Designing your next chapter with clarity and intention.
Hello, brave soul. I see you.
You’re a creative, entrepreneurial spirit—evolving and reinventing.
You’re driven to make a difference, and you move mindfully through the depths of shaping your life and work with intention.
Me too.
I’m Megan, and as a Design Partner & Next Chapter Advisor, I work with experienced, thoughtful professionals who sense that something in their work or direction is ready to shift—and want support designing their next chapter with clarity and intention.
Sometimes that support looks like making space to discern what comes next. At other times, it means translating a clear direction into a business or personal brand that feels true and credible.
Either way, the work begins with clarity.
Ways to Work Together
Two paths, depending on where you are.
People arrive here at different moments: some are still clarifying what’s next, while others are clear and ready to build. From either starting point, we partner together to design the next chapter strategically and mindfully.
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1:1 Advisory engagements are for people who are navigating a transition—professional, creative, or personal—and want a grounded thinking partner as they make sense of what comes next.
Together, we slow things down, explore possibilities, and clarify direction so your decisions feel intentional, not urgent or reactive.
This work is conversational, strategic, and contained.
Orienting through your values & strengths, skills & experience, and personal & financial goals, we don’t build or refine your branding until your direction feels right.
I offer single sessions, packages, and quarterly engagements.
Contact me so we can discuss your goals and explore the right 1:1 advisory cadence for you.
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Brand & Design engagements happen through my brand atelier, Sage by Design. These partnerships are for those who already have a sense of their direction and want to bring it to life through intentional brand strategy and design.
We focus on clarity, credibility, and expression to create a brand foundation that feels aligned, usable, and true to you.
I personally lead your project, engaging trusted specialists to provide brand direction, visual identity design, web & digital presence, and additional marketing support services.
Some clients arrive here directly, while others come after an advisory engagement, once their direction is clear.
Get in touch here to schedule a consultation about your brand & design goals.
Meet Megan
I’m Megan McCarthy—a strategist, designer, and advisor with two decades of experience working across award-winning creative agencies, Fortune 500 companies, world-renowned nonprofits, and my own boutique brand atelier.
Over the years, my work has evolved alongside my life: leaving corporate paths, building an online business, living abroad, navigating loss and change, and learning what it means to design a life and career rooted in intention, not “shoulds”.
That lived experience shapes how I work today: with empathy, perspective, a deep respect for complexity—and proven strategies to design what’s next with my clients.
If you’re in a moment where you need more than just a coach, a strategist, or a branding expert alone… we should talk.
But the most profitable lesson of this journey between temples and tuk-tuks was learning that there are billions of ways to make a living and make a life.
I came to understand my own values for the first time as I built a working style that supported the way I want to live every day: with ease and delight, authenticity and intention.
So the next logical step was—you guessed it—not getting another office job. Instead, I took another chance on myself and began building an online business, creating dynamite websites and brand identities for other brave, heart-led solopreneurs and businesses around the world.
Now I also coach people seeking greater peace in life and more purpose in their work to pave their own paths as I did—but for their own reasons and in their very own ways. No visas or international flights required (though I’m always happy to talk about those).
More about me
After a decade in corporate America designing in award-winning agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and a world-renowned art museum, in January 2017 I quit my job and sold all my stuff.
To be fair, I’d spent the last six months fighting acute viral meningitis & transverse myelitis, so following my heart felt less dramatic than going back to an office.
I took a chance on myself and followed a dream that terrified me: I bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok and asked my network to send me any freelance design projects they had. It paid off—my earnings kept me backpacking solo through Southeast Asia for nearly two years.
So, like I said… I see you.
And I’m here to help you lay down some bricks in the right direction on your own path.
I’m still paving mine, too. My website is in “keep it simple” mode while I, like you, attend to the noble task of Shaping What’s Next—so you’re in good company.
In the meantime, I’m very much here behind the screen, eager to hear your story and start co-creating what’s next for you.
My story of purpose-led life and work
In January 2017—after a decade in corporate America designing across award-winning agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and world-renowned nonprofits—I resigned from my job and sold everything I owned.
To be fair, I’d spent the prior six months fighting acute viral meningitis & transverse myelitis, so following my heart felt less dramatic than going back to an office.
I took a chance on myself and followed a dream that terrified me: I bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok and asked my network to send me any freelance design projects they had. It paid off—my earnings kept me backpacking solo through Southeast Asia for nearly two years.
But the most profitable lesson of that journey between temples and tuk-tuks was learning that there are billions of ways to make a living—and make a purpose-filled life.
Launching a dream: starting my first online business in Hoi An, Vietnam, 2017.
New dream, same glasses: advising clients worldwide in 2025.
I came to truly discern my own values for the first time as I built a working style that supported the way I want to live every day: with ease and delight, authenticity and intention.
So the next logical step was—you guessed it—not getting another office job. Instead, I took another chance on myself and began building an online business, designing dynamite websites and brand identities for brave, heart-led solopreneurs and businesses around the world.
Now I also strategically advise people seeking greater peace in life and more purpose in their work to design their own paths as I did—but for their own reasons and in their very own ways. No visas or international flights required (though I’m always happy to talk about those).
So, like I said earlier… I see you.
And I’m here to help you design the next chapter of your own path.
Let’s talk about the shifts you’re navigating
Reach out to me today so we can start designing your tomorrow with clarity and intention.