In today’s episode we talk with Megan Fernandez. Megan is executive editor at the award-winning, city/regional magazine, Indianapolis Monthly. She tells us about her time on a professional women's tackle football team - for a story! And, gives us insight into how the magazine works behind the scenes. Megan began writing for Indy Monthly in 1995 while studying journalism at Indiana University. She joined the staff in 2005 and is now the magazine’s primary lifestyle editor and writes feature stories on whatever piques her interest.
You can find Megan on Twitter @MeganFernandez7
Facebook @Megan.BriscoeFernandez
Instagram @MBFernandez234
Check out Megan's article on Kristine Bunch: https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/longform/when-will-kristine-bunch-be-free
In today’s episode we talk with Megan Fernandez. Megan is executive editor at the award-winning, city/regional magazine, Indianapolis Monthly. She tells us about her time on a professional women's tackle football team - for a story! And, gives us insight into how the magazine works behind the scenes. Megan began writing for Indy Monthly in 1995 while studying journalism at Indiana University. She joined the staff in 2005 and is now the magazine’s primary lifestyle editor and writes feature stories on whatever piques her interest.
You can find Megan on Twitter @MeganFernandez7
Facebook @Megan.BriscoeFernandez
Instagram @MBFernandez234
Check out Megan's article on Kristine Bunch: https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/longform/when-will-kristine-bunch-be-free
Welcome to Media in Minutes. This is your host Angela Tuell. This podcast features in-depth interviews with those who report on the world around us. They share everything from their favorite stories to what happened behind the lens and give us a glimpse into their world. From our studio here at Communications Redefined, this is Media in Minutes. Today we are talking with Megan Fernandez. Megan is executive editor at the award winning city regional magazine Indianapolis Monthly. She began writing for Indy Monthly in 1995 while studying journalism at Indiana University. Megan joined the staff in 2005 and is now the magazine's primary lifestyle editor and writes feature stories on whatever piques her interest. Welcome, Megan. Thank you for joining us.
Megan Fernandez:Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Angela Tuell:Yes, it's great to talk with you. So we'll jump right in. And you started a special projects editor Indy Monthly 16 years ago. But even before that, you began writing for the magazine, right, while you were studying journalism at Indiana University.
Megan Fernandez:That's right.
Angela Tuell:That's quite a long time in the media business to stay in one place.
Megan Fernandez:Yeah, you're right. I mean, I was. I was an intern here. It was my first or second internship. And I really wanted to intern here. I discovered the magazine in the summer of 1994, I think. I still remember what was on the cover of that issue that I first saw. I even remember where it was, it was the Chamber of Commerce building. They had a little loose, like a little smoke, sand, new shop, newsstand shop, and I was working next door as a summer job and I felt solid there and I was a little boy drinking from a hose. And it was a summer pleasures issue. And I knew. I read that issue and I was a magazine student at IU and I knew I wanted to work for that magazine. So the next summer, they didn't advertise internships, but I just kept calling them and calling them and calling them and finally just dropped off my resume and have not heard anything back. And they were impressed by that. So I got the internship there. And then I've just been a part of the Indianapolis Monthly family since then. So I went back to school after that and I freelanced for them for about 10 years and worked at other magazines. And then a job came open about 10 years later. And that's when I joined the staff and I've been on staff that whole time. So I'm celebrating my 16th year on staff this month, but I really think it's been more like 25 or 26. I've been part of the year it was a long time to be in one place. But I mean, I honestly I knew I wanted to work at this magazine that first time I saw it. I really did.
Angela Tuell:It's amazing going after your dreams and getting them right. I know one of your first assignments required you to join a woman's full tackle football team for a season. Right. Tell us about that.
