In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews relocation planning coach Margaret Vandergriff, founder of Harvest Moon Coaching. Margaret shares the story of launching her first business as a freelance grant writer after moving from San Francisco to Austin with no resources, emphasizing patience and persistence. She outlines her core expertise: the "Find Your Happy Place" program, which advises people to start relocation decisions by looking inward rather than relying on online sources. Her general business advice stresses not giving up and being open to new approaches. She offers personal wisdom to her younger self—relax and stop worrying about the future. Margaret defines the key to happiness as having the freedom to pursue what truly makes one happy and acting on it. Her favorite book, the 1942 children's classic "The Little House," taught her about belonging, change, and the impact of environment on happiness, inspiring her coaching business. She shares a favorite quote from her husband about the fine line between diligence and insanity, highlighting the balance needed in research. Finally, she directs listeners to her website, harvestmooncoaching.com, for more resources.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Margaret Vandergrift with us. She is a relocation planning coach who founded Harvest Moon Coaching to provide tools, strategies, and support to help people find a place to live that they love. So welcome to the show, Margaret.
Thanks, Tyler. Thanks for having me on the show.
Of course. Pumped to have you on. Uh, we'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you today is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, that would be the story of how I started my first business as a freelance grant writer. Um, I was 25 and I just relocated from San Francisco to Austin, Texas. I was single and I had no money, no credit card, no car, no computer. And at the time there was no internet. So I worked an office job 2 weeks out of the month and the other 2 weeks out of the month I spent marketing. And that consisted of researching nonprofits in the phone book, using the typewriters at the library to write marketing letters, mapping out nonprofits on bus routes, and then taking the bus all over the city to drum up business. And it took 3 years for the business to take off, but I built it steadily from there. And I think the message there is that Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are businesses, and that it's important to stay patient, persistent, and focused, and you'll have success.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Well, when you're thinking about where to move, try to resist the urge to jump online or to look to others for answers or advice. Start by looking within and focusing on what's most important to you and what you need to be happy living in a place. And this is actually the first step in the Find Your Happy Place program I created.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
Overall business advice, I would say Don't give up too easily and don't be afraid to try new things or new ways of doing things.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Just one, huh? I would say to my younger self, I would say chill out because worrying about what may or may not happen in the future is a waste of time and energy and you're just making yourself miserable. So try to roll with life more.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I think that it's having the freedom to pursue, but also feeling free to pursue what makes us happy, because we can have the freedom to pursue what makes us happy and we can really want to pursue it, but we still don't do it. And so I think the key is to grab the tiger by the tail and to pursue happiness whenever we can.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Yeah, the best book I ever read is actually a children's book. It's a classic 1942 children's book called The Little House, and it's by Virginia Lee Burton. It's about a house that lives happily in the countryside until the big city builds up around it, and then it's abandoned and forgotten until it's rescued and returned to the countryside where it's happy and loved again. And I think for me, the number one lesson is just the message that we can be happy living someplace for a really long time until either we change, or a place changes, or both of us change. And then all of a sudden, we feel like we just don't belong there anymore. And it's these themes of belonging and happiness and change that are what inspired me to create a business around helping people find a place to live that they love.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
So I don't really have an all-time favorite quote, but I have a favorite quote of the moment, and it's for all the researchers out there. And my husband said it. We're both researchers, and the quote is, "There's a fine line between diligence and insanity." And I think it's a really funny quote because when I research, I get in a really leave no stone unturned frame of mind, and it just tells me that there's always going to be more information. And that it's important to know when to stop because you can drive yourself crazy trying to find everything.
Thank you so much for coming on, Margaret. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find you online?
Yeah, you can find me online and learn how I can help you find your happy place at www.harvestmooncoaching.com. Forward slash Business Blast.
Perfect. Thank you again. We appreciate you hopping on.
Thank you, Tyler. I so appreciate it.
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