<ion-menu [content]="mycontent">

  <ion-content class="employee-menu">
    <div class="profile-container" *ngIf="employee">
      <div class="initial-circle">
        <h1 class="light">{{employee.name | initialFormat }}</h1>
      </div>
      <ul class="bio">
        <li class="semibold">{{employee.name}}</li>
        <li class="light">Team Member Since: {{employee.start_date}}</li>
        <li class="light">Home: {{ location }}</li>
      </ul>
    </div>
    <div class="profile-container" *ngIf="!employee">
      No employee found
    </div>
    <div class="menu-link-container">
      <ion-list *ngFor="let page of menuPages" no-margin>
        <button *ngIf="page.display" ion-item menuClose (click)="openPage(page)">
          {{ page.title }}
        </button>
      </ion-list>
    </div>

  </ion-content>

</ion-menu>

<ion-nav [root]="rootPage" #mycontent></ion-nav>

this.menuPages = [
          { title: "Dashboard", component: ManagementDashboard, display: this.management_status },
          { title: "Manager Checklist", component: ApprovalCardComponent, display: this.management_status },
          { title: "Update Profile", component: UserComponent, display: true }
        ]

openPage(page) {
    this.menu.close();

    // outputs correctly
    console.log(page.component)
    this.modalCtrl.create(page.component, {

})