If “values-driven” sales rhetoric feels like a wet fart - you’re not alone.
You know that you need to “convey your value” and “offer unique transformation.”
And you’re ready to build a business that feels good for you, makes some moolah, and helps everyone in the process.
Instead of DEVELOPING a core values statement that speaks to specific market psychographics in order to create a value ladder that drives revenue (jargon, much??), you want to…
Craft a meaningful message that resonates with your people.
Market effectively without having to become a content machine.
Help real people - not just target a brand persona.
You’ve heard all about ethical marketing and trauma-informed business practices.
There's just one thing...
While you're all in on the concept, you’re kinda disillusioned by most advice on building an “ethical, trauma-informed business” as those terms are often overused and underutilized.
And the ever-touted values statement that’s supposed to convey who you are and what you fight for?
It’s not wrong per se, but it certainly doesn’t pack the punch you know you stand for.
Megan is like working with a BFF because by the time you spit out your word vomit she knows your vision almost better than you do. She is patient and listens with her heart, which allows her to conjure up some major magic and show you everything you have been wanting in your business.
- Allison Canales,
Magnetic Marketing
"Everything you've been wanting."
Someone to coach you, to facilitate your own discovery of what matters most to you, and how to bridge the gap between that internal language with external strategy.
to the Human First, Biz Second® Inner Sanctum.
Welcome -
You're not about a vapid fan base of empty likes or a community built on a cult of personality.
You're ready to build a brand fam that's rooted in values and powered by connection.
What you're not looking for is boiler-plate templates and milquetoast frameworks with little-to-no regard for your own expertise and experiences.
If this is you… You’ve found the right place, my friend.
Someone to consult with, who understands your mission and vision, and who can help you make the impact you’re craving.
Someone to help you strategize, to use your skills and strengths to create a plan of action that works for you (and your people!).
You're looking for...
I'm Megan, your new messaging coach.
I help do-it-differently small business owners find the language to talk about — and sell — their unorthodox approach.
As a classically trained actress I know how to parse language down to the punctuation mark.
As a former independent pilates instructor I know how to start a small business and market online.
As your personal coach, consultant, and strategist I bring my rigorous training in language and my biz-building experience to your business.
Founder of Human First, Biz Second® and the original Spicy Soapbox™, I’m also a certified Equity-Centered Coach through the Institute for Equity-Centered Coaching®.
Actor by training.
Small biz owner by choice.
Wildly enthusiastic by nature.
I believe in...
The magic of a good story, the necessity of plants, persistent curiosity, and heartfelt candor.
I'm not about...
Financial exclusivity, business "hacks" that depend on exploited labor, shame-based learning tactics, or yucking your yum.
You can find me...
Sipping a cold brew, having deep chats in the DMs, crying happy tears with 1:1 clients, and feeling my feelings.
Daily rituals...
Slow mornings, cuddling floofy kittens, good skincare, mindful movement, and plenty of snacks. No seriously - snacks are life.
My superpower is helping you find the right language to market your weird and wonderful work.
ie:
MY SUPERPOWER IS HELPING YOU UNDERSTAND AND TALK ABOUT YOURS.
I was an emotional, exuberant child. I quite honestly have no recollection of a time that wasn’t defined by narrative. The sound of Michael Caine’s shoes on cobblestone in The Muppet Christmas Carol, the flop of Lindsay Lohan’s ponytail in The Parent Trap remake - I desperately searched for ways to recreate these experiences. For me they weren’t just within the story, they were part of how I interacted with the world around me and made sense of what it was to be a human.
AND NOW WE'RE HERE
Pilates - Good words - Today
What is career anyway
Formal Training & Such
In the beginning...
In the beginning...
AND NOW WE'RE HERE
Pilates - Good Words - Today
What is career anyway
Formal training & such
In the beginning
Let’s jump ahead to 2009. After a Hail Mary audition landed me at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art, I found myself completely immersed in a world of language and emotion and nuance unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. All the experiential components of stories that I’d sensed and known in my body as a kid could finally be explored in a more formal setting.
We spent entire class blocks on the way the word “murder” (originally spelled “murther” in the First Folio in Macbeth) feels in the mouth and how that impacts the performer's delivery as well as the audience's receipt.
