Running at Your Pace

Chacho Valadez 0:08
Hello, hello, everyone. Welcome to Running in Public. This is the weekly podcast that empowers you to build your running routine while also making strides in your career. I’m your host, Chacho Valadez, and this is my first ever podcast. I’m so so happy about it. In each episode, I sit down with a startup founder, operator, or leader to talk about their experience of running while they also build and run their companies. You’ll walk away feeling empowered to run your next mile while also making strides in your career. And honestly, we support any form of movement on the podcast that suits your lifestyle. So whether you like to run, walk, bike, or swim or whatever it might be, we’re all in this together.

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Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Running in Public. I’m super excited to have you here. And I’m really excited to be talking to Megan Rose Dickey. She’s the Chief Content Officer at Backstage Capital, which is my place to work. So yeah, you know, we’re coworkers. And Megan joined the team in January. And it’s just been a pleasure working with her so far this year. And in my talks of the podcast amongst the team, she’s like, Oh, hey, I also run as well. And so I thought it’d be great to connect with her. And she’s laughing because maybe she has different definition of that. So Megan, it would be great to hear a little bit more about you and sort of your life story a little bit.

Megan Rose Dickey 2:28
Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I was laughing just because I feel like I’ve definitely planted the seed. Hey, like, I want to be on your podcast.

Chacho Valadez 2:35
Oh, sure. Yeah, it worked, but I’m glad you planted the seed.

Megan Rose Dickey 2:38
You gotta be thirsty. Well, hungry, not thirsty but I think I was just more so thirsty. Yeah, so I guess a little bit about me. You want my whole life story or my whole—

Chacho Valadez 2:52
As much as you want to share, but not for too too long. We try to keep it between 30 and 45 minutes.

