Today we’d like to introduce you to Maggie Miller.
Hi Maggie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I remember our big wooden picnic table-sized family dinner table. Every evening, we sat in our assigned seats. I got the hardcore seat between my mom and my dad and frequently busted for throwing scraps under the table to a non-existent dog. It was the one time my mom called her 8 children home from our individual explorations: riding bikes around the neighborhood, hanging out at the Kmart in the mall, practicing soccer shots on our PVC-pipe goal in the backyard. We’d all sit down for the Midwestern meal chock full of triple starch (noodles, bread, potatoes) served oldest-to-youngest, unless you had forced yourself to the end of the order through bratty behavior.
My mom said she didn’t mean to name us all with M’s and tried to shake it up with the baby. Through the protest of the older children, my dad, who was the attending pediatrician, changed the birth certificate to an “M” name on the first evening of my baby’s sister’s life to complete the M&M’s once and for all. My Dad was one of the “old guard” of family doctors, 46-years of serving generations of families in their homes and at his office, a big traditional white house with black shutters. I think people felt they were visiting a friend and not a doctor. He’d often leave a family dinner to deliver a baby or to tend to a worried parent. My teenage self was angry that we didn’t have a “double telephone line”, meaning I couldn’t talk with my friends for very long for fear of a patient calling for help only to get a busy signal. I came to see how my dad served so many lives and his thirst for what Rumi said: “Be a lamp, lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.”
My Mom was herding the 8 kids—3 boys and 5 girls who were essentially splitting her energy and emotions into billions of pieces every day. She was our steady, balancing her work as a nurse and a church leader which she gave up for many years out of necessity. She saw us through sickness with popsicles and blankets and cases of family life and teenage attitude years. She drove us to soccer, theater, softball, baseball, for what probably seemed like endless years for her. She handled the cops when we were busted for juvenile antics like tee-peeing a house or stealing a sign at Burger King. She was the embracing strength of the neighborhood, often hosting 4-5 of our best friends who knew they could always come in, open our pantry or fridge and help themselves as family. She gave her whole self to cultivating mastery in each of us.
I was always in awe of my siblings and still am. We shared one bathroom, so we spent a ton of time socializing every day by necessity of getting ready for school in unison (5 girls + one curling iron = problems). We had taped dividing lines in our room to keep our territories clear (as a neat freak, I appreciated my area). I loved my brother’s feathered hair and tan turtle-necked sweater. I adored my sister’s thick teal eyeliner and the free popcorn she gave me working at the movie theater. I’d steal my next older sister’s Gloria Vanderbilt jeans for a whirl at school. We had our very own soccer training team in the field behind our house. We trained each other so hard that three of the girls had full rides for college soccer, and baby M went on to play World Cup Women’s Soccer. My sibs are still chock-full of an endless list of successes as rockstar achievers in law, medicine, business, education. In a maddening sense, one thing we were never allowed to do was stop trying to succeed. We were each other’s best competition and source of encouragement.
I remember the constant comparison with these best friends and formidable examples being tough. Until one day, sitting in the cool garage staring out at the big, towering maple trees, I had a thought come loudly through my mind, I want my actions to be my most stunning art. As Bob Goff said in Dream Big: “Comparing your path to someone else’s or assuming you have to do it the way someone else did it will rob you of a great adventure. If you want to find more purpose in your life if you are looking to find your own ambitions, help others find the path forward with their ambitions. Do this without comparison or getting lost in their ambitions. Buckle up for a terrifying ride.”
So, I began a frightening and ecstatic ride to live awake. The door opened and I walked through. I began to discover…the process of coming to new understandings. Life was my verb and motion its essence. What were my unique gifts that made me, me? What was mine to express, to do, to become? What was it? What was inside of my book?
