What She Saw and Lessons to Tell - A Look back at 2020 With Megan Sawtelle
Megan Sawtelle all set for virtual work in 2020. (Photo courtesy of AK Lean Virtual Assistance)
After a one-story hiatus, which saw the focus of our Startups Stories shift from entrepreneurial reflections from 2020 to the scenic, pristine dog sled trails of Willow, we are back this week with the third installment of our “2020 Entrepreneurial Year in Review Series.” To share her insights, we turned to a member and friend of the Alaska Startup Community, Megan Sawtelle.
I first met Megan back in October when she shared the story of her venture, AK Lean Virtual Assistance, at 1 Million Cups Anchorage. Founded in November 2018, Megan’s startup is an administrative consulting agency that provides support for Alaskan-based businesses and entrepreneurs through the use of virtual assistants and process-improvement consulting. Specifically, her company offers administrative services, ranging from data entry to creating forms and templates for businesses, and consulting services, which center around automating documents, process mapping, and process improving.
Although Megan’s company was already providing virtual support for companies, the COVID-19 pandemic presented her with unique challenges, as well as opportunities. One of the greatest hurdles that Megan had to overcome was ensuring that she had the staffing and support that she needed to continue delivering her service at a high level. This required that she reevaluate her timeline and some of the assumptions that she had when starting her venture.
“At the start of the pandemic, I had an unmanageable workload so I had to get comfortable with the idea of bringing on help much sooner than I had expected,” said Megan. “My ‘year 2’ was much more like I thought my ‘year 5 would be. I also had to learn an important lesson: my time is valuable’. I needed to be focusing on bigger-picture items as opposed to smaller projects.”
This need for support extended beyond work however, and Megan was confronted with a challenge that has faced many parents during this period of uncertainty.
“The greatest challenge that I faced was the stigma around being a business owner and a mother,” said Megan. “A lot of moms were pushed out of the workforce because they had to stay with kids. At one point, I almost had to shut down AK Lean because I was having a hard time homeschooling two kids and running a business. My biggest hurdle was recognizing that I needed to hire someone to help with the schooling and watching the kids.”
Yet, despite the many challenges that she faced in 2020, Megan also noted during our conversation that the year had presented her with ample opportunities to grow her business. Her “glass-is-half-full” approach to her work shone through in her answer, where she turned the aforementioned challenge of needing to add team members into a positive.
“The greatest opportunity was the ability to bring on a team that I love,” said Megan. “I’m obsessed with building out process automations and figuring out how to build out backend processes. Bringing on a team that loves to work with me allows for me to focus more on that, and they get to do the kind of work that they enjoy as well.”
With a dynamic and committed team around her, AK Lean Virtual Assistance was able to tackle a wide-range of projects, although one stood out to Megan during our conversation, it took her a moment to decide on her favorite piece of work from 2020.
“The coolest project I worked on had to be helping people learn how to use their computer, 1 on 1,” said Megan. “Organizations hired us to teach their employees how to use software and systems that would allow for them to work virtually during the pandemic. I got to meet a lot of people from different generations and backgrounds. Their stories were amazing so, from our conversations, I was able to learn a lot about so many different aspects of...well...everything.”
As Megan saw through this project, learning and smart growth are the name of the game, and smart growth and sustainability for any entrepreneur centers around self-care. For Megan she has taken steps in the past year to ensure that she is taking time outside of work to reset and stay sharp.
“I’m not always the best with self-care, and my employees will remind me of that,” said Megan with a laugh. “But, I do make it a point to spend dinner every evening with my kids, that is non-negotiable. We threw out the ‘dinner table rule’ and we watch a movie every night while eating. Establishing those boundaries for self-care was something that I had to learn but has been incredibly beneficial.”
As our interview drew to a close, Megan reflected on advice that she would have shared with herself a year ago, in doing so displaying a confidence forged in the challenging environment of 2020.
“I would tell myself to have confidence: don’t take the BS that people tell you,” said Megan. “You know what you know. You know who you are. You know you are capable of and accept it. Don’t let people say that you can’t do this because they think that you can’t, they do not know your true limitations.”