Her Story
About Megan
Megan Petrola serves as Client Operations Director at Aesop, a boutique consulting firm in the consulting services industry. She has spent ten years in the field, including seven years with Aesop and one year partnering with founder Craig before that. In her role, Petrola manages all operational aspects, including project work, client development, and further business development. She began her career path as an executive assistant at a private equity firm before advancing to support the managing partner, and later joined Aesop where she has grown into a chief of staff capacity with a broad operational view. Petrola graduated from UMass Amherst with a business degree and previously obtained a real estate license. She is a board member emeritus of a local youth hockey organization, where she revamped the girls program, expanding participation from 15 to over 70 girls, and secured the Brianna Decker Endowment Award from USA Hockey to support that growth. Petrola attributes her professional success to the resilience modeled by her single mother, who raised her and her brother with limited resources. She values integrity and giving full effort in all endeavors, and she advises young women to strike a balance between personal and professional demands.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Megan
01What do you attribute your success to?
I grew up with a single mom as a parent, and just watching her, right, with limited resources, kind of push everything to the limit to be able to provide more for my brother and I, and just knowing that, you know, if someone says no. Chances are, it can still happen, and you can make it happen, so definitely having that strong female figure in my life has taught me, you know, you could really do this. Don't say you can't, right?
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
You don't have to know everything, but you have to be the most prepared person in the room. My boss said that. As long as you're the most prepared person in the room, like, you don't have to know everything, but you're prepared, right?
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Understanding striking a balance, right? Like, there's a balance with everything in life, whether it's personal, professional, you know, but you have to strike the balance, and you need to know where that balance comes in, and where the scales tip at different points in your life, and that's okay. I don't think anyone should be beating themselves up when, you know, you have a young family, and you're like, oh, geez, you know, I'm however many years old, and I want to get to the next level, but there's all this pressure right now at home, like, that's okay. It will eventually come when the timing is right.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges, kind of in a role like mine, is that evolution, right? Where I started kind of as an executive assistant and have evolved, you know, obviously far beyond that. To that chief of staff capacity with the operational view, like, it is jumping across those hurdles to really be seen, you know, as someone that has something super valuable brought to the table. And I think that, you know, the old view on the capacity of folks in kind of those supporting roles is a huge challenge for super smart, super ambitious, you know, people getting to the next level and really changing the dynamic of those working relationships.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say, you know, obviously, integrity, right? And then, you know, treating people how you expect to be treated. If I'm treating you good, I expect the same, and, you know, it goes to the other side as well. In like, not giving anything half effort, right? Speaking to that integrity piece, like you have to give it your 110, because if you don't, that's what you gave it, and then, kind of, that is what it is. There's no changing that.
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