Maintaining Authenticity

In this episode, host Jordan Yates is joined by Meaghan Ziemba from  @MavensofManufacturing   to discuss the importance of maintaining authenticity in a world where everyone is on camera. They explore the challenges of balancing personal life and business, particularly during difficult times. 

Meaghan shares her experiences of going through a divorce and how she has been open and honest with her clients about her personal struggles. They also discuss the power of coaching and mentorship in personal and professional growth, and Meaghan shares her tips on finding and approaching mentors.

Takeaways

• Maintaining authenticity builds trust and helps in building relationships.
• Being open and honest about personal struggles can help others going through similar situations.
• Investing in coaching and mentorship can provide valuable guidance and support.
• Finding mentors and sponsors can help in personal and professional growth.

Connect with Meaghan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meaghan-ziemba/

Check out Mavens of Manufacturing: https://mavensofmanufacturing.com/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:14

Hello everybody. It is your host, Jordan Yates. Welcome back to another episode of Failing for you. Today, I am joined by the queen, the maven herself, megan Zimba from Mavens of Manufacturing, also an industrial tech writer, brand storyteller and marketer for manufacturers. She is a two-time business owner, a cool mom, the let's see what else can I say women empowerment leader of our generation has a dope haircut. Overall, just a cool person. So yeah, megan, say hello to everybody Hi everyone.

Speaker 2: 0:54

Thank you so much, Jordan. I'm really excited. I'm super excited because after this, I'm actually going to get my haircut again, so it'll be even doper.

Speaker 1: 1:03

Ooh Okay. Well, that is something to look forward to for all of us guys. If you don't follow Megan. Go follow her so you can see what her new haircut looks like after this. So Megan is somebody. I've been on her podcast before Mavens of Manufacturing. We've chatted a lot via LinkedIn, gotten to know each other, but haven't had her on yet because, like I was telling her before for last season, I was a lazy girl and just at one point I just gave up on scheduling people and I was like, okay, I'm done, but for season two I was like she needs to be here. So she is here and what we're talking about today is maintaining authenticity in our world where everybody is on camera. So I asked Megan what she wanted to talk about. This is one of her points and there's many tangents from there. But, megan, can you just kind of start off by telling us, like, what that means to you when you said that?

Speaker 2: 1:55

Yeah. So one of the greatest compliments I keep getting is a lot of people tell me oh, we're really like listening to you and we like because if you've seen my podcast, I don't have like the fancy studio in the background as you can see now like this is what. I have and it's not like quality wise. I don't have like the nice microphones, I don't have a nice table, a lot of podcasts like go above and beyond, looking really clean, and Chris, where I'm just like I just want to have a conversation with you. This is what I can afford. Let's talk and a lot of people have said you know, you're just really authentic, you're genuine, and we didn't think this was how you were going to be in person. And then we meet you in person. You're exactly how you are on camera in person. So I think just maintaining your authenticity means you know how you are in front of the camera is also how you are when you're talking to, like your family or your friends or you know, complete strangers on the street Like you. You want to maintain that because I think it helps build trust in your relationships and more people are going to want to open up to you and share their story and I think we just need it a little bit in the world today, because there's a lot of people on camera and I sometimes just raise my eyebrows and I'm like are you sure that's how you are in person? Because I don't think you are, and I've met some people who've been on camera and then I would meet them in person and they're really really not a nice person and it's just like that's kind of disappointing because you seem really cool on camera and then I tried to talk to you and you just snubbed me off and it's now I'm not going to listen to you anymore, kind of thing you know. So I think how you talk to your personal friends and your personal group, that's how you should come across to on your on your camera or podcast or video cast, whatever you're doing.

Speaker 1: 3:54

Yeah, I absolutely agree. For me, my reasons of trying to be myself all the time are slightly different. It's because I'm incredibly lazy and I don't have time to come up with an alter ego and I thought wouldn't it just be easier if I was just Jordan all the time? And sometimes it really bites me in the ass because it's like I I'm too, I'm myself to a fault and I think I sometimes need to learn on maybe a little bit of a filter, maybe holding back just a little bit, saving something for everybody else. But then I think you know, once I'm in my flow and I'm going, if I'm overthinking everything, then I just sound a bit choppier, I don't sound like myself. And then I'm always afraid, like you said, of someone meeting me in person and being like girl, you're not the same, like you're someone else, like who are you? And I think I always thought that with like Instagram filters and things like that, like sure I could edit this photo to make me look super snatched and like beautiful. But if you meet me in person and I don't look like that, like that's more embarrassing than me just posting a medium pretty picture versus a super duper pretty picture Like the trade-offs of your real world connections being real, I think are definitely worth it.

