Being Coleen

A bold, poetic exploration of trauma, resilience, and what it means to finally feel safe in your own skin.
Raised by her grandparents under the shade of a Texas sycamore tree, Coleen Gantt Heaton learned how to survive-quietly, invisibly, and at great cost. Being Coleen is a raw and redemptive collection of personal essays and poetry chronicling her lived experience as a daughter, mother, survivor, advocate, and woman finding her way back to herself.
With piercing honesty and lyrical voice, Coleen invites readers into the spaces between survival and healing-where silence is shattered and strength takes root.
This is not a traditional memoir. It's a soul-level invitation to be seen.
Readers will connect with Being Coleen if they've ever:
. Survived trauma and wondered what healing looks like
. Felt unseen, silenced, or "too much" for the world
. Deconstructed their faith and searched for meaning
. Worked in advocacy, caregiving, or disability inclusion
. Looked for truth in the tension between beauty and brokenness
For fans of Chanel Miller, Glennon Doyle, Maggie Smith, and Jedidiah Jenkins, this book offers raw truth, soft hope, and deep permission to simply be.

Coleen Gantt Heaton is a writer, nonprofit leader, and fierce advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her journey began in a special education classroom in 1993 and has grown into a life devoted to creating spaces where everyone belongs. In 2014, she founded No Limitations, a Central Texas nonprofit offering adaptive sports and social activities free of charge. What began with a handful of families grew into a thriving community where hundreds found connection, purpose, and joy. Today, as Executive Director of The Arc of McLennan County, she continues the fight for inclusion and acceptance. Her debut book, Being Coleen, is a raw, soul-deep collection of poetry and personal writings tracing her journey through pain, healing, hope, and self-acceptance. It is also a love letter to the people and places that shaped her-especially her grandparents, who raised her on the same land where she now lives and writes, in the shade of a sycamore tree her grandfather planted. Coleen believes in the power of story to heal, to connect, and to inspire change. Whether through her advocacy work, her writing, or the way she moves through her days, she strives to make the world a kinder, more loving place-one act of service, one poem, one person at a time.