Finding Freedom in Healing: How Meagan O’Nan Teaches Audiences to Be Held and Free
Meet the award-winning author who is helping audiences transform vulnerability into victory.
“We all need to be heard. We are all human beings at the end of the day and the thing that connects us most is our stories,” Meagan O’Nan shares in an inspiriting account of her personal and professional journey with Talent Concierge Artists Agency.
By TCAA Editorial Team
How do you define storytelling? When we think of stories, we summon to our minds great tales of myth, fables of fantasy, and histories that rival Homer and Hemingway. But what about storytelling?
Meagan O’Nan translates the power of storytelling into an accessible tool for each reader to use to shape the life they want. As an award-winning author, keynote speaker, and vulnerable storytelling expert she uses her platform to overcome differences and generate a connection between groups who may not have had the tools to properly listen before.
Since beginning her speaking career in 2008, Meagan has addressed thousands at live events, through radio, in churches, and universities — offering unity and cooperation to all. Meagan extends her insights to the masses through her third and upcoming book Held and Free: Coming Out of Your Story, a trenchant account of her experiences as a gay woman in the Deep South. This new release is perhaps the perfect expression of the message Meagan always teaches: owning and accepting who you are while being willing to see others in the same light leads to a deeper quality of living.
What has inspired you to shape your career into what it is today?
I always wanted to be a writer and speaker, it’s the career path I’ve always imagined for myself. Early on I started my career under the guise that writing and speaking weren’t lucrative, but after about four years of working for other people, I decided it wasn’t enough for me. I published my first book in 2008 when I was not financially secure, and it was about that same time I started my speaking career. My wife and I had about $100 to our name but built our businesses together. Through advocacy work and speaking and writing where I could, I felt my path start to unfold. I went back to get a life coaching certification and then everything clicked.
What about storytelling is so powerful?
It’s a powerful way to have conversations. In my experience throughout the years, I find storytelling is the one consistent thing that has kept conversations going, especially those conversations that are so difficult to start. It’s the way I’ve always approached equal rights or any type of advocacy work. Regardless of the audience or topic at hand, the approach I execute is to be vulnerable. Not only does this method of communication help keep messaging and intention authentic, but it also helps people heal.
Why do you esteem healing as an integral byproduct of vulnerable storytelling?
Being open and accepting yourself is a part of healing, and once you can achieve that for yourself so many people will come into your life in a way that is deeper than normal. Healing serves a lot of purposes. We all need it; we are all human beings. Hearing what each other has been through and allowing ourselves to know it’s okay creates a human connection unlike anything else.
What kind of audiences are you looking to share your message with next?
Everyone stands to gain from this type of dialogue, but I am looking to branch out more into the corporate world and that of advocacy. Corporations are made up of human beings and they need a form of connection that is beyond the surface in order to survive and thrive and be as creative as they can be. If we are not nurturing those deeper connections, then we won’t operate at our highest potential. That’s where storytelling comes in, it’s such a great tool to open that door to people feeling safe and a part of a larger community rather than just their workspace. Advocacy already relies so heavily on shared experiences so my message definitely has a part to play in that realm.
How do you attempt to invite such sensitive dialogue into these traditionally reserved spaces?
What I say can help diffuse those harder conversations. I want my speaking to act as a bridge in those worlds or at the very least my message can start separate conversations. I see the need for that barrier of reservation to come down and vulnerability will help that.
How do you see your priorities now?
I prioritize my family above all else, and actually, my daughter Merit likes to keep me in check. My daughter is constantly amazing me and helps me to remember what is important. Just the other day she was having a tantrum, and when you watch your young child struggle to express what she is feeling, it leaves you, as a parent, feeling very helpless. I stopped and asked her, ‘What can I do for you? How can I help you?’ and she goes, ‘Just tell me you love me.’ It struck me and taught me that everyone has wisdom, even a small child, and everyone has that inherent need to be reassured, you just have to ask for it.
What will your new book, Held and Free, offer readers?
Hope. Hope that there is another way to understand each other, that we don’t have to point the finger at the other side, whoever that is, and that there is a way to heal. Storytelling is not easy, and it’s a process that takes time, but you just have to hold the intention of what it is you truly want, and it will happen for you. It’s a coming of self-story; coming from a place of darkness, what I went through, and a vulnerable sharing. It can speak to anyone who is trying to be authentic.
Early endorsements for Held and Free:
“When it comes to understanding journeys different from our own, some books are nice to have, and some are must-haves. Held & Free is a must for anyone who wants to understand a path they may not have had to travel themselves, yet the story proves that although the details may vary, we are all more alike than we are different.” — Jasmine Cochran, Editor
“Held and Free is a beautiful expression of the power of telling our stories vulnerably. This book is activism in its best form — sharing our true hearts with others from the inside out rather than judging them from the outside in. I hope it will inspire you, as it has inspired me, to ‘embrace yourself so life can embrace you back,’ to ‘share as the path to your own healing,’ to ‘allow kindness to shift your heart toward those you don’t agree with’ to find a place beyond right and wrong and to ‘let love in’.” — Tracy Maxwell, author of Being Single, with Cancer: A Solo Survivor’s Guide to Life, Love, Health & Happiness
“An important book for anyone who doesn’t always feel supported by the Universe and for anyone who wants to live a truly abundant and courageous life. Meagan is a deep well of soothing wisdom.” -Rachael Jayne Groover Best-selling author of Powerful and Feminine and Divine Breadcrumbs
Meagan O’Nan guides her community members and readers toward feeling held and free in their own lives. Readers will be able to enjoy Held and Free electronically or in print.
For more information on Meagan’s written works, visit her book website at https://www.meaganonan.com/books.