I dogeared my Lexicon & Quotation Dictionary on the daily, digging into the nuance of certain words in certain contexts, and on how the meaning would change with just a simple pause or breath before or after the word.
The year of classical acting training wasn’t just a primer on “how to do Shakespearean plays,” it was what formalized and solidified my deep and abiding love of the experience of language.
Formal Training & Such
AND NOW WE'RE HERE
Pilates - Good Words - Today
What is "career" anyway?
Formal Training & Such
THE BEGINNING
Post-LAMDA and pre-Pilates I worked somewhere near 30-odd part-time jobs while also working as a professional actor. Gather moss, I did not. Highlights included cross-country children’s theatre tours (2 of them), working as a paraprofessional, and finally being trained as a Pilates instructor.
I loved teaching Pilates. It felt like a natural new career since it combined my love of body work, attention to detail, and dedication to nuance in language seamlessly. I taught for a year at a small boutique studio as well as taking on independent clients. And if I may - I was damn good at it. MY classes at the studio were always full with a waitlist, and I routinely had folks tell me that working with me helped them think maybe they didn’t hate working out? Honestly, the highest praise a fitness instructor can get.
And then my dear Husburrito and I decided to move to Ohio for a job opportunity for him
What is "career" anyway?
And now we're here
Pilates - Good Words - Today
What is career anyway
Formal Training & Such
In the beginning
Honestly, I spent nearly as much time helping folks build their businesses as I did on my own. Sure I had clients and was growing my email list, but that wasn’t nearly as easy or exciting to me as helping other folks with things that came *so* easily for me.
It wasn’t until a lovely Come-To-Jesus talk from my dear Husburrito that I realized that people got paid to do this work I was so happy to give away for free. That I was welcome to build a Pilates business and give it all away if that’s what I wanted, but I seemed really happy doing brand design & copy work, so did I want to consider doing that as a business?
Megan Has Good Words was the direct result of that chat. With it I cut my teeth in the unique culture that is Online Business and explored not just what I was skilled at, but what I *wanted* to do. Summer 2019 we peaced out of Ohio (good riddance) and Megan Has Good Words was starting to feel like a beloved but outgrown pair of slippers. After much hemming and hawing the name was changed to With Megan Dowd and with it a suite of services focusing solely on core values and narrative strategy (aka storytelling & connection in marketing).
Pilates - Copywriting - Today
And now we're here
Pilates - Good Words - Today
What is career anyway
Formal Training & Such
In the beginning
I help folks find the language they’ve been searching for to match their soft, tender insides with their ballsy, spicy outsides.
I listen to your word vomit, take your loquacious tangents, and help you craft the meaningful message you’ve been trying to communicate all along.
I delight in hearing about the weird and wonderful ways your brain parses the world around you, and help you impart that gorgeous unique flavor into your business at every turn.
And now we're here!
WANT THE LONG VERSION OF MY CAREER? LET’S DIVE IN:
Megan not only created a brand and online presence for me, I now have the language and sense of identity for my business that attracts the clients I want to work with. The experience was painless, and honestly, I didn’t want our check-ins to end!
- Katherine Appleyard,
Appleyard Counseling
"Sense of identity"
Business beyond #girlboss.
For the folks that feel like no one is listening if they don't use buzzwords: this is business coaching, consulting, and strategy for you.
Coaching that celebrates the context of your expertise.
Consulting that emphasizes your values and boundaries.
Strategy that centers trust between your business and your audience.
Free Shiz
Human first, biz second®.
GRAB THE SUITE OF HUMAN FIRST GUIDES HERE — FREE!
Before you invest big for your biz, take the time to better understand your values, your services, and your market.
With these Human First Guides you’ll get a boost on building a biz that works for you and your brain.
What next?
Get some guidance
Book your Navigation Guide
Let’s call it like we see it - it’s been a hard few years for us all, and with a rapidly changing economic and cultural landscape, more than a few businesses have found themselves stuck in a rut.
Next Step Navigator starts with a Human First Evaluation of where you’re currently at, and get a Navigation Guide with a 90-day action plan tailored to how you work best to get you out of your head and back to work.
Worth every penny - you found the language I've been trying to find for two years.
Samantha Crockett
Enthusiastic Neighbor
