Wow, This chick is amazing! Megan Grant – Doesn’t matter when or where I see this babe, she always has the biggest smile on her face from ear to ear, she glows with gratitude and is so damn high on life it beams out of her! Its people like Megan who are making a massive difference in the world, especially to our beautiful young generation. I couldn’t not include her in this mini series. She’s pretty special, and I have no doubt after you read our chat you will think so too.
Megan started dancing at the age of 10 and from here grew her love and passion for the sport of cheerleading!!! Megan headed to New Zealand where she completed her degree in Communications and at the same time undertook intense training in the all-American style of cheer! Whilst this was all new and exciting she was also suffering panic attacks and severe anxiety. Now a fully qualified cheer and tumble coach Megan educates our youth in a way she never though imaginable. Her love of all things wholesome coupled with her passion for cheer became a match made in heaven and her dream of instilling her Mega positive values and beliefs on our kids became a reality.
Describe yourself in one sentence – I believe the only way to live your life is in the most positive light possible. I am extremely driven, strong willed and have a very important value and belief system which I structure my cheerleading school and life around. I feel blessed to empower our young people to make good wholesome life choices both in and out of the cheerleading arena.
Wow! What an entrance to our interview! Thank you, So Megan, tell me, you are always thriving, We want to know what your secret and your motivations are to get up and do what you do every day?
I am completely alive to the joys of living as I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to impart and promote a positive impact on our young peoples lives. Not many have the opportunity and those who do sometimes don’t use it so wisely.
I couldn’t agree more, too many people waste opportunities, Can you share with us what kinds of things inspire you? And who do you personally admire or find inspiration in? Young people who are experiencing challenge and find it within themselves to dig deep inspires me in a huge way. I find my athletes teaching me new life lessons everyday.
I also work with young people who are going through various stresses in life whether it be high expectations from school teachers, peer-pressure, mental illness, injuries and/or family issues just to name a few. These kids come to Mega Cheer because we provide a safe place for them to grow, heal and be nothing but themselves. It only takes that one person to spend the time with them listening and letting them know they are worthy and capable of all good things life has to offer.
I admire my beautiful husband Olle who not only works his 12hour banking day job but also finds time to invest in ensuring Mega Cheer continues to be the success that it is.
I have recently found inspiration in Melissa Ambrosini with thanks to a brilliant podcast (Up For A Chat) in which she recently featured. Melissa is an entrepreneur, author, success speaker, self love teacher and inspires women all over the world to master their inner self.
Amazing, So what or who was it that inspired you to start MEGA CHEER, to share the clear passion you have and teach others? I have had many mentors to enable me to be where I am today. It is with great gratitude that my biggest inspiration and pillar of support is that of the hardest working most wholesome people I know… my mum and my dad.
I am also inspired by my very first dance teacher whom I was under the direction of for 7 years, Mandy Ogilive of Dancetime Studios in my hometown of Ipswich. Mandy always demonstrated great commitment to her dance students and to this day I will always be thankful for these early lessons… from how to run a dance class to motivating and having great relationships with young people.
From a health and well being sense my greatest inspiration is Cyndi O’Meara. Cyndi is an extremely well educated nutritionist based on the Sunshine Coast but who is very much internationally renowned for her research based around everything and anything to do with eating a whole food diet. Cyndi is a captivating speaker and I hold her in high regard when it comes to how I live my life.
I think thats what stood out to me most about you when we first met, you not only teach and own an amazing space for young people to feel comfortable in and learn to cheer but you actually instil good nutritional habits in your practice, this I believe is what sets you aside from others.
So was there a wake up call or ‘aha’ moment that you realised you had to make a change or that you wanted to create this change in the world around you? When I was 10years old I was experiencing migraines, my doctor diagnosed me as a ‘try hard’ and sent me on my way. I was quite chuffed that he had recognised this and have always remembered this and would never want to be anything but.
This ‘diagnosis’ has taught me some very important lessons. I went through my high school life trying as hard as I possibly could in all facets of life. This led to over-thinking and snow-balled into a severe dose of anxiety.
