Meg didn’t set out to build a business. She just wanted to know if other people would think her “SLAP koozies” (yes, that’s a real thing) were as much fun as she did.
Years later, it’s a community, a second income, and proof that you don’t need a full plan to have a DAY ONE.
🌟 Welcome to Interview with a Goal-Crusher! 🌟
Hi, I’m Coach Tony, and this is Interview with a Goal-Crusher.
Every month, I sit down with someone who’s crushing their goals and building a happier life in the process. These are real people, not gurus … just like you. Think of it as free mentoring … straight from people who’ve done the hard work and have the wins (and lessons) to prove it.
These goal-crushers are out there chasing their biggest dreams. Why aren’t you?
Are you ready for a dad joke?Before we dive in, here's a groan-worthy dad joke as a little palate cleanser. I promise it will be worth every penny you paid for it. 😂
October is here… it's spooky season! That means it's time to reshare my favorite dad joke.
A skeleton walks into a bar and tells the bartender, "Give me a beer and a mop!"
Meg Didn’t Wait to Feel Ready. She Started Anyway.
It’s the first Sunday of the month, which means it’s time for a new Interview with a Goal-Crusher.
There’s something about this month’s interview that feels special. Like it was meant to be.
I didn’t know this month’s featured goal crusher, Meg, just a month ago. Then, a prior goal crusher, Allegra, helped me discover her. So that was a sign to me that I needed to know more about her.
Meg’s story embodies something that is a core theme throughout my coaching (and personal goal crushing) philosophy.
Not to mention that I’m a frequent beer koozie user… I promise that’s relevant and not just trivia.
With all these signs, how could I not bring you this interview with Meg? Maybe you’ll find some signs in this interview that it’s time to stop waiting for the perfect time to start chasing that dream you keep saying you want to achieve “one day.”
I hope Meg’s story is your motivation to stop waiting for perfect and to choose to make today your DAY ONE.
Let’s start with the basics. Who are you, and what do you do?
My name is Meg Dick. I’m 40, born and raised on the east side of Columbus, Ohio, and I now live near Grandview in a townhome that is incredibly old, slightly quirky, and has so much character—which I love.
I’ve been married to my husband, Jeff, for nearly four years, and we have the best golden retriever named Pauly D. And yes, he is named after that Pauly D (Jersey Shore).
I work full-time at The Ohio State University, where I oversee business operations for a research center. It’s a job that requires organized, strategic, and analytical thinking.
Opposite that, I own Think Outside the Can, where I can explore my creativity while decompressing from the demands of my day job.
When I’m not working or making SlapChillz, Jeff and I can usually be found at our local “Dog Bar, People Park,” watching Pauly D lose his mind in the dog pools while we have a drink.
What motivated you to pursue your unique journey? What was your vision? Can you share your story?
I’ve always known I was creative and had good ideas, but for a long time I figured that part of me was satisfied by doing things like planning themed birthday parties for my nieces and nephew or creating goody bags for trips with friends.
I don’t think I ever really told myself, “One day I’m going to start a business.” It was more like I kept finding little ways to create things, and somewhere along the way I started wondering if maybe those ideas could become something more.
The very first SlapChillz came from my wedding.
While planning it, I discovered slap coolers and immediately thought, “Everyone does koozies…but no one does SLAP koozies!”
I found a company that sold blank ones online and ordered some of the brightest colors they had. My last name is a little…interesting…so naturally our wedding hashtag needed to lean into that. I created a design with funky lettering, cut all of the iron-on vinyl with my Cricut, and made around 150 bright, colorful, and funny wedding favors.
They ended up being one of my favorite little details from the wedding because they perfectly represented what I wanted the whole celebration to feel like: fun, colorful, and not too serious.
The funny thing is, people kept using them. Years later, friends would still send me pictures of their slap koozies. Some of my favorite photos were of their kids wearing them around their wrists like superhero cuffs.
I had leftover supplies, so I started finding excuses to make new designs for trips, birthdays, parties, and gatherings. Every time I made them, people would comment on them or ask where I got them.
Eventually I thought, “Why not just try to sell these?” After talking with some close friends and requesting their most honest feedback, they immediately said: “Yes, we would absolutely buy these.” And so I began!
That was really the beginning. I didn’t start Think Outside the Can with a giant business plan. I just knew I had found something that allowed me to create and express my personality.
What was the very first step you took to get started?
Once I decided I was actually going to try selling SlapChillz, I did something that was probably very on-brand for my personality: I immediately created an LLC.
