About
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POETRY COACH, SPOKEN WORD POET & LIVE EVENT PAINTER
Growing up
My family built glass factories which allowed us to travel from job site to job site. I went to multiple schools each year and when we weren’t on a job, we were nestled in the holler on our farm in Chuckey TN.
As soon as I learned to read and write, I was writing poetry and short stories. Not long after that I started drawing. The arts were a great way for me to process all the experiences from living on the road and being raised around wild, fierce, beautiful folks. You could say I was raised by wolves - many of them in west / mid-west biker gangs. I saw a lot of beautiful things traveling... and a lot of violence.
My why
As a teen we experienced 3 deaths in a row, one being my Dad. My teens were brutal due to my Dad’s passing. Not only were we dealing with grief, but the only way of living I had known suddenly stopped, forcing me to stay put.
My Mom was a powerhouse, making sure I graduated high school and college. She even got her doctorate and became a Director of Nursing all while grieving and dealing with a daughter who was not mentally ok. The arts saved me.
I knew if I made it to adulthood, I wanted to be the person I didn’t have when I needed emotional support the most. I wasn’t sure what that would look like, or if I would even survive to see it happen. Here we are, all those years later and I am living a life I never could have even dreamed for myself doing just that.
Building spaces
Every week I bear witness to the power of the arts, whether that’s in a workshop or performance - the arts are a perfect vehicle to process difficult emotions, bridge conversation and connect folks through the comfort of feeling seen and heard.
I lead art and poetry workshops based in personal development and SEL skills to build spaces so folks can re-write their narrative of trauma, find a way forward and empower themselves through creativity and expression. I’m also hella proud of being a trauma informed care trainer, with the only trauma informed care training that was co-created by teens with behavioral challenges.
Coaching
In 2022 I launched our online poetry coaching membership to support poets all across the US, including the National Poetry Month Summit that I launched in 2016.
I spent many years as a coach for creatives and wanted to build a more accessible and affordable platform specifically for poets, and the results have been beautiful! Our members are thriving due to the community we have built and the love we’ve poured into each of our members.
Expression
I love that I get to do multiple things with my crafts, and rocking a mic or a canvas is definitely something I am down for! From spoken word features, crafting a poem to perform for fundraisers and conferences, to live painting for events and weddings - I enjoy each one and aim to please with powerful performances tailored to the need of the event.
I am not the poet you want to hire for your birthday party, but I AM the poet to hire when you need your audience to be moved, to get their soul shook, to be called to donate, or to convey your company or organization’s message. I can make an audience laugh, cry, and get goosebumps all in the same show.
Artivism
The first time I experienced how sharing poetry could affect someone else happened in 2012 when an elderly man told me after hearing my poem that he decided he wasn’t going to go home that evening and take his own life. I founded Guerilla Poets the very next day - a nonprofit that started out as a flash mob poetry collective - that now offers arts programming in underserved areas : detention facilities, crisis centers, group homes, shelters, schools and more.
We’re one of the most active nonprofit groups in the CLT area, meeting folks where they are with peer to peer support facilitators. Consider us mercenaries of hope - you need us, we show up.
Eyes forward
The focus of the future for me is simple: keep doing what I’m doing: expanding the transformational programs, performance experiences, and online coaching so more folks can get the goodness they need and the love they deserve.
As always, there will be more book, album and art show launches in store along the way.
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Who’s that?
Meet Raven, the best personal assistant an entrepreneur could ask for.
She makes sure things run smoothly while offering grounding energy and extra support for in person workshops. Since 2021!
An avid animal lover, Raven used to work for a hotel for cats, and still has a big heart for animals. Originally from New York, you might catch her northern accent come out. Raven is not only a great personal assistant, she is also a wonderful photographer. She’s covered many events and also a part of my videography team for creating poetry videos. She also has a passion for cosplay and Cosmetology - specifically hair styling.
She is an absolute hoot to be around, and we can often be found laughing to tears on the way to an event, during the event and after in the parking lot. We make fun and celebration a priority!
Coming from a challenging upbringing herself, Raven loves being able to connect and participate in the work we do to support others through the programs we provide.
Shane Manier is a Creative Coach, Visual Artist, Live Event Painter, Tedx and Key Note Speaker, Trauma Informed Care Instructor, Poetry Mentor and National Spoken Word Poet based in the Charlotte Metro Region of NC. She is the founder of The National Poetry Month Summit, an online summit that connects and supports poets across the US, and the founder of Guerilla Poets, a nonprofit art collective with branches in the US and UK.
As a poet and artist, she has been featured at many shows and venues all across the US while completing many outreach programs as an activist and is a published author with three books, three spoken word albums and has poems published in numerous anthologies.
She is currently the Spoken Word and Arts Teaching Instructor for The Harvey B. Gantt Center, Henderson High School, The Arts Empowerment Project, Playing for Others, as well as Art & Soul Rowan’s Visual Artist in Residence. In 2011 she was the youngest poet to ever be inducted in the Poetry Council of North Carolina, has served on board of CCAG Arts Collective of Cornelius North Carolina in 2017, and was honored as a finalist for Poet Laureate of Charlotte NC in 2022. She has been recognized as a National Poet performing with Respect Da Mic Slam Team from 2017-2020, and Secret City Slam in 2022.
Her poetry is widely known for being passionate and powerful through her vulnerability that showcases a sense of urgency, causing a physical response from her audience. Her poems are centered around themes ranging from inspiration and motivation to personal topics and social justice issues. Her work offers an empathy that exposes and bonds the core of our humanity.
She is one of the few North Carolina live speed painters in the Charlotte Metro area. Although her work isn’t always a speed painting, she enjoys capturing precious moments in her art before they quickly pass. An Ultimate Painting Finalist for Regional Championship, she has competed in live speed painting competitions and has art hanging in various locations in the Tri-city. Local musicians, especially in Kannapolis, Concord and Salisbury, have come up with their own slogan, “It’s a shame if you don’t have a Shane” since so many of them have purchased live speed painting portraits she’s created. She loves showing the light within other people when they are in their element, and works to capture that expression in every speed painting requiring instinct and passion.
In 2015 she released her first poetry album, “Bootstraps” and her first chapbook, “Fallen Heroes of the Awful Waffle” was published through Main Street Rag in 2017. She released her second album, “Carrier Pigeons” in 2019 and poetry books “Divine Disturbances” and “Road Hunger” in 2020 and 2021. She recently released her third album “Shanesaw : The Remainder” in 2022.
Interviews Click to Read or View
Flat Bread For Life
Loving The Artist Within | Part 1| 2| 3
Cornelius Interview
Artivism
Guerilla Poet Interview
Guerilla Poets
Plurality Press Interview
Poetry Art and More
Creativity is an Idea Podcast
Interview for Creatives
Podcast for Poets