Embracing Life's Journey: Meghan Alexander on Living with Purpose and Empathy

I'm taking a turn as guest in the podcast chair!

Have you ever pondered the deeper reason behind your existence or felt the magnetic pull of your dreams? Uncover the art of living with purpose as I, Meghan Alexander, unravel some stories of trials and triumphs that have carved our destinies. As this story journeys from my quaint Connecticut beginnings through the mesh of career and motherhood, this episode is a tribute to the conviction that we're all destined for something beyond the ordinary. I celebrate the narratives that not only define us but also have the power to motivate and uplift others, fostering a space of unwavering honesty and infectious positivity.

Feeling the world's emotions might seem like a heavy mantle, yet this monologue sheds light on how such sensitivity sharpens empathy and personal growth. I open up about my life as an empath and a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), and how these traits have shaped my interactions and led me to seek like-minded souls. From the bustling environment of a startup to the expansive halls of a major tech firm, I reflect on my 34-year career journey and some lessons learned along the way. Whether it's about finding fulfillment in hobbies or acknowledging the influence of leaders like Tony Robbins, this episode is an intimate look into the pursuit of our full potential and the heartfelt belief that even one life touched is a mission accomplished.

Thank you for checking out this episode! It's only part of my story, but I hope it sheds a light on what I'm about and is a glimpse into why I'm doing a podcast.

Thank you for tuning in to Meghan's podcast!
Remember, we are all made for more!

• Follow Meghan on Instagram @meghanalexander_being_real
• https://www.instagram.com/meghanalexander_being_real/?igsh=MTFqajVuNG5jZXVodw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Prefer to Watch the video version? Please Like & Subscribe on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@weRmadeformore
• Click "Follow" on her Podcast to get notified of the latest episodes.
• Find Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music & wherever you usually listen

Intro voiceovers by her family: son, Billy Alexander; daughter, Mackenzie Alexander; and husband, Bill Alexander.
Music by Bill Alexander
Produced by Bill Alexander

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the podcast we Are Made For More with Megan Alexander. In this podcast, we'll strive to inspire people around the world to become the best version of themselves by featuring guests with experiences and mindsets that demonstrate that we are all made for more.

Speaker 2: 0:21

Every journey is stitched together with moments of realization and growth, and for Megan Alexander, this episode is where she pulls back the curtain on her own life's narrative, From the tightrope walk of managing a career and family life to those quiet instances of clarity that reshaped her path. Megan opens up about the extraordinary found within the everyday. Megan opens up about the extraordinary found within the everyday. As you tune in, you're embarking on a shared exploration of empathy, the law of attraction and the art of building connections that add depth to our daily lives. Join Megan in celebrating the more we're designed for and the beautiful intricacies we encounter at every turn of life's journey. And the beautiful intricacies we encounter at every turn of life's journey.

Speaker 3: 1:08

Hello and welcome to. We Are Made For More. I am your host, megan Alexander, and this is my podcast. So this is my first personal podcast. I did a few sessions already and thought I would pop in here and tell you a little bit about myself. First, you can follow me on social media on Instagram, at Megan Alexander being Real, please share my profile with others and also share this podcast. That would be really helpful. That is if you like it, of course, if you don't like it, maybe it resonates with somebody else and you can share it with them, because we'd love to get the word out.

Speaker 3: 1:48

Today. I'm here, like I said, to tell you a little bit about me, who I am and why I'm doing this. But first, a thank you to you yes, to you listening or watching here today, the listener, because without you we wouldn't have a show. So there are currently 3.2 million podcasts out there. I've seen other reports say that there's somewhere around 4.1 million podcasts, but that includes all the podcasts that aren't even active right now. Why do I mention this Again? Just to say another thank you that you chose to come here and check something out today, at the end of my first episode.

Speaker 3: 2:26

My very first podcast was with my guest, jordan White. He said that if we just impacted one person, one listener, we've made a difference, and I truly believe that that was incredible advice. But, of course, the more we share this out there, hopefully, the more people that can get involved. The more we share this out there, hopefully, the more people that can get involved. So it was a dream of mine to start a podcast and I finally did it. I launched in July of 2023 last year, and because I have a full-time career and I'm also a mother and a wife and I have things going on in my life, I could only get one episode out a month, and I did that for about four months. I got out four episodes.