I knew what I wanted to do. What I needed to do. Off I went, my mom’s “Magdalyn”, to explore the change-agent awakening inside of me. I felt the heartbeat of the world as a young woman practicing soccer with my George Washington University team near the glowing Lincoln Monument in D.C. I hitchhiked across the country and sold handmade veggie burritos at concerts to feel lonely, scared, fulfilled, and intrigued by people (much to parental dismay). I sniffed the salty beaches of San Diego and taught undergrads Comm101 who made fun of my Midwestern pantyhose (got rid of them quickly). I learned true forgiveness working for a Foundation started by two men, one whose 14-year-old son killed the other man’s son, yet they came together in restorative justice to teach true healing and education for young people in gangs. There’s no way you can’t change when you see that power of forgiveness after a nuclear bomb goes off in the heart of a parent who has lost their child.
For two years, I traveled and lived in the northern mountains of Peru, 17 hours of winding roads, where I started an international microcredit nonprofit, DiscoverHope, for women to build small businesses with small loans. Seeing women who lived on a dollar a day realizing their potential for their families was a palpable powerful lesson in how opportunity IS prosperity. My husband and greatest business mentor, Hector, challenged me upon return to the U.S., how we could “do more” at a greater scale by helping business leaders use their power for to transform communities and people. He planted the seeds for social impact to be core to our life mission as we began whiteboarding all over the world with corporate leaders, brainstorming ideas of how to fuse their profit with purpose. And in this journey, I discovered my WHY.
What made my heart feel electricity? …to inspire greatness in people. I was genuine about my passion to accomplish this as an ambassador. This life goal meant helping people step out of the boat to create what they wanted. This meant believing in their living force and their fuel to build platforms to unleash the positive potential in people.
Today, my business card reads “Chief Troublemaker.” It’s an ode to my never-ending curiosity (and good-hearted mischief-making). I made it up of course and if anything, it’s a conversation starter to get to know people simply because people intoxicate me. I start new relationships by asking people “what are you passionate about?” This question is so much more than asking what they “do.” It unleashes the space for them to enter their purpose and meaning. It helps them share what they love with you. It builds bridges with people.
I’ve heard many people scoff at the phrase “be the change” as if it is unobtainable. I didn’t and still don’t see it that way. We have the opportunity to change this world every day. Changing the world is possible and easy for all of us—it means you follow your bliss by giving your greatest strengths to the world moment by moment. When you do this, others do everything in their power to help you succeed because they are magnetically drawn to you. This means you inspire everyone you know to do the same, as they want this same feeling for themselves. Then they create their own paths and draw people to them. All of this equates to affecting countless people who are just like us. We change the world together. Trusting this vision has framed my life with transformative and positive power. I want my life to be a living expression of hope. There is a famine of encouragement and hope in this world right now. I truly believe peace comes through purpose.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Lack of forgiveness is a slow demise. It poisons you slowly if you let resentment and hatred seep into your bones. Forgiveness is a process that is constant, it is a muscle and must be “worked on” every day, it must be exercised. Sometimes, it’s the simple gesture of giving yourself permission to say I am sorry to yourself. Negative self-talk and imposter syndrome are powerful expressions of the ego fighting against you, making you feel itty bitty. I think you must start with yourself. Look in the mirror… and since we are mirrors of what we see, know that what you see, and judge is also in you. It’s an opportunity to begin to forgive yourself for this daily damage done to you by not valuing yourself fully. When you do this, you work that forgiveness muscle and can begin to restore. Sometimes, restoration doesn’t mean that you are telling others what they did or said to you was OK, but that you are moving forward with permission to grow and somehow, want them to restore also. Forgiveness is everything. It is the grail for a blissful Life. Forgive again, and again, and again. Forgive the desire to really despise the idea of even forgiving. Watch the sharp edges wash away. And watch this forgiveness give rise to Unalterable Love. Death is a tough teacher. Grief is a wild ride. It unearths old wounds but gives us the opportunities to live on and through. We are changed by it. It is a likely and inevitable experience that we will go through. I’ve seen for me, that there is life “before loss” and “after loss” and you are fundamentally a bit different. Your cells cry out. It’s important to let our tears fall to the earth and to let ourselves experience the emotions of grief that come and go. I think talking to those you trust, exercise, sleep, asking for help…these are all keys to healing. Have a sense of marvel and indestructible wonder for whole life long. If you lose it, just breathe, and find the most beautiful thing near you…no matter how big or small…and you will Love to be amazed again in that immeasurable moment. The meaning of life is in what we give. We come with nothing, and we leave with nothing. Purpose is always in giving.
