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

Monaye, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission is to help the hurting and the lost by spreading awareness and promoting self-love, intentionality, self-worth, and healthy boundaries for women navigating their path to freedom. So much of what we learn about ourselves is developed from childhood and life’s experiences. These experiences aren’t always a fair or accurate truth, but because it’s all that we know, we can attach ourselves to negative labels provided by others which causes us to create a false identity of ourselves. I want to provide a space where people can be heard, be vulnerable, and feel free enough to walk in their authenticity without fear of being judged. In addition, by providing tools to aid them on their journey to healing it is my hope that more people will find the help they need regardless of the source of their pain. This was all birthed from my own personal traumas experienced in life. I realized that there were so many others out there who have experienced similar traumas and I knew that sharing my story and choosing to walk in purpose could provide support, transparency, and awareness, as well as the helpful tools which assisted me on my journey to healing.

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

I am the proud mother of two young adults and someone who is passionate about helping others. I’m the Author of “No Longer Bound”, which focuses on my life’s struggles with abandonment, abuse, and assault and how I overcame it all. I wrote this book with hopes of encouraging other women and men who have struggled with these issues and to show that your past circumstances do not have to dictate your today.

In addition, I’m an advocate for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention and a Mission Ambassador for Paving The Way foundation; a non-profit organization that aims to educate and prevent child trafficking.

After overcoming my own personal unresolved grief through the Grief Recovery Method, I realized that there was a need to help others. I created The Grief Path which is dedicated to helping grievers by offering one-on-one online sessions via Zoom as a 7-week session as we work together to address the pain an aching heart can bring. Grief can impact people for years and in a number of ways such as a change in employment, divorce, loss of friendships, moving, and of course death. My website is thegriefpath.com and you can follow me on IG at @thegriefpath.

In my spare time, I also run a Lupus blog called- Unbreakable Survivor to inspire others with chronic illnesses. The website is https://unbreakablesurvivor.com/blog/.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was three years old, I lost my mother to suicide two days before my 4th birthday. I can only imagine what her mindset was during that time frame as she also had my one-year-old sister that she would leave behind. I know that she loved us, but her agony and pain was far too great, and she made the wrong choice. Although I had grandparents who helped to raise me and a father who worked to provide, this impacted my life in major ways. I grew up as an insecure girl with issues of low self-esteem, rejection, abandonment, and lack of self-worth. From the age of 8 to around 12, I was abused by a family member, and I never told anyone until years later due to fear and shame. As an adult, I was the victim of a sexual assault at gunpoint. All of the pain I experienced led me to question the reason for my existence. I developed unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as emotional eating, drinking, and sex.

With faith and the help of a therapist, I did the inner work to heal. After all of that, I realized that because I am still here there had to be a purpose for my pain. That purpose was to share my journey; the parts that no one likes to talk about. The areas of life that we try to push into a dark corner and never shine the light on. If we never address those areas of our lives, they can keep us bound and powerless.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Whether it was marketing my book or my business, I knew that there was a need for what I was offering. The key was to market in a way that it reached my targeted audience. That is one of the most important things to know. I would share information such as testimonies from my life and motivational posts that appealed to my audience in a transparent and relatable way. I would also do live videos or reels just highlighting various topics that are important to me such as familial relationships, managing holiday grief, self-care, emotional, and mental health awareness. Having the ability to tap into what people need, what inspires them, or speaks to them is key as well. While my social media presence isn’t as vast as some, it must be noted that referrals and word of mouth have been a blessing to me as well. So, my ultimate advice regarding social media would be to post often and just be authentically you. The right people will find you.

Contact Info:

• Website: thegriefpath.com and favoredandfree.com
• Instagram: @unbreakable_survivher and @thegriefpath