Speaker 3: 3:05

I was really proud of myself and then life got busy. Right, I have a full-time career that I just mentioned was super busy. We went into the holiday season November, december and not only was I busy, but then for those of you that are creatives out there or working on other things, you understand what I'm talking about. It got really difficult to even have like a creative energy flow. So where am I going with this? Well, I stopped putting podcasts out and it got really tough. But listen, I don't want to have what they call pod fade For those of you that haven't heard of it. It's exactly what you think it might be is putting a podcast out there and stopping for any reason. I want to keep it going.

Speaker 3: 3:51

So I recently had shoulder surgery and I'm in my recuperating phase right now and decided, while I'm healing, I have the opportunity to get that creative energy going a little bit again, and so I'm going to dive in and do some more podcasts, because I want to bring people on here and tell a lot of life stories. So let's talk a little bit more about that. The name of this podcast is we Are Made For More. We all are. What did we come here to do?

Speaker 3: 4:23

My goal is to have guests on the show talk about their life stories, to help inspire others to live out their own dreams, to overcome fears, to take risks, to elevate themselves. What are your dreams? What are your goals? That's right. I'm talking about you as well. What's holding you back? Or, conversely, what is propelling you forward? What's allowing you to live into those dreams? I'd love to know more about it. I want this to be a place of positivity, but, with honesty. I want to share our learns and lift each other up. So let's dive in a little bit. I want to talk a little bit about myself and my life.

Speaker 3: 5:05

Who's Megan Alexander? Well, I'm from a small town in Connecticut called Watertown. For those of you that don't know where that is, it's a town in the middle of the state, kind of between Waterbury and Litchfield. I grew up with two brothers I'm the oldest. My father was a school teacher. He was an English teacher in Danbury, connecticut. We're seventh and eighth graders and that was about 40 years of his life. And then on the weekends he was a drummer. He worked in a wedding band it was called TK5. And that would sometimes be Fridays, saturdays and Sundays. So in many ways he worked seven days a week during the school year. Then in the summers, of course, as a teacher, he would have off and that's where we would get to spend more time together. In fact, I think in my high school yearbook I said that every August was my favorite time of year because we'd have our family vacations and really get to spend time together. Because we'd have our family vacations and really get to spend time together, my mom was a stay-at-home mom for a long time, a lot of my childhood and upbringing, and I'm so grateful for that that she was able to be home with my brothers and myself. And then, I believe it was when I was a freshman in high school, she started working at a private school in Connecticut called Taft School it was in our town and then she went on to stay there for about 25 years. So she had that side of life where she was the stay-at-home mom and then she had a career side of life. So she kind of had the best of both.

Speaker 3: 6:39

And then I will say, you know, because this is about telling stories, this podcast right? So a little bit about me is that when I was 20 years old, my parents divorced and that was one of the most traumatic things I think that ever happened in my life. Yes, I know that there's divorce everywhere out there and that's just a way of the world today, but for me I was living my own life and that was a shock to me at the time and it was really challenging for a lot of reasons I'll also share here that my father remarried within a couple years after and that went on to be a tumultuous relationship with my stepmother, for I, I think, around 27 years, and I'm bringing that up here because it's part of my life story and it's part of what makes me who I am today. There's a lot more to come with that if we share these stories further down the road, but I will say to you that, in general, my stepmother wasn't a really kind person and it took a toll for many years because that relationship was very challenging for me. Sadly, my father passed away two and a half years ago from a tragedy. He actually fell down the stairs one day and it was, of course yeah, no other word comes to mind other than tragic. He was 74 years old it was just before his 75th birthday and it's really been a lot to recover from.

Speaker 3: 8:26

Why am I bringing that up here? Well, because, as I mentioned earlier, my Instagram page is called Megan Alexander being Real, and life is about being real and we are the things that happen to us, right. But it's how we come out of those experiences and how we live into those experiences that really make us who we are and how we heal from them, and I think it's about sharing stories with each other to help other people grow in life, right? So here's the deal I believe in therapy deal. I believe in therapy and I think it's probably one of the best things that I've ever discovered, because I started going to a therapist after my father passed and it helped me so much in life uncover different things about me and different things about my family and different things about how, frankly, we all interact with each other right, and the stories that we tell ourselves aren't always true. Sometimes it's really about I'm sure you can relate to this but those experiences that happen around you kind of formulate who you are as a person, and a therapist has a way of stepping out of the picture they're not in your life and giving you perspective that you never thought of before.