Megan Rose Dickey 2:59
Okay, for sure. Feel free to interrupt at any point or tell me to move it along. But yeah, so I grew up in San Francisco. And let’s see, I always start with my active journey. So I was actually always pretty into sports. Growing up, I was a self identified tomboy, and others seem to be pretty much in agreement around that. Or remember my brother, my older brother, he’s two years older. We were on the same like little league baseball team. I was the only girl on the baseball team. And yeah, I had always just kind of been active in that way. And then finally, when I got into middle school, I was on the softball team, I ran track. And even though I didn’t want to be I was coerced to be on the basketball team, which honestly, I think the coach saw me and just Oh, like, you’re black. You need to be on the basketball team. But I just I am not good at basketball. But I was a fast runner. I would just I’ll give it a go. But yeah, I think I just spent one one season playing basketball and that was about it. But my two sports at the time were softball and track and I feel like I needed making it seem like Oh, I’m some really intense runner. But I was I was more into sprinting. So I would do the 100 meter, the 250 meter dash and that was my sweet spot. Anything beyond that I just I feel like I don’t really have my endurance for running is not great. I feel like I’ve done those DNA tests where there’s Oh, like, you probably have more fast twitch muscles, which helps with sprinting. And when I saw that, I was like, Okay, that makes a lot of sense, because that’s kind of been my experience with running. But yes, I did softball and ran ran track in middle school and then in high school actually joined the rowing team, and that is probably the best shape I’ve done in my entire life and the best shape I’ll ever be in the past now. It was Yeah, competitive rowing Really, it was really intense waking up at like 445 in the morning, going to practice before school and yeah, really really good workouts really strenuous. But I think that actually kind of burnt me out a little bit like so I did crew all four years in high school. And once I got to college, I actually joined the crew team, but I think I quit within maybe a month because so there’s there’s definitely like a good rowers body. And that is not my body, I was able to make do with what I was working with, which is listening to like, I’m five, five, and a good way to respond to someone who’s like quite tall, because you just have one more of that built in leg strength and the potential to be really strong, even if like maybe you’re you’re not strong to begin with. But I feel like I kind of maxed out, I’m just given I can, I can only be so tall, I’m not going to keep growing. So once I got to college, I was just okay, these women are like six, two, I’m just, I’m just really out of my league. And I think I was also ready to just kind of have a more relaxed relationship with exercise. These everything I had done, especially in high school had just been so intense males just think that culture is really intense. So even just thinking about in terms of because there was the boys crew team and the girls crew team, and it wasn’t quite as bad on the girls side. But it was definitely on the boys side like a badge of honor to do a really hard workout and then just like vomit all over the place. They’re just like, Wow, good job. Good for you. That proves that you are like really taking this seriously, which is like, I think not the right message. Sure. Yeah. And and that definitely wasn’t really like expected on the girls side. But I remember even at one point, because I was on the lightweight rowing team, and it was like championships, maybe like junior year and I think I was off by like, I think I was like a pound overweight. And so I this was in Sacramento, it’s like 104 degrees and like the springtime. So I found a sweater upon the trash bag. And I just like start running because I’m trying to lose that water weight and like, my coach saw me and she was just like, No, flick, stop what you’re doing. Do not do this. It’s fine. You don’t have to race in this boat. It’s all gonna be okay. And I was just oh, okay, because I don’t know, like, I just thought that I needed to do whatever it took until it actually really I’m really grateful that she had that response of just like, No, absolutely not. This is not safe. This is not healthy. It’s just racing. Another event. It’s all good. Yeah. And so yeah, so then in college Yeah, I really did a whole whole lot of nothing. Just get no I think I’d like dabbled with her. Like maybe I’ll play ultimate frisbee or just like I’ll just do some clubs for its and like, keep it really chill. But honestly, like, at that point, I hadn’t drink at all really in high school. Because I feel like in part because I need my body to be in like the best shape possible in order to do crew. Someone’s I stopped. Yeah, like I started drinking and like, smoking weed and like what people do in college, or at least what I did foliage. I was I won’t speak for everyone. But yeah, and yeah, so those were like, Yeah, I mean, I was a good student, but my priorities were Yeah, do enough work to like get good grades, and then just have a lot have as much fun as possible. Yeah, so exercising really was not on my radar on my to do list. And yeah, and so I led a pretty sedentary lifestyle for many years, I guess in between Yeah, my senior year in high school and then probably like, into my early or mid 20s. And yeah, I mean, yeah, I’d like walk around and whatnot. But yeah, I really wasn’t doing any sort of regular exercise and I think after so I got sober in 2014. And that at that point, I started thinking a little bit more about health and like, the things I had been doing for years like had been very bad for my body and for my health and it’s all like I started like running or like exercising right away once I got sober but I did, I think yeah, it was I guess I got myself into this relationship and the woman I was dating at the time was like really into running marathons and yeah, I think I’m the type of person where like I need I need someone to exercise with I’m really not good with self motivation and exercise. And I think that’s why I wouldn’t have done crew if it were like an individual sport. I really needed like a team camaraderie and just like and dislike that motivation from the coach just like someone or anyone other than myself. But yeah, so I was like dating someone and she was very into running and she convinced me to stop for a half marathon and I signed up and I trained with her and ran the half marathon, and then I didn’t run again for like three years.

Chacho Valadez 10:14
Half Marathon or bus, like that was it.

Megan Rose Dickey 10:17
Yeah, I’m just like, Okay, I did the thing. Like, I’m good. Let me just keep it chill again. And, and so yeah, so then I really didn’t like that relationship ended, I stopped running. And I really didn’t start trying to be active again until really until maybe like six months ago. And yeah, basically, I mean, like, I don’t know, COVID sucks. And like being at home sucks on like, that. It’s like my partner and I are just like— Well, actually, what happened was we went to a friend’s house in Carmel Valley in California. And they were just like, oh, let’s let’s go on this, like, quote, unquote, chill, hike. And we were just like, okay, yeah, we can do that. It felt like it was just a straight vertical. And like my partner, and I was just like, really struggling to get up the elders like, Oh, my God, maybe we need to, maybe we need to do something about this. And it was on that trail that we were just like, Okay, we got to just do like couch to 5k. We just have to, like, get moving. And so we actually did it. We actually did couch the 5k. And like, what I loved about that program was that it’s like, day one, it’s like, Okay, five minute walking warm up, run for a minute, walk for a minute, run for a minute, walk for a minute, five minute cooldown and like you’re done. It was manageable. It was a very manageable way to just get into it. And and Yeah, and like, there were definitely times where we were on track. And then like, my partner, Joe, if we were like talking to friends, he was like, yeah, so we were doing like couch to 5k, but now we’re kind of in 5k to couch because we were kind of backtracking. But then we ramped it up again, and actually got to the 5k ran with 5k earlier in February. And then since then, like, we’ve, we haven’t been running as much, but just every now and then, like we went from running maybe three days a week to now like maybe running once a week. And I think for me, just like looking back at my history and my relationship with exercise is that I can get, I don’t know, like burnt out by a pretty easily it’s like and I’ve had a tendency to really go all in with those with crew were just like, okay, and now I’m training for this half marathon and then like, very quickly to nothing, so I feel like this time around, I’m trying to just keep it very casual, and try to run as much as I can and not even necessarily try to even run more than a 5k Anytime. These like it just feels okay, like, that felt good. It felt comfortable. And like I didn’t feel like dying by the end of it. But I felt like okay, I got my heart rate up, like sweat a little bit or a lot because I sweat a lot and like, you know, like that’s, that’s good enough. It’s ultimately more than what I had been doing the last like few years.

