TOTAL MOM MAKEOVER SERIES: Meagan Paullin Before and After Mommy Makeover Transformation

Meagan Paullin strikes me as a beautiful writer and storyteller with an adorable daughter who is just like her. Interestingly, I met Meagan in 2012 for a blogger event with Nike in Beaverton, OR. Meagan and I hit it off right away, and she was genuine in her optimism and outlook in life and in her willingness to help others in whatever way she is able to.

Meagan and I have been friends on Facebook and over the last five years, I have seen Meagan go through up and downhill battles with life and her health and when I learned that she applied for this mommy makeover, I prayed she would get selected. You totally deserve this and more, Meagan. Your sweet heart and your soul are truly one of a kind. Now it’s your turn to shine!

Check out Meagan’s interview and her amazing before and after mommy makeover transformation on Total Mom Makeover!

Watch ‘Total Mom Makeover’ episode #6:

We got some great inspiration from our very own Dream Team stylist, Ashley Trevino that we’re sharing with you today:

“When we’re open, honest, and transparent we realize we’re not the only ones that have these thoughts in our heads. We’re not the only ones who feel down on ourselves. When I saw them all transformed, it brought tears to my eyes. You ladies are so beautiful! Here’s the thing about fashion – it’s connected to who we are. When you put on a piece, you’re making a statement. But without the confidence that comes from within, why does it matter? What does it matter if I have the cutest stilletos or the nicest outfit if I don’t think that I’m amazing inside.”

Meagan Paullin Interview
Location: Yakima, WA

DAISY: Do you have any children? If so, how many and what are their ages?
MEAGAN: Yes – one girl, six years old.

DAISY: What are your favorite hobbies and/or types of community service you serve in?
MEAGAN: Whooo boy. These have all fallen away over last year, with my big life crisis nonsense. Working on getting back to my groove though. 🙂 My word for the year is HOME, grounding myself, and creating a safe warm beautiful spot to renew and grow again. So I’m on a major self-exploration mission: yoga, painting, photography, lots of art. Guitar lessons, DIY projects, crocheting and sewing. Reading, writing, creating.

I’m involved with the planning board for a new non profit we’re creating, Yakimamas. A play on our city name of Yakima, and the focus which is supporting mothers in every way. I regularly volunteer for events, but no specific ongoing relationship.

DAISY: Walk us through what your mornings look like getting everyone ready for the day:
MEAGAN: Last year, with my health crisis, it was a struggle just to get dressed or run a brush through my hair. Bad times.

Now, I’m adjusting. I work from home. But find it’s very helpful to start spending a bit of time on myself. The basic am routine is my little girl and I: yoga, breakfast, I read the paper out loud. Next brush teeth, wash our faces, moisturizer head to toe, brush hair. Then we get dressed, outfits for the week are all laid out Sunday evening. We are NOT morning people 🙂 Messy bun for me, hairdo and now for her. While she watches a morning video, I do a quick makeup routine. Then off to the bus!

DAISY: How do you typically style your hair on a normal day?
MEAGAN: At home it’s usually up. Messy bun, side braid, just pulled away. For going out, I usually use rollers to make it fuller, sexy waves. But, after being so very sick for so long, my hair fell out. It’s embarrassing. I’m not sure how to cover it up, or what to do as it’s growing back, with spikey pieces. The last haircut was a year ago, in the hospital. The nursing staff had made a mistake in record keeping I guess? But no one had helped me shower, even clean up, or brush my hair, in the full 10-day stay. I was to be transferred to Swedish hospital by ambulance, and the on call doctor realized what a mess I was. The nurse to help me was…. less than patient. She got frustrated with my long hair full of tangles, and cut 6 inches off, with office scissors. And that’s how it’s stayed, growing out. I have always loved my hair. But am very unsure what to do now.

DAISY: When was the last time you received a haircut from a salon professional?
MEAGAN: Over 2+ years ago

DAISY: How do you typically apply makeup on a normal day?
MEAGAN: I love makeup. I’d say I’m average at applying though. I wear a tinted moisturizer, Benefit concealer, and Bare Minerals mineral powder in translucent. A Josie Marian Arian oil color stick on my cheeks. A bit of black eyeliner – I have peripheral neuropathy, pain in my hands, so some mornings I can’t apply it. I love loads of mascara, even if little anywhere else, and would love to learn to apply falsies, since mine have thinned. A light sweep of shimmery neutral shadow, and lip glass.

DAISY: How much time do you think you need each morning to get yourself ready?
MEAGAN: For the everyday, I can do a 5 – minute face. Another 5 for more fun. Going out, 20 minutes? I take as long as I have time for, because I don’t like rushing, lol.

DAISY: When was the last time you made time for yourself?
MEAGAN: I’m working on that. I have time. After getting sick, I lost manny friends. Shows what kind of friends they were, I suppose. And my boyfriend, my daughters father, love of my life, left a year ago. I work from home, but very little right now. So it’s not a matter of time – for the first time in life I’m not over busy. It’s just learning to prioritize myself, to value self care as much as I value the care I give to others.

DAISY: What do you feel needs improvement with your current style and look?
MEAGAN: As I mentioned, my hair, big time. I’m just so insecure these days. I’ve never been a super model, but I was pretty enough, ok with my flaws, happy with what I was. Then getting sick – I lost 75 lbs in 4 months, was skin and bones, literally. They weren’t sure I’d make it. A D cup to barely training bra size. Then I got stabilized, and gained some back. I just don’t feel like me, though. Trying to find my sexy again, embrace my body as it is. I have a terminal, progressive disease, so I have to learn to adjust and love this new body. 🙂

DAISY: What’s your unique story that you want to share with the world?
MEAGAN: Two years ago, I was a full time blogger and freelancer. Traveling, creating, living a very adventure-filled life. Then, it started to unravel.

I started getting sick. Hospital stays and tests and unknowns. Suddenly 3 days before Christmas, the love of my life of 11 years abruptly left my daughter and I and moved out one night out of the blue. Heartbreak. Then, my illness got worse. Answers included a diagnosis of an unexplained, terminal, progressive disease. 2016 was the hardest year of my life, and I literally barely survived it.

 

Are you interested in finding out what happened to Meagan Paullin after she got sick? How did she recover? How did Total Mom Makeover helped her regain her self-confidence back? To find out the answers, head on to the continuation of this article at Total Mom Makeover.