Speaker 3: 9:51

One of the first things that I tried to uncover was about my relationship with my dad, and I should say here that you, I had a tumultuous relationship with my father for probably eight years after he left. It was really hard for me for so many reasons, but I'm so grateful and glad to say that we were able to come back around and have a better relationship Once I met my husband had kids. It was kind of like a reforming and a new opportunity to bring that relationship back into my life and I'm so glad that I had kids. It was kind of like a reforming and a new opportunity to bring that relationship back into my life, and I'm so glad that I had that. And I know that not everybody gets to have that. Sometimes relationships are shattered and they aren't able to be healed, but I'm glad that I was able to do that. I certainly wish I could have done a lot more, and I've certainly learned so much from it that I try and handle my relationships with people differently today because of what I did learn.

Speaker 3: 10:55

So getting back to therapy, right, I have heard a funny quote before that I'll share with you, which is this I go to therapy to deal with everyone in my life that won't go to therapy. So laugh. If you've heard that one before, it resonates with me because that's so true too right. We all have these crazy relationships all around us that we're constantly trying to navigate, and I love to share with stories and talk about it, and that's part of what this show is about. So let's move on a little bit for now and I'll tell you a little bit more about me.

Speaker 3: 11:28

I'm an empath by nature. I would actually call it my superpower. I care so much about the people around me. I'm highly tuned in to what other people are thinking or feeling, sometimes more than they know themselves. It's just a natural ability of mine, and for other people out there that are also empaths, I'm sure you can relate to what I'm saying. It's just who we are. We can feel what's going on around us and highly tuned into what's going on around the room. Some people don't like that, by the way. That's fine. Some people don't love to be around feelers all the time, or they think you're too sensitive and you're not tough enough, or that that's not even actually what it is, and I think if others would take the time to get to know you on that level, they might actually understand a little bit more about it. It's really an ability. It's really something that we're proud of, just like you may be proud of something else and an ability that you have. So I mentioned that here.

Speaker 3: 12:27

Another thing I'm going to mention is you may have heard of an HSP. In fact, I've noticed that that's in a lot of TV shows these days and they talk about it kind of like it's a joke, which it is. It's funny. What is an HSP? Look it up. It's a highly sensitive person. I have a lot of traits of people that are highly sensitive. Not all of the traits. Some of the traits are that people are introverts. That's fine too. I'm not. I'm a highly functioning extrovert, but I'm so sensitive to like light, like serious, bright light or loud, loud music. Don't get me wrong. I love to go to a great concert, just like anybody else, but I love the loud music at the concert. I don't love loud music when I'm trying to talk to people. So why do I bring those things up today Again, telling you a little bit about who I am, and maybe that'll help you understand what this show is about.

Speaker 3: 13:17

I'm a personal development junkie self-proclaimed. I love listening to and following motivational people, like some of my favorites are Tony Robbins. Like some of my favorites are Tony Robbins, kathy Heller, lewis Howes, wayne Dyer, brene Brown, jay Shetty, among others, simon Sinek those are some that come to mind right now. I love thinking about things like the law of attraction. What is the law of attraction? The energy that you put out in the universe is what comes back to you. It's always fascinated me. Have you ever noticed, when someone walks into a room, if their energy is vibrant and electric. It brings you up. And, conversely, if they walk in the room and they're down and maybe they're angry, maybe who knows maybe they're pissed off today that it starts to rub off on you, where you start walking on eggshells around them. And it depends on what works for you. You need to find your kind of people, right, but have you noticed your energy really translates into other people's energy it's amazing into other people's energy. It's amazing. So I have a good friend who is going to be a podcast guest here very soon and she has a quote you may have seen me say it in one of my Instagram reels, but she says your vibe attracts your tribe. Right, and it's so true. So you have to find the kind of people that work for you in life and sometimes that's family and sometimes it's not but surround yourself with your kind of people, because that's what's going to bring you up.

Speaker 3: 14:59

So, meaning of life, conversations, folks that's what vibrates me. I crave it all. Bring it on. I want to elevate the conversation. I know that people love walking around talking about the weather. It's, I think, the most highly talked about thing, except in a presidential election year. Then it's, of course, about politics, but those are some of the things people talk about most. That's fine, that's how you make small talk.

Speaker 3: 15:22

But the second someone starts talking about the meaning of life and how we're connected and the universe and what we're here for. What is our purpose? I'm in, that's what I'm about, that's what I'm seeking, that's what I crave, and I want to connect with the people that want the same and hopefully, on this show, bring on people to talk about some really incredible life stories to help. First of all. Maybe it'll resonate with you. Maybe you've experienced it before. Don't you love when you could have those aha moments in life and realize, wow, I felt that way too, and it makes you not feel foolish anymore. It kind of validates who you are as a person. That's what I love to do, that's what I love to talk about. I love to be around people who are inspiring and I love to inspire others or have the opportunity to be able to do that. I want to be around people who talk about positive, uplifting things in life and get real together about what that means.

