When asked about a woman who has influenced her upbringing, Megan happily answered her mother, Mary Musilek.
She described Mary as a brilliant, charming, hysterical, and stunning mother. Before retirement, Mary worked hard to save the planet one cup of coffee at a time for The Nature Conservancy. Besides the obvious (of giving Megan Life), Mary significantly shaped who Megan is today, in addition to making impacts in a much broader sense.
Growing up in a small town in Iowa, Mary shaped her daughter’s little world and the broader world they would have to learn to navigate. Mainly a stay-at-home mom, Mary ensured her daughters were fed and clothed and learned to swim as soon as they could roll off the dock into the lake. She also made sure her daughters had the opportunity to try everything they wanted to try and had all the adventures any kid in Iowa could wish to have. At the same time, Mary was fighting for women’s rights to ensure her daughters had the best chance of succeeding in life.
Mary organized a group intended to support Planned Parenthood (I guess that didn’t go all THAT well, but there is a Planned Parenthood in Storm Lake, IA now, so I’m going to go ahead and give her the credit). She was also active in the Democratic Party in Iowa and supported female candidates whenever they came around. Mary still works as an election judge to this day to keep an eagle on the voting process (and she’s supposed to be retired!) I DON’T KNOW HOW TO REPHRASE THE ()
Mary didn’t pursue a career immediately, taking care of her daughters while her husband worked. Still, she did manage to complete a college degree in history when her daughters were younger, thanks in no small part to “Grandma Rita,” our angel of a neighbor who would babysit when mom had class. After her divorce, Mary credits her first job to (1) that history degree, (2) her ability to sweet talk her way into anything, and (3) another angel named Patti who hired her even though she kind of missed the whole advent of computers thing.
Mary greatly influenced her daughter’s sense of adventure. For her 60th birthday, her daughters took Mary on a safari in Africa.
“The best part was flying on a tiny airplane to our first camp and having to dodge the zebras to land on an “airstrip” in the middle of nowhere, hoping someone would meet us.” Mary loved the trip and East Africa so much that she kept returning, never wanting to stay put. Most recently, Mary went to Africa again for Megan’s 40th birthday, skipping the canvas tent surrounded by lions and hyenas and sleeping in beds.
Megan has moved out of and back into Mary’s house unashamedly at least several times, and she has always been nothing but supportive, loving, and ready and waiting to milk the wine cow with me (we might drink boxed wine).
When asked about the impact her mother has made on her life, Megan said, “I wouldn’t be here, in my current fulfilling career, trying to save the world (or at least improve people’s lives) one drop of water, one real estate dispute, or one insurance claim at a time, without Mama Safari.”
Megan serves as a trusted advisor to clients throughout Colorado on water, real estate, civil litigation, and environmental matters. In addition to her water practice, Megan also handles real estate transactions, real estate litigation, insurance coverage issues, and construction defect claims. During her free time, Megan enjoys snowboarding, rock climbing, riding her motorcycle, and chasing her dogs around the house.