In Focus with Meg Reilly ‘12

Meg Reilly met with In the Lead Editor to discuss her transition from marketing to global yacht racing, emphasizing passion and risk-taking. Reilly advocates for gender equity in sailing and values mentorship and incremental change learned from Seton Hall.

In the Lead (ITL): Thank you for taking the time to speak with In the Lead, Meg. You have had an interesting journey! Please tell us more.

Meg Reilly: Always a pleasure to reconnect with my alma mater; I think it’s safe to say I am a Pirate for life! I graduated from the Stillman School of Business in 2012 with a B.S. in Marketing, with International Business and Asian Studies minors and a certificate in Leadership. After graduation, I got my dream job on Madison Avenue working for one of the top global ad agencies. But after a year, I decided to quit my job to pursue a bigger dream: global yacht racing.

My intentions were simple, but serious, with one goal: to sail around the world. I enlisted as a crew member on the Clipper Round the World Race. I was lucky to be assigned onboard the Henri Lloyd — to a team and leader who modeled some of the best team behaviors and attitudes. After a year sailing around the world, we won the race.

To afford my race, I pitched sponsors. To support my sponsor’s brand objectives, I visited schools at our port stopovers around the world to inspire and connect with fellow youth. (I was only 23 at the time!) I brought my marketing and communications expertise to the race yacht, and my story on racing in the Southern Ocean was ultimately published in Sailing World Magazine.

And so began my accidental career in global yacht racing.

ITL: What attracted you to sailing, and why should others consider it as a career choice?

REILLY: Initially it wasn’t really a career choice. Sailing around the world had been a retirement dream, but I decided to prioritize it in my life. I am forever grateful for following my gut and choosing a life pathway that included sailing sooner rather than later. It has combined my passions for performance, the ocean and travel into my ultimate dream job. But it took a big risk and investment to get here.

Professional sailing is a small but a hyper-competitive and relentless global industry — and it isn’t one I grew up in. The risk is high, and the reward is more intrinsic than financial. Not to mention it is a very male-dominated industry, with only a few women at the time participating in this mixed sport. But the challenge, the (wo)man vs. nature, the endurance, the team, the unique leadership demands … all drove me to ocean racing.

I definitely do not think it is for everyone, but I do think there is a lot you can learn about yourself and how to work on a team in high-risk environments by just going sailing. Since I’ve been part of the sailing industry, I have made it part of my mission to provide more access and opportunity in sailing, so more people can experience and benefit from what the ocean has to offer.

ITL: What are your views on Gen Z as it enters the world of sports? Are they prepared? What are their expectations? And how are they shaping the world of sports?

REILLY: One of my clients is The Magenta Project, a global charity that drives equity and inclusion in the maritime industry, and the Magenta Mentoring Program is a flagship service of the charity. Sailing is one of the few professional sports where men and women can compete with each other. However, female representation has been almost nonexistent. In light of this disproportionate representation, sailing has become a unique platform for women’s equity and inclusion in sports and business teams — and The Magenta Project is driving that change through mentorship, training, and networking programs.

Here, I work with rising talent from around the world. I see a passion for change among the women who apply to our mentoring program. However, I do believe that Gen Z has been raised in a world of instant gratification, and the work and time to achieve that change isn’t always understood or appreciated.

Sports are still one of the few areas in our modern world where there is no quick fix. You can’t skip the hours, days, weeks, years of dedication, practice and hard work that is required to compete at a professional performance level. There is no artificial intelligence that can make you a true performance athlete — and you certainly can’t “fake it till you make it.”

With Ernst & Young’s 2023 study sharing that 94 percent of female CEOs identify as having played a sport, I think the performance and team-oriented skills and values instilled in athletes cannot be ignored nor squandered by our businesses and leaders. I believe we will see this trend continue with a strong connection between leaders and those who engage in sport. There are a lot of parallels between sport and business. Now, I am working with individuals and business organizations outside of the sailing world — taking leadership lessons from onboard race boats to improve boardroom performance.

ITL: Do you feel prepared to tackle the challenges that are forthcoming?

REILLY: I think Gen Z can change the world if they practice the same tolerance and patience that they preach. Understanding that generations before have done things differently, and that change nowadays is extremely rapid, we need to work more on finding consensus and ultimate common goals, not condemning or “canceling” people for their pasts or focusing on what divides us. I think that millennials have the unique ability to span the generations and can have empathy for both “sides,” and are the kind of leaders we need right now. (But I might be biased!)

To quote former President Barack Obama: “Sometimes your job is just to make stuff work. Sometimes the task [of government] is to make incremental improvements or try to steer the ocean liner two degrees north or south so that, 10 years from now, suddenly, we’re in a very different place than we were. At the moment, people may feel like we need a 50-degree turn; not a two-degree turn. And you say, ‘Well, if I turn 50 degrees, the whole ship turns over.’”

Together, all generations need to make conscious and strategic decisions on what small degrees and adjustments we make over time to get to where we all need to be. This is the role of our leaders. I believe that leaders need to think, plan and act sustainably, while also being able to adapt to immediate demands. These skills are essential for steering us in the right direction.

ITL: How did the Buccino Leadership Center prepare you to keep up with the change and lead?

REILLY: The mentoring program not only provided me with mentors that I still return to, like Mike Reuter and Jack Shannon, but also inspired me to serve as a mentor to other rising leaders. The mentor-mentee relationship is a cycle that keeps giving, as I can also share the great learning and advice of my mentors to my mentees, and this flow of professional support and knowledge helps us all keep up with change and better lead.

Servant leadership is also a core value I learned through the Buccino Leadership Development Program and have brought forward with me to all of my teams. By serving my team first, I am more connected with their needs, and can maintain stability within our team so that we can handle any challenges outside of our group and control.

ITL: What moment or activity stands out as the turning point in your leadership development at Seton Hall?

REILLY: Having the opportunity to serve as the Stillman Exchange’s editor-in-chief was a big part of my development as a leader. I had real deadlines, staffing challenges, a budget, as well as experience executing a vision when launching the “Trending” section over 10 years ago.

I used my Stillman Exchange article clippings in my Madison Avenue interview, and I know that being published and managing an editorial staff was a big part of how I was able to land my job after graduation. I then was able to take my passion for writing and media into my new-to-me industry of sailing, and to find my own niche as a marketing and media expert in the industry. Working on the Stillman Exchange was a serious job and was a core part of my development as a leader in media and communications.

ITL: What advice would you give to your younger self?

REILLY: Stress less. Take the time to understand and appreciate your own unique style as a leader, and communicate your style and expectations to your teams on day one. Only work for and dedicate yourself to good bosses and causes, and don’t be afraid to leave the ones that don’t serve you. Keep volunteering; it will all pay back in time.

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This article originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of In the Lead magazine, from Stillman School of Business’s Department of Management and the Buccino Leadership Institute. The bi-annual magazine focuses on sharing leadership perspectives from the field, with content that is curated from leaders across industries.

Categories: Business