Meet Megan Reed | Designer, Business Owner, Mom

We had the good fortune of connecting with Megan Reed and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Megan, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Work life balance-that’s a tough one. I’m a mom first and foremost, and I’ve always been family centered-even when it was just me, my husband, Nate, and our dog, Oliver. Oliver went with me to work every day that I could take him. But, the problem with our society is that “being a mom” is never going to be enough. I know so many moms who feel guilty putting their careers on hold to raise these beautiful little human beings. I know I did. I was a middle school English teacher for eight years before I had my second daughter, and once I had her, after paying for day care for two children, I would be bringing home about $300 per month. I just couldn’t justify that. So, I stayed at home with my two daughters. I felt guilty every day. Guilty that I wasn’t contributing monetarily to our household. Guilty that I had given up an important career that I loved.

Then, Nate came home one day and told me he wanted to start Reed Design Builders. I found a niche in this company where I was needed-different administrative tasks and eventually (after some schooling and setting up design accounts in Denver), selecting exterior and interior finishes and designing the homes we were building.

But, I still felt guilty. Now, I felt guilty that I was missing out on classroom parties for my girls. Or, guilty that I was arriving home late because I had a meeting with clients. Or, guilty that I had to constantly drag my daughters to work with me.

And you know what my daughters remember from those years? They remember being an important part of Reed Design Builders. They would test faucets, lights, and toilets when they were on site. Or, they would blue tape a project to ensure paint and drywall touch ups were done where necessary. My guilt was in my head. I was making a career for myself and showing my daughters an example of a working mom.

During the pandemic we were fortunate enough to fulfil a ten-year family dream. We moved to Florida for 3 months and lived within walking distance of the beach. Our days were full of beach yoga, remodeling a beach house, online school, farmers markets, and bicycling to ice cream shops. I realized a lot in those 3 months. Guilt is for the birds (as my gramma would say)!

No human being is just one thing. We are not our job, our relationships, or our age. I am a designer and a 39 year old mom and a business owner, but these do not define me. We forget that we are more than the person who looks at us from the mirror. We forget that all the experiences in our lives culminate into an individual who is unique and has dreams. And here’s the big secret, dreams don’t have to be about a career. You can dream of an amazing vacation in Paris. You can dream of a family where you do stay home with your children.

So, after owning my business for a little over ten years, I know how to find balance. It’s about working enough to have a decent savings account for that rainy day, and also working to keep your mind occupied and fulfilled. After that, it’s about making time to have lunch with my sister and her daughters. It’s about walking my dog three miles per day to clear my head. It’s about picking my daughters up from school, and REALLY listening to how their days went. It’s about going to yoga and catching up with my favorite instructor, Becky. It’s about driving to Fort Collins on a weekday for my dad’s 70th birthday and laughing with my family and friends. It’s about putting down the cell phone, turning off the TV, and having a dance party with glow sticks in the dark.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I look at everything I do as art. I’m not into trendy or fads. I like elegance and timelessness. From the inside to the outside, everything in a home should be cohesive. Nothing should feel out of place or glaring. If I use an accent color for a home’s design, that accent color will be in little touches in a few rooms- like, a blue front door, a blue cabinet in a spare bathroom, and blue marble tile accents in a bathroom. I like to pick out lighting that has a glamorous feel to it, and add touches to homes that make it feel elegant, like waterfall kitchen islands or fancy cabinetry hardware. I think about every detail from storage and placement of closet shelves and robe hooks to the knobs on the doors to the layout of tile. I don’t want any room to feel busy or uncomfortable. If there is too much going on in a room, the eye keeps wandering to take it all in, and you will feel tired in that room. So, above all, I want people to feel relaxed and at home in the rooms I design.

I’m very proud of the work I do. I have a passion and a desire to create. Working with my husband, Nate, day in and day out has not always been easy. We have learned that we cannot bring work home with us. But, we’ve also had so much fun together!

He pushes me to be better and I push him. It’s also often hard to be the only woman on a job site, and to be directing groups of men. But, I’ve met some really interesting people over the last ten years, and I’ve watched a lot of my workers’ sons grow up and start helping with the family business. That, in itself, has been rewarding. I’ve learned that you have to rely on other people’s expertise. If my tile installer tells me something will be too busy or that I picked the wrong grout color, I listen to him. He’s been installing tile for over 20 years.

I’ve also learned that organization is the key to success. Before I order any materials for a job, I make a specifications sheet. This document has a page for every room in the home. I put pictures and other information about the materials for these rooms.

Every time I’m doing this, I realize that I have picked something that isn’t cohesive with the rest of the materials. So, no matter how much I love that item, I scrap it from the project. Cohesiveness is the key to everything we do.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend were visiting for a week, I would take her hiking on Green Mountain, to a concert at Red Rocks (hopefully Brandi Carlile), to lunch at Wasabi for sushi, and to dinner at my kitchen for Nate’s cooking (my husband is a truly amazing cook). But, dinner could also happen at Yabby Hut or Cafe Jordano.

We would definitely spend an afternoon shopping at O’Toole’s for plants and making fairy gardens, or going to Belmar and painting at Painting with a Twist. Or, we would be shopping for crystals and books and jewelry at Full Moon Books. A trip to a used book store would definitely be a must! I’ve been finding a lot of good deals at 2nd and Charles. We also love Mile High Comics.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My parents, Lee and Debi Reep deserve a shoutout. My mom used to tell me when I was a little girl, “Megan, it’s the 80’s and big things are happening for women right now. Your dad and I are raising you and your sister to know that you can be anything a man can be.” And, they did just that. They made sure I got good grades and studied in college for a degree that would land me a job as soon as I graduated.

Website: www.reeddes.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mreed.designs/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reeddesbuild

Image Credits
Virtuance Photography