Megan Ebl
Megan Ebl is an accomplished project leadership and talent acquisition professional known for driving innovation, operational excellence, and strategic growth through collaborative leadership and process improvement. Currently serving as a Project Leader at Edward Jones, she brings a unique combination of analytical thinking, relationship-building, and organizational leadership to every initiative she supports. Megan is widely recognized for her ability to streamline complex workflows, improve team alignment, and create scalable solutions that enhance both business performance and the employee experience.
Megan’s career journey has been shaped by an insatiable curiosity and a passion for challenging the status quo. She began her professional path in education as a teacher before transitioning into retail management, where she gained valuable experience leading operational and project-based initiatives with organizations including Target, Macy's, and Kohl's. Seeking greater work-life balance for her growing family, she entered the financial services industry eight years ago and quickly discovered her passion for recruiting operations and systems improvement. From the beginning, Megan consistently challenged existing processes by asking how systems, workflows, and teams could operate more effectively. Encouraged by strong mentors and supportive leadership, she moved into a liaison role focused on solving system issues and identifying opportunities for enhancement. Her innovative mindset led to numerous system improvements and collaborative “mini-projects” that engaged recruitment teams across the organization and ultimately helped save the firm more than one million dollars through operational efficiencies and enhanced processes.
Driven by determination and continuous growth, Megan pursued opportunities to expand her project management expertise even before formally stepping into a leadership role. Although she was initially turned down for an entry-level project management position due to limited direct experience, she remained committed to building those skills within her existing responsibilities, consistently demonstrating her ability to lead projects, organize teams, and execute complex initiatives successfully. Her persistence ultimately earned her the project leadership role she holds today, where she focuses on creating strong project structures, fostering communication and collaboration across diverse teams, and guiding initiatives from concept to execution. Megan also holds a Six Sigma Green Belt, a Project Management Certificate from the University of Missouri–St. Louis, and Prosci certification in Change Management. Combined with her Master of Arts in Educational and Instructional Technology from University of Missouri–Columbia, these credentials reflect her ongoing commitment to innovation, continuous improvement, and impactful leadership.
• Program Management Certification (UMSL)
• Teaching Certification
• Six Sigma Green Belt
• University of Missouri-Columbia - MA, Educational/Instructional Technology
• Lindenwood University - BA, Elementary Education and Teaching
• Max Mission
• Foster care for special needs dogs through Max Mission
• Crochet donations for St. Jude fundraising events
What do you attribute your success to?
I would say my family. My husband is my biggest supporter, and without him or my parents, my in-laws, my mother and her better half, my father and his wife, and my siblings (there were 6 of us), I wouldn't be where I am today. It's truly a family-driven function. Of course, there's a little bit of me in there, but my parents really built the drive, you know, to help keep me going, and my husband, for the last 11 years, has been my biggest supporter.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received actually came from a leader that told me, 'Do the job that you want, not the job that you have.' Without that input, that stuck with me. That advice completely changed how I approached my work, and I did exactly that. Now here I am.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Never give up. I had applied to an initial project role, and I was passed over for somebody with more experience, but I kept trying, and I proved that I could do the experience without having the title, including doing that over my normal position, and I succeeded. I was proving to myself that I could do it. So, just never giving up, and don't be afraid to try new things. You know, you get tapped on the shoulder to say, hey, do you want to be a liaison for this, or do you want to support this, or help lead this effort, and never say no. Sometimes it can feel daunting, or it can feel overwhelming at times, but it's just taking a step back and making sure that you prioritize yourself and your growth, and never stop learning. I mean, I just finished those courses with UMSL. I was 8 months pregnant, and I was frozen, but I did it. So it's just never give up and always continue to educate yourself.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
When I phrase that into opportunities, the biggest opportunities that I have is the firm's buy-in to education. I mean, I can go to my leader and say, hey, I want to build this certain skill or subset, or I want to become certified in this workaround, or I want to go get my financial licenses and get registered, and they will back me 100%, so the opportunities are endless when it comes to the firm. There's an educational support system, and I can say, hey, this is what I want to do, and my leaders will check the box and get approvals, and most of the time, it's a yes, and I can just go do it. I can sign up for courses at our local universities, like I did for my project management experience at UMSL. The opportunities are endless. Also, the support of development is incredible. I can tell my leader or my director that I want to start learning whatever new system that we've adapted to, and they're like, okay, here you go, here's somebody you can go shadow for the day, and then start learning that and bring that learning back to the team so we can all evolve. The developmental opportunities that our firm allows is above all the rest, where I've worked at all the places I've worked.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Trust is my biggest value. Trust and communication. If you don't have those, you cannot succeed. You have to trust your team, you have to have open communication with your team for everybody to be on the same page, and that's including family life as well. You know, we have kids that are starting to get into conversations earlier than what we were, and so having that open communication and trust that they can come speak to my husband and I, you know, from that personal level, to talk them through any challenges that they face. Yeah, those are my two biggest things.