Be aware of the bubble wrap (as Jessica Honegger says in Imperfect Courage). Life is waiting for us and so sometimes we must “go scared” and go onward and through. Experiences are such teachers, and we don’t want to miss them because they form who we are and how we give our unique gifts to the world. So…unwrap the insulation even if it’s a bit nerve-wracking and let life unfold.
Value yourself. As a woman in business, it’s been a great lesson to me. We are worth it! Know your values and let those shine. We sometimes can be our worst enemies with self-talk, and others will certainly make you feel less at moments in your life. Walk into a situation radiating all the greatest parts of you. I often picture a field of love emanating from me and enveloping others, especially when I am timid or nervous or feel “less than.” I swear, it creates something extraordinary. We are on purpose. The limitations only come in what we choose to disbelieve about ourselves. Believe that you are your own miracle worker. Believe in the ability to create magic in your own life. Look beyond the surface to see more of WHO YOU ARE and less of WHO YOU AREN’T.
Be authentic. Bob Goff, a favorite author, says that ‘comparison is a landmine.” It’s true. In this day and age, there is so much pressure to “copy that” and to see other’s lives as the standard we need to get to. You are a gift and have your own qualities that the world is waiting for. Spend some time getting to know what those are by knowing yourself…and let those shine into the world with your own gorgeous expression. We need to be candles or mirrors or magnets or sparks for each other. This light is our true inheritance. What if we walked around remembering, I AM A SPARK? What an extraordinary idea. Drive yourself with authenticity and every cell in you will SHINE.
Make It Happen. My Dad’s favorite phrase before he left the world. Just do it. Take a step, a baby step, to move forward on your dreams and goals. There will be hills and valleys. Creating things can be hard, mysterious, difficult. But it can also be joyful and fulfilling. You won’t get things just by thinking of them. Take the step. Where there is a Willingness, there is a Way. We do not always know the way…but we are called. The story of a Quest is etched into our very tissues. It strikes a familiar chord with every heart that has ever beaten. There has never or will never be another YOU. The world is waiting for you to maximize your unique gifts of time, talent, and treasure.
Don’t forget Love. Never forget your true inheritance: you are Loved. An open heart is the most fearless heart. To live is to see Awe in each other every day. To taste Love is our function. Follow the Compass of your Heart. Love will always blaze its own Pathway. When we Love, we are using the greatest power in the World. Remember that Gratitude is a healing sustainer. Life Rocks. You should play your Song.
As you know, we’re big fans of Magnify Impact. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
As co-founders of Magnify Impact, my business partner Hannah Nokes and I GET to help company leaders focus the world’s abundant resources for good. We have the greatest job. Our goal is to help company leaders activate the power of purpose inside their companies. By doing so, we guide leaders to leverage their company’s resources to help solve social issues.
It is an honor to have a front-row seat to their transformation as they lean into their company’s purpose. They become more connected to the meaning behind what they do. They have a different lens for their decision-making. Their teams find new clarity about why they show up each day. They strengthen business relationships. And then, when purpose is fully activated inside the organization and extended into the community as proactive, positive social impact, it becomes a key driver of the company’s success. Our steadfast belief is that no matter the maturity of your company, you can make a positive impact on the world in a way that
builds your business.
We are thrilled about our upcoming book, Magnify Your Impact: Powering Profit with Purpose. We wrote is as a labor of love during 2020 and the pandemic and can’t wait for leaders of all types to have it in their hands on Sept 21. The book provides a social impact blueprint, a strategic planning tool for integrating social impact into core business strategy. In creating your blueprint, you’ll plan how to use the unique capabilities of your organization to solve problems you see in the world around you.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@magnify-impact.com
- Website: www.magnify-impact.com
- Instagram: @magnifyimpact
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magnifyimpact
- Twitter: @MagnifyImpact
- Other: https://vimeo.com/magnifyimpact?ltclid=50f1f660-2ff1-4800-84c8-1e21601c0263, https://www.linkedin.com/company/magnifyimpact/?viewAsMember=true, https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggiemiller/
