Meet Megan Roche | Senior Multimedia Journalist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Megan Roche and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Megan, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I pursued a creative career because I knew I didn’t want to be strapped to a desk or a cubicle. I am such a people person and I love being out in the community. On weekends, you’ll usually find me at a farmers market or antique shopping at many local places. By working in community journalism, I am constantly meeting people who have great stories to tell. I absolutely love creating local content.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
When I was 14, I was like every other young teen in America. High school classes filled my days but from January until May, my evenings were taken up watching American Idol. I was a megafan. I kept meticulous notes on the show in a pink sparkly notebook, I voted for my favorite contestants for hours, I bought anything I could that related to the show. That’s when I was introduced to Paula Abdul.

I appreciated her at first because of her kindness towards others. I had no idea that she had been a singer or dancer. I had just moved to a new school and didn’t have many friends so I wanted to find a way to connect with people who had similar interests to me. I delved deeper into learning about who Paula Abdul was and instantly connected to her and her story. All I wanted to do was be exactly like her.

At the age of 15, I finally got an opportunity to meet her in New York City. That entire experience of our first meeting is still surreal. I cried my eyes out in front of her, just only after she said hello. We took a picture (that I still have framed to this day). I couldn’t believe I got to stand right next to her. Meeting her changed me and the trajectory of my life.

I always loved writing. It was often the subject that I did the best in at school, my papers always earned A’s. I never really thought about making writing a career. I excelled in foreign language so I went to college to become a high school foreign language teacher. In those classes though, I realized that I didn’t love it like I thought I did.

I changed my major 13 times before settling on communications and media studies. I hosted my own radio show on our school radio station, I participated in creating podcasts, and I was excited to go my journalism classes. I truly unlocked a passion in my life. I graduated cum laude from Mitchell College in May 2013.

Paula Abdul remained an important part of my life throughout my college experience. I got to see her from time to time when she would travel, but it wasn’t until I was offered an incredible opportunity with the International Pain Foundation (headquartered in Arizona) that my dream of writing a magazine front cover article came true.

Paula Abdul has long suffered from chronic pain. She’s been through multiple surgeries and procedures to try and fix her condition. Through that, she’s remained positive throughout her adversity. In 2018, she was gearing up for her first domestic tour in 25 years. Although she was in pain, she still wanted to get out there and put on concerts for her fans. She was opening her show close to me and I decided that I was going to cover the show for the local newspaper I was working for at the time. Due to technical difficulties, Paula ended up cancelling that show with no rescheduled date. The article I was hoping to write became useless, until I met Barby Ingle and Ken Taylor of the International Pain Foundation.

iPain Living Magazine, an offshoot of the International Pain Foundation, was looking for a cover story for their January 2019 issue. While her concert tour wrapped in December, iPain decided they would be interested in putting Paula on their front cover. I was graciously given the opportunity to be the writer for the article. When the story came out in the January issue, I was so excited and proud to hold something that I wrote that meant the world to me.

In November 2019, I won the Hero of Hope Award from the International Pain Foundation for my work covering and advocating for those who suffer from chronic pain and illnesses. Winning the award was thanks to iPain giving me the opportunity to write my very first cover story.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was laid off from my job and found myself with tons of extra time on my hands. I opted to jot down some ideas for a potential book. I never really planned to do anything with it. As I wrote the outline, I realized that I had a story to share so I got up every morning and the words just flowed out of me. In May of 2020, Forever Her Girl: The Stories and Experiences of a Major Fangirl was published.

My book is part memoir, part biography. You’ll learn more about my journey to becoming myself and meeting Paula Abdul. I had a chance to hand deliver Paula a copy of my book in 2021 and it was truly a moment I won’t ever forget.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people who deserve credit for making me who I am.

My parents always believed in me and encouraged me to follow my dreams. They allowed me to experience anything that I had an interest in, from gymnastics, baton twirling, softball, dance, etc. I’m very lucky that I had them as my backbone of support growing up.

My friends are some of the greatest people I have had the pleasure of meeting. We’re a very tight knit group of people who support each other in every aspect of life. I didn’t have many friends when I was younger so the people I have in my corner now are very important to me.

Website: https://meganaroche.wixsite.com/portfolio

Instagram: @writingwithmegan