Chacho Valadez 13:10
You’re looking for like that sustainability.

Megan Rose Dickey 13:13
Exactly. Exactly.

Chacho Valadez 13:15
Yeah. I do have a question on the crew thing because whenever I think of crew, I always think of the social network.

Yeah, it’s just like that.

Megan Rose Dickey 13:30
I rowed with them. You didn’t see me?

Chacho Valadez 13:34
You were with the Winklevoss twins.

Megan Rose Dickey 13:36
Yeah.

Chacho Valadez 13:37
That’s amazing. Yeah, I guess for some reason I think of like that stereotype of like a tech bro.

Megan Rose Dickey 13:43
It’s a very white sport.

Chacho Valadez 13:46
Is it? Okay, but overall, what’s a misconception about it? I guess that wasn’t a misconception, what I thought of it, but what is a misconception about it in terms of like it as a sport?

Megan Rose Dickey 14:00
All of the things that I would want to say like oh, it’s not true that it’s for wealthy white people because like it’s like that kind of is true. I so I went to a public high school but the I wrote for a private club in high school because my school didn’t offer it but some of the private high schools in San Francisco did offer it so like it’s unlike the books themselves are very very expensive and it’s yeah, like it would be my dream to one day own a house on the water and like have my own have my own boat, but the boats are very expensive and that of course, like I also like buy the house.

Chacho Valadez 14:41
It’s a lot, yeah.

Megan Rose Dickey 14:42
It’s like yeah, just like a lot. But yeah, I’m trying to think of a misconception I’m not sure. Yeah, I’m not sure.

Chacho Valadez 14:48
That’s fine. Yeah, I was just more curious because it’s almost also like lacrosse is also kind of like it seems more like of like, middle class upper middle class sport for for folks. versus something like soccer or football if you live in Europe and yeah, just very curious about it. It’s also seems really fascinating and also very, like energy draining to be doing that constantly. You got to burn so many calories just in one session.

Megan Rose Dickey 15:18
Yeah, for sure. To train like on land for rowing, there are these machines called ergometers were like herbs for short. And like, those are probably like the best workout machines, but like, I’ve refused to get on one since. Like, said stopping. Like, since I graduated from high school, I’d like finishing like I guess like, yeah, moving on from that team because it’s a lot.

Chacho Valadez 15:48
Yeah. What are some of your goals when it comes to running? You mentioned wanting it to be sustainable, but what do you want your relationship with it to be long term?

Megan Rose Dickey 16:03
I don’t want it to become severely this huge part of my life to the point where I’m, like, obsessing about it and like, beating myself up if I haven’t done it a little in a little while. I’m thinking like, if I’m not training for something, you know, like, a few runs a month. And like, ultimately, even just like the goal with running for me right now is to just keep running, even if that means I’m running really slowly, but just to like, keep it moving. It’s like a real slacking you before the the 5k rates and I think I was just like, yeah, like, I think my goal or voted I say I’ve just like, slow and steady finishes the race as opposed to like, wins the race. It’s just like, if I just like keep moving a little bit that I theoretically cross the finish line at some point. So totally. Yeah. And it’s funny because like, during the race, like there are definitely parents like sprinting with like their babies and strollers like passing me and I just like, that’s fine.

Chacho Valadez 17:13
You do you.

Megan Rose Dickey 17:14
That’s okay. Like, whoops, let me move out of your way.

Chacho Valadez 17:19
That’s funny. When you go on runs, what’s the conversation that you have with yourself when you don’t feel like doing it?

