Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Meghan Magner. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Meghan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My most meaningful project to date has been my recent poetry work, The Midnight Diary Collection. This work came to me at the time when I was least expecting it. I was overcome with a tidal wave of inspiration that I had no choice but to write down and it just kept coming and coming. It all came from a very deep and personal space that I was, and still am a little scared to share with everyone.

I went through a really dark time in my life in the spring of last year, the darkest yet. There were nights I stared at the ceiling sleepless and thought there was nothing else left for me. I was utterly hopeless and found myself in an emotional void where I didn’t care at all anymore. It was in those dark and silent moments I found that magic voice of inspiration speaking to me the loudest it ever has.

So during those few months, I’d be suffering and struggling, staring aimlessly at the four walls of my bedroom. I would just open up the notes app on my phone. I would write down in small short sentences what I was feeling, what I was going through. There were beautiful two or four line poems and sometimes a pouring out of paragraphs. I continued this for as long as it felt necessary. When I finished through that time of sadness, I found I had enough poems for a proper book of poetry.

I started sharing bits and pieces of this work at open mics. It was always well received. I started to compile it into sections that would tell a story.

It goes from Dusk, to Midnight, to Daybreak. It tells the story of the dark night of the soul and it starts out slowly unassuming but daunting, and then moves into something so excruciating, frightening, and hopeless; but after all that turmoil there is a sunrise that will come at the end of every midnight story.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

About me. I am a problem solver who thinks outside the box. As much as I am a writer, poet and performer; I have always been a professional problem solver. In that professional sense, I bring the je ne sais quoi to projects because of my unique duality of analytical but highly creative thinking.

I have the most experience in live events. I can troubleshoot and solve any problem in a theater, focus group, live reading or motivational seminar. I can do so because I bring with me the creative heart that goes behind the set up. I was a managing and creative partner for a touring circus company. So I always say, if I can run a circus then I can run anything!

As a writer and a performer, I always love cutting through to get to the real heart of a matter. I think the quicker you can tell or show your audience what you’re saying, the better. There is always room for flair, and of course you want to add your personal touch every time. But do people understand you? Can they tell their friends about you in a bite size mouthful? I get that kind of writing.

I have an innate and natural sense for understanding people and situations. I can read a room and recite to you Shakespeare. I’ll build you a pivot table in Excel, but please just don’t ask me simple math on demand. I’ll need to break out my calculator on my phone for that.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

The first play I ever wrote and produced on my own was here in Los Angeles. I had no one backing me. I was 1,000% solo on a script that I wrote. This was the make or break moment for me. If what I had was going to be good enough to sell, this was the moment I’d find out.

I wrote the script. I found the actors. We rehearsed in the space I was living in. I was brand new to the city and I thought it could be just like it was when I was working for the circus – easy enough. There, I was working under the umbrella of a company that wasn’t mine. There wasn’t as much risk. I could push the line as far as I was told to reel it back in. Here and now, there was no such thing.

I found the theater. I put together the playlist for when the house is open; you know the music playing as people are getting to their seats. I set the ticket price. I put the deposit down. I was pinching literal pennies. If this didn’t sell the first night we might not be able to pay for the rest of the run.

I pushed the show so hard. I went to bars. I went to coffee shops. I talked to friends. I went on social media. I made sure I spoke to at least the bare minimum amount of people times two that it would take to fill all the seats for opening night.

There’s something really terrifying and beautiful about not having any other choice. So I went hard. Success was the only option I allowed in my mind.

I had ten cents in my bank account the night we opened. I still owed the theater the second half of the deposit. We ran out of chairs on opening night. It was beyond standing room only. I had to pull from the hallway outside as many extra chairs that were allowed. I made more than what I owed the theater that night and then some.

This was honestly all done through the profound power of visualization. Weeks leading up to the opening I would meditate on having a sold out show. I would literally envision the smell of the seats. I would listen to the opening house soundtrack. I would see that there were more people than seats. I felt and believed that. I also worked for it.

Like I said I went to any bar, event or cafe that would hear me and I told them about the show. I spoke about it until my throat got sore and I got tired of hearing about it myself. The thing to remember is that every stranger you speak to about it has never heard it before. Do it. They might be interested. They might not. But tell them about it anyway and be passionate, genuinely. That all goes a very long way.

Believe in yourself. You can do anything you set your mind to.

Any advice for managing a team?

People will perform the best for you when they feel seen and appreciated. This applies to every type of industry. If people feel their best, they’ll do their best. It has to be genuine.

As someone who has run and produced multiple theater shows (at times ones that included very dangerous and sometimes fatal physical acts), your people working for you are your biggest asset and investment. Yes, we love our audience and we might be trying to pull some people from the press. But the product is only as good as the people who are creating it. That goes for literally every type of business.

Your people working for you and performing for you are your most valuable asset. They need to know that. They need to feel that from you, genuinely. If you have a solid and honest team, there is no way you won’t succeed with that approach.

In order to achieve that, I think transparency is a huge element that cannot be overlooked. As a performer I want to know that who I am working for is looking out for me and knows what they are talking about. I don’t want any gray area, ever.

I also think recognition is the secret sauce to massive success. Everyone wants to feel seen and everyone wants to know that the good work they’ve done has been recognized.

I think along the same lines, with constructive criticism. No one is perfect. No one; and I think that’s always important to note when trying to improve a team or team member. At the end of the day, no matter how passionate you are and how much you care – we are all just human. There is such a thing as human error and there will always, always be room for improvement.

It is important to always highlight what good we can before diving into the parts that need work. If someone feels like their good efforts have been seen, they will be one million percent more likely to dive into the parts of them that might need a bit more work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www,meghanmagner.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midnight.diary.collection/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fp%2FCI1KQpIlLVW%2Fc%2F17904515797609777%2F%3F__coig_login%3D1