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. 

















Get ready to channel your curiosity about people with Changemaker Nancy Marshall! Nancy has a passion for connecting people together so that they can bring their gifts to the world. A curious mind makes for genuine relationships that can lead to positive change in every community.  Nancy never starts a conversation thinking, “What's in it for me?”  Instead, she reaches out through her love for people and genuine interest in who they are, what they are passionate about, and what they hope to be able to do. 





In this episode of “On Your Own Terms,” Nancy shares her “Homegrown Solutions for a Patchwork World” that includes her genuine interest in the other changemakers around her.  You can catch up on the video here, by listening to the podcast, or by reading the summary below!



































Homegrown NancyLooking back, Nancy is grateful that she was blessed with a truly wonderful childhood. Her parents were committed to giving her the best upbringing they could. Nancy’s mother was the youngest of three children, so she knew from firsthand experience that kids could get into trouble when they were bored. Determined to keep her inquisitive daughter on the straight and narrow, Nancy's mother always kept her busy. I feel lucky because I assumed that everybody in the world had a great childhood, but then as I've grown older, I've realized that isn't necessarily the case.





Growing up, Nancy was involved in many activities from school sports, church group, and choir to Brownies. She was a very social child who was encouraged to swim from dock to dock at their summer cottage, just to chat with all the neighbors.  
Active and into new adventures, Nancy joined the Pony Club where she learned about horseback riding and holistic horse care.  By the age of 15, she bought a horse with her savings from babysitting and her father helped build her a barn.  










































When I went away to college, my mom learned to ride and take care of the horse, too.

















Nancy also spent many hours at Sugarloaf, a Ski resort in Maine near the Canadian border. The active lifestyle suited her well alongside the studious nature encouraged by her parents.  It's a lifestyle she soon shared with her own children and continues to enjoy today. 



































Solution-Focused NancyAfter college, Nancy went back to Sugarloaf Ski Resort as their Director of Communications. The management at the ski resort recognized Nancy’s ambition, and offered her a contract if she would start her own business. Using her extensive network of contacts, she quickly acquired several clients in outdoor recreation. That's how Nancy got started with her own public relations agency in 1991. 






Now that I've had my agency for over 30 years, many of our clients are (still) in the outdoor recreation space.






Today, Nancy continues to run that PR firm and hosts the PR Maven Podcast.  More recently, she has begun to accelerate her public speaking career as well.  She believes building a personal brand and a supportive network is key to professional success and personal happiness. To achieve this, Nancy does all she can to encourage people to honor their own way of being and to connect with others every chance they get.  With this in mind, she works with journalists and pitches stories to the news media on behalf of her clients and writes for publications such as Forbes while keeping a vibrant Facebook community called PR Maven Nation alive with her thought leadership.  

















Nancy's PatchworkThrough it all, Nancy enjoys and values the patchwork of diverse relationships she has cultivated.  One example comes from her skiing adventures as a young person where she was exposed to French Canadians who piqued her interest in the French language.  During college, Nancy spent a year in France, where she made a close friend named Michelle. Michelle was from Haiti and could not speak English.  This relationship motivated Nancy to improve her own French to be able to communicate with her new friend. This kind of motivation to go the extra mile to connect with people has served Nancy well all her life. 












It just energizes me to make these connections!






Nancy's recommendation is to bring curiosity into every relationship.  She's always on the lookout for commonalities on which to build. There was a time in her life when Nancy tried to suppress her extroverted nature because she was criticized for being so outgoing and chatty.  She's now learned that her way of being is a gift to the world to be put to good use as a positive changemaker.  Like the rest of the patchwork, Nancy has something unique to celebrate and share. 

















Changemaker NancyAt this stage, Nancy feels both limitless possibilities and a sense of urgency to make the most of her life. She hopes to inspire other women to see life as full of opportunities and not feel limited by their circumstances. Nancy models this outlook with her exuberant advocacy for a number of important causes. One organization close to Nancy’s heart is the American Lung Association. For years, Nancy has participated in a 3-day, 180-mile bike ride that serves as a significant fundraising event in support of clean air and healthy lungs. Good health and an active lifestyle have always been important to Nancy, but lung cancer also took her mother's life in 2022 making this mission doubly important to her personally.It gives me great joy to be involved with the event and pride actually that I'm a connector at heart. I've brought several of my clients on board to support the Trek across Maine as sponsors.  












So again, put yourself out there and figure out what your superpower is that you can share with others and be an inspiration to others to help them achieve their goals and dreams.






She is also working with the Maine Maritime Museum to promote an exhibit about the warming of the ocean, particularly off the coast of Maine. Nancy believes public relations can play a significant role in educating the public about global warming and its dangers.Another powerful example of Nancy's advocacy shows up in her excitement about the book below.  Nancy helped her friend, Lisa Wentzell, write a children's book about her son's adventures experiencing life as someone with a rare chromosomal disorder. The book, “A Dog and His Boy: The Adventures of Spillway and Scotty,” is written from the perspective of Scotty's stuffed dog, Spillway. The book's message is about accepting and befriending those who are different. It's already making a difference in her own community and beyond. 











Nancy believes in the power of asking for what you need and encourages others to do the same. She feels blessed to have started a business at a young age, to have cultivated her talents in ways that help others, and to have carved out a life that brings her great joy every day.If you would like to learn more about Nancy Marshall, the PR Maven, you can visit her website at https://marshallpr.com/ or connect with her on LinkedIn.



































The love and compassion for people Nancy models for us is critically important in advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Her work in PR and voluntary efforts advance Goal #3 – Good Health and Well-Being, Goal #4 – Quality Education, and Goal #13 – Climate Action as well as Goal #8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth. 
All of these efforts can help advance Goal #11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities and most importantly, Goal #17 – Partnership for the Goals. 
Please get in touch to let us know what YOU and people you know are doing to realize these Global Goals by the year 2030.  It can happen if we all work together and take our places as Changemakers working to make the world work better for everyone.
CHECK OUT our CHANGEMAKER YOU course to help you get started today! 

























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