Welcome! I'm Maia
I'm a public speaker, storyteller, and podcast guest who shares hard-won lessons about leadership, resilience, and stepping into the arena.
From boxing rings to battlefields to boardrooms, I've learned that navigating different arenas requires the same fundamentals: grit, strategic thinking, and the ability to pivot under pressure.
As a college boxer, military leader, educator, mom, and now nonprofit leader, I've experienced challenges, failures, and successes that inform how I lead today. I created "Voice in the Arena" because I believe everyone deserves to find their voice in the spaces that matter most—and discover what's possible when you refuse to stay on the sidelines.
MY MISSION
Inspire you to take chances, lead boldly, embrace new opportunities with courage and authenticity, and never back down from the challenges that will define your life.
AS FEATURED IN
WORK WITH ME
Speaking and connecting with live audiences is my passion. Bring me to your corporate event, school, conference, or retreat for a conversation on leadership, developing high performing teams, and navigating life's pivot points. Whether I'm delivering a keynote, sharing insights on your podcast, or crafting stories that move hearts and minds, I bring real-world experience from diverse arenas to help audiences lead with purpose and passion.
Keynote Speaker
I deliver keynote addresses that challenge audiences to lead with courage in their own arenas. Drawing from combat deployments, diplomatic negotiations, and pioneering women's leadership initiatives, I provide frameworks for building resilient teams, navigating transitions, and leading authentically in high-stakes environments. My speeches blend strategic insight with compelling narrative—audiences leave with both practical tools and renewed conviction to tackle their hardest challenges.
Podcast Guest
I'm a dynamic podcast guest who brings depth, range, and real-world credibility to conversations about leadership, gender dynamics, cultural intelligence, and personal transformation. From combat zones to corporate transitions, from motherhood in the military to storytelling as activism, I offer fresh perspectives tested in extreme environments—and yes, I have stories that will make your audience laugh, cry, and rethink everything they thought they knew about courage. My experience spans intelligence operations, diplomatic missions across Africa, and breaking barriers as a female veteran, which means I can discuss building military partnerships in patriarchal cultures and navigating toddler negotiations with equal expertise.
Storytelling
As a featured Moth storyteller, I craft and perform narratives that connect military experience to universal human truths about courage, vulnerability, and transformation. My stories explore finding joy in unexpected places, challenging the false choice between femininity and strength, and breaking barriers to create pathways for others. I bring twenty years of lived experience to stages where authenticity and emotional resonance create lasting impact.
TOPICS I COVER
Leadership in Complex Environments
Building high-performing teams under pressure, decision-making with incomplete information, and leading through ambiguity
Navigating Career Transitions
From military to civilian life, pivoting between sectors, and reinventing professional identity while staying authentic
The Courage to Lead Authentically
Vulnerability as strength, choosing the hard right over the easy wrong, and finding your voice in the arena
Women in Male-Dominated Fields
Breaking barriers, navigating gender bias, claiming space, and creating pathways for the women behind us
Storytelling as Transformation
Using narrative to process difficult moments and transition, the power of shared experience, and leading with your voice
Cross-Cultural Leadership
Building trust across cultural divides, diplomacy and influence without authority, lessons from military partnerships in Africa
