Meg Piercy grew up in Kansas City and went to high school at the American School of London. Piercy had always been interested in business, especially when it came to putting a creative twist on something, so after finishing high school, she decided to head off to the University of Kansas to study public relations (PR) and marketing.
After graduating, Piercy worked a couple of different jobs to support herself and her family, but it wouldn’t take long for an accident to lead her to her true calling and allow her to put her love for business and creativity to use.
Piercy and her husband, Joe, were struggling financially when they needed to decorate their son’s nursery. The couple couldn’t afford a changing table for their son, and by chance one of their neighbors had thrown an old dresser out into the alley. Piercy decided to take that old dresser and DIY it into a changing table for her baby.
Piercy instantly fell in love with upcycling old furniture. Thinking she could paint a second dresser even nicer for her son, she put the original dresser up on Craigslist. When the dress sold in less than 12 hours, Percy immediately knew she and her husband had to keep making more.
“It became routine for us to paint dressers every night while watching ‘Law and Order SVU.’ After a while, we had customers coming to our house picking up dressers almost every day,” said Piercy. “Joe would point to all the dressers we've painted and say ‘Meg made this’ or ‘Meg made that.’ One of our customers said, ‘You say Meg made a lot. You should get a storefront and call yourselves MegMade.’ So, that's exactly what we did.”
Since selling that first dresser on Craigslist, Piercy and her husband have come incredibly far. The couple opened up their very first MegMade store in Chicago, and almost immediately had to move their operations to a bigger location to keep up with demand. Piercy and her husband also hosted their own DIY tv show called “Renovation Goldmine” on HGTV.
Things were going great and Piercy’s upcycled goods were a hit all across the country when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. During the lockdown, Piercy and her husband realized that they wanted to give their kids more space to be outdoors and decided to move to Northwest Indiana. They absolutely fell in love with the area and before they knew it they were in Munster opening up their second MegMade location.
The couple couldn’t be happier. Piercy feels so blessed to have started her own business simply by chance and loves everything about what she does. She can’t wait to celebrate her company’s 10-year anniversary in October.
“I love the creativity of it all. I can picture what a room has the potential to look like from the second I walk in the room, so it's really fun to be able to dream up what certain spaces have the potential to look like with clients. I love working with people and have had so much fun meeting so many new people that come into the Chicago and Munster store,” said Piercy.
There are many reasons why doing DIY projects and upcycling old furniture and decor is important, but Piercy emphasizes how important it is in improving a person’s well-being. Having a home that you love can do wonders for your mental health, and Piercy wants everyone to know that a person doesn’t have to break the bank to design their dream home.
“One thing we've realized throughout these past few years is that the space you live in really matters. It affects your mood, the way your family is able to function--all those things. I think it's important to live in a home you love, and that doesn't necessarily mean spending a fortune. There are so many things you can do to have a home that you really love and that compliments your personality and style,” said Piercy.
If Piercy could give anyone thinking about taking a chance and starting their own business, she would tell them to not let themselves get overwhelmed. When things get tough and discouraging, she encourages everyone to remember why they wanted to start their business in the first place.
“My biggest piece of advice is to really focus on staying grounded. The highs can feel really high and the lows and worries can be low when owning a business. It's important to focus on staying balanced and believing in what you do and knowing why you started,” said Piercy.
So many people have helped Piercy and her husband in their DIY journey, but she is most grateful to her parents and in-laws for being there with them every single step of the way. She couldn’t have gotten to where she is today without their love and support.
“They have been so supportive since the beginning. Whether it's picking up our kids from school when we have to work late, calling to check in on a stressful day, or reminding us why we started, they have been there through it all,” said Piercy.
When she’s not busy running her stores and putting her upcycling skills to the test, Piercy likes to spend as much time as she possibly can with her three young boys. She even spent this past basketball season coaching one of her sons’ teams.
Ultimately, Piercy and her husband once again prove how incredible of a place Northwest Indiana is--you never know who might make your day a bit more interesting.