Apparently I needed to make it legally official before I even knew exactly what I was doing. I think creating the LLC was my way of drawing a line in the sand. Up until then, this was just something fun I made for friends and family.
After that came all of the things I had absolutely no idea how to do: building an Etsy shop, creating social media accounts, figuring out pricing, taking product photos, doing markets, designing displays, learning what people actually wanted to buy, and constantly adjusting along the way.
And I am still learning and growing with all those things!
What were your biggest challenges in chasing your goals? How did you push through them?
My initial goals were actually very small. I wanted to create an Etsy shop with enough designs to showcase my creativity, start posting on social media, and see if anyone besides my friends thought SlapChillz were fun.
One of the biggest challenges has been learning not to expect myself to know everything immediately. Which is very hard for me (pricing? Reels/Stories? Product Photography? Product Listing titles/descriptions?). I have accepted that I will not magically turn into an expert just by signing into Etsy or creating a new Instagram account.
What goal-setting or success habits have worked well for you that you’d love to pass on to others?
The biggest thing I’ve learned is that you don’t need to have everything figured out before you start.
I’ve learned that I do much better when I turn the big idea into small achievable goals.
I also write everything down. Ideas come to me constantly—usually when I’m supposed to be doing something completely unrelated—so I keep notes of product ideas, phrases, booth changes, social media ideas, things customers say, and things I want to try.
Probably the biggest habit I’ve developed is being willing to adjust without feeling like changing direction means I failed. I’m constantly tweaking Think Outside the Can based on what I learn.
What else would you like my Operation Melt readers to know about you, your work, or the journey you’ve taken?
One of the most unexpected parts of this journey has been how much my world has grown along with Think Outside the Can.
I started completely online then I decided to try one market just to see if I even liked selling in person. And I absolutely do!
That one market turned into another, and now I’m usually doing one or two markets a month. I love getting to actually watch people discover SlapChillz, laugh at a design, pick something up for a friend, or finally understand what I mean when I say, “It’s a slap koozie!”
I am especially grateful for the community that I have met throughout this experience. I’ve met so many other small business owners and creators who are doing exactly what I’m doing and everyone is so kind and willing to share their experiences and pro-tips.
Some of the people I now genuinely look forward to seeing every month are people I never would have met if I hadn’t signed up for that first market.
I started because I wanted to see if people would buy something I created. I didn’t realize I was also opening the door to a whole new community.
What’s one thing you do that might look lazy or indulgent from the outside, but is actually essential to your success?
I consume an embarrassing amount of television, podcasts, audiobooks, and true crime while I’m making things.
From the outside, sitting on the couch watching TV while surrounded by vinyl probably doesn’t scream “productive entrepreneur.”
But a lot of making SlapChillz involves cutting, weeding, layering, pressing, and repetitive hands-on work. Putting on a good show, audiobook, or podcast lets my brain decompress while I’m creating.
If you could go back and give 18-year-old you one piece of advice, what would it be and why?
Stop worrying so much about whether other people think what you like is cool—and don’t wait until you feel completely ready to try something.
At 18, I think I spent a lot more energy trying to fit into whatever version of myself I thought I was supposed to be. At 40, I’m making brightly colored slap koozies AND featuring them online! That’s hugely vulnerable for me to share my interests and humor with people outside of my close circle. On top of my online presences, I am now selling in-person to experience people’s thoughts and reactions in real-time!
I think 18-year-old me would give me a high five!
Where can people go to learn more about you or connect with your work?
You can find Think Outside the Can and all things SlapChillz online:
Instagram: @totc614
Website: totc614.com
Etsy: ThinkOutsideTheCanUS
Wow, there are so many things in Meg’s story that really landed for me.
Stop worrying so much about whether other people think what you like is cool—and don’t wait until you feel completely ready to try something.
Meg started her journey instead of waiting for perfection. She also didn’t hesitate while worrying whether or not her idea was too weird. She didn’t fear judgment.
This is a great lesson for us all. If there’s something that you like and want to try turning into a business, give it a try. There are so many tools available to help you build it. The biggest obstacle exists in our heads. Conquer that and you’ve found your DAY ONE.
Probably the biggest habit I’ve developed is being willing to adjust without feeling like changing direction means I failed. I’m constantly tweaking Think Outside the Can based on what I learn.
Meg has mastered the concept of continuous improvement.
When you start a business, or any other pursuit, you do it with the knowledge you have at the time. But I can tell you first-hand that knowledge expands very quickly when you start doing the thing.
You grow and you get better.
