Meet Maggie Eckburg

We recently connected with Maggie Eckburg and have shared our conversation below.

Maggie, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

My resilience comes primarily from my Christian faith and a willingness to work through trials instead of wish them away and pine for things to be the way they were before the struggle ever came. It’s not about giving up but letting God in and allowing myself to be held by the One who loves me.

The belief that “Everything Is Grace” – that all things are working for my good (Romans 8:28) – is foundational to my strength. It reminds me that I am not responsible for figuring it all out and that I don’t need to have all the answers because Someone bigger than me has my best interest at heart and is moving pieces that I can’t see.

It took a long road down an unexpected healing journey from cancer and childhood abuse in order to get to this place and embrace this belief. I have found that if everything is working for my good and if God really is who He says He is, then all things can be redeemed and all things can be created anew.

This means I have so much less to be afraid of and so much more love, joy, and freedom to experience no matter what comes my way. Transformation isn’t scary when we see it this way and new life awaits each new trial if we are open to it. The more I opened myself up to it, the less afraid I became, and the more this all proved itself to be true.

Trials are’t about bouncing back but working your way through and allowing yourself to be created anew. This surrender to new life is where resilience is born and where all things become possible.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a former classroom teacher turned entrepreneur on a mission to spread the message that “Everything is Grace.” I do this primarily through photography, speaking, and coaching.

For as long as I can remember, I have had a love for photographing beauty and helping others feel seen, known, and loved. That served me well as I spent 14 years teaching in a formal inner city classroom full of teenagers who needed just that, but there was still something missing that I could no longer deny once my oncologist thought that my cancer had returned and another PET scan was in order.

This cancer scare shook me to my core. I had beaten cancer once before but that was prior to marriage and babies. The thought of needing to go through it again had me walking in so much fear and doubt in my faith, that it was as though I became a walking zombie.

When the test results came back and revealed that my cancer had not in fact returned, I knew I would never be the same.

It didn’t take long for me to see that this cancer scare ended up being one of the biggest graces in my life. I LOVE being comfortable (as most of us do) and I never would have pursued the deepest desires of my heart had I not believed I was possibly facing death had my cancer returned.

This is what ultimately led me to open up my photography business under the name “Everything is Grace.” This business is more about revealing truths than remembering moments – showing the beauty that is everywhere even when it may be hard to see.

I photograph families, seniors, couples, small businesses, and events. I also offer to walk with cancer patients along their journey as they ring the bell after the final treatment. I want them to have documentation of their strength and resilience – it’s something I wish I had from that time.

Most recently I have created the greatest work of my heart to date: my newly released flagship program, “The EG Life.” This is an online self-paced program dedicated to helping others live out an “Everything Is Grace” lifestyle- one in which you embrace freedom, joy, peace, and strength, trusting that all things are working for your good.

Currently, I dedicate my time and travel (outside of family time) to speaking, coaching, and capturing imagery that shines light on the grace that is present in all things.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1) Managing perfectionism – this idea that if I just think through everything hard enough before I start, I can avoid making a mistake.

I think this all started back in childhood when I would occasionally get called on in class, not know an answer, and then feel like an epic failure. There was a time in primary school when I couldn’t even remember my birthday when I was called on to share it. This led to me hyper preparing for things and never wanting to participate in activities I couldn’t plan ahead. This cycle of thinking had kept me stuck for so long. It kept me afraid to make bold moves in my business, let alone open it in the first place, and it was the number one thing keeping me from growing for the longest time.

Working through my perfectionistic tendencies has uncovered the beauty of taking action and being open to making mistakes. The more I began to embrace this mindset, the quicker things moved along in my business. Action breeds clarity 100% of the time. Thinking through everything in your head and trying to have it all perfectly in order prior to taking action, doesn’t. Running a business is way more fun when you’re open to surprises and the lessons you will learn along the way. Even better, you’ll reach your goals quicker!

2) Embracing curiosity.

Nothing was off the table this way and it blew the door wide open for increased confidence and trust in God. Once you open yourself up to the idea that all things are possible, that you really can experience transformation, and that you don’t have to embrace the same type of thought patterns and behaviors as you once did, things start to shift dramatically in a positive way.

3) Recognizing and rewiring my thought patterns.

My first therapist asked me to write down my thoughts and come back to her the next week with a list of them. To my surprise, I could not accomplish the task that first week. I had no idea what specific thoughts I was thinking, I only knew what I was feeling and how I was acting.

I’ll never forget the day I caught the moment I thought to myself, “You’re so stupid.” This was ground breaking for me and began a mega shift in my personal and business growth. It’s hard to blaze trails if your inner critic is nasty and not put in it’s proper place, but it’s impossible to discipline it if you have no idea of it’s existence. I challenge and encourage everyone to get to know their interior life and take ownership of the thoughts they think and deem to be true. Those very thoughts could be why they have or have not gotten to where they long to go!

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

First and foremost, God. Every challenge I have overcome is only because I have given it to Him and He has made straight the path. The more I have carved out time to get to know Him better, the more I have been able to trust. The more I trust, the more doors open and peace, joy, and opportunities flood in. God is full of surprises in the best of ways.

In terms of developing essential skills and necessary knowledge, credit goes to therapy and coaching. Therapy, specifically EMDR, helped me work through past trauma that was causing present road blocks. Coaching kept me forward focused and helped me forge ahead toward my goals as I learned the skills necessary to get me there. It got me out of my own way.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Always Flourishing Photography

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