Speaker 2: 5:05

Yeah, I think so too. I definitely think you should stop calling yourself lazy, though, because I see the content you're putting out there. And I know I've had a conversation I want to say it was with Nikki or Allie where I'm just like how does that girl sleep? Like she's everywhere and anywhere and your content is just you do a really good job at marketing. So I don't think you're lazy at all. I think we have our moments where we don't want to do anything, and that's okay too. But I see the hard work that you're putting in the content that you do publish. But I think it's fantastic. I'm taking notes. So just if you see something that looks similar to your stuff, it's because I took notes and I just thought it looks really good. So I'm not copying you. Well, yeah, I am, I guessed a little bit.

Speaker 1: 5:51

That's the greatest honor I could possibly imagine is if the Megan's, if I copied something I did, I would feel like I was doing something right in the world. So please go ahead. But, megan, I wanted to kind of get into sort of the behind the scenes of like we said that this concept is sort of being authentic through and through how you show up on camera, but also like who you are when someone needs you in person. Now, this is great in D&D, it's a wonderful idea. But sometimes it can be difficult to maintain all this because we have a lot going on in our personal lives and sometimes you know we don't need to share everything. But doing what we do and being so public can sometimes be more difficult when we have things going on in the background that people don't know about. For instance, like you mentioned, your divorce that you're going through or I guess it's kind of through is been a contributing factor there. Can you kind of talk to us about how it's been balancing both, you know, owning your business, being a public face and then having to deal with such difficult things at home?

Speaker 2: 6:55

Yeah, so last year was a really tough year for me because that's when I decided that I didn't want to be married anymore and I have three kids, so I had to. I did the whole single mom thing with my daughter and then not doing it again with my two boys, and it's definitely been a struggle. But there's been moments for like, where, if I was at a trade show or if I was on camera, the people that know me well knew that I was off, so they would come and say something to me and I didn't wanna lie to them or cover anything up, so I'd just be like I'm going through a really hard time and this is what's going on. But I think with me, one of my main goals in life is to really just instill confidence in women, particularly because I feel like we do do a lot of covering up because we have to work so much harder, especially in male dominated industries, to kind of like get to a spot where we think we made it. I am seeing that change, which is refreshing, but I just wanted other women to know that it's okay if you're having a bad day and if you need to talk about it and you don't trust anyone to talk about it with, you can at least trust me. So I'd probably do more sharing about my personal life than I should, but I just feel like it has helped a lot of people, because I've had women come up to me and be like, oh my gosh, I'm going through the same thing, Like how do you do this? Like this is what I feel like doing, and it's really helpful for them to just have someone to kind of connect with on that level. So, yes, you don't have to share every little detail about your life, but I feel like we judge each other really hard, and it's not just women judging other women, it's not just women judging themselves. I feel like everyone is judging everybody harder now, especially with everyone being on camera. And why, Like why are we doing that? So I just I want to like let people know that it's okay if you're going through a hard time. If you don't want to provide the details, that's fine too, but don't hold back from saying, hey, I can't do this right now because right now I'm just not in the space to do it, and that's all you have to say. And I don't know if you know who, Barbara I think her last name is Hampton or Hampton from Siemens. She's the CEO of that company. Oh wow, I went to a presentation of hers and she's like you know, I love my grandchild and I want to spend moments with him. And she's like don't think that I've never gone on a hayride doing texts for work. She's like I've done it. She's like but I've also told people no, I can't do this right now because I have another meeting or commitment. She's like you don't have to tell people what that other meeting or commitment is. She's like you can just say no, I'm busy. So I think just you know being okay with saying no and this is why and not going fully into the details is okay too. But again, I'm just I'm letting people know that, hey, I'm going through this right now. I've missed some deadlines. Here's why I'm missing the deadlines. I'm not making this up and it's really helped like kind of maintain. Some of my client tells because last year was so rough and I missed a ton of stuff that I shouldn't have missed, but I just couldn't get it all done going through what I was going through. So me sharing the details was helpful in that aspect. But hopefully we can all learn the lesson that, hey, we're all human, we all go through some things. So let's start trusting people when they say I can't get this done right now because I'm going through something and just not ask questions. If they want us to ask questions, let's figure out that process and then maybe we can help them along the journey.

