At 27, Morgan Richard Olivier is a local business owner, avid volunteer and writer. Born and raised in New Iberia, she is the wife of Rusty Olivier and daughter of M. Larry and Kim Richard.

Over the past few years, Olivier has gained a maturity that many don’t learn until much later in life. Blogging about her life and becoming open with the things that have challenged her, as well as inspire her, has brought new meaning to her life.

“As you grow, especially in your 20s, you think you know everything,” Olivier said. “At 21 I thought I knew everything and I got to 24 and thought, ‘I’m so much smarter than I was at 21.’ You go through things and lose the idea of who you think you are, because a lot of things are conditioning. You do things because your parents did them, or, I’m friends with this person because we were in high school together. For me, I had to learn my life is not suppose to be perfect. No one’s life is perfect. I’m suppose to pursue a life of purpose and progress over perfection.”

Olivier had to learn that the hard way. She lacked experience to fully express the thoughts that fill her writings today.

“I had to go through a complete mental breakdown, fall on my face. The thing that changed my life the most, was falling, learning from my mistakes, seeing who my friends are,” Olivier said. “Pain is one of the best catalysts for change if you allow it to be.”

Olivier said she knows that she has always been a blessed person, but was not always grateful for those blessings. Finding the difference between joy and happiness means realizing they are two different things.

“Every piece of the puzzle matters. I had to be the person I was to be the person I am. To do the things I do now, I had to experience a lesson or go through some type of pain,” Olivier said. “No one wants to talk about difficult things like rejection, insecurity or your own shortcomings. That’s the reason I got into the nonprofits that I’m in now and why I write about the things I write about.”

Falling, whether it is mental, physical, social or professionally is not an end, she said, but rather a beginning that can be turned for good. It helps her to see the world through others eyes. She works with the homeless but never thought they would be someone she would understand.

“I’ve always been a part of Angel Paws and would think, I care about the animals because people can take care of themselves,” Olivier admitted. “But when I experienced depression and an inability to function — It’s not about the place or homelessness — but to experience hopelessness or judgement, or confusion. The thing with the homeless, everyone thinks they know their story — but they have no idea.”

Excelling in school as a graduate of Catholic High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and received honors at the B.I. Moody College of Business Administration as an Outstanding Graduate, set her up early for the success she is experiencing today. 

Looking back, and toward the future, while blogging for Modern Morgan, Olivier said at one point she was saying the right things, but not feeling them. Now, feelings are an important part of her writing — all the more powerful.

““You go through things and lose the idea of who you think you are, because a lot of things are conditioning.”         

— Morgan Richard Olivier