A Conversation with Evereve CEO, Megan Tamte

MAJOR #girlcrush moment about to happen. We had the chance to interview Megan Tamte, CEO and founder of Evereve, a women’s clothing store that in the last 17 years has grown from 1 to over 80 locations nationwide.

Evereve shares our passion for empowering women, they just do it with clothes and they “strive to empower you every day to pull on the jeans that make you look amazing and take a step forward, wherever you’re going”. We are so excited to feature Megan who has accomplished so much and is such an inspirational example of authenticity, risk-taking, and a woman with incredible drive to live out her own dreams. This one’s a must read. Enjoy!

You’ve had the opportunity to sell a wide range of things from clothing in your story to pitching your company to investors. What have you found makes someone great at sales?

The best sales people I know practice what I call “courageous authenticity”. They show up, they speak the truth, they tell their story, and they act like themselves. The notion of, “fake it ‘til you make it” can only take you so far.

We’ve learned through #GirlsClub that women just need a tap on the shoulder to take off. What was your “tap” that got you to take Evereve from idea and to reality?

Believe it or not, the tap on my shoulder came while I was watching the season two finale of American Idol. As I watched the contestants living out their dreams, I realized I was being a spectator to other people’s dreams and not following mine. That night I gave up watching TV—I went cold turkey— instead of watching other people’s dreams at night on tv, I sat down at the computer at night and poured out my dreams for EVEREVE on a piece of paper. That piece of paper eventually became the EVEREVE business plan.

What is a time you took a big risk and it paid off?

The biggest risk I took was signing the lease for our very first store. We signed a personal guarantee of a million dollars (we didn’t have a million dollars) and I was terrified.

If you could go back to the start of Evereve and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

Keeping following your heart—it knows the way! Trusting yourself is the only way to get to a destination that fully belongs to you.

Our #GirlsClub community is full of driven women who often are faced with balancing career and family. How do you find the balance between mom and successful business leader?

When my kids were little. I stayed focused on my top priorities: my faith, my family, and my work. I was fierce about saying, “no” to anything that fell outside of those priorities. I made a lot of sacrifices. My house wasn’t perfect, I didn’t exercise (other than long walks and family activities) and I didn’t have a big social life.

We hear you are an avid reader. What book is next up in your Kindle queue?

From the Ground Up by Howard Shultz. As an entrepreneur, a merchant, and a brand builder- I’ve always been drawn to his work. I’ve read all of his books– multiple times — and have found his business & leadership lessons to be incredibly inspiring and helpful.