Speaker 3: 16:23

They say that the people that you hang out with most are who you are most like. What does that mean? I think the quote is the six people that you hang out with most are who you are most like. What does that mean? I think the quote is the six people that you hang out with most often is who you end up being like. So take a look around you in your life and who is that? Who are those people that you hang out with most often and are you excited to be around them? Do they make you feel great about being you? Do they make you want to be a better person? You know, first of all, I'm. One thing I haven't mentioned yet about my life is that I'm married and uh, to the most incredible man, and he's my best friend. Um and I have two incredible children and so and they're teenagers and I'd love to talk more about them and my family as this podcast progresses, but I'm mentioning it now because I just want to say that my husband has often said he wants to make me more me, and he's the first and only person I've ever heard say anything like that in my life, and I'm so blessed to have someone that wants to make me be more me and hopefully I can make him more him. So I think that's another thing to take a look around your life and are you around people that want to make you be more of you? Can you be yourself in the room with them, and doesn't it feel great when you can be so?

Speaker 3: 17:47

About this show, I'm not looking for quote, the perfect guest. I mean, who has it all figured out? Let's be real. Does anybody, do you know anyone that has had no tragedy in their life, no struggles, no failures? That is what makes us human beings to begin with. That's where the growth comes from. We learn more from our failures than we do our successes, or so say some people. In addition, I'm not looking to interview heroes here. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to interview a great hero, and I hope that I do, but I don't want to necessarily talk to just people that have it all figured out. We're needing to figure this life out together, so I'm going to have all kinds of guests on this show. Who do you know who hasn't struggled with money or their finances, or family issues, or friend issues, or their weight myself included or addiction, or poverty, or heartbreak or tremendous loss? Everyone that we're surrounded with is going through something. I've said that in one of my reels as well. That's what life is. We're here to figure it out. So bringing guests on to talk about what they've gone through will hopefully inspire others and again, like I said before, resonate with some people to tune in frankly and let's learn and grow together.

Speaker 3: 19:24

Let's shift gears for just a second. I wonder how many people are out there doing what they came here to do? Who's content, fully content in their life, like on every aspect and all of the on, all of the measures, whether it's finances, um, health, um, personal relationships, all of those kind of things? Who's really thrilled in their job? Listen, I'm sure there's a lot of people who loves the work that they're doing, but I don't know that it's a huge percent. Many may feel blessed to have a job, a good job, a well-paying job or any job at all, but who loves truly running to work every day? I don't know about you, but listen, when I'm with my friends on the weekends, we talk about all kinds of things. Work is one of them and inevitably it's a topic where people are well, work, work, work, work is tough, work is hard, work is challenging, but it doesn't mean they're not grateful to have a job. No one's sitting there saying I wish I didn't have a job, but it's hard. Why am I mentioning this so much? Because I wonder what we came here to do in this world and who gets to fulfill that before. Let's face it, we leave before we pass over to the next side. Believe me, I hope there are many people loving what they do, and I'd love to hear from any of those people out there, because we are here for a reason, but only for a season professionally.

Speaker 3: 20:51

I'll chat with you just for a moment about me and my career. I've been in a leadership position or a leadership support role for my 34-year career. I've been at my current company for 23 years, folks, 23. I could do this on my fingers 23. And it sounds wild even saying that. I remember when I hit my coming up to my 10-year anniversary at the company, then 15 years, then 20 years and now here I am, actually this month hitting 23 years. I kind of can't believe that I'm here. I didn't find myself to be one of those lifetime career people at one company, but here I am and it's an amazing company that I work for. So I'm glad to be able to say that. But it's just one of those wild moments, right. But it's just one of those wild moments. Right when I started at the company I'm at now, it was just a startup retailer and since then has become a mega tech company, in fact, one of the largest in the world. Who would have known that that would happen? Frankly, no one. And now with more than two decades of experience at one of the largest markets in the world because I live here in New York, I live in Long Island, but I support a New York market but at one of the most complex retailers in the world, and I'm very grateful for that.

