Running for Real's video: Meet Running For Real Production Team Members Amber Moore Maria Vargas - R4R 235

How did Maria get here? Tina shares that a few months ago, she realized she wanted to bring someone on board to help her grow and steer Running for Real in a new direction. After posting a job listing, she was blown away with responses. But Maria’s caught her eye. She sent Tina a video answering the questions on the application. “Something in my gut just told me this is the right person,” Tina said. What does she do? Maria’s focus is on storytelling and communications with a little twist of marketing. It’s about telling stories in ways that reach people’s heads and their hearts. She helps us define Running for Real and our mission of using running as a vehicle for internal and external change. Maria makes you think twice about the word, “Awareness” “I was as guilty as anyone else of throwing around “raising awareness, awareness awareness,” says Tina. “Then Maria made me think twice about using that word.” Why? Maria says back in college she took a communications class and the professor strictly said never to use the word “awareness.” We are all too familiar with organizations raising mealth awareness, environmental awareness, running awareness, etc. But just because you’re aware of something, it doesn't mean anything unless you act on it. If we don’t bring things into life then awareness doesn’t get us anywhere. “To know and not to do, is not to know,” Maria says. That is why she thinks we can all take a step further. Past awareness and into action. This is an excellent article for reference. Maria’s story Maria was born in Bogota, Colombia and her family moved to the U.S when she was three years old. She grew up in Gainesville, Florida, went to college at the University of Florida, and moved to Austin, Texas in 2018. While she doesnt fully identify with being fully Colombian or fully American, at an early age she learned to value hard work perseverance. It was ingrained at her from the beginning the importance of keeping in touch with her roots while taking advantage of living the land of opportunity. Love of Water and Land Her love of sports began in the water. Swimming was a big part of her life and she swam competitively through high school. When she was younger, the only running she did was running stadiums as conditioning for swimming and she saw any sort of running as a chore. That changed when she moved to Austin which is where she started doing triathlon and getting involved with November Project and other running groups like East Side Beer Runners and Austin Runners Club’s Morning Jo’s group. “I was overwhelmed by the people that are part of the running community here. here. It wasn't this elitist runner group that I had in my mind, but a rather welcoming group of diverse runners who reeled me in and caused me to fall in love with the sport,” she says. “Running is a common ground because we're all so different. It creates a safe space for us to have special conversations and form meaningful connections. Even for a long time, I didn't know what my friends did as day jobs because we just had so many other things to talk about!” Prickly Pear Prickly Pear is a mindset, a community that Maria and her sister Luisa started in 2018. They are sending out the message that you don’t have to follow the mainstream ideas. That you can go out on your own and do something different. That you can be yourself. They spread this message through their Instagram and their monthly publication called The Commissary that spotlights stories of everyday people doing positive things and spark curiosity. They’re bringing together people of different cultures and skills like artists, photographers, and small business owners so they can show up for one another and help each other live more meaningful lives. Tina describes it as more traditional media where it’s enjoyable to sit and read intentionally rather than scroll through. Maria’s 3-2-1 Corner Each week in Tina’s newsletter, Maria shares three things to ponder about, two recipes, and one challenge. What makes the new Running Realized podcast special? Maria believes the word, “Realized,” is what makes this new podcast with Knox and Tina so special. “Realized” acts more of an action verb because it’s about turning conversations into actions that listeners and ourselves can take to be part of helping humanity thrive. It comes out on February 22nd. Where are we headed? Running for Real has undergone a revamp. There’s a new website, logo, and even the podcast has a new cover. But at the core, the mission remains the same: having honest and real conversations. Maria explains that hard conversations can be had with people who share different opinions if we are able to just find common ground. For us, the shared interest happens to be running. It’s what allows us to connect with others who have different backgrounds and cultures than ourselves...