Meagan Owen: Second Gen AU Graduate Guiding Strategy at Growing Family Business

What went through your mind as you were considering colleges and ultimately deciding on Anderson University? 

I spent my early elementary years in a really great public school and kept the same friend group throughout. Then, we moved across town and it felt like the ultimate culture shock. It was only a few miles, but everyone was new as I went into another elementary school and then on to middle school. It might sound crazy, but everything is a bit dramatic for middle schoolers; just ask my daughters.  

My parents moved me to Shannon Forest Christian School, a small private school, when I was entering seventh grade. I graduated with 24 people in my class. I think most firstborns have very big personalities as they trailblaze the way for their younger siblings. I had a very mischievous spirit, and I knew it. Thank the Lord, I was given the wisdom to know I didn’t need to go to a big college. I had that experience of being brand new in a place where I had no friends amongst the hundreds of students, and I had the experience of going to a smaller high school. The big state universities sound amazing, but I thought the smaller experience suited me better.  

We drove 45 minutes down the road to visit Anderson. I knew my parents would be close, I knew I’d be in an environment to make better choices, have better friends and influences, and be in a place that fit me. At the end of the day, Anderson felt like a safe place for me where I could succeed personally and educationally.  

Do you feel you adjusted well to college life? 

I thought the culture shock of middle school was a lot, but going to college was a different ballgame altogether. Like everyone else going off on their own for the first time, I learned a lot about life. I learned everything’s not free like you thought when your parents supported you at home. I learned how to build better relationships. I lived in Stringer dorm my first year, and it’s a shock to go from having your private bedroom at home to always having someone there and sharing a bathroom with dozens of other girls. I figured out what I liked and didn’t like pretty quickly.  

The people around me truly helped shape me. Once I really got into my core studies, I had some amazing professors. Dr. Parker was my HR professor, and he really challenged me in the way he presented himself. He didn’t say “hey, you can be better.” He made an impact through his approach to teaching with vulnerability and kindness to all of us as we were learning what it meant to be adults. I still think about sitting in his classroom and just absorbing his wisdom.  

I notice you got both a bachelor's and a master's at AU.  

I did. I actually went to Anderson to do interior design because y'all have an amazing interior design program as well. I still love interior design. I do that kind of on the side as a hobby, but I learned my freshman year that it was more of a hobby to me than what could become my full-time job. It's funny, my dad used to joke and ask me, 'Do you want to sell pipe when you get older?’ because we're in the wholesale distribution business of selling pipe, valves, fittings, commercial plumbing, and industrial specialties. I would always say, ‘no, I'm not selling pipe. I'm going to do interior design because I love creativity.’  

After my freshman year, I changed my major to business. And then I added my double major as human resources. I started thinking I wanted to pursue leadership in the family business and so I decided to get my master's. I also had an infant at home and was pregnant with my second child. I remember I just had my daughter when I was graduating with my master's. It was crazy spinning so many plates and I wouldn't recommend it.  

When you graduated, did you go right into the family business? 

Yes, I did, but I had already been working at Eastern’s Anderson branch in between classes doing administrative work during my junior and senior years at AU. I graduated May 5, and I started full-time work the following Monday, May 7. I remember being asked in my interview, “You don’t want to take off some time before you start?” My answer was no. I find it funny now as I’ve gotten older and a bit wiser, but felt like I had something to prove and needed to get straight to work.  

Describe those first days of work.  

We work in a male-dominated industry. The trends have shifted a bit, but when I started, I was the only woman in our warehouse. That’s where you started when you needed to learn the business. You start from the ground up to learn how every part of the business works.  

While in school, I was an intern at a rental car company and I remember thinking, “I don’t want to work in this culture.” As I entered the family business, I came in expecting something and then it wasn’t exactly what I expected, but it was a great place to work. Early on I had to accept that I am the daughter of the owners of this business and that came with an internal pressure to prove myself.  

I learned to move on from what others thought of me. I wanted to put my head down, work hard, and earn my spot. Both of my parents worked in the business, I was the oldest child, and I was blazing that trail for the second generation of family members. I was probably harder on myself than I should have been, but I did prove myself and established myself as an individual and not just a family member.  

I consider it a gift from my parents that I didn’t get to come in earning more or getting extra benefits, other than the occasional vacation day for a family trip. I was given the opportunity to earn my spot and the respect of the team. I learned how to appreciate every part of the business and how every person contributes to the goal.  

Describe some of what you're doing today in the business.  

I thought I wanted to step into my dad’s shoes as President and run the business. We’d been a smaller company and navigating through the COVID pandemic completely changed the business and my perspective.  

My husband and I work full-time at Eastern. When COVID hit and our kids were at home, I realized I didn’t want someone else raising them. I’ve got one chance at being a mother and parent, and the years felt like they were flying by quicker and quicker. I remember calling my dad saying, “I don't want to be president of Eastern,” and him telling me, “Let's not make any emotional decisions.” For me, I knew, “This is not an emotional decision, I’ve really thought this through.”  

It was really a gamble for me because I didn't know what that was going to mean for my husband and me or the business. We had a lot of family meetings to figure out what was next. My husband was asked if he would take the role and he accepted, which I can look back on now and see my dream coming true of being my husband’s partner and supporter, just like I’d seen my mom do my entire life. I’ve been given the flexibility to raise my children and continue supporting Caleb and Eastern as we enter his third year as President.  

We employ close to 500 people across 19-plus locations in six states in the Southeast. For us, the work today is thinking about those 500 families we need to take care of. It’s about caring for our people over our profit. We use our business as a platform to share Christ, and live our company purpose: To honor God in all we do by Caring for People, Continuously Improving, and Growing Profitably. We don’t push our beliefs on anyone, but we’re vocal about what we believe and how God has blessed us.  