Speaker 1: 10:57

Yeah, absolutely, and I think it's very uniquely brave that you're able to come on here and say that hey, I have actually missed deadlines. Like I think, typically people in marketing or people that put themselves out there, they never want to come on and say I've messed up, I failed, because then they think every public appearance is a chance to market yourself. And if you tell people you've missed deadlines, they won't want to work with me, like they're going to think I'm not serious, they're going to think I can't keep it together. And it is just so like refreshing to hear you say like things happen and sometimes it affects our work, and I feel like there's so many people out there that are just so afraid to not actually achieve something or to not do it right the first time or to miss their deadline, and they think, like you know, if I do, I'm a failure, it's over, like no one's going to work with me again. But I mean, I would like to think that, like you're still getting customers, your relationships are still okay, like they understood, because you were brave enough to put yourself out there, because sometimes we do just get to the end of our rope and that's that. Can you kind of walk us through, maybe not a specific example, but just sort of what your feelings were in a time where you did have to say, push a deadline, and sort of what the reactions were like in your thought process of like working yourself up to be honest with somebody about that.

Speaker 2: 12:17

Yeah, so I mean I've lost clients too because they didn't want to hear anything. They just wanted the work done and that's fair. Like I give people respect for that. But at the same time too, I just want to let people know that I'm not doing something out Like there's serious things happening in my life. But I think that happened. Like you said, we're all human. I think that happens with all of us. So when I start working with a new client, I'm very open and honest about okay, here's my capacity, this is what I can do. Fyi, I'm a single mother of three children and sometimes things come up like last week, both my kids were projectile throwing up everywhere and then I got sick and I was pretty much down for the whole week. There was a couple hours here and there that I worked on a few things, but it wasn't as much as I planned out for the week. So every Sunday I plan out my following week Like, okay, these hours go here, these hours go there, and I try to put some cushion in there in case some things happen. But again, with two kids that are four and six they just started school this year, they're catching everything. They just got diagnosed with asthma, like there's a lot going on. So I try to tell people right up front hey, I have three kids. Sometimes things happen, I'm doing the single mom thing and I might miss a deadline here or there. If it does happen, I apologize. But I also try to work that in with pricing as well too. So, like, if it's like a huge miss, I'll give them a huge discount on what they originally signed up to pay me for, because I just don't feel like that's fair for me to charge them full price If I didn't show up 100%. You know, like I just don't think that's fair. So it doesn't happen all the time, but it has happened. It happened quite a bit last year, just again because I was just going through the divorce. But now that that's over and things are looking up for 2024, I do have a really good like balance and I'm saying no to a lot of things as well too. But some reactions from the clients have been great. Like they've been really supportive and understanding. Most of those were women. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. Some of the reactions have not been so great. I've gotten cussed out rightfully, so I didn't take any offense to it and they were like we're just not gonna work with you again. And I'm like, okay, well, here's some other people that you could work with that do some really amazing things, and I'll just suggest who I can and send them. That way. I don't take offense to people being upset when expectations fail, especially if it's on me for that happening, but again I've had women. So with Mavens I have a pretty rigorous schedule. Like every Friday I'm doing a live and sometimes things come up with the guests and the day of the recording they'll call me and be like I can't make it. Today I got something going on, no worries, it's okay, I'll just let people know that we had to reschedule. And if people get mad, they get mad. If they don't, okay, great, we can't. I just feel like a lot of people are getting mad over things that they can't control instead of being understanding about it. So when people start seeing, oh, she's flexible with her time, maybe I should do that with my time, because the work's always gonna be there in the next day, right, like it's not, and what is really the worst case scenario if something doesn't get done the exact time that you want it Like? What's the worst case scenario and so far, a lot of people are like really nothing, like we just needed it for our website. Okay, well, if it's not on your website by this day, are you gonna lose a lot of customers, are you gonna lose a lot of money? No, I said okay, well, then let's be flexible, kind of stop like. Let's stop like holding each other, you know, at ransom for some of these things. Cause not all of it, but there are things that if they do get missed, yes, it can be detrimental to the company and I understand that. So, like I'm not saying let's do that for everything, but let's be kind of picky of what we're doing it for. So, yeah, I've had good reactions, I've had bad reactions, I've had people cuss me out, which I thought was kind of ridiculous, but they were probably having a bad day that day. So it's just like okay moving on.