Megan Rose Dickey 17:26
Yeah. I never feel like doing it, but I think what I told myself was, is that like, it’s gonna feel really good once this is over. For us, like it’s gonna be worth it pretty much and like, so I also always run with my partner. We’re just like running buddies. And I’m, like, very sensitive to any sort of, like, negative input. So like, even if she says something like, we’re like writing she’s like, Oh, my God, it’s like so hot or it’s so dry. I’m just like, can you just like, keep that? Luxury to give a very positive environment, my head otherwise, like, I’m going to like, find a way to quit. Like, if you could just like zip it. Tell me after we’re done.

Chacho Valadez 18:15
Does she take that okay? How does she take it?

Megan Rose Dickey 18:20
Yeah, not well.

Chacho Valadez 18:24
That’s funny. I feel that. I think it’s easy, when something is already difficult, it’s easy to be bogged down when it’s when it’s already a struggle. You know, it’s kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back type of thing.

Megan Rose Dickey 18:44
Right, exactly. Yeah, it’s like it, especially if I wasn’t aware of how dry it felt out there that might be like, Oh, my God, like, it is really dry. Like, oh, my God, my mouth is good. Like, I do a lot better. Like just Yeah, so my brain can vary. It can things can very quickly escalate.

Chacho Valadez 19:03
What do people tend to miss about running that you find important? Maybe something that people gloss over but that stands out to you in terms of importance.

Megan Rose Dickey 19:14
This is probably something to think about, but I guess for me, being part of being part of society or just even my neighborhood, it feels and there’s something nice just kind of like running around the neighborhood and sometimes neighbors like to cheer you on. Yeah, it’s like oh, wow, like still go away looking for you. Sure, sometimes it sounds condescending, but—

Chacho Valadez 19:43
Your mindset goes to a negative.

Megan Rose Dickey 19:46
Like, you’re making fun of me, right, but I think they read it like genuinely Oh, wow. Like That is impressive. I could do totally like that. So like, that’s like a nice little, I don’t know, just like it’s nice to just kind to like be seen, and have those other types of like, just casual interactions with neighbors.

Chacho Valadez 20:09
I always think it’s interesting to run past people because I usually run on a bike path. And I always wave and smile at people in Iran, but some people are like so in the zone, or some people do like the quick hand wave. And so it’s so interesting, all the things that go through your head when it comes to like, even just passing someone on the sidewalk.

Megan Rose Dickey 20:29
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It’s like, sometimes I have the energy, like, I usually have the energy to throw up a hand or give a little smile, but rarely do I am I willing to use that extra energy to actually like vocalize something.

Chacho Valadez 20:46
I’ve definitely also had people honk at me while I’m running, either because maybe they think they know they recognize me or because they’re encouraging me. I try to think because it’s the encouragement. So what’s your favorite thing about running?

Megan Rose Dickey 21:00
I think just feeling like I’m just doing something with my body, other than sitting on the couch and like watching TV after work or something, you know, which is something that became such a standard part of my 2020 and the first half of 2021. Yeah, so I think that for me, it’s just it is, even though I never want to run, I always do feel good after the run. And I don’t really know if that’s runner’s high because I, I’ve always understood runner’s high as being like, while you’re running. It may be wrong, but I feel like it’s like while you’re running, you’re like, oh my god, this is great. Like, that never happens for me. But it’s more so like, Okay, the second I stop, I’m like, Oh, wow, that’s cool that I just did that.

Chacho Valadez 21:52
I think it we have actually talked about runner’s high to Claire Sherelle, who was on the podcast and is a backstage portfolio company, a founder. And she, we kind of said like this, in some instances, like foreigners highest kind of just like a bunch of bullshit. Because it’s like, like a tomboy. Sometimes there are days when you go out and you’re like, God, this sucks. Like, I don’t want to be out here. It may be it’s like, a little too windy that day or too hard, or whatever it might be. But then I think that it just, it varies based on the person. So for me, I, I get a runner’s high when I just get out on a run, and I’m that first two miles, I’m like, Oh, my God, this is amazing. Like, I can’t believe I’m doing this. And then, like you like at the end of your Iran, you’re like, this is just, I can’t believe that I feel so privileged to be able to like move on to fi and knowing that, like, there’s people even in my own immediate family who couldn’t run that far. And so that’s the “runner’s high” that I experienced, but I think it’s different for everybody and everyone experiences in different ways.

