From adversity to achievement: How Megan Norman overcame a lack of self-belief to become a successful entrepreneur and investor

In collaboration with eToro.

Learning resilience from her turbulent upbringing, Megan Norman conquered her lack of financial and emotional self-confidence to invest in her own and her young family’s future.

One word is the secret to Megan Norman’s investment strategy.

Self-belief.

I think so many women doubt themselves - that's the first thing that needs to be worked on if you are going to take any kind of financial responsibility for yourself at all.

She speaks from experience, having overcome financial and emotional hardship to support her two sons, Caspian, 10 and Julian, three, for many years as a single parent.

When pregnant with her first son at just 19, she was working in both an upmarket restaurant and a shoe shop to support herself and her child, before following her passion to train to be a fitness instructor.

A decade on, she runs her own aesthetics business, competes in fitness competitions, travels the world (this year to the Caribbean, Dubai and Morocco), and is about to embark on a law degree, with a five year plan to qualify and move to the Cayman Islands.

It’s clear Megan has all the qualities of a successful entrepreneur: including determination, ingenuity, resilience and drive.

Crucially, Megan has always been keen to learn, never believing she’s too old for a new challenge. In 2021 when she was pregnant with her second son she decided to learn more about the world of investing when someone told her ‘she had the brain for it’.

So she joined an investment educational group, paying £40 a month for webinars, live teaching and ebooks. Megan - now 30 - explains candidly:

That's actually where I first started to learn about it. Before that, I didn't have a clue. I would say that gave me a solid baseline. I still stay in my lane - I am not a hedge fund investor or anything like that - but the main thing for me has been learning from myself, my own mistakes.

Megan learnt that she could lose money, as well as gain money - and she recalls losing £44 on her first trade.

But I've always been a risk taker. If you look at that through my history as a teenager, I've always been someone to give it a go. Also I think I developed a sense that I need to have finances behind me - so that some things I had experienced would never, ever happen to me again.

Megan is referring to a turbulent upbringing that saw her - one of six siblings growing up in Rickmansworth - sofa surfing through her teenage years, in and out of education - excelling when she was, earning a string of GCSEs with good grades - but also often playing truant.

Her parents divorced when she was 14 - her father moving out of the family home - and she describes the years after as ‘tough’ and ‘chaotic’, with her often staying with friends and having little money.

For a while, at sixth form, she was studying English, Law and Psychology, but she dropped out and had her first son - Caspian - at 19. Becoming a single mother when he was just nine months old.

Determined to gain a higher education qualification, she returned to college when Caspian was small to study social policy.

She completed the course and had good enough grades to go to university, but was simultaneously studying to be a personal trainer and decided to throw her energy into building up her own training business.

I thought, I'm really passionate about this. Also, my priority was bringing in money as quickly as possible. At the time, doing a three- or four-year degree wasn't going to be feasible for me, as well as trying to raise a child.

After qualifying, she worked as a personal trainer for five years. This experience no doubt helped her develop discipline and goal-setting skills that would later prove valuable in her investment journey.

Despite her openness to risk, Megan’s approach to investing is methodical and research-driven. "I look at historical data and try to find patterns," she explains.

For example, when she was investing in oil she looked back to see what effect different world events had on share prices.

I find that interesting. Although I'm quite aware of the fact that there will be a lot of information that will influence the stock market that, as a retail investor, I just simply will not know. And by the time I do know it, it's too late, the trend has shifted.

So she focuses on industries she believes have staying power - cybersecurity, pharmaceuticals, and technology.

I pick stocks based on industries that aren't going anywhere, ones with strong fundamentals and high demand.

Studies have shown that the risks involved - money can of course be lost as well as gained - are a factor in women being less likely to invest than men.

For someone who might feel ‘scared’ of trading, she recommends practising on a demo account using virtual money first to see if they like it and understand the importance of taking a long-term view.

I know as women, we're really emotional beings, but you have to take the emotion out of trading. Sometimes I look at a trade and I'm three grand down, but I just think, 'OK, cool, the money's coming back.'

She manages her own financial risk by diversifying her capital: putting one-third in trading platforms (which are currently in profit), one-third is invested with a property developer, and one-third is in cash reserves.

Rather than withdrawing profits from the eToro platform, she reinvests them, focusing on long-term growth through compound interest.

Megan believes women's hesitation to invest stems from societal stereotypes.

It's still very much ingrained in women that finances are a man's thing. I don't think women are really encouraged to even be interested in it.

She also blames a society that encourages women to consume rather than to save.

Almost every single advert is targeted towards making women consume, telling you: ‘You're not pretty enough, buy this. Get your hair done, like this. Get your body to look like this. Get your clothes, like this.’ And all that is doing is subconsciously letting you know that you are not good enough as you are.

Megan is determined to do her bit to avoid this narrative with her own children.

I think, what are you teaching your kid? Is your child seeing you financially suffer? Is your child seeing you quit? Is your child seeing you doubt yourself? Because they will pick up on all that, and they will mimic it, and it will become their reality. With my little son I literally get him to stand in front of the mirror and look at himself and say, ‘I'm proud of you’, to himself. I believe this is the best thing I can do in his life, to give him confidence.

And she teaches her eldest son - who is 10 - about investing.

When he gets birthday money, I ask if he wants to spend it or put it in stocks - he always chooses stocks.

Megan is now living in Bedfordshire and happily engaged to her new partner, who she met three years ago, after she split from Julian’s father.

A true multi-tasker, as well as raising her two boys, running her aesthetics business, investing on eToro (often when she is on the gym treadmill) - she is now looking for new challenges.

She's about to start a law degree - with plans to specialise in commercial law - something she has wanted to do since she was 18.

In the next five years she wants to qualify as a solicitor and relocate to the Cayman Islands.

Beyond her personal goals, she's passionate about financial education.

Why isn't financial literacy taught in schools? That would be the biggest thing to help everybody - teaching these concepts from a young age.

Does she have a female investment role model she felt she could learn from at any point?

I actually don't. I wouldn't be able to tell you the name of one female investor. But we've all heard of Warren Buffet. If you look at films like the Wolf of Wall Street the woman is typically portrayed as the ‘bimbo’ wife - just there to look pretty and spend the money.

Megan's advice for women considering investing is refreshingly different from what you might read in investment guides.

The most important thing for women is to establish an unwavering sense of belief in themselves.

Her own journey from financial instability as a young adult to successful investor and entrepreneur demonstrates this power of persistence and self-belief.

I've gone through therapy, done a lot of work, and grown confidence and belief in myself. I view all the things that happened to me as shaping me into who I was supposed to become, and I am actually grateful. Being the kid who always doubted themselves, to now being happy with myself, that for me is huge.

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