Daily Inspiration: Meet Megan Heaton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Heaton.

Hi Megan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story begins in a small, random, midwest town called Brazil, Indiana. I am a 29-year-old only child, Capricorn, who has loved being on the go and in front of a camera since the day I could walk. My upbringing involved two hard-working parents, my heart belonging to the art of dance, and my father insisting I remain involved in my school in some capacity, so I joined the golf team. In high school, I modeled casually for local brands/photographers here and there. I believe that is where it all started.

Between the traveling I got to experience for dance and my parents always telling me I could be and do whatever I wanted, it was a no brainer I wanted to go out of state for school and begin a new journey where the possibilities seemed endless. I chose to go as far west as possible to Arizona State University, where I graduated with a major in Business Marketing with an emphasis on digital media + international business. I was in a sorority, taught dance fitness classes every day, and worked in the Scottsdale bar scene all four years. IG got really HOT when I was in college. I would gain thousands of followers overnight from setting up iPhone shoots with my sorority sisters to take pictures styling our Theta merchandise and posting them on IG. This was my first look into the direction marketing was going.

By the time I graduated college in 2017, I had over 40k followers and knew I wanted get out of my college town and give the LA a try. The first year in the real world is historically hard for anyone, but moving to the city of Los Angeles and pursuing an influencer career came with an extra set of trials and tribulations that knocked my ego and tested my grit. I got a job being a social media manager for a brand called ASbyDF and was able to maintain brand deals enough to keep myself afloat. I collaborated with everyone, took on more free work than I’d like to admit, and said yes to anything that aligned with my values, but it wasn’t until I met a woman named Jules Newmark at an influencer event that I really started to feel like I was making moves and had a place in LA. I signed with Newmark Models and started booking modeling and influencer deals almost immediately and am still with this agency today.

A little over a year later Covid hit, I went home to Indiana for a few months, shot whatever brand deal I could get to keep me busy at home, and picked my golf clubs back up for the first time since I graduated high school. Tiktok was on the up, and I started posting trending sounds of me golfing (+ yes, lipsyncing) on the course. I guess seeing a cute blonde girl swing a golf club was a rarity. When I got back to LA, I was booked for a couple of golf jobs based off my swing on Tiktok and was also asked to design a women’s golf line called Heat in collaboration with a brand called Swingdish. I eventually modeled for a brand named Ghost Golf, who later asked me to interview for their assistant Creative Director position based on my involvement and ideas from the shoot I modeled for them on. I ended up accepting the job as a freelance CD while still working as a model and influencer with other brands on the side. This is where I really found an outlet for what lights my soul on fire. I have never grown or felt so aligned in my career than I did when I was working at Ghost and watching the success of the company grow and be recognized. The modeling and influencing was great, but it never felt like there was longevity in what I was doing but building a brand and seeing my ideas come to life and be effective was so rewarding and gave me so much value.

Eventually, a few brands that had recognized what I was doing with Ghost asked me to direct projects for merch, launches, and UGC creative, and that is where Heat Creative Co began. To be honest, I just wanted an LLC to run these projects through as a business. So, my colleague Samantha, who I have worked with since I moved to LA six years ago, and I started this creative agency that specializes in total management and production of elevated creative to build brands, convert sales, align the right talent, and initiate buzz. We do one-off projects, but we also accept long-term clients to see through the marketing strategy of building the brand depending on what the client needs and if we feel aligned.

If I am being totally honest, you have caught me at a very scary, vulnerable, in between time in my career where I am taking risks and making a leap into something fresh and new. This isn’t a success story about a multi-million dollar company that made it overnight or a small-town girl who changed the marketing industry from that one Super Bowl commercial that everyone is still talking about, but hey, it will be one day. This is your sign to continue to follow your passions, stop taking everything so seriously, give it your all, trust your path, and enjoy learning along the way. I know I am.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Moving to LA after college was one of the most difficult times in my life; Los Angeles is tough in general, but finding work, making friends, and feeling like I had a place in a city that can be so cold and difficult to break into, really tested how hard I would fight to get to where I wanted to be. It is a dog eat dog world, until you get that one call, you meet that one friend, or you’re in the right coffee shop at the right time, only then you can exhale.

Recently, I had to choose whether to go fully in on an emerging brand that I had put my heart and soul into or bet on myself and take the leap of starting my own business and continue working with the multiple brands/clients I had curated relationships with over the past six years. I have never been so torn by a decision in my entire life, I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t think about anything else, was paralyzed by making the wrong decision for my future. As lame as it sounds, I think it’s the Capricorn in me that places the majority of my value in my career and success. However, that is my therapist’s business – not mine. Inevitably, it took a lot of journaling, hard conversations, and figuring out what my gut was telling me to decide to build my own shit. So here we are, and we’re going to see where it takes us.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Creative Director, a model, an influencer, and co-founder of Heat Creative. I specialize in directing high-end branded content for golf brands, streetwear brands, health brands, etc. I also specialize in producing elevated sales-driven UGC content creation for ads. I like to think I am known for being someone who moves the needle for creative in golf forward, especially for women, being behind the creative branding at Ghost Golf, and designing a women’s golf line with Swingdish.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
My favorite thing about LA is the opportunity, the weather, and the feeling of being IN IT. I think LA has shifted from being about actors, actresses, and fame to really being a place of brand growth, networking, and inspiration. I have curated a driven, healthy, solid atmosphere of a community here, and I sometimes have to pinch myself that I’m here, I’m doing it, and I’m grateful.

Least favorite is the traffic and parking! Everything is a process, but I have learned to throw a podcast on or call one of my people to make the time pass and not allow myself to be pressed.

Contact Info:

• Website: heatcreative.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megan__heaton/?hl=en

Image Credits
image 1 Ghost Golf x Fore All image 7 Greyson Women