Megan Rose Dickey 23:07
Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

Chacho Valadez 23:09
Yeah. So we’ll take a quick break to hear from our sponsor higherrunner.co.

Hey, thanks for listening to this episode. Don’t forget to check out our sponsor, hirerunner.co for all your fractional and temp-to-hire operations talent needs. Now let’s get back into the show.

Welcome back, everyone. Thanks for sticking along. So how does running or exercise or maybe even self-care in general affect your work?

Megan Rose Dickey 23:41
Self-care is very big for me. So yeah, I think back to when I was living in New York and working at Business Insider, which I guess is now insider, but my work life balance was just like absolutely awful. And I really prioritized work, which I think ended up having a negative impact on on my personal life. Like I invent that like after work I was drinking a lot like my alcoholism really took off while living in New York and like I’ve I don’t know until like ever ever since that experience, like I’ve been very careful about having having just like better separation from from work and like my personal life and and also trying to I think the hard part for me is to not tie my identity to my job and like, because I think that’s really what was going on a lot in New York and I’ve definitely made progress in that area. But there’s but there still is definitely like, Oh, like this. This feeds me where I feel like yeah, my my ego and like myself. worse is tied to my job. And that’s something that I’m Yeah, obviously still trying to Yeah to work on and try and like, like separate those parts a bit more. Yeah. I’m not sure if I’ve answered your question.

Chacho Valadez 25:15
No, that’s helpful.

Megan Rose Dickey 25:16
For me, it’s like I start work at nine, I’m done it at five, I don’t get Slack notifications after that point whereas before I would let more of my work life slip into off-work hours.

Well, that’s why you don’t respond to my Slack messages. I’m just kidding.

Like, oh, you Slacked me at 5:01? Oh, gonna have to wait ’till tomorrow, which is still kind of like scary to me, though. And I don’t know. It’s funny. I think maybe, I don’t know. We’ve talked about this a little bit, but just it’s still wild to me how, like how, okay, it is to, like, have work life balance here at backstage? And it’s like, I almost don’t. It’s like I believe it, but I almost don’t believe it.

Chacho Valadez 26:12
Sure, yeah.

Megan Rose Dickey 26:14
I was like, what’s the catch? Because it’s just like every other job. It’s just been like, Well, yeah, like, take all the vacation you want. But then it’s like, oh, you’re going on vacation? Wow. Didn’t you just go on vacation? Like two weeks? Just like, Sure. And I feel like there can be a little bit of that, or has been some of that empaths job. So I think I’m also still just trying to unlearn some things.

Chacho Valadez 26:37
Yeah, so the next time you go on vacation I’ll be like, didn’t you just go on vacation last week? Yeah, it’s super. I mean, it’s really interesting that we’re having this conversation on a podcast and we work together. And like, it’s there are a lot of parallels in terms of I guess we’re in a privileged position to be at a workplace that values self care to that point where it’s like, like you said, that you turn your notifications on at 5pm. And my initial reaction is like, that’s amazing. Like, I love that for you. And it’s, as opposed to it being like, well, you should be working harder type of thing. Yeah. When it comes to, like, practicing the self care, does it ever feel selfish to you?

Megan Rose Dickey 27:24
Oh, yeah.

Chacho Valadez 27:28
But is it in a negative way or positive way?

Megan Rose Dickey 27:31
Yeah, I mean, kind of It depends, like, I think initially, it’s like, if I’m feeling like, oh, like, maybe I should be willing to, like, do something after hours or something. Like, I can feel like a little guilty, but I don’t know, something that’s been helpful. So like, I love the nap ministry. And you know, if you follow, I don’t actually on Twitter, they’re just like, all about black people getting their rest. And it’s just like, so I feel like that’s been like really helpful for me, but but also, like, I yeah, it can be hard to not feel selfish. But I think ultimately, what I try to remind myself is that, the better the better sort of space that I’m in, like, mentally, the better I’m going, the more the better. And the more useful, I’m ultimately going to be in my job. So I kind of think of it as like, just something that needs to happen. And, and if people don’t understand, like, they’ll eventually understand and see why it’s important. And like, it better understand, like, Why do you think the way that they do things?