Megan Fernandez:So it actually, I know I say in my bio that it required me to but actually didn't it actually that was actually, here's what happened. I pitched a story as a freelancer, I was not on staff at Indianapolis Monthly. But I pitched a story to them as a freelancer on women's full tackle football because a little bit before roller derby came along there were started to be women's full tackle football teams. And there were two in Indianapolis and I wanted to do a story on them. And I like to do immersive reporting. It's where you go and do something and your report, kind of just do it as much as possible have the experience. I actually went to try out and I went through tryouts for this team in June. And then when I turned the story in, in July, um, I started writing it and it just sounded better when I got to the end, where if I just if I actually joined the team because the coaches like I told him what I was doing, but they didn't hear it. But it went in one ear and out the other. And they were so desperate for players that like they wouldn't been literally with me, they really wanted me on the team. So I was so flattered by that. And when I was writing it, I got to the end and the way I had written it, it just so happened that it sounded like a good story if I decided to join the team. So I wrote that not really thinking about it. And then I was like, Huh, I guess I'd better play full season. And you know what, I just felt like the story was gonna come out in September. I just thought I better be on the team in September so I don't make a liar out of the magazine. That was really what I was worried about. Because I was a freelancer at the time and they had a new editor who didn't know me very well I wanted to make - I was really worried that like if I wasn't on team when it came when that story came out I would get, like, they would get in trouble or somebody would point it out. They would not have cared looking back so I didn't actually have to do it looking back. So just out of integrity I kind of wanted to, I just wanted to and I ended up playing the full season which was mostly miserable but it was also a really, really fascinating experience.
Angela Tuell:Were you really beat up afterwards?
Megan Fernandez:I was really I was very selfish and my I did not get hurt because I took care of number one. And I would dodge tack you know I was supposed to be a blocker. I was on the offensive lines I supposed to block for the quarterback. I think she got hurt on the first play I ever, you know the first snap, first play of our first game. I think she got hurt on my side. I made sure I didn't get hurt first, to be honest, because a lot of people got hurt on that team. There were torn ACLs, there were concussions, oh my goodness, shoulder injuries, people were getting seriously hurt because they thought there was a future in the sport. And I knew there wasn't. There was no way I was gonna like get a serious injury.
Angela Tuell:Yeah, to protect those hands, writing, and your brain.
Megan Fernandez:And it was terrible what we were doing. And we had no technique. You know, we didn't know what we were doing, and we were playing full, full contact. And this was full pads, full contact. Yeah, it was, it was ludicrous that we were trying to do this. And you gotta have technique to protect your body in that kind of sport, and we didn't know what we were doing.
Angela Tuell:Yeah. So what does a typical day look like for you? I'm sure not one day is typical over the other but what what is it like?
Megan Fernandez:Like, yesterday, I had an interview at noon, for a story idea that I'm just chewing on, like, I don't even know what it's gonna be. It's just a topic I've been kind of curious about. So I had that at noon. So until then I just answered emails and just spent about two hours preparing for that interview, reading some material on the person I was interviewing and trying to formulate good questions, did really want to one of the hardest parts for me is just to formulate smart, succinct questions. And then I did the interview for half hour. And then I came back and we'll do some story ideas for the story idea meeting I had today. So it was a lot of emails and a lot of emailing back and forth with writers and publicists and, you know, other people, you know, store owners or whatever it was people in town who might might need to talk to you for developing story ideas. So then, you know, what did I do the rest of the day, I probably edited something small, I think I had a blog post idea that I assigned to an intern. So it's just it's kind of a grab bag of interviewing people and different, in developing stories or editing stories that are in different stages.
Angela Tuell:Yeah. What do you like most about being at Indy Monthly?
