About Shannon McGill-Hensley

I’m Shannon McGill-Hensley, an Arkansas-based writer, poet, publisher, and creative strategist—and the founder of Get Write with Shannon, a boutique publishing and creative strategy house. I work closely with writers, educators, therapists, and creative entrepreneurs to turn meaningful ideas into clear language, professional materials, published work, and sustainable opportunities.

My work lives at the intersection of writing, creativity, education, and access. I develop messaging and websites, guide authors and entrepreneurs through publishing, support businesses with proposals and grant applications, and help education-focused companies navigate state funding and vendor-onboarding systems. Whether I am shaping a manuscript, building a workshop, or helping a therapist-created product reach homeschool families, the heart of my work is the same: I help people communicate what they know and build something useful from it.

MY BACKGROUND

I was raised in Bixby, Oklahoma, and now live and work in Northwest Arkansas. My career has moved through classrooms, newsrooms, political campaigns, publishing projects, creative spaces, and community programs. Writing has been the thread connecting every part of that work.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in Communications with a concentration in Writing and Rhetoric from the University of Arkansas, becoming a first-generation college graduate. My studies also included English, mass communication, journalism, research, rhetoric, storytelling, audience analysis, and professional communication. That background taught me how to translate complicated systems into language people can actually use.

Today, I bring those skills to Get Write with Shannon and to creative operations and community programming with Create It Studios and OneZeno Games in Northwest Arkansas. My work includes studio operations, outreach, social media, event and workshop development, client intake, and programs that help artists and aspiring creators access professional tools and build sustainable creative careers.

WRITING AND PUBLISHING

I am the author of three poetry collections: Naked, Unrequited Life, and Unmasked. My writing explores vulnerability, longing, motherhood, grief, identity, relationships, and self-discovery. I have also shared my work as a spoken-word poet in community and educational settings.

I am developing The Divine Bloodline, a novel centered on a fifteen-year-old girl whose family history, inherited spiritual abilities, and connection to an Oklahoma estate draw her into a story of memory, protection, racial violence, and ancestral power. Other works in development include Sonnets on Sons and Big Feelings: Journaling Through ADHD, BPD and Other Symptoms.

GET WRITE WITH SHANNON

I created Get Write with Shannon because talented people are too often separated from opportunity by confusing language, complicated systems, or the belief that they must figure everything out alone. I want my clients to spend less time feeling intimidated by the process and more time doing the work they were called to do.

Get Write with Shannon provides book development, publishing guidance, website copy, biographies, brand messaging, professional writing, grant strategy, proposals, business narratives, education vendor onboarding, state launch guides, workshops, and creative-career programming.

A growing specialty of my consulting work is helping therapist-founded and education-focused businesses make their products accessible to families using state education funds. I support occupational therapists, physical therapists, handwriting specialists, sensory-product creators, and other small-business owners with state education marketplace applications, ClassWallet and Odyssey onboarding, product listings, launch planning, and parent-facing communication.

CREATIVE LEADERSHIP AND WORKSHOPS

I develop and support programming in writing, podcasting, music production, video editing, poetry, open-mic performance, coworking, creative education, and career readiness. One of my signature concepts is the Starving Artist Series, built around a simple belief: the starving artist era is over. The series helps creators identify their skills, develop a personal brand and portfolio, build multiple income streams, understand funding, strengthen their networks, and create a practical career plan.

My niche talent is building communities and ecosystems while helping people find their place within them. I don’t simply complete paperwork or produce documents. I listen closely, study the landscape surrounding each project, and help clients recognize opportunities they may not have known were available.

MY APPROACH

I do not believe people need to sound more corporate to sound credible. They need language that is clear, intentional, accurate, and recognizably theirs. I begin by listening for the real message beneath the rough draft, scattered notes, or complicated system. Then I organize it, strengthen it, and help the person behind it decide what should happen next.

Wherever you are in your process, we can begin there.

Write where you are. Grow from there.