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How I found & created my own Balanced Rhythm as a…

Wife & Mother, Family Member & Friend, CEO, Business Strategist, Ministry Leader, and Executive Board Member.

Ready to create a life that leaves you feeling inspired
and happy instead of tired and depleted?

The trajectory of my life was forever changed!

January 28, 2013, my life changed.

It was the first birthday since my mother’s passing and I had a dream that night on her birthday.

The dream was about the things that I’m doing today. I could see colors in the dream. I saw a lot of women in the dream. I saw a conference. The dream was so profound, I cried about it for two days. It felt like there was something in me that needed to come out but I didn’t know what it was.

I remember calling my Godmother and crying on the phone. “I don’t know what’s happening.”

And she said something I’ve never forgotten. “You helped take care of your Mom, you did what you were supposed to do and now it’s time for you. All the things that I’ve seen in you since you were a teenager, it’s time for those things to come to the surface.”

That day began my journey of discovering what a Maven was and led to my “becoming”. That was the beginning of my transformation. Having that dream on the first birthday after my Mother’s passing.

It changed my life and the trajectory of my life.

I was moving on a rhythm of enjoying being a wife, being a mom, raising our kids, going to work and being a trader and life was good. I was not unhappy, but something shifted and the questions; “What am I born to do?” and “Why am I really here?”, started bubbling to the surface. I was terrified.

Time to stop running from my destiny.

I remember driving in my car one day to the grocery store, and it felt like a weight was on my chest. It didn’t feel like I was having a heart attack, it felt like something heavy was on top of me. I could see myself in my head trying to move from under it by moving to the left and to the right. But no matter what direction I moved, the weight moved with me. I remember along with the weight, there was a noise inside my head that sounded like a bad radio station. Now I’m not a heavy metal music listener but the music sounded similar to that. Something I didn’t like.

I remember saying out loud, “God will you please turn that noise down.”

And He said, “I won’t. I won’t turn it down until you listen.”

And I finally said, “Okay. What is it? What is it that you’re trying to tell me? What is it that you’re so desperately trying to get my attention about? What is it?”

That was the beginning of, not only feeling like there was a question in my mind of what was I born to do but now seeking the answer.

I have to discover it now. I’m responsible for it. I’ve got to know what it is.

I knew I had no choice in the matter at that point.

I had to discover what it was, seek the answer and deliver what it was.

Accepting my place at the front of the room.

My entrepreneurial journey began hosting live events for women. I did not have a business in mind. I really had ONE event in mind.

When I got into my mid-30’s I really started connecting with other women. All different types of women — corporate women, entrepreneurs, non-profit leaders, etc.

I became a conduit. I knew women on the left that needed a resource and women on the right who were the resource. My networking events allowed women to be in the same space so they could get the connections they needed. That was the only goal.

Women started saying “That was great, when are you doing the next one?” I’d do another event. “Ok great, when are you doing the next one?”
“Maybe you can share information about this…”

Even when I went from hosting these events to hosting mini-workshops, I was still the person responsible for putting them together, pulling women into a safe space, inviting them to share their stories and their resources, but I remained safely in the background. I did not feel a need or want to be in the front. I didn’t need to share my story, nor did I feel like I had a compelling story, at that time.

A friend of mine said to me…

“M. Shaw these events are great but I really think you should be at the front of the room. Women are coming to see you, to hear you, to connect with you, as well as the other women. So you hiding in the back is not going to continue to work.” ~ D. James

So I felt like that was my next phase…fear. I thought, Now I have to put myself out here for this? I was fine being in the back. Now I have to figure out how I’m supposed to put myself in the front and be the visible leader.

My first company was launched named M. Shaw Relations. It was me connecting people to resources, one of my gifts. I did this while I still had my corporate job.

“The work is not Skippable.”

It Lights My Soul On Fire!

So I began doing some work with a couple of life coaches. It had its ups and downs, but there were some vital tools I gained from those experiences.

I went through a process of unearthing who was “Maven Miara” and that required a lot of excavating. There was a lot of stuff that I buried way down deep inside that I thought would never be brought to the surface again.

Doing that work really opened up my heart, because there was a lot of stoniness there.

I always say, “The work is not skippable”. So I had to do the work to remove all the stoniness and really allow God to soften my heart and soften my heart towards working with women. And…doing the work that I’m now doing.

I would not be able to do the work that I’m now doing had I not gone through this personal development phase of learning who I was as a maven. I had to get that first before I could share it with other women.

I had to learn what a balanced rhythm looked like in my life before I could share that information and tools with other women. I had to walk it out and live it to be able to say it from a stage in a compelling way. I wasn’t telling women what I learned in a book or what I read or what someone else told me, I was sharing what I had lived.

It truly has been one of the greatest yet terrifying, exciting but doubt-filled phases of my life!

I love being a mom of four pretty cool now young adults. I love being a wife to a husband that loves me and allows me to soar. I loved my corporate career as a trader, I enjoyed that thoroughly, but this…this was what I was born to do.

I was born to help other women discover what their passions are, what their truth is, and to breathe life into it. To move women from stuck.

Your stuck could be fear. Your stuck could be a lack of self-confidence. A lack of believing in what you were born to do. Whatever your stuck…is.

Moving you from that to…execution. Execution is taking steps toward delivering what you were born to do. Whatever that is…the world needs it. The world needs what you have.

Everyone’s not waiting for Maven Miara.

Someone is waiting for you.

From creating the Maven Incubator, The Leadership Circles, to becoming a public speaker, and an author — all of those things are perfectly blended together in the relaunch of my brand as Maven Miara.

All of the previous twenty-five plus years of my corporate career, six years of networking and entrepreneurship, of creating workshops and then full conferences, becoming a speaker and author, have all resulted in the perfect culmination of my life via this brand, this website and my relaunching with these new products and services.

I’m surrounded by amazing women and I’m blessed to be the leader of a great community called Maven Nation that lights my soul on fire.

I’m super excited about this next phase in my life and I look forward to helping you light your soul on fire as well.

Giving Back

It’s a joy to be able to give back to our communities through service.

I’m honored to serve on the national executive board as Vice President of Nerdy Girl Success. Our mission is to change the landscape of leadership by supporting and preparing young women to become the decision makers of today and tomorrow. We currently offer in-person programming in Houston, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston.

I also serve as the Women’s Ministry Leader at the Word of God Christian Fellowship Church in Cypress, TX.

miara shaw

'Maven' Miara Shaw is a Hope Curator & Confidence Cultivator who works with high-achieving, purpose pursuing leaders to take action in moving from stuck to execution without sacrificing their relationships, health & mental sanity. She calls this a Balanced Rhythm™.

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