Today Ete sits down with Megan Perry of Trail Talk.

Megan Perry, a therapist originally from rural South Jersey--a mere 15 minutes from the town where Ete grew up--is an integral member of the team that runs Trail Talk and oversees the affiliate branches in Provo and Heber City. Trail Talk is a therapy practice started in Park City by Allison Page. While Allison was out walking, the realization hit her that her best thinking was done while out walking or hiking, especially with friends. She meshed that insight with counseling and Trail Talk was born, where sessions are conducted outside, while walking, often on Park City's trails (though they also do therapy in more traditional office settings if that's preferred). The result is a form of therapy that's less threatening to those unfamiliar with the process–less "formal" and "clinical"–and more like a walking conversation with a friend--who happens to be a trained and experienced therapist. And it provides the proven benefits that come from being in nature and from exercise. All this mental goodness is blended into a process that can really open up the client to some real relief, "clarity," and "insight."

People are loving it. The practice, which currently has affiliate offices in Park City, Heber, and Provo has seen an explosion in interest and clientele. Branches in Salt Lake City and Ogden are in the works, and further growth seems inevitable. Megan has been a huge part of this success.

Megan moved to the Heber Valley in 2015 from Baltimore. Working together with Allison in Park City, they built up their practice, created systems for running it, and figured out the business end of things as they went along. A year later, as Megan remembers it, Allison nudged her out of "the nest" to open and run the branch in Provo and she did so with great success. In 2018 she opened up the Heber branch, and again, people are flocking to it.

Megan has found Trail Talk to be the perfect fit in pretty much every way. She loves the work she does, she loves the team she's built, she's even been surprised to find that she enjoys the business aspects of her work. Megan truly believes in Trail Talk, in its vision, and its mission. And for someone who believes that mental well-being includes aligning your actions with your deepest held values, that's saying something.

Through this venture she's learned and grown a great deal. Working for Trail Talk, she finds that she has constant opportunities to learn from others and to hone her skills as a therapist. In her role as a practice-builder, she's learned the difficulty of hiring and managing employees, which she finds to be the hardest part of her job. She's had to deal with discomfort in her new role as a leader with employees looking to her for answers. She's learned the importance of surrounding herself with the right people: people who inspire and challenge her, people who live similar values, people who she can trust and lean on. On a personal level, she's discovered that the difficult periods she's had throughout this experience have tended to follow the times when she's "let go of self-care," when she's overcommitted herself, and when she hasn't set good boundaries.

In this episode of The Company Next Door you'll hear more about Megan's story, about the therapy she does, about the business she's helping to grow, and most importantly, about the Philly foods Ete and Megan both miss most. Enjoy!