My anxiety came to a head when I became trapped in an abandoned building in Auckland whilst attending university. I literally had a mental breakdown and new it was time to invest in me. From this event I suffered panic attacks frequently and was living in fear. I now look back and am completely thankful I went through this traumatic experience. It allowed me to reassess my own health and had me finding my way to the other end of the spectrum. I strived to have so much peace and clarity in my life that I felt like I was on top of the world. My path of healing started by seeing a nutritionist, followed by a sports psychologist, physiatrist, hypnotherapist and kinesiologist. I also helped myself heal through books filled with positive, relevant affirmations, frequent massage and weekly yoga.
Some would think this was all a little excessive but what I was doing was ensuring the people I needed on my path to good health were helping me get to where I needed to be. As soon as one of these experts where not doing me service I kindly moved onto the next which I think is a really good thing for those suffering mental illness to know.
Post university I returned to the Gold Coast, and worked at a local dance school building their cheer program and running events and the public relations sector of their business. After being at this dance school for 5 years I felt like I needed a challenge. I also deeply wanted to instil and share my own values, beliefs and teachings of good wholesome living on to my athletes.
Myself also being someone who suffers badly from anxiety and has for many years, can only imagine how hard this time must have been for you, but what an amazing growth period in your life.
So I think you would agree with me that Self Love is so important, what are the 3 things you love most about yourself
Spiritually: I love that I now know how to recognise when I need to refocus and rebalance me.
Emotionally: I love that I am strong, I am driven, I am some one who can stand back and offer non-judgemental advice. I am also proud to say I let go of things with ease.
Physically: I love my blonde hair (never have I dyed it… just lucky it has stayed this beautiful colour).
What would you say has been your toughest personal hurdle or a health challenge that you have had? My anxiety has definitely been this.
How did you overcome it? As explained in the above.
How has it changed you, helped you to grow? Having gone through this severe bout of mental illness I can now recognise it in others and help them to combat it at its early stages. I enjoy giving my athletes personal gratitude projects in order to refocus their very busy and at times fragile minds.
Biggest Achievement yet? Building Mega Cheer into a place of love, encouragement and all-round Mega wholesomeness. It is possible to show young people the light and I am thankful for everyday in which we have the opportunity to do this.
The fact that you have so much gratitude and love to give is a big part of why you are successful, Megan, What at advice would you give to someone who is going through their own personal challenges, hardships or lacking self belief? That if you can be in that much despair at one end of the scale you can definitely be at the far other end of the scale with complete peace, happiness and clarity of mind. To get to this point you must allow yourself the time to heal the mind and reverse the negative self talk with nothing but love.
What do you think has helped you most through these tough times? What helped me most was going out and find anything that resinated with me at the time in my journey to good health. I also am eternally grateful for my incredible husband, Olle for allowing me this time to heal. Although at times he did not understand what I was going through, he was always very supportive and open to any means that would allow me to get through these times.
Not only is being driven and strong enough to get through these times, but surrounding yourself with the right people has such an impact on how you overcome obstacles, you are a lucky lady to have Olle beside you.
I know you, like myself are a big believer in mind and body as a whole, so how do you find time to and what do you do to nurture both these? It is hard to find the time for me with a brand new gym and lots of little people to think about however I also know how important having this time for me is to ensure the success of our Mega athletes. I now invest time into daily rituals including meditation, yoga, walks on the beach, acupuncture, massage and Kim Morrison’s Twenty8 body boost (my favourite is her Energy & Vitality blend).
Do you have a favourite inspirational quote, mantra or affirmation? I sure do! It is one I have my athletes repeat after me when they finish every lesson. It kindly has been passed down from my mum…
“I am alive to the joys of living. I love and appreciate myself.”
Thanks Mega Megan, Im so thrilled to be sharing your story this week in my mini “You Inspire Me’ series, I know so many girls see you as a healthy and inspirational role model and will really enjoy reading and learning a little more about you, is there any thing you would like to leave us with today? I am very open to talking to young people so if anyone ever needs any advice or needs to be steered in a fresh direction I am always more than happy to impart any knowledge I have. Thank you for asking me to participate in this beautiful series you have created! It has allowed me to reflect and appreciate all that I am.
And anything for those who look up to you or are also working hard to chase their dreams? Follow, follow, follow your dreams! They say ‘do what you love and you will never work a day in your life’…. Well it’s true! If you are as passionate about something as I am about good wholesome living and cheer, than the love of these things comes together and creates a magical life! This life is there for you for the taking… anything is possible… just take that one step… you can do it!
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