Meet Meg Flint

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meg Flint.

Hi Meg, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started writing as a kid. It started with little stories. One time I even wrote a play for the kids in my neighborhood. Once I got to high school, I realized that writing was one of my strongest skills. I wrote poems and music lyrics at home when I wasn’t writing for school. Once it was time to start applying to colleges, I applied to one college intending to study English. I got into that college, and four years later graduated with my Bachelor’s in English with a concentration in Creative writing.

I was burnt out after studying English for four years. I stopped writing and stopped reading for enjoyment. After four years of reading multiple books at once and writing several pieces at a time, I didn’t have it in me anymore. So I started looking for jobs outside of my degree field. I landed a gig as an ice cream counter girl at a new restaurant in a resort. I didn’t know it then, but this new job would define and help mold the next five years of my life. I worked my way up through the ranks, and by my third year there, I became a manager. At this point, I went back to school, this time getting my Associate’s Degree in Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Management. When I left the restaurant and resort, I was the Food and Beverage Manager for the entire food operation.

My time at the resort restaurant gave me a lot of experience and great memories. But it also caused parts of me to come out that I didn’t know existed. While working there, I had my first panic attack. I was taking a lifeguard training course when it happened. It was so scary. And honestly, it was embarrassing at the time. I had no clue what was going on. After the first panic attack, I had two more over the next three years. It was during this time that I was diagnosed with anxiety. Looking back, I probably had anxiety before that. My childhood was tarnished at times by several stressful life events and sicknesses. If mental health was as well discussed back then as it is now, I probably would’ve been diagnosed sooner.

Fast forward to 2022. In 2022 I was a stay-at-home mom with a husband and two little girls under 10. We were beginning to live life post-COVID again, even though it was still a thing. At this point, I had already been a stay-at-home mom for almost 5 years. I got antsy, wanting more from life than just staying at home and caring for everyone. Randomly one day in February 2022, I got the idea to start a blog. I would combine my writing skills with my love for food and write about the food culture in my area. At the time, we were living in our home state of Maryland. The food culture of the Eastern Shore is very diverse, so I had a lot of material to use. I launched my blog in March of 2022. It was called Eastern Shore Eating.

Eastern Shore Eating gave me purpose again. It also gave me several opportunities. A few months after starting it, I was asked to write restaurant feature pieces for a local magazine. I was stoked. My girls were excited to see Mommy accomplishing things, too. But then, in August of 2022, my husband was offered his dream job with his dream company in North Carolina. I couldn’t say no. I was excited about exploring new places and building our lives in a bigger city. And so together we decided that he would take the job. We packed everything, sold our house, and moved here in September 2022.

I tell you all of this because, without these events, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. In December of 2022, I decided to end Eastern Shore Eating. I was becoming more depressed each day. Once again, I had yet to learn who I was or what I was doing with my life. Sure, I was still a wife and a mother. Those are always my most important gigs. But at the same time, I was starting to realize that I didn’t know who I was outside of that. My husband could see that I was struggling, too. He sat me down one night and offered to buy me a new website domain name. Buying a new domain meant that I could create a blog about more than just food. And so we went for it. By the end of December, we launched meg-flint.com. My new website has given me more than just a place to write. It’s given me the fire to learn new things, share parts of me that I never thought I would share, and help and inspire others. I write about things like depression and anxiety, children’s mental health, motherhood, and even some food. I’ve had readers reach out to me and tell me that they love what I’m doing because it has inspired them in some way. It’s a great feeling to help myself, but it’s amazing to know that I’m making a difference in someone else’s life. One of my favorite writing professors in college once told me that I would do great things one day. At the time, I didn’t see it. Often I still doubt myself. But now I finally understand what she meant when she said that. So here I am now, about three months into creating and writing for meg-flint.com. I have so many ideas. I have a lot to share. While it has yet to become a source of income, it is my dream to one day turn my writing into a career. And if it means I get to continue inspiring people for years to come, that’s pretty awesome.

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
The road up to today has most definitely been bumpy and not easy at times. If I start with my childhood, I was picked on a lot. Sometimes I was picked on by my friends. They thought it was funny to call me things like “Jolly Green Giant” and “Big Foot,” but they didn’t know that I would often go home crying. As an adult, you don’t forget those things. Even today, I still struggle with confidence and self-doubt. As a writer and blogger, you often wonder what other people will think about the very personal content you put out there. But you learn to build up that layer of thick skin and put it out there anyway.

Other traumatic parts of my childhood included my parents separating more than once and watching a house explode due to a gas leak. I’ve written about both of those experiences since then. While they don’t define who I am, they influenced me as I’ve grown. As an adult, things haven’t been easy, either. Being a mother is hard, without a doubt. But my experience as a mother has been a little more challenging than some. My oldest daughter has been extremely sick several times in 8 years. Each time I’ve been there right by her side, holding her hand and telling her that it will be okay. I’ve seen her fight through things that some adults wouldn’t even be able to handle. Fortunately, she’ll likely forget a lot of those traumatic moments. But I never will. I am stronger for it, though. I could probably list many other things, such as raising two small kids through the pandemic. But I have learned something with each hard, rocky bump in the road. Without those experiences, I probably wouldn’t be writing the content I’ve been creating lately.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might need to become more familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I am the creator and writer of my blog, meg-flint.com. I write about everything from motherhood to food to fun. I wanted a space where I could share serious, hard-topic pieces, such as pieces about mental health. But I also wanted a space to share fun things to make with your kids or our favorite weekly recipes. My website allows me to do all of that. But more than anything, my blog allows me to create a positive example for my children. My girls, 8 and 5, also battle mental health issues such as anxiety and sensory issues. I want them to know that it’s okay to talk about those things (if you want to) and that it’s okay to create a space for conversations about mental health. Honestly, it doesn’t just have to be mental health. It can be weight, body image, or any other hardships we face today. I’ve been told repeatedly that some things are meant to be kept private. I don’t agree with that at all. If I was meant to be quiet, I wouldn’t have been given the gift of writing. I am determined to make meg-flint.com a blog that stands apart from others. I want my blog to create conversations that need to be had, even if they aren’t easy. I want people to feel inspired to go for what they want out of life. I think that’s what sets me apart from others.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
This is a tough one. Unfortunately, I don’t remember a lot from my childhood. If one thing stands out the most, it’s growing up in Maryland. I lived in a neighborhood full of kids. Right next door to us were three boys. I am the oldest of three girls. At first, we couldn’t stand each other. But as we got older, we would spend much time outside together, playing games and exploring the surrounding area. One of the boys was the same age as me. He ended up being like the brother I never had. When he had his friends over, and I had some of my girlfriends over, we would hang out together in a group. It would be a late summer night, and we would all sit on my front steps, talking and hanging out. Sometimes we would walk around town together. Don’t worry; we never got into crazy trouble. But these moments were some of the best. Any drama or fighting never overshadowed them. We just got to hang out and be a bunch of kids like we were supposed to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://meg-flint.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meg.flint.official/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themegflint
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/megflintofficial/

Image Credits
Meg Flint