Speaker 1: 17:06

I think it definitely takes experience and a certain skill set to get to the point where you're able to have these conversations with your customers of I don't wanna say like negotiating, but understanding better the priorities they have for their projects. So, like you said, some people will say, oh, I need this tomorrow. And then maybe, if you're new where this business you just started, you say okay, like I'll find a way to make it happen tomorrow. But as you get more experience you'll learn to say why do you need it tomorrow? Like what is this for? And like, the more you get to know the customer, their pain points and how it is that you fit into the puzzle of helping them. I think that's where that sort of flexibility comes in, and if you're able to help yourself accountable which, like you said, you are in your understanding then you're able to create a more dynamic relationship with these customers rather than it being so like input output. You're able to kind of see the bigger picture and maybe even get more opportunity with them now that you understand it better. But I think that's probably something that comes with a little bit of experience. And then you have to be able to not be super afraid to ask questions, or else you're just going to be like it's gonna seem very black and white of like oh, they missed their deadline, that's it, like they're disappointed, it's over, whereas if you keep that open line of communication, it will help a lot. So I'm curious how you've kind of gotten to that point. I know you've said that recently you invested in a coach, so I kind of like to hear more about that, cause you know, sort of here we like to talk about things that are hard, things that we failed at, but we don't want to just stick on the failing part. We kind of want to get to the portion of okay, this is what I actually did, Of course, correct, this is how I deal, and I think the sort of point on you getting a coach is sort of that the tool you use to deal. So could you tell us more about that?

