Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maya J. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Maya , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
Many adults don’t realize that as children we develop our love for art, imagination, and creativity first. Then, as we get older, and more responsibility sets in, we cloud our creativity and passion with logic. I have learned to keep my inner child alive within me so that I feel comfortable expressing my creativity through my passions for music, spirituality, and fitness. As a child, music kept me alive! Singing, dancing, and acting was all I wanted to do every day, all day. As an adult, I’ve learned to expand my passion for art and creativity to merge with logic to create in a way that will impact my community.
One of my favorite hobbies is digital creation for my brand- L.Y.F.E. which stands for Love, Youth, Fitness, Evolution. I love the entire process of planning, recording, and editing my videos. Since my niche is holistic health, I have a broad spectrum of content that I can create. I make videos teaching yoga poses, dance, and weight lighting, healthy eating, meditation, etc. It makes me feel joy to know that I am using my talent of creativity to enlighten and educate my community on different ways to live a life they will love. Being a creative keeps my inner child happy and that makes me feel more alive every day.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Maya J, I am an native of Atlanta, GA and an HBCU graduate from Hampton University. I grew up in a home with my mother, step father, and younger sister on the southwest side of Atlanta. I always felt like the “black sheep” of the family, since my step father was never interested in taking me in as his own, and my mother made it clear when I was 8 years old that her marriage was the priority. I watched my parents praise and love my little sister, as she deserved as I stood in the background like Cinderella just waiting for a ticket to the ball. I developed depression from feeling of abandonment at a very young age, but my love for cheerleading and my cheer sisters kept me going. Hampton University was my ticket out of that house, and I never looked back since.
I’ve been a cheerleader my whole life so strength conditioning has always been a hobby of mine, but in college in where I found my true love for holistic health. I went through 2 years of depression, body dysmorphia, and growing anxiety disorder before I came to my breaking point of giving up. After recovering from a suicide attempt that only my roommate and best friend knew about, I decided I needed to pick myself up because dying would only help enemies win. I like to think there was a spirit watching over me, and guided me to yoga and meditation to help me start my healing process. I had never done it before, but for some reason I just became drawn to the feeling of inner peace that the practice gave me. During my junior year of college, I participated in the Omega Psi Phi Scholarship Pageant, in which I created the platform L.Y.F.E., and I won. From that moment I knew that I had to share my story and take my brand further than the pageant stage. I never realized there were so many people like me that may have been close to the edge of darkness and just needed guidance back to the light.
in 2021, L.Y.F.E. Co. became an official LLC. I made my instagram page, and started creating videos to inform my community on different ways to transform their lives holistically. I do not have many followers yet, but my little village is a powerful one. I am thankful for every like, share, and comment online. It warms my heart when people reach out to me to say my message touched them, or doing yoga with me made their day better. I will continue to grow my brand into one day become a safe space for people to get guidance and education on health and wellness. Whether that means mentally, physically, spiritually, or all three, I want to guide others through this journey we call life in the most peaceful and healthy ways possible.
In the near future, I hope to open my calendar again for online life coaching consultations to get clients started on their physical and mental health journey. As a trained personal trainer and nutritionist, I create fitness and nutrition calendars to help jump start a holistic fitness journey that is realistic enough to become a lifestyle, not a temporary diet. I am also a certified yoga instructor, so I like to teach classes at various events, parks, and fitness centers. I hope to have more events for my village of healers very soon where we will focus on connection with self, nature, and each other. The ultimate goal is to host my own wellness retreats to really immerse in a healing experience with those that need it the most.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The most impactful quality I have is my ability to be resilient through any situation. I have been through some very unfortunate situations in my life that set me back to the beginning of my success journey many times. Every time I wanted to give up, I found a new way to keep going. I will never give up on my dreams of prosperity and peace; no matter how many times I must start over to get there.
I am an empath by nature, and I use this characteristic as a skill to be able to connect with people more. I am able to feel my full emotions, which helps me to cleanse and grow. I am also able to easily understand another person’s perspective by putting myself in their shoes. I have learned to not fully invest myself in other peoples emotions, but to understand them so I can better guide them through their own L.Y.F.E. Journey.
Spirituality is an area of knowledge that I am forever researching and growing within me. I am not a religious person, but I believe in a higher purpose and a higher power. I have spent years doing inner spiritual work to heal myself through prayer, meditation, chakra cleansing, and yoga of course.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
My favorite book right now is Finding Me by Viola Davis. This book spoke wonders to me in so many ways because I got to learn about Viola’s background, and how she became the amazing actress she is today. Her story is one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read because she truly came from nothing, but never stopping going after her dream that seemed to be such a fantasy to everyone around her. She had no money, no resources, her parents barely had an education, but she did everything she had to do to make her claim to fame.
Viola’s story inspired me to start acting again and going after my dreams no matter the obstacles. I was afraid of failure so I decided to take the easy road, but her story inspired me to work for what I want.
One quote from the book that sticks with me is “There is no prerequisites to worthiness. You’re born worthy, and I think every woman needs to hear this”. This was definitely a quote I needed to hear! I grew up so insecure and feeling that I was never enough, so I thank Viola every day for telling her story for women like me who are also on the journey of finding themselves.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: mayaj.heals & thelyfe.journey
- Facebook: Maya Jones
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-jones-559b58b0/
Image Credits
Maya Jones
Jennifer Peeples-Hampton
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