Megan Fernandez:I mean, the staff has been here for a long time. And they all really love magazines, and it's in their blood. And they know the craft of magazine. So just it's a real treat to be able to create a magazine with people who are that good at it. And once the the collaboration, the creative collaboration with this particular staff is really, really high. I mean, Indianapolis Monthly has been around for about 40, over 40 years. And we win a lot of awards within our niche, which is the City and Regional Magazine Association, which is an actual association with members. And they have their own awards every year and MS Publications, which is our Image Communications, which is our owner, they've you know, they've been a powerhouse in the City and Regional Magazine Association, with Indianapolis Monthly in Cincinnati, and Texas Monthly, Atlanta, Los Angeles. Those are magazines we voted throughout the years, and all those have been award winning magazine. So, you know, we're just these are real, this is a real hardcore magazine group. We don't own those other magazines anymore. But you know, we still have a group of people who I think are really strong magazine professionals. So it's just fun to play with them all day long, and come up with ideas and bat things around and things like that.
Angela Tuell:Yeah. You know, for those of our listeners who aren't familiar, and as you said, Indy Monthly is one of most popular magazines, not just in Indianapolis, but the state. And you're a print magazine in a digital world, as well. So how do you continue to keep the magazine successful this many years?
Megan Fernandez:We are really lucky about with our, with our readership, they are a loyal, engaged readership, many of them have been reading the magazine for 30, 40 years, grew up with it. Our interns say they remember seeing it in their parents in the living room growing up. So we're really lucky that we have had a really strong readership that's been with us for a very long time. And they really appreciate the brand. And, and they Debbie Paul is our longtime editor-in-chief, and she wrote a column for I don't know, 20 or 30 years, you know, they've they grew up reading that or, you know, read it faithfully. So we have that really strong relationship with our readers. And honestly, as an editor, I don't know a whole lot about the publishing side, the business side, we really do keep that separate. But I think I'm safe to say that we have really strong relationships with our advertisers, as well, the publishing and the ad set ads I do, they've just, you know, it's a great town to do business in. So we're lucky for that point of view. Now, in terms of in terms of digital and how we've been able to manage to survive in a digital world. We do have quite a bit of fresh online content every day. We have several newsletters that go out each week, we have a weekly podcast, you know, we engage online through Instagram and Twitter and Facebook. So, you know, we but you know, our readers still want the print product that is still the flagship, but they still enjoy sitting down and spending time with it. I mean, our core demographic is still the age that will sit down with a printed product. So we're lucky, lucky with that. But we have I think enough digital great engagement and on the social channels and with enough fresh online content that we're you know, giving people what they want on their phone, their phone or on the computer, you know, around the clock as well.
Angela Tuell:Yeah. Wow. It's a whole it's a different than when you started, right?
Megan Fernandez:Never could have foreseen this.
Angela Tuell:Yeah. What have you learned about Indianapolis, through the magazine, that has surprised you?
Megan Fernandez:Oh, goodness gracious had a surprise me. I think what I've learned about Indianapolis is this isn't like What a great place to live. a tidbit or piece of trivia. But we're always trying to put our finger on the Hoosier character, because that's what we want to do. We want you to kind of know what a Hoosier is. And it's re lly, it's harder to do than ther cities. And we've always been jealous of other city maga ines that have an easier time identifying their, their tage of their city's characte and kind of personifying it o the cover, like Texas has all hese things like I even like i ons, the booth, the hat the tumbleweed. All these vi uals they can call on to help them make their magazine, to c pture their city, and their and their people. And we just ou Hoosier character is a little m re abstract, and harder to put your finger on. But it's over the years, we have worked on it o long that I feel like I m getting it. And that's probab y my favorite thing is that I' e just kind of really honed in n what a Hoosier is. And I thi k it's somebody who is se f-sufficient. I think se f-sufficiency really kind of hel s define us. And I see that a l t of what I do is like shoppi g and I cover like, you kno, makers and kind of the creati e industries and design I'm always coming across people w o just thought, you know what I can make this and I can mak it better. And I believe in en repreneurs, and I believe I can o this. And