About the AuthorPatricia Talbot( CEO and Co-Founder )Patti cultivates homegrown changemakers prepared to step into their power and work with others to create the world they want to live in.  Get in touch to find out how you can grow the social changemaker in yourself and those you serve with Blue Roads Changemaker YOU. 

















Sitting next to MaryBeth Hyland the first day of a new session at Heroic Public Speaking in Lambertville, New Jersey, I could feel the warm and generous energy radiating from her very being.  I knew right away this was someone I needed to get to know.  What I've learned is that MaryBeth is an incredible changemaker who teaches people about the importance of aligning the work they do with their core values so that our daily activities fill us up instead of draining our energy and leaving us depleted. As you follow MaryBeth’s journey in the video recording, via the podcast linked here, or by reading the summary below, take a moment to reflect on how you show up in life and what kind of energy you are projecting. Are you, like MaryBeth, drawing people toward you with the warmth of your presence? Are you taking good care of yourself in the process? You might be kind and accepting of others, but do you also offer yourself permission to be fully human?



































Homegrown MaryBethMaryBeth grew up in Washington DC, and was often visited by her great uncle. He was a full-time cowboy and a master woodworker whose expertise was invaluable when it came to building things around the house.  MaryBeth loved visiting his ranch in Idaho as a child. There, she became fascinated with horses, cowboys, and the mountains around her. Later, as an adult, she started going back to that ranch as a place to replenish and regroup. As she puts it . . . 












I started to go there on my own to detox from technology to reconnect to my own humanity in a way I didn't even know that I needed so desperately.






During one of her trips, she heard voices on the property and discovered a cattle woman and her daughter gently moving cows back to the herd. MaryBeth was intrigued. This moment started her toward her own quest to learn more about the lifestyle of a cowgirl. The woman she met that day was named “Cheyenne.” Cheyenne soon became MaryBeth's “cowgirl mentor”.  She invited MaryBeth to work alongside her to learn the ins and outs of managing a herd, a dream come true that brought MaryBeth back to horseback riding and fond memories of adventures from her childhood. 























MaryBeth's PatchworkMaryBeth's life as a child in Washington D.C. was the polar opposite of those rare experiences on the Idaho ranch with her uncle.  So, too, was her life in the suburbs of Baltimore.  In D.C., she had attended an international school where her first language was Spanish.  Moving to the suburbs made her feel like an outsider, uncertain about her identity and sense of belonging. I remember my first birthday party when we moved, I had Alicia come. She's the woman who had essentially been a second mother from El Salvador. She made pupusas for this big birthday party for me. All my friends came, and nobody would even try the pupusas because they didn't know what they were.As she grew older, MaryBeth began to embrace experiences like this as valuable learning. Growing up, speaking different languages, and being comfortable with diversity shaped her significantly.  

















Today, MaryBeth uses what she's learned to help people connect with their true selves in order to be a vessel of love, light, and possibility. She reminds us all that embracing who we are is our greatest gift to the world. When we shed programmed beliefs to find freedom, well-being, and abundance, we can take ownership of our identities and our destinies. 






























One of the things that my grandfather used to always say to me...was that you have no true wealth unless you have traveled and unless you have experienced other ways of living.
























MaryBeth believes in the power of diverse perspectives to create connections and generate abundance. Early in her career, she ran programs for young professionals. In this role, she made a point to ensure the inclusion of minorities and people of color in decision-making with a focus on depth and connection rather than mere “representation.”












One of the things that I know was key to the strength and power of that community was that everybody was celebrated for the perspective they brought.






In her current work with organizations, MaryBeth provides scholarships for minorities interested in participating in her programming because she knows that diverse voices enhance the quality of the experience for everyone involved. She works to bring people together through shared values while embracing their unique lenses and life experiences.  























Changemaker MaryBethMaryBeth challenges us to extend the same grace and kindness we offer to others to ourselves.  She acknowledges that this is not often the norm in the workplace where there is so much pressure to become a “superstar”.  Her book Permission to be Human encourages recognition and acceptance of our imperfections by offering compassion to ourselves while suspending judgment, honoring boundaries, and giving ourselves and others permission to be unapologetically human.    
























MaryBeth relates this to the growing dilemma around the role of artificial intelligence (AI). She sees the rise of AI as another opportunity for humans to focus more on their own humanity and what it means to simply be… “a great human”. 





























She believes we are at a tipping point where more people are recognizing the need to take care of themselves better and live a more connected life by embracing their humanity.

















Among the exercises MaryBeth teaches are a number of processes to help you identify your core values, be it in the workplace or in your personal life. One such strategy she shared was what she calls the “Fill and Drain” process. She advises us to take a notepad and identify the happenings that fill you with energy throughout the day and what, on the other hand, saps your energy dry. In your list, MaryBeth points out, you will find that the things you list that FILL YOU with energy are things that align with your values. However, the things that DRAIN your energy should tell you that those situations actually conflict with your values. This exercise can help you identify patterns in your life and help you seek more fulfilling experiences instead. To learn more, visit MaryBeth’s website https://sparkvisionnow.com/about-us/ or take her free values profile quiz at https://corevaluesquiz.com/.  Also, check out her book, Permission to Be Human, as a powerful resource to support you in creating a culture and a life in alignment with your values.



































Leading by example, MaryBeth is now working on an early retirement plan to align with her own values.  That plan includes opening a retreat center with Cheyenne that combines MaryBeth's facilitation skills with Cheyenne's expertise as a cattlewoman to create a community focused on values, nature, animals, food, and energy.  The tiny home she and her husband have dreamed about has been delivered to the ranch and they are splitting their time between city life on the east coast and ranch life in the west.  Every day she is aligning her identity and her work with her core values and showing us how to do it, too!   



































MaryBeth’s work in values alignment and inclusion of every voice to create a world that accepts humans where they are is crucial to attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals.We can easily see her work advance Goal #3 – Good Health and Well-Being, Goal #4 – Quality Education, and Goal #11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities. Her work with inclusivity is also vital for Goal # 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, Goal #10 – Reduced Inequalities, and Goal 16 – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. I hope you'll get in touch to let us know what YOU and people you know are doing to realize these Global Goals by the year 2030.  We can get there if we all work together and take our place as Changemakers! CHECK OUT our CHANGEMAKER YOU course to help you get started today! 

























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