We’re looking forward to introducing you to Megan Frazier Salch. Check out our conversation below.
Hi Megan, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What is a normal day like for you right now?
I’m always the first one to wake up during weekdays so it’s quiet and usually before sunrise. I wake our 12-year-old son about 6:15 am and prepare his breakfast. I typically get dressed for a 3.25-mile walk as soon as our son is off to middle school. My husband and I get a good neighborhood walk in along with a Facebook post sharing healthy tips and motivational vibes (I need it!) before we hit the speed button to get ready for the day. Then it’s typically back-to-back conference calls about target audiences, developing the right marketing assets (videos, blog posts, ads and other graphics) and strategizing on budgets and positioning. We welcome our son home (whether we picked up carpool or another family did) in the late afternoon, get him a snack and started on homework, while we wrap up work for the day.
Some days we head to the YMCA for a family workout. Other days it’s extended work and homework tackling. We make dinner each night and eat together as a family. That’s an incredibly important aspect to us. As we conclude the last hours of our evenings, we share recaps from our day, hope our college daughter can sneak in a call home and catch a game on TV or other family special. My nightly routine is to do at least one Duolingo session to practice my French, followed by catching up on Facebook. After our son heads to bed at 9 pm, my husband and I grab a high-protein snack and watch the nightly news. Then, it’s time to head to bed for a goal of 7-8 hours each night.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I love marketing for businesses. I started Tell Your Tale Marketing & Design in 2005 to help other organizations boost their visibility and sales. My husband Trent joined me as VP a few years after and we’ve been business building ever since. We work with businesses such as Memorial Hermann Health System, Reytec Construction Resources, Corporate Move Consulting Inc and Halford Busby.
I also am proud to work for HP, Inc. as a worldwide product marketing manager focused on its Managed Solutions. It’s a newer role that presents me with a lot of opportunities to learn about a different part of the business and I’m excited. This gives me learning experiences unique to a corporate environment.
Owning my own marketing boutique and working for a leading corporate helps me better understand and balance customers’ needs.
Sharing good vibes and health tips is my fun habit. I also co-lead Women Driving Business, a group of inspiring, driven women who launch businesses, propel careers and boost communities since 2004. See WomenDrivingBusiness.com
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My mother Dawn Frazier… She was my first advocate. (My dad was right behind her too.) Early on, Mom taught me that I could accomplish anything that I put my mind to as long as I was willing to work hard for it. From struggling to swim all the way across the big pool on swim team to finishing second in the 6 and under divison, Mom was there in the heat, pregnant but making sure I could hear her cheering for me. When I need motivating, Mom is a call away.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
It wasn’t necessarily “failing hard”, but it was a wake-up call.
I was a sophomore in college at SMU and was home for lunch when my dad called. “Megan, what is your ideal dream job when you graduate from college with this journalism degree?” he asked.
“I’d love to be a starting reporter at Texas Monthly magazine,” I replied.
“Okay, I’ll call you back,” he said and hung up abruptly.
An hour or so later, my dad called back to say, “Megan, a starting reporter at Texas Monthly makes $12,000 a year. You can’t live on that. Figure it out.” And again, he hung up abruptly.
“Hmmm,” I thought. “Now what?”
It was then that I began expanding my studies beyond just journalism (which I loved) but to take every public relations course offered at the time at SMU. I also took on a second major in political science. I took on a free position at the campus paper that later turned into a (small) paying position. I completed 3 internships to earn as much experience as I could because I knew when I graduated college, I’d need to financially support myself and I didn’t want to disappoint my parents or myself. I landed my first job in public relations the summer after college graduation and I’ve kept learning ever since.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
My husband Trent Salch is my closest advisor and confidante. Yes, we work together both at Tell Your Tale Marketing and at HP Inc. but in both capacities, we work in different areas. This allows us to bounce ideas off of each other.
Deeper though, Trent is a solid spiritual guide. We all go through times when we question our faith but Trent has an innate way of putting life and spirituality into a really good, fulfilling perspective… and then he usually says something comical and we laugh too hard.
Raising kids together also means that his opinion on our family and what our expectations are of our family matters that much.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
My paternal grandfather taught us the importance of “multi-generational wealth”. He had a 3rd grade education, came from very poor means and was later raised in an orphanage. Later in life, earning enough money to take care of his family and insulate them from some of the things that he experienced was very important to him.
But when he spoke of “multi-generational wealth,” he was also talking about the deep love and rich traditions that we should pass down to generation over generation. Things like going to church as a family, eating a daily meal together as a family, putting in a hard day’s work as long as you’re physically able, helping those less fortunate and always letting your loved ones know how much you love them… That is the full scope of “multi-generational wealth” that I hope to take from my Grandfather and pass on to my children and any they may have in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.TellYourTale.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansalch/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megansalch/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/megan.f.salch
Image Credits
The photo of Megan with a red dress with her husband Trent and Kari Werner of the Houston West Chamber is credited to Kelley Sweet Photography. https://ksweetphoto.com/ as is the headshot photo of Megan in a red dress. Both photos were at Women Driving Business events.
Women Driving Business has extensive rights to use the images for its internal and external needs, including:
◦ Any and all marketing and media.
◦ Personal and business use.
◦ Editing, enhancing, cropping, and printing the files.
Kelley Sweet Photography retains the overall copyright to the images. Kelley Sweet Photography owns the intellectual property, but has given Women Driving Business a broad license to use it.