they don't make a b g splash about it, but they t ey do and they succeed in creati g things. So I think that com s lot from our self-sufficiency I think we're hard working I think we're pretty neutra, middle of the road, we don't et too upset or too excite about too many things, which s actually kind of been a litt e bit difficult for us at the m gazine over the years. Because you know, we like buzz, we like, you know, a little scandal here nd there. I like to show off, you know, their homes or their lives. So that whole, very cent ality and neutrality is somethi g we have to kind of wrang e with as putting out a sizzlin magazine every month. But I t ink it is really part of our, o r DNA. And then the p rson I was interviewing yesterda, I did learn this, I guess, is it this is a very successful bus nessman and a tech entrepreneur And he pointed out t at like Indianapolis grows bu inesses smaller, especially in exas, I think he was talking a out but they last like we build hem the right way. We don't go f om zero to 100 employees in couple months and then flame o t. Like, you know, we don't mak as much of a splash, our tec industry doesn't, but they uild them slowly and surely in the right way. And then they they work, they succeed. And o that was something. I guess hat is who we are. I also think Indianapolis is ve y playful. Um, almost like a wh lesome Las Vegas. Like I've liv d downtown for 25 years. An it's just, there's just somet ing fun and playful and delig tful around every corner. Whet er it's a cute little pizza sta d, or a little park or you kno, just a great little popsicle stand. I mean, you know, little Mmm-hmmm. I think so. useum, just the gem museum over a White River State Park. T ey're just, we're a playgr und. I think we're a
Angela Tuell:So what are some of your favorite stories you've published over the years?
Megan Fernandez:I'm glad you said stories and not story. So I had to write one of the biggest story I've ever done. And the one I think I'll ever outdo was on Kristine Bunch who was a woman who was in prison for 16 years for killing her son in a house fire. So she was charged with arson and murder of her, of her young son and convicted. And then she was exonerated 16 years later. So she got out and I got her profile her and kind of find out how she survived those 16 years without turning into a ball of rage. She was actually extremely positive, got tons of education while she was in prison really made her life better. And so that was probably five or six years ago. And to this day, she's you know, has started a foundation helping exonerees. She's a remarkable person. And she went through that experience and became an even more remarkable person. So I really,when I met her, I wanted to find out how she how she did that. And, I, that story that had been the longest story the magazine has ever run in it's 47 years. It's about 15,000 words. I worked on it for a year, had a panic attack in the middle of it and went to the emergency room. I just threw everything I had into it. And it was really a privilege to be able to do that story and find out, you know, how somebody can just be that strong. And I also found out a lot about Indiana's criminal justice system, you know, in that throughout that process. We don't have restitution for exonerees like some states will automatically given exonerees $80,000 for instance for every year they were in they were wrongfully imprisoned. We don't, Indiana doesn't have that. So I found out, you know, have heard a lot about how we're kind of a little bit backwards and in some ways in that, and that, that came through in the story. So I'm that's on the big scale. But what what a lot of what I do is really fun, fluffy lifestyle or pop cultural kind of pieces that you also need in a magazine are just as important. And one of my favorite ones was the winning percentage of Andrew Luck's beard. So he had, I had this idea that after he'd been here five or six years, and his beard was like, as famous as he was, right, has its own Twitter parody account and all these things. So I wanted to know if he wins more, you know, if he had a big beard, or if it's a clean shaven man, so we analyze that we printed out a picture of him with every single game and broke it down into five different beard links, and came up with, and matched record based on his beard links. And it just became this fun, creative story that was like not even a full page. And we just had a lot of fun with it. And we actually put a lot of work into it.
Angela Tuell:So was he did better when his beard was longer?
Megan Fernandez:I forget which one it was. It's been about four or five years now. But I think the story and like, where he actually had the best winning percentage. And we gave each beard length a little name, and just had just made it very magazinie. And, you know, that's just the kind of thing that you need in the magazine to make someone smile. But it's also very us. Like Andrew Luck's, we cared about Andrew Luck's beard, we paid attention to it. So that, to me, is the fun stuff, you know, just to be able to celebrate our culture, and give people something like that to read and smile about.