Speaker 3: 22:12

But listen, as John Lennon said. John Lennon said life is what happens when making plans to do other things. Isn't that the truth? So listen to this. I was in a leadership role for half of my career and then I got pregnant and had kids. At that time, I took a role, where I am now, that allowed me to work from home and raise my kids Wow, how lucky am I. And that was before COVID folks. Before that was even a thing, working from home.

Speaker 3: 22:43

But, like anything else in life, that became challenging too. I found myself in a role that changed and the leaders at the top of the company changed, and those people didn't know me anymore. So they also didn't know what I was capable of or who I was, or that I was a leader, before I kind of came this leadership executive, leadership support person and I got stuck. I mean, that's just what happened. Believe me, I know a lot of people that have been stuck in their careers as time goes by. Why am I mentioning that? Well, I started thinking more and more about what am I here in life to accomplish? What is my purpose? Because I have way more to offer and way more to offer, and maybe people don't have time to see that right now, or whatever the processes are to do other things. And it didn't mean that I don't love the place that I am. So it's like this confusing place I found myself in life, and for a few years, to be honest with you.

Speaker 3: 23:39

So this podcast was, in large part, a way to connect with people on another level, dive into skills that I'm no longer utilizing at work, but who knows where it may lead. Most importantly, I have proved to myself that I'm still capable of a lot of things and all the things it took to launch this podcast, which was a lot, I mean things and all the things it took to launch this podcast, which was a lot. I mean, listen, there was the tech side of it. There was the. You know writing copy, um to get it off the ground. You know learning how to go on buzzsproutcom, for example, and sign up to be on all these podcasts, learning how to use AI a little bit and coming up with how do you? You know what kind of what's the message going to be, what's the theme, who are going to be my guests? And this is stuff that's all still evolving now and I hope will kind of continue to catapult forward, but it's been an incredible learning journey already and you never know what will come of it.

Speaker 3: 24:39

I also want to say that I think our hobbies are some of those things that can fulfill for us, maybe things that aren't happening in other areas of our life, like our career or like your personal, maybe in your personal life. So that's just something else that I think is really exciting. So we don't get to always have control over every outcome, right? So why do we try to control everything? I'm not going to say I'm a control freak, but I am probably a self-proclaimed type A personality. I like to execute at a very high level things that I do in life. Like I said to you before, I like to bring positive energy. Wherever I go, I want to try and get positive energy out of others, and when I don't succeed there, that's tough for me. I take things hard.

Speaker 3: 25:28

It's funny, I'm going through physical therapy right now, just as I mentioned for my shoulder and the surgery that I just had, and my physical therapist has already said to me you're so hard on yourself, and I'm thinking here's a guy who kind of just met me. He met me a month before my surgery because we tried therapy before we realized that wasn't going to work. And I've known him now a month since my surgery so not a long time in life, right but he already knows that I'm hard on myself. This is something that I'm sure the people that work with me every day or my family already know, and then some, and I certainly know it. But the truth is, I'm hard on myself because I have high expectations for myself and for people that work on my teams, for my kids, well, and for my husband.

Speaker 3: 26:16

I have to say it, it's true, but at the end of the day, it's because I think we are made for more. I think there's a reason that we're here, and what are we going to do with our life? What are we going to do before we get to that day where, like my father, who tragically his life ended before any of us expected, did we accomplish the things that we came here to do and is it? Can we do more than small talk when we're together? Look, small talk's great. If you're my friend, don't be afraid. I love that too. But don't be afraid to talk to me about the deeper things too, because I think it's awesome. I'll quote Pitbull For those of you that know Pitbull the rapper, singer, songwriter, also known as Mr Worldwide. He said this is for everybody going through tough times. Believe me, been there, done that but every day above ground is a good day.

Speaker 3: 27:14

So thanks again for listening in today. I'm looking forward to sharing more guests and, as I sign off, I'll shamelessly ask again to please share this podcast with others. Go on my Instagram, check out some of my reels, share your feedback with me and listen. I always say be kind about it. I really don't love that on social media, people tear each other up and say terrible things about how somebody looks each other up and say terrible things about how somebody looks, how terrible they are at something. Be nice about it, give feedback. But give feedback. But be gracious, right, because I'll do the same for you. So, anyway, hope to see you around, and that's it for now. Megan Alexander, being real on Instagram. Peace out, everybody.

Speaker 1: 28:01

Well, that's it for today. Thank you for listening, if you like what you heard. Peace out everybody. Solely for educational and entertainment purposes. Megan is not a licensed therapist and this podcast is not intended as a substitute for a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist or other qualified professional. Goodbye everybody, thank you.