if you allow yourself to just try.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Yeah, I mean, honestly, put away the phones and you'll have an extra three hours a day.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Is that not the truth? Yeah. We're all guilty of it. All the way to my parents who are almost 80. They doom scroll too. Seriously. Yes, everybody does.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

My grandparents just sit in front of the TV watching the news.

Hustle, Books, And Toastmasters

SPEAKER_01 14:20

So if someone is on is trying to go on a similar path that you took, what do you think they have to do now in order to actually take the steps to get there?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Hustle. You have to hustle. Like I like I said, you have to just try, put in that effort. And it's okay not to be laser focused. I at gosh, at 16 years old, I didn't know that I was going to be end up as C COO. I didn't want to be COO. Not that I don't want to be now, but it wasn't my trajectory. But if I was talking to somebody that that was their path, I would tell them to take every opportunity that you can to say yes, say yes to opportunities, and also get really uncomfortable and do things that will help you grow as a person. Read books. There are so many books. I mean, the leadership book industry is like a multi-million dollar industry. Yeah. There are so many books out there, and you can't just be stuck in what you think you know, read a book about it, do something about it, listen to a podcast, watch a show, do something to keep learning and getting yourself uncomfortable. I have been a part of Toastmasters for a very long time. And if that would be one thing that I think is just really important from a young, a young girl, a young standpoint is to get into opportunities like that. Seek out things that you would never have done before.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Just for our viewers, can you explain a little bit about Toastmasters? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

So Toastmasters is a public speaking organization. It's worldwide. There are Toastmasters clubs, I think, in every country, or don't quote me on that, but most every country. And it is, it's such a cool thing. It's very structured and it's a club that teaches not just public speaking. A lot of people think, well, I don't want to become a public speaker. You don't have to be, you don't have to want to be a public speaker to get into Toastmasters. It teaches leadership, active listening, just such good skills that I think will set you apart. Not to mention, if you're go, if you're going to have Toastmasters on your resume, I mean, that is like a cherry on top that will set you apart from other people.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Is that for people of all ages or?

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Yeah. So they have they have younger clubs. They're called Gavel Clubs for younger, but I mean, you can go to any Toastmaster club and be a guest. Even just being a guest at one of a club near you just for a time or two, I think you'll learn so much and you'll take away a ton of skills from that. You are um one of the leaders in Toastmasters, right? Yeah, I was the president of Gilbert Toastmasters. I had some other roles there too. It's an incredible club. Gilbert Toastmasters is like world renowned. I mean, they have hit so many different goals. I'm currently on a sabbatical with them, but I run a like a Toastmasters Lite club at Smile because I think it's just such a great skill that I wanted to bring that to employees at Smile if they want to join.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Yeah, absolutely. What other like things do you have? And Smile, like culture-wise, like clubs and stuff. How does that work?

SPEAKER_00 17:16

We have a few clubs. We I have a book club. I also run the book club at Smile. That's what I'm saying. Like you can do all the things if you want. Um, I run a book club, it's a leadership book club. We have a lot of fun. It's small but mighty. And we just read a book, probably a book every couple months, and then sit around and talk about it. And part of that is accountability because I want to continue reading books, and it's it keeps me honest to my accountability of reading books when someone else is counting on me to show up to book club and have read the book and talk about the book.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Yeah, I actually do think there's something to be said about that, about like having other people to support you and to hold you accountable for the things you need to do. And I think that's also a really important thing about leadership. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Agreed. Absolutely. Accountability is I mean, that is everything. It's like going to the gym, right? If you didn't want to go to the gym, but I told you, hey, Emily, you want to go to the gym with me, and then you held me accountable, then chances are we would probably end up at the gym.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

That's how it was with me, my mom, and then we got busy.

Motherhood And The Myth Of Time

SPEAKER_01 18:18

So do you think um like having kids at like has hindered you in any like in any way as a woman in leadership at any point?

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Only self-induced. That first time I told you that I did not apply for the supervisor job. It's because I was pregnant and I thought, no way, I have too much going on. And luckily, yeah, I had a wonderful female leader that pushed me to say, you of course can do that. Now, since then, no, absolutely not. It has not hindered me at all. I because I'm a tech, I went to I went to a technical school. And so I went back and finished my bachelor's degree when I had a brand new baby, and I finished my master's degree with the when I, you know, same about same time frame. So it absolutely not. The only one, the only person that's gonna hold you back is you, and but that you in your head is I mean, that that's real.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

Yeah, because I feel like there is this like misconception about like as soon as you have kids, you're gonna get too busy to do anything. You're gonna have to constantly pick them up, stuff like that. And that does kind of scare me out of like ever really doing that. If I do want to be in a leadership leadership position in any way, because it's like, what if I have to, what if I get too busy?

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Yeah. I mean, it's like I said, it's just you. You're the only one that will hold you back. We there's 24 hours in a day, and there's so much that you can accomplish that I don't believe that it's held me back at all. I think it's made me a better leader being a mom because again, it's just the experiences that you that come with motherhood, and you know, you think things are really serious before you have kids, and then you realize that oh, that's not that bad, you know. You learn how to kind of manage through that.

Dare To Lead And Final Advice

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Okay, just to finish us up, um, what do you think is one book that you recommend everyone have a chance to read? Good question.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

I have a book club, so I read lots of books, and there are so many leadership books that I would recommend. But the one that I think really changed changed my life and changed my perspective on leadership was Dare to Lead by Brene Brown. I absolutely love Brene Brown. She is an incredible, she's an incredible writer, and it's it's a really great book. So that one is the one that I would recommend to anybody. And it's even though she's a female and it's about female leadership, it that's anyone can read it. And I think you can take something away from it. And one thing I'll say about that is that leadership books, a lot of people that don't want to that aren't on the leadership trajectory, they don't want to become a leader or whatever, they don't realize that leadership books can help you be a better daughter, a better sister, a better friend. They're just overall good for you.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Because I feel like they're never something anybody really looks at. I I love them.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

They're like my favorite books to read.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

You should give them a chance. Totally.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

That's a good one to start with. So Brene Brown. And she also she has a TED Talk that went viral. That's what kind of brought her to fame. You should watch that. It's an incredible TED Talk.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

Yeah. Um, what do you on that note? What do you think is a piece of advice that you could give to any young watchers?

SPEAKER_00 21:28

The advice that I would give to the young watchers are to get uncomfortable and say yes to opportunities that you think maybe you're not ready for. Those are the best opportunities that when you are presented with something and that little voice in your head says, Maybe I'm not ready for this, or maybe there's somebody else more qualified, that should be your indication to say yes. Just jump right in.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Absolutely. And last thing, who do you think is one of the most inspirational women leaders you have met or come across in any way?

SPEAKER_00 21:59

I feel like I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many inspirational leaders. The list, I mean, it's like a scroll. It's so long. And I I have learned something from every woman leader that I have crossed paths with. And so that's a really tough question. I feel like if I said one, then maybe the others would get mad because I didn't say them. But I'll have to go family. And I would say that my mom is an incredible inspirational leader. Now, she would tell, she would probably say to you that she's not a leader because she was a stay-at-home mom, but she instilled so much in me. She told me, You can do anything you want, you're the smartest in the room. You are what you tell yourself. And to me, that is that is so important. And so, even if it's not your mom or if you don't have a mom or you don't have someone, I would also tell you to to be that person for somebody else is encourage the next person that you can do this. I got you. I got your back.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Absolutely. Okay. Everybody, Megan, thank you for being here. Thank you so much for having me.

unknown 23:01

Yeah.