Chacho Valadez 28:35
Totally. Yeah, absolutely. And last question here before the quickfire round, what’s one of the most difficult parts of balancing like a self-care routine with being really like an executive at a company?

Megan Rose Dickey 28:51
Yeah. Are you saying that I’m an executive?

Chacho Valadez 28:54
I mean, your role is a Chief Content Officer at a venture fund. I would say so.

Megan Rose Dickey 29:01
Even that is still something I’m trying to wrap my head around. It’s like, I don’t consider myself to be an executive.

Chacho Valadez 29:17
Yeah, I don’t know. That’s the way I look at it. If I were to explain you to a broader audience, which I’m doing now, that’s definitely the way I would describe it.

Megan Rose Dickey 29:29
I think part of me is just like, oh, I’m too goofy to be an exec, but I think that’s also just some imposter syndrome.

Chacho Valadez 29:39
I think you definitely should embrace it and like, make it part of who you are because that’s who you who you are. Like, truly. And that’s one of the things that makes it such like a joy to work with you is that like goofiness because I don’t think there’s ever a conversation that I have with you where I don’t laugh at something. So it’s fun.

Megan Rose Dickey 29:58
I appreciate that. Yeah, it’s been great working with you, too. Okay, I guess, if I can try to step into my power as an executive, I guess the way if I’m thinking about like self care, yeah, I guess, because I think people look to executives or the C suite as examples of how to be more of like, oh, like, I don’t know, there’s no like, right or wrong way to be, but like, people do look at folks and see like, oh, like, how are they behaving? And that content, like dictate how other people behave? And like, how? How they relate to their work? Yeah. So I think it is important to kind of show what our work life balance can be like, and like, I do think that mine works out pretty well for me. And yeah, it’s, yeah, I know that my partner is definitely envious of just kind of what I’ve created for myself, I suppose.

Chacho Valadez 30:56
That’s great. Well, not great that she’s envious. But like, we wish her the best.

Megan Rose Dickey 31:00
I like for her to, yeah, anyway. I’m okay. I won’t go into that since this is all on the records.

Chacho Valadez 31:07
Yeah, here we go with the rapid fire questions. Feel free to take as long as you’d like to answer the questions.

Megan Rose Dickey 31:13
I feel like I should answer them quickly.

Chacho Valadez 31:15
Yeah, they’re rapid, quick fire, but I think sometimes answers need a little bit more context and I’m just saying that’s okay to do, but some of them will be quick. So here’s the first one. If you had one book to recommend to your younger self, what would it be?

Megan Rose Dickey 31:30
So there’s a book that’s coming to mind. And the book that’s coming to mind is Homegoing by yd GRC. and been like, what would I want my younger self to read it, it’s, it’s like, very emotionally, like, heavy, it’s about the legacy of slavery. And it’s like, through the lens of these two sisters who never met. And like, on one side of the family, it’s like, they, they say, in Africa, on the other side of the family, it’s like, they go into slavery ship to the US, and who goes from there, but I thought it was a really, I just thought was a really well done book, and just like, got me thinking more about like, and like my ancestry. And that’s something that, like, I’ve, I’ve gotten into, like my own ancestry more so in the last like, few years, but like, that’s really not something I’m just like, thinking about as a kid. And, and yeah, and I think, I think it just would have been cool to kind of learn more about that when I was younger.

Chacho Valadez 32:37
Amazing. What was your dream job as a kid?

Megan Rose Dickey 32:40
I’ll tell you about my first dream job was and it was very swiftly shot down by my second grade teacher, and the my mom. So my dream job in second grade was to work at McDonald’s, because I would get all them to get free cheeseburgers. And I remember like saying that’s like my second grade teacher. And she like called my parents was just like, This is it she’s got a dream, the little like, obviously, like nothing. There’s nothing wrong with working at McDonald’s working retail. But I’d think in terms of if you can dream of anything, I think my teacher thought that it wasn’t. It wasn’t quite big enough. So after that, after I was sent back to the drawing board. I want to be a journalist actually, well, specifically, I wanted to be the next Oprah. And so my, so that actually led me to majoring in broadcast journalism in college, but I, I feel like I quickly realized that I didn’t really want to be on TV, per se. And I actually preferred like other other mediums, whether that was just like little fashion print or radio, like I got super into radio in college. And so that was really cool. And so I so I feel like I actually, like I knew I wanted to be a journalist when, like, maybe some at some point, and I don’t know, maybe at some point in high school.