Rigidly clinging to plans and processes you created before you learned more is a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, if you continue to learn, apply, assess and adjust based on experience, you become virtually unstoppable.
It worked for Meg!
The biggest thing I’ve learned is that you don’t need to have everything figured out before you start.
Most notably, as I explained in the beginning, Meg’s story embodies one of my core coaching philosophies: progress before perfection.
Meg started with a basic vision, but she didn’t know how or if she would accomplish it. That uncertainty didn’t turn into overwhelm. Instead, it turned into action. Meg jumped in, had her DAY ONE and then kept moving from there.
Meg is a Creator, CEO, and Project Manager
Throughout Meg’s story, she explained the goal-crushing strategies she used to build her business. What you might not have noticed is that Meg is actually an expert-level project manager.
Meg has been project managing her life.
Here are three examples of how she demonstrated PMYL in action.
✅ Commit to SMART Goals
Meg’s journey started with a goal. Not an extensive business plan. Just a “what if” and a “how might I” thought. But it was a goal nonetheless.
Meg wanted to find a way to express her creativity and see “if anyone besides my friends thought SlapChillz were fun” and whether they would pay money for her creations.
She knew what she wanted, why she wanted it, how to measure it, and she started.
✅ Build a Plan That Works for You
Meg knew herself well and leaned into that to get started with her goal.
Working with her natural wiring, she created an “official” DAY ONE when she registered her LLC. This was how she marked the transition from a hobby to a business. She knew this first step would help her make the mental shift needed to make her business successful.
Then she used her expert project management skills to build her business one step at a time. As Meg explained, “I’ve learned that I do much better when I turn the big idea into small achievable goals.”
✅ Enjoy the Journey
Meg explained many ways that she enjoys her journey instead of waiting until she reaches the finish line.
Her entire journey started with a creative passion. She liked creating and sharing her SlapChillz with other people.
She takes proactive steps to make the production process feel like fun and not a grind. She does this by habit stacking and consuming entertaining television, audiobooks, and podcasts to let her brain decompress while creating.
She expanded from online sales to in-person sales at one market. Then things snowballed from there. Meg gets energy from watching customers interact with her products and from building and learning from a community along the way.
What started as a “what if” has become a rapidly growing creative business for Meg. Today, her business is hot, the drinks are cool, and she has become an amazing CEO and project manager along the way!
Progress Before Perfection
Meg’s SlapChillz story taught us how progress and taking one step at a time is the fastest way to stop saying “one day” and to find DAY ONE for your dreams.
Most people’s dreams die from the same poison before they even get started. Overwhelm. They get so overwhelmed by focusing on all the steps ahead of them that they forget to take step one. Then they do nothing and never get past the starting line.
Fortunately, there is a simple antidote for this poison. It’s one of my core coaching philosophies.
Progress before perfection.
When you’re at the starting line, you don’t need to focus on step 50, just step one. And that’s what we’ll do at my next Goal Crusher Coffee Chat.
Progress Before Perfection
You don’t need the whole map, just the next step.
In this informal discussion, I will share a few simple techniques from my coach’s notebook that help my clients stop looking 10 steps into the future and confidently take the first step into their DAY ONE.
Then, in our roundtable discussion, we will each answer one simple question:
What’s one step you could take in the next 24 hours if you stopped waiting for perfect?
If you’re tired of being so overwhelmed at the starting line that you can’t seem to get to DAY ONE, this event is for you.
Did you miss this coffee chat? Don’t panic. I host a new Goal Crusher Coffee Chat every month. Visit OperationMelt.com/CoffeeChat for the details about our next session.
Meg didn’t wait for the perfect idea, the perfect timing, or the perfect Etsy shop. She had a “what if,” created some SlapChillz, and figured out the rest along the way. That’s progress before perfection, in real life. Your DAY ONE doesn’t have to look like Meg’s. It just has to happen.
You’re here for a reason. Let’s take the next step.
Goals die when you chase them alone. So don’t.
Join my free Goal Crusher Community. As soon as you join, I’ll send you my book, Project Manage Your Life. It’s the same system my clients and I use to turn “one day” into DAY ONE. After that, you’ll get one email a week with tools, stories, and a little nudge to keep going.
Sign up below or visit OperationMelt.com/Start to join the free community.
Meet Coach Tony
Hi, I’m Tony Weaver… coach, author, and founder of Operation Melt.
I help project managers and other left-brained, driven people who crush everyone else’s goals while their own keep waiting.
I lost over 100 pounds by treating my goal like a project. That became Project Manage Your Life, the system my clients and I use to crush our goals.
