Interview of Megan Milar by Kristen Gaul 9/26/16
I took a relaxed, informal but professional approach to my interview of Megan Milar. Megan is a life-long friend of a co-worker and close friend of mine. I have been hearing about Megan and her business ventures for years but had never met or spoken with her prior to this interview. We happen to live within a few minutes of each other so we met at the neighborhood coffee shop in Montgomery (Cincinnati) Ohio.
Here are some highlights of Megan’s business experience and ventures:
- 3 years consumer research at Proctor & Gamble (P&G)
- Owned investment real estate
- Created a modeling agency
- Started an event marketing agency
- Owned 4 GNC franchise stores
- Earned an Executive MBA from Xavier University
- Founded/launched a social enterprise, AROVA
- Consultant for startups: strategist, recruiter, marketing, etc.
The following is a summary of Megan’s interview:
How did you get started in entrepreneurship?
In her three years at P&G she was fortunate to work in an environment that took an entrepreneurial approach with a focus on “new business” (this is not typical for P&G). Following her time at P&G she transitioned to creating two businesses.
What businesses did you create?
Through her experience at P&G it was “a natural transition” to start a modeling agency for marketing events and runway shows. That evolved and started a second business, an event marketing business. These ventures gradually ended when the economy took a down turn in the early 2000’s but Megan’s entrepreneurial spirit continued.
What did you do next?
Megan then bought a total of four GNC franchise stores. She managed these stores for nine years before eventually selling all of them after moving to India for her husbands work. After three years in India she returned to Cincinnati Ohio and started consulting in various roles for startups.
Were you involved in hiring for your stores or consulting?
Yes. For GNC, Megan employed one or two full-time managers along with two or three part-time employees for each store. Megan did most of the hiring, training and filling in during busy times. For one of her consulting jobs she was in charge of hiring a salesman for a media production company.
Where did you find your new hires?
Megan never had to use advertising to fill positions it was all done through word-of-mouth. At her GNC stores the most she would do was put a small sign up next to the registers stating that they were hiring. Most of her GNC hires had been customers who were passionate about nutrition and had the necessary knowledge. On a rare occasion a new hire would come from another GNC store, usually if the person had relocated from out of town. The salesman she helped hire for the media company had been someone from one of the founders network of contacts. All of the people she worked with at her modeling agency and event marketing business were friends that she contracted to help her at events.
Have you ever been involved in firing anyone?
Megan had two different experiences that stood out involving letting employees go. The first involved an employee who was stealing from one of her GNC stores. She had video and documented proof that this employee was falsifying transactions and “pocketing the money”. Megan had to get police involved and obviously the employee was fired. The other experience that stood out to her was of letting the salesman go that she had helped hire for the media company. She said this person hadn’t had any prior sales experience but the company hired him because of his personality and the way he interacted with potential clients. After time it became evident that he wasn’t able to make sales at the level the company wanted. The media company decided to lower his hourly compensation but raise his commission in an attempt to increase his sales performance. In the end this didn’t work and the media company and the salesman mutually agreed to terminate his employment. Though the salesman and the media company founders remained friends following his termination, Megan said it was a difficult experience.
At this point the interview became more of a conversation touching on a lot of things. We talked about my business and what I need help with. Megan made several very good suggestions for where to get advice, find mentors, etc. Here is a list of some of her suggested resources (all in Cincinnati, OH):
-work with local businesses similar to mine to gain experience
-contacting SCORE through the Small Business Association
– Startupcincy.com
-The Brandery
-Centrifuge
-Bad Girl Ventures entrepreneurship courses or competition
-squarespace.com (to improve on my business website)