Speaker 2: 18:52

Yeah. So I mean, everything takes time and experience. So, like when I first started out as a writer, I messed up all the time. I didn't know you could ask questions. I didn't know you could set up expectations. I didn't know that you and especially being a business owner I was in a point where I got so used to people telling me what to do that now, as a business owner, I forget that. Oh wait, no, I can set my own hours, I can do this and I can say no to people and make this a lot easier for me. So that took a lot of time, but I felt that I hit a ceiling and I wasn't breaking through, and I've been told several times that I have an edge to my communication. So I'm very like you said you didn't have a filter. I same thing. I don't have a filter. I like to drop the F bomb every once in a while, maybe more than every once in a while, but I just when something enters my head, I just have the tendency to just be like blah and say it without thinking it through, and I've had that happen with emails before. So I've been told, like you have an edge. How can we soften it a little bit and at first I was kind of offended by that because it's like, why should I have to, why should I have to soften my communication because someone else feels some type of way about it? But there is a way to like and this is I've mentioned this book before Crucial Conversations, great book. Everyone should read it because it does really help, kind of like step out of your own perspective and look at it from other people's perspective and then, okay, this conversation's kind of getting volatile. How can we calm it back down? And it has a lot of great tips in there. But the coach that I have her name is Jennifer Watson. I actually met her at an empowering women in industry event and she got on stage and she did this presentation and I was just like that is different, like this is a different way of presenting something. So I'm gonna contact her. So I contacted her and she's actually from, I think, like the healthcare industry. So she uses a lot of like holistic type tips and styles where it's not just okay, this is how you need to change, but it's actually digging deeper into why something might upset you. So like I feel like some of us have an edge to certain things because it's triggering something deeper within us. So I've actually discovered I've been suppressing a lot of trauma and that's why sometimes my communication can come off too direct or too edgy, because something that they communicated to me caused some sort of like trigger that upset me. So, talking to her, I've really gotten a lot of good tips on how to like process some of my emotions and I've really learned how to like not respond right away. Like just because you got an email at 10 o'clock doesn't need you need to send a response at 10 o'one. Like read the email, step away from it, take some time. And Chris Luke he told me this too, cause he's done this before where he'll read an email, he'll process it, he'll walk away, do something different, come back, read it again, think about it some more, and then he'll respond, and that's been really helpful for me too. I've even had a couple of people like read some of my emails because I'm like maybe this is a little harsh and I'll be like can you tell me how this makes you feel? And they're just like yeah, don't send that, don't send that, here's the revision. And like I'll send it that way. But it's also helping with like my personal communication as well too. So like I'm doing a lot better with like asking more questions. Like before I thought I asked too many questions that probably shouldn't have been asked, but if I'm not understanding something, I'm asking more questions. And then just time management and procrastination Cause. A lot of procrastination comes from like deep rooted trauma, like something's going on where you don't want to focus on that. And she like explained this whole process to me and I was procrastinating a lot and having things get. And that's what happened last year. Like I procrastinated a lot because there was so much going on. I would sit in front of my computer for hours thinking that I was getting stuff done, when actually I was not getting anything done. So she's giving me strategies on, like the main things I want to focus on for a week, and she's like you don't have to work eight hours to get those done. Like say to yourself okay, these are the three things I want to get done for this week, and she's like just hammer them out, hammer them out. And she's like if something comes up that starts pulling you back into this procrastination sheet, she's like, get up, go outside, look at something red, focus on that. Like she's giving me some really good tips to where I can refocus my attention and then come back, and one of her best lines that she gave me so far she's like just because you started out having a bad day doesn't mean you have to finish with it being bad, so it's been really, really helpful. I haven't been procrastinating as much as I did last year, so I'm super excited about that, and I think we have like a few more weeks left of this coaching session. But I think if you are a woman, especially in this field, and you feel like you've hit some sort of ceiling, investing in yourself is just a great way to learn some tips on how to be a better leader, how to be a better creator, how to be a better communicator, because that's kind of what we all mean. If we want to be in leadership positions and if we're communicating with a lot of people of different personality types, it's really helpful to get some of those tips. Even guys too I don't mean to leave men out, but I just I like to. Men need help too, everybody needs help, but no like, if you think about it and Emily Wilkins brought this up and I was just like, wow, that's a really good point. She was telling me she's like in manufacturing a lot of men would go golf and that's where they would learn about the business. Like if they went golfing with their boss or their mentor, they would learn a lot about the business. She's like women don't necessarily have that here. She's like yeah, it's in, it's in some instances. She's like there's a lot of. She's like there's some women leaders who will take, like some of their women employees and bring them out to lunch and I have conversations there. She's like but women need that opportunity to learn how the business works If they want to continue growing up the ladder. So one of the things that I failed at early on my career I didn't know you could ask for a mentor. I didn't know you can do that. So I have two mentors now because I literally reached out to them and I said I need help and you're really good at this and you're really good at that. Can you mentor me and teach me how you do that? Because it'd be really helpful. So Any advice I invest in yourself ask for mentors. Sponsorship is a little bit better. That's where, like, someone of high caliber is putting their name on you. So if you can find someone to sponsor you as well to. That's like high up there. Ask them to do that and it will change your world like you'll learn so much, you'll improve and you'll just keep growing and growing and growing.

Speaker 1: 26:36

I was actually listening to a podcast this morning where this guy was a guest and he's the one that wrote million dollar weekend and he was talking about mentorship, and he's like if you want to learn how to be successful, go talk to a successful person. He said, though, his thing that he had to learn was that mentors don't just go out looking for you and like there, no one's gonna knock on your room, like, hey, buddy, like can I, can I help you be a better version of yourself, unless you're like actually like a complete wreck and someone's like really worried about you. A mentor isn't probably looking for you, so you, if you know that you want to do more, you need to look for your mentor. So could you just you know we're getting towards the end, but sort of as like an action item, can you kind of explain to us like how you found your mentor and then how you reached out to them, and maybe like how you crafted a message and began that relationship?