Angela Tuell:Yes. Yeah. Many people don't realize how far out you must plan right at it. lay out a print magazine. Tell us a little bit about that.
Megan Fernandez:Yeah, our average lead time is about three to four months. So like right now, I just got on the meeting planning September and October. So we're working on August actively, so that's already been planned. And it's half, it's halfway written. Mostly written. And we just, we should have had September planned already. We were a little behind. And we just planned October. So that's four or five months ahead.
Angela Tuell:Yeah. And the holidays are starting for you.
Megan Fernandez:Yeah, I mean, some magazines like bigger magazines would have already shot their holiday feature, like they shoot their winter coat features in summer or that kind of stuff. We're not quite that far in advance. But every once in a while a story calls for us to be about a year in advance if we need to shoot something seasonal for the next year, like a lake package. You know, we can't shoot the lakes in April. We cover them in summer, sometimes we got to shoot them a year in advance. So we try to do, try to be thoughtful about that and do as much in advance as we can. But really, it's at least three or four months. And I'm not kidding. I tell you after 26 years of this, I have to stop and think what time of year it is. I never know. I never know.
Angela Tuell:And then you also though have to be in present for digital.
Megan Fernandez:Yeah, I'm not, I don't do much digitally. I don't have a regular thing online. So yeah, I have to try to snap back into the present. And usually I see something online on social media, that I'm like, Oh, yeah, it is June. We are hiking right now. Um, so that'll give me an idea. But yeah, mostly on my head two or three months in advance all the time.
Angela Tuell:What type of projects are you currently working on? Can you share?
Megan Fernandez:Well, I always do travel, the shopping and the real estate for the magazine. So I always pay attention to those things. And then I just finished the current cover story is on Good Bones, the HGTV show. The sixth season is starting later this month pretty soon. So I spent a month or two writing that story. It was on the set with them a couple of times and talking to other people about why the show has broken out. And, too, because, to be honest, I say this story after the first season, I didn't think it would last this long. And boy, it really has. I mean there are not always still on, they're HGTV royalty. Their show is actually the most watched show on HGTV's streaming platform.
Angela Tuell:Yeah, and for those who don't know that's a local, a show started locally for the people.
Megan Fernandez:Yeah, it's a home, home renovation show on HGTV like Flip, you know, Flip or Flop, or Fixer Upper. It actually came out when Fixer Upper was still a big, was still on. And it was, it was an absolute sensation. So it probably suffered a little bit from getting compared to that show. But yeah, it's a bonafide HGTV show and they are bonafide reality TV stars. And also they're very, very good at what they do, which is you know, at the company whenever they're renovating houses on the south side of Indianapolis. So that was fun. And then the July cover story I finished as an editor on Indy fashion that's coming out in a couple months, and those two things consumed my attention for a few months. And I'm gonna, I'm looking now at electric vehicles in Indianapolis.
Angela Tuell:Okay. I'm fascinated by a recent interview you mentioned that you did with the author of Mad Travelers. I had not heard of this Country Counters. You got to tell us a little bit about that.
Megan Fernandez:Yeah, this doesn't have anything to do with Indianapolis Monthly. He although he is that the author's name Dave Seminara. And he does freelance for us every now and then. He lives in Florida and he's a travel expert and he is such a travel addict. He has had himself tested for a gene that might explain why you are. Yeah, there are some people out there who are so addicted to travel. They're restless. They can't not go, causes problems in their life. And there's this. There's this gene that's been identified and they call it The Wanderer gene that might be associated with restlessness and certain people who have traditionally what mon nomadic people. And he had himself tested for that. And so that led him into this world of extreme travelers, which might sound like people who like extreme sports, like he put he do you do bungee jump off the Eiffel Tower? No, it's people who want to get to every country in the world at least once, maybe twice. And there's about 192 of those, I think, recognized by the UN. But then they these people have gone much, much further this I say, people, this subculture of travelers have gone much, much further beyond that. And there are all these little like, territories and islands around the world that are like impossible to get to. And so they, they're trying to get to those as well. These are not vacations, sagas to get. I'm talking like Bouvet Island in Antarctica that is like owned by somebody in the Navy, and you aren't allowed to go there to get special permission to go there. And I mean, there's no reason to go there, except if you're one of these people that just wants to cross off everything on their list. But a lot of places like Mogadishu, Mogadishu in Africa and more to Syria. Yeah. And they're called country counters or extreme travelers. And so the book delved into that subculture.