I serve as the Chief Strategy Officer, working alongside my husband. My team also includes Branding & Communication, giving me more opportunity to work across the organization. We collaborate on strategic initiatives and we tell the stories of Eastern. Our team has grown a lot over the last decade and being able to be the catalysts for change and tell compelling stories to move closer to our vision has kept the days from getting boring. We always have something fun going on, but I couldn’t do it without the years I spent building up to this role. 

From working in our warehouse to inside sales, later becoming a branch manager and then moving to our home office as the marketing director, my role evolved, and as in most smaller companies you have to wear more hats, so I became the VP of Organizational Effectiveness. Now, I am the Chief Strategy Officer and it’s just amazing. I look back at how my story has been written and it’s a complete God thing. There’s no way my husband and I could have written this story or imagine our lives the way they are today.  

How did you meet your husband?  

Summer of my junior year, I had an apartment with a few friends. My husband was friends with a guy dating someone else in the apartment complex. He played baseball at Anderson and may even still hold a couple of the records.  

I remember not being too interested in dating at the time, but he was relentless. He let me know, “I’m coming over and we’re going to go on a date.”

Honestly, I just thought he was full of himself and we laugh at it now. He’ll tell you that I don’t even remember the first time I met him, and he’s telling the truth, I don’t. He was a fifth-year senior and had just finished playing baseball and was finishing up his last semester at AU. Whatever he did, it worked, and we dated. He moved back home to Westminster, South Carolina and started working with his dad who was a bi-vocational pastor at the time and ran a remodeling and construction business. I graduated in May of 2007 and my dad, thankfully, told me “nobody’s coming to work at Eastern unless they’re actually part of the family.” Caleb and I got married in November of that year. We were living in Anderson, and he was commuting to the Seneca area and I was commuting to Greenville. We were young and not making much money, so I talked him into coming to work at Eastern. I thought it was the safe option and I knew it was a guaranteed paycheck. That brought us back to Greenville.  

What advice would you give someone trying to decide whether or not to join their family business after graduation? 

Experience is priceless. If you’re able to work in the family business while going to school, that’s great. Then, go out and get some experience somewhere else. Find out how green the grass is or isn’t. A lot of advice is to go somewhere for a year or two to figure things out. For me, it didn’t take that long. I’d been in and out of the business, I knew where I wanted to be. I’d encourage anyone choosing to go into the family business, don’t take any handouts, earn your own way, and you’ll appreciate and respect yourself for that 20 years later.  

Let’s talk about your children.  

We have three children. My oldest is 17, which is crazy. He will be a senior next year and I’m already starting to mourn the end of an era. My daughters keep me on my toes at 15 and 11. You don’t get to mourn for long in our house because the next game, appointment, party, or teenage crisis is coming. It’s a blessing to be there to guide them and have time to be their mom as they learn how to be young adults just like I did so many years ago.  

Talk about how faith and work integrate.  

I am working today in the family business because of my faith. I strongly believe that God gave the company to my Dad and positioned our family in this business for a reason and to take care of people and to lead people to Christ. You don't have to be a Christian to work with us, but I'm not going to be shy about it, and I think the older I get, the less shy I am. I remember I used to think, “you can't talk about this and you can't talk about that.” 

As I’ve watched my teenagers grow up and remember when I was there, I realize how different my perspective is today. Life on Earth is very short, and eternity is forever. Once you start realizing that, it’s easier to become bolder in your faith and have honest conversations sharing how God has worked in your life. I accept that not everyone will listen or like what I have to say, but no one will ever ask me “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

Do you get to flex any creative muscles when you're doing your work? 

Our Branding & Communications team is amazing and they make me look way better than I actually am, but they work hard to tell Eastern’s story. We even have a role called Care & Culture Storyteller. It’s always fun to work with my team, but I probably flex that creative muscle much more at home and in our personal lives. I still flex that interior design muscle for fun by going to a furniture market twice a year in High Point, North Caroina. I love plants and flowers, so my daughter was on the homecoming court and asked if I could make everyone a bouquet. Fifteen bouquets later and I’m still having a blast.  

I get to work on creative solutions to our Eastern hurdles, so it’s not always design creativity; sometimes it’s thinking up the business solutions that get us moving and growing. I love the strategy behind everything and it’s my favorite part of the job. I get to see all the moving pieces behind the curtain and work to continuously improve. It’s incredibly fulfilling to be able to move the needle for the company and for our people.  

For me and my husband, people often ask, “How in the world do y'all work together and do life together and have a great relationship?” He truly is my very best friend in life. We don't always agree, but we've learned to work together. I've learned to pause and consider things before I let my emotions get the best of me. Accepting that we’re not perfect and we’ll get things wrong or misunderstand something, that’s the first step to removing the ego from it all and being better partners and supporters for each other.  

I work with my dad, my mom, my brother, and at one time my paternal grandfather, my maternal grandmother, and my sister. There have been a lot of dinner table conversations about the business and that’s a completely different life than most who might work 9 to 5 and don’t bring work home at the end of the day. Learning to give each other grace and work together towards success is the best advice I could give another family in business together. The last thing our family has agreed we want is losing each other. We’ve always said we will never put the business before our family or relationships.  

We really appreciate your support of Anderson University over the years.  

A cool fact about our family is that we seem to be an Anderson family. My mom and dad both went to Anderson. My husband and I met at Anderson. My brother met his wife while attending. Surprising no one, my sister also attended and met her husband there! My husband, my sister-in-law, and my brother-in-law all played a sport at Anderson, so my siblings and I all married Anderson athletes. We’re Anderson through and through!