About Megan McNealy

I am so glad that you landed here! Are you curious to know a little more about me? These are some of the most common questions people ask:

What was your career before this?

It’s more like what still ARE my careers!—I am simultaneously an author, an entrepreneur and a senior-level corporate employee. In all three, I care about three major values- love, truth and impact. I want to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the people I serve- which ranges from helping them to have a life well-saved for to having a life well-lived.

I am an Ivy-League educated, 24+ year award-winning Senior Vice President and Wealth Management Advisor at one of the largest financial firms in the world. My consistent focus has been helping Senior corporate executives who have complex financial lives, but very limited time. I am committed to helping them to protect their wealth, to strategize concentrated positions and 10b5-1 trading plans, and to achieve lasting financial freedom.

Through my Well-Being Drives Success entrepreneurial venture– a multi-faceted platform designed to serve those in our workforce who strive for both exceptional wellness AND extraordinary success- I help leadership-level executives and entrepreneurs reach their fullest potential. My first offering was my 2019 award-winning book, Reinvent the Wheel: How Top Leaders Leverage Well-Being for Success, and from there, I have appeared on more than 25 podcasts (including Work and Life with The Wharton School), and my writing and research has been featured in Fast Company, Business Insider, UK Telegraph, Entrepreneur, Thrive Global, Corporate Executive and many other publications.

What were some of the health challenges that you overcame?

In my book, in my corporate speaking, and in my podcast guest appearances, I share how stress and imbalance (absolute burnout) crushed my health, and led me on a remarkable healing path.

In my mid-30s, when I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, an auto-immune disease where the body mistakenly attacks itself (in this case, the joints), I considered it a “major wake-up call,” and launched what would become a hero’s quest to turn around my health.

In my early 40s, when I was sideswiped with a second auto-immune disease, FSGS (chronic kidney disease), I considered it a “downright emergency,” realized I had even MORE work to do.

When I learned I had early stage kidney cancer, amidst my shock, I stepped into an full-out commitment to heal myself, to love myself, and to save my own life.

I no longer suffer from ANY of these diseases. It took 12 years of struggling before the rheumatoid arthritis disappeared, and two years for the chronic kidney disease to slip into remission. It took only one month for the cancer to vanish. In the well-being protocol that I created- my body, mind and spirit Well-Being Wheel©-I completely revived my health and life, and became masterful at healing. My complete success in doing so further inspired what I consider my life’s work- to help others regain their vibrant well-being, and to help them to connect the dots between their customized well-being protocol and their own self-defined path of success.

Why did your well-being approach have such tremendous success where others have not?

Many other well-being approaches out there focus on just a single one of these spokes as a suggested end-all solution, perhaps in the body category (like diet) or the mind category (like meditation). I found that complete healing-from the inside out- requires many levels of introspection and attention.

My well-being approach is captured in two images that I call my Well-Being Wheel^© and my Wealth-Being Wheel^©. Firstly, I created these frameworks to show what complete well-being looks like, in the shape of a wheel, with 18 spokes of all the diverse aspects of total body, mind and spirit well-being; I believe that each spoke has equal weighting as far as importance. Secondly, I added the outcomes to the Wealth-Being Wheel to show the effectiveness of leveraging well-being for all aspects of success.

One of my book’s endorsers, Scott Shute, Head of Mindfulness and Compassion at LinkedIn, said: “Megan masterfully shows us that we can change ourselves from the inside out. Step by step, she shows us that when we prioritize our well-being…we rise.” Exactly!

How did you come up with that revolutionary Well-Being Wheel^©?

I first created it to help heal myself. Over the course of 12 years, I created this wheel by first taking a hard look at every bad habit I had, every food I was eating, every thought I was thinking, every action I was taking, every person I was interacting with, and every weakness I had. I was in a super bad place! I then started actively doing the actionable opposite.

I documented what practices had a powerful healing effect. I used information from my partnership with traditional doctors, alternative medicine practitioners, dietitians, self-help books, personal growth workshops, body workers, healers, spiritual advisors, hours of reflection, and most of all, inner knowing. When the strategies appeared as universal, and when they fit into such a useful framework, I knew I had something special to share with you.

Even today, my customized Well-Being Wheel is my most valuable body, mind and spirit tool. Also, I am using the Well-Being Wheel© to help other business leaders up-level everything from their health to their relationships to their performance at work.

Along my journey, I interviewed some extraordinary C-Suite executives and Founders who not only embody well-being but who leverage body, mind and spirit wellness to show up to work in breakout mode.. I am not surprised! Along my journey I learned that truly: Well-Being Drives Success. From the point of my greatest health suffering (in 2010) through 2018, to my astonishment, I more than quadrupled my yearly income. I discovered, during my healing journey, that there is a direct correlation between vibrant well-being and high performance. This is true for every area of your life.

For me, well-being up-leveled everything!

From interviewing dozens of other outstanding leaders, I learned that I am not the only one who leverages well-being for success.

I have interviewed dozens of other exceptional business leaders who also are driving performance at work from a core center of well-being– everyone from Gopi Kallayil, Chief Evangelist, Brand Marketing at Google to Robyn Denholm, Chairman of the Board at Tesla Motors. The amazing CEO of Starbucks, Kevin Johnson, endorsed the cover of my book, saying the book: “was a gift of discovery that can lead to a more joyful life.”

What is the extent of the current workplace well-being “crisis” you talk about?

We have a collective health crisis on our hands– and that was way before the pandemic started! I continue to notice an increasing number of diagnosed and suffering people in the corporate workforce. Studies are showing that working Americans’ sense of their overall well-being is declining; a UK study revealed that 59% of employees said that work is by far the most common form of stress and that stress points to hugely damaging effects on morale, productivity and sickness (Health & Safety Executive, UK).

With over 80 types of autoimmune disorders affecting an estimated 50 million Americans (AARDA American Autoimmune Related Diseases Assn, 2018), with 1,685,210 new cancer cases expected to be diagnosed in the US in 2018 (American Cancer Society) and with high blood pressure affecting 1 in 3 adults, or another 70 million Americans (Center for Disease Control, 2018), we can’t look away.

By relaying my message that Well-Being Drives Success^™, which is consequently the name of my company,I hope to effect a profound change on the way we view health and stress in our places of business.

How do you help leaders with their Well-Being?

1. My first book came out in Oct 2019 in the US, UK, Australia, and even Russia. Let me know what you think of: Reinvent the Wheel: How Top Leaders Leverage Well-Being for Success.
2. I am a keynote speaker for corporate audiences and other interested groups nationwide- I did my book launch at LinkedIn’s corporate headquarters, have keynote for Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, and I even did a 2020 program for US Military women.. These group settings are informative and electric!
3. I work with executives and entrepreneurs 1:1 in private consultations either in person, via Zoom and on the phone. Working together, we can customize a plan that can lead to optimal performance. Please send us an inquiry at megan@meganmcnealy.com for more information.
4. I reach and inspire followers through my Newsletter, Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin.

I believe that each of us has a unique and an optimal Well-Being Wheel© of practices and strategies that keeps our BODY, MIND and SPIRIT in perfect flow. I am passionate about spreading this message to executives rebooting their health, to entrepreneurs looking to enhance their wellness, and to those looking to perform at their highest potential. I inspire people to create a conscious commitment to themselves, and teach them how to seize their immense personal power. Join me.

What are some things most people don’t know about you? Any hidden superpowers?

I am a mindful mom to two incredible teenage daughters, who live with me in Northern California, just outside of San Francisco. I am a Reiki Master; energy is real, people! My spirit animal is a hummingbird.