Angela Tuell:I'm wondering what they do for a living to have money to...and travel so much?
Megan Fernandez:Well, it's funny. Most of them aren't super rich. I mean, they obviously have enough money to travel frequently, but not necessarily constantly a couple of these people are in Chicago, you know, I think everyone's has his own business or whatever. But they're not like wildly wealthy. One of them, I think, was a dishwasher in Barcelona, like really, really? Yeah. But just saved all his money. And this is, this is what he did. Yeah, but it's funny that you mentioned that because Mad Travelers is actually about one, one of the individuals in that group was a billionaire, and a young 20 year old billionaire. And so you can tell he has the money. But it turns out he was he was organizing trips to these crazy places for some of these people and kind of, they were his clients, and he would organize a trip, they'd pay him, he would make all the arrangements, but it turns out he was a total fraud and not who He said He was. He's just like a regular kid from Dublin. Yeah, he just fooled them all and ended up taking taking a lot of their money and not run and not carrying through with the trips. But, uh....
Angela Tuell:Maybe you can find one of these country counters locally that you get.
Megan Fernandez:One of the first questions I asked Dave, like, Is there anybody in Indianapolis? Trust me - It's the first question I asked. Is there a local story there, please. And there wasn't actually, but the closest one was in Chicago, so, yeah, trust me, that.
Angela Tuell:That was your first thought.
Megan Fernandez:That little bell goes off all the time.
Angela Tuell:Yes. Before we go we have to talk about your Twitter profile. And a few things you say you're a nickname connoisseur. A Truth Truther. And a tennis bagelee. Tell us a little bit about each of those.
Megan Fernandez:Nickname connoisseur. I'm dying to write a book on nicknames. I just love nicknames. You always get some, you know, warm, endearing story that explains, you know how a person got a nickname. I think it's just like a great little way to know somebody kind of one of my interviewing tricks. I always ask people what their nickname is. They usually get like a nice personal story. They go along with that. And I would just love to do, I really want to a whole book on nicknames.
Angela Tuell:What is your nickname?
Megan Fernandez:Well, it's funny The reason I thought about that is the reason I became so enamored with this and obsessed with this I don't have a nickname. I never did growing up. It was like a big deal for me. And set in seventh grade. Everyone got a nickname, and I didn't have one. Even when I joined the football team, everybody had nicknames. I didn't have one. I'm just been like, nicknameless my whole life. And then what's odd is that like here at the office about three years ago, someone did give me, they just started calling me sunshine. Like, yeah, so I guess that's technically the only nickname I've ever had, it just like is the last name in the world I thought somebody would have given me.
Angela Tuell:I like it. That's a good one.