Chacho Valadez 34:07
Amazing, and you are now, a journalist.

Megan Rose Dickey 34:10
Yeah. I mean, not not so much anymore.

Chacho Valadez 34:14
Sure. I mean, you’re not, right, but you’ve been a dream of yours.

Megan Rose Dickey 34:19
Yeah. And that was kind of Yeah. And that was interesting. Because I it’s interesting is also then when I was in college, I said, like, oh, well, I want to be I think I want to be a tech journalist. And, and so I feel like them too. Like, I did that and so and I don’t think I I don’t think I thought that I would do it so quickly. And like Yeah, and so then, you know, like now like, hearing hearing him now and like, still using that expertise, but like in a slightly different role and like with, you know, slightly different goals and so it kind of feels like the the next step and cuz I think at this point right now, where I’m at is like, everything’s just kind of open. He didn’t really think past this point in like, a potential career. So everything else is just kind of like, you know, up to up to a higher power.

Chacho Valadez 35:16
Nice. Fill in the blank. Running is blank.

Megan Rose Dickey 35:21
Hard. It is rewarding, but rewarding.

Chacho Valadez 35:28
Yeah. Hard but rewarding. Yeah. Let’s see if you had to listen to one song on repeat for an hour long run, what would it be?

Megan Rose Dickey 35:38
Hmm. Wow, okay. Right now I have a very thoughtfully curated playlist so I’m trying to think of the songs on that playlist. Which one would it be? Okay, so there’s a song called “Ride” by EA Ski. It’s a throwback EA area song. So your area, your Eagles Bay area. It has such a good beat, so it might be that one might be amazing.

Chacho Valadez 36:25
Absolutely. What’s your go-to running app? Or do you use a running app?

Megan Rose Dickey 36:30
Yeah, so when we were doing calcified pay there. We were using an app called I think it’s called like 5k. Runner. And and that was super helpful. And because it just, yeah, it had it told you like, like, Okay, now it’s your warmup and like, okay, like, start running. And it’s like, okay, like, now cool down. And so that was good. But like, now we now I just kind of use the Apple Watch. workout app. And like, it’s like, yeah, just pretty straightforward. It just tracks like, are you running? And? Yeah, but excellent. Nothing too wild.

Chacho Valadez 37:05
Nice. What’s your favorite thing about yourself and why?

Megan Rose Dickey 37:09
I think my favorite thing about me is probably my sense of humor or just the ease in which I laugh because it’s fun for me and I think it’s maybe been for other people, so I feel like it can lighten the mood. So that’s probably my favorite thing about myself.

Chacho Valadez 37:33
Love it. Yes. Can confirm lots of laughs, and we’ve been laughing this entire podcast episode. So thanks so much. Where can people follow on your journey?

Megan Rose Dickey 37:45
On my running journey or life journey?

Chacho Valadez 37:47
Let’s say life. Well, yes. In general, where you spend the most time online.

Megan Rose Dickey 37:54
Probably on Twitter at Megan Rose Dickey, I’m honestly not a big tweeter. I kind of like go through these phases, but that’s probably the best place and yeah, he’s like, really no on LinkedIn. Not really on Facebook anymore. I still have never even downloaded TikTok, so you’re not gonna find me there. Don’t really post pics on Instagram.

Chacho Valadez 38:15
Twitter. Well, I mean, so you are though you’re writing on medium?

Megan Rose Dickey 38:20
I am writing on medium. That is a really good point. People can find me on medium. Yes. medium.com backslash greenroom?

Chacho Valadez 38:28
Yes. And that’s where you could even find an article that Megan wrote a conversation where she interviewed me we flip the script here, and we can definitely link that in the show notes as well. But Megan is amazing to talk to you. And I’m so glad we did this.

Megan Rose Dickey 38:42
Yeah, me too. Thanks for having me.

Chacho Valadez 38:45
Thanks so much for listening to this episode. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you have a chance, please leave us a review and let us know what you liked about the show, and if you want to follow along with future episodes, go to your favorite podcast platform and hit the subscribe button, or you can also go to runninginpublic.co where we’ll be updating the website regularly. I’ll catch you on the flippety-flip.