Speaker 2: 27:26

Yeah, so I have two mentors right now. I can give you their names, I don't think they'll mind. Maybe they will. If they do, I'm sorry, I apologize. Charlie Matthews is one. She's the founder of empowering women in industry event, also empowering brands and empowering pumps and equipment. And then the other one is Tony neary. She's from the SME organization or society of manufacturing engineers and I knew them for quite some time and they like Took me under their wing and like they've always been super encouraging to me, like we love what you're doing with me and like we want to have this conversation with you. And they always provided me opportunities to kind of shine and I was like this is awesome, like they really believe in what I'm doing and they really support it. And Charlie started empowering women, I think like five or six years ago and she just grew it. And Tony has always been a massive voice and manufacturing and engineering. Like I knew about her for a really long time and then when I first met her in person, I was kind of like fan girling over her Because I just think she's just an awesome human being. So when we got closer and then they both wore maven's gear and we're walking around it. I'm like that is so cool, like wow, they're really good people and every time I see them talking to people, everybody likes Having conversations with them and I want to be that person. I want to be like the person where, if people see me, they're really happy. But sometimes I'm not always happy and my leadership skills are sub par and I don't know what I'm doing. Like I'm struggling with like certain things with financing, because I suck with math. So like they're really good at it, maybe they have resources. So I just went out on a limb and I was like, hey, can you be my mentor? And they were like, oh my gosh, I thought you were kind of like my mentor because I'm learning so much. I'm learning so much Like. So they were really honored about it and it's just like. It's just so silly to be like I was super scared and super shy to do that, but it's just so silly after, like, you rip the bandaid off. It's just so silly. The worst thing that could happen is someone says, no, I can't be your mentor. It might be because they're busy and they can't dedicate the time because, again, being a mentor there volunteering their time, so that might be the thing, but it might be to that they're kind of shy and they might not know they have the skill set to mentor you. So someone says no, don't be offended by it either, like it's okay, it's it's. It's not anything personal to you. It might just be that they don't have the time to do it right now or they might be scared to be a mentor or sponsor for you. So just Look around who's in your, in your industry? Who sticks out, asset, who sticks out? Who do you have really good relationships right now with? And then who do you feel like you learn a lot from? When you just have simple conversations and ask yourself, okay, what skill sets am I trying to improve and grow? And if those individuals are really rocking at those skill sets, ask them, say, hey, can you be my mentor? I really like this about you. I think I can learn a lot because you're really good at this. And then you just have to set up a cadence where you're meeting every month or every other week or every two months, whatever your schedule is, and then make sure that you are setting up goals to so that you can keep track of your progress. And that's what I'm doing with both Charlie and Tony, like we're scheduling when we have time and we're going over like what we discussed in our previous meeting, and then we're going over like okay, I really like this, I'm struggling with this, and then they, they offer advice and tips and it's been great, it's been awesome.

Speaker 1: 31:24

It sounds so fruitful. I feel like just sort of to wrap up the episode I. I feel like, from beginning to end, we covered a lot of themes here, but sort of there's the power of authenticity and being who you are on camera and off camera. But to really truly be that and to get through a lot of harder situations in life, it is good to work on yourself, work on your mental health, work on like your do, your inner work, and doing that. A tool for that is mentorship, it's coaching, it's things like that. But Another thing that I feel like we hit on that I want to emphasize is like just being able to forgive yourself when you don't meet the goals that you set out for, but that there is ways to continually improve yourself to where, when you do have these situations, you can handle them differently, because you can have the same situation happen to you twice, but if you've worked on yourself, by the time you get to it again, it's going to feel different. You're going to handle it differently and and I think you did a really good job walking us through your situations, your mindset shifts and how it's worked for you. So, guys, I hope you enjoyed and You've learned something there and you're able to take us. So now gets of advice and apply that in your own life or, at least you know, find us entertaining. As I always say, if you're not learning something, hopefully you could just like laugh at it with us as well. And I think that's the things that we mess up with, because sometimes failures they could be so darn funny because they're just so silly. But thank you so much again.

Speaker 2: 32:53

Yeah, thanks for having me, jordan. This was really fun and I really enjoy what you're doing. I think you're amazing at everything that you do and you just bring A really good vibe to the sector, like anytime that I and I don't know like where situation is behind the scenes, but anytime you're in front of the camera like I'm smiling because you're just, your energy is so positive and infectious, and I know that can be hard, especially on bad days if you're having them. So thank you for all the stuff that you're doing as well.

Speaker 1: 33:23

Diddo. Well, guys, on that note, thank you so much for listening and, as always, I'm your host, jordan Yates, and in the meantime I'll be failing for you. See you next week.