Megan Fernandez:Yeah, some so there is one person out there that calls me sunshine. So other than that, it's the only nickname, like, and you think once you're I was turned into a professional athlete when I played played football because they thought they were technically a professional league. I mean, nobody could stop themselves from calling themselves that. So I was technically a professional athlete. I still didn't have a nickname. But there's no way, I'm just not cut out for it. So that's the nicknames and then the Truth Truth or is, I'm just a very skeptical person. I mean, not not. As a reporter, it's really taught me that truth is very slippery. And really elusive and hard to get to. Most of us are working on an income, with an incomplete set of facts about anything in any given time. And it's just, that's how I that's kind of my worldview. You know, to me, truth is facts plus context. And that context is very difficult. The full context of anything is very difficult to come by. Um so I'm really fascinated with with the nature of truth. And as I do my work, I think about that a lot. Do I really have it? Or is there some other perspective? And I'm always questioning, you know what I think I've, I've learned to be true. And then I saw this movie once and it really kind of, it, there was a line that that really snapped all that into perspective. For me, it really summed it up. But it was that we all look through the world, look at the world through our own keyhole. And it was the movie was about Before Sunset. Do you know that trilogy Before Sunrise, Before Sunset?
Angela Tuell:Yeah, yes. Right.
Megan Fernandez:Yeah, so it's the middle one, Before Sunset. And he says that at one point, and I was just like, "that is exactly how I've been feeling about things. I just don't know how to put it into words." We all look at the world through our own keyhole. And there's so much more outside of that. And journalism is the practice of widening that keyhole, or trying to best open the door if you can, and see everything, but we'll never see everything. So I'm just like, it's hard for me to, I wouldn't say it's hard for you to believe anything, but I'm always thinking about, you know, is there some other characterization? Is it this was a characterization, it wasn't a fact. You know, it's just opinion. So when a characterization, you know, now we live in the world of hot takes, which is the polar opposite of truth. And so, that's what that means.
Angela Tuell:Yeah. That's what makes a great journalist to be like that, you know.
Megan Fernandez:Thank you. Yes, if you can find a way to move forward with that, and but it's hard, you know, at some point you have to accept something or be able to prove something.
Angela Tuell:Right, right. You know, it's gotten worse, too, over time, because now you can surround yourself in a bubble even more. So even if you're not personally trying to do that. But through social media, whatever it may be when you're not even seeing other perspectives.
Megan Fernandez:That's a very good point. Yeah. People don't even realize that their keyhole has gotten so much smaller. Yeah. Trying to be aware of that is important. I made up that word, bagelee, but I'm a tennis player. I play a lot of tennis recreationally and in tennis, if you get bageled that means you lost a set with zero games. So zero in tennis is a bagel that's just the term for it. So if you've actually had on there I was a tennis bageler, meaning I served up the bagels, I was always winning. And my opponents had zero games. And then I went through a terrible stretch of losing this year, and from January to April, I just lost an ungodly amount of matches. So I actually changed it to bagelee. Because it was more truthful.
Angela Tuell:I love that! Although, you could have, you could say tennis bagelee striving for tennis bageler.
Megan Fernandez:Well, I've turned back into a bageler since the last day and now I' winning everything, but I' like, I don't want to chang it back because maybe that'll
Angela Tuell:Because then you'd go back to bagelee. When did urse it. you get started with this sport?
Megan Fernandez:I started when I was a little kid, like when I could walk. I grew up in the country on a farm. And it's, it's insane that we became tennis...like, I had seven, I have six brothers and sisters. When I grew up on this farm, and my dad had built for us, built us a court, he built us a dirt court, like the most ghetto court you've ever seen. And we all learned to play. It was the only thing we could do it, and so it was the only thing we had to do out there in the country, well, we ran around and climbed trees and everything. But we all play tennis. And it was just really, probably very unlikely that I grew up playing tennis where I did in small town of Indiana. I mean, like out in the country. So I played since I was a little kid in high school. And I'm still playing now.
Angela Tuell:Oh, that's great. Thank you so much, Megan, for joining us. It's been a wonderful conversation.
Megan Fernandez:Thank you, Angela. I really appreciate you being interested in having me on the show.
Angela Tuell:Yes, of course. You can find Megan on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. We will link to those accounts in show notes. That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes, a podcast by Communications Redefined, available anywhere you get your podcasts. You can find more at CommunicationsRedefined.com/podcast. I'm your host, Angela Tuell. Talk to you next time.