Advocacy, Service and Unconditional Love with Maria Cochran

I am thrilled to introduce a truly inspiring guest, Maria Cochran. Maria is a beacon of courage and purpose, making a remarkable impact as the executive director of Freedom Warriors. Through her work, she has not only found her voice, but has also become a voice for the voiceless and a catalyst for change in the lives of countless individuals. Maria embodies resilience and compassion, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to her community. Her dedication extends beyond her role at Freedom Warriors, as her and her husband have built an array of diverse businesses that reflect her passion for mindfulness, health, and wellness. In this episode, Maria is going to share her incredible journey, her advocacy efforts, and her wisdom get ready to be inspired as we dive into her story!

Freedom Warriors

https://thefreedomwarrior.org/

https://www.instagram.com/thefreedomwarrior_org/

https://www.facebook.com/FreedomWarriorAZ/

Freedom Warriors Topgolf Tucson Fundraiser

https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/f499af3a-5dfe-45ed-ac2d-26ceb86e0eae

https://thefreedomwarrior.org/annual-fundraiser/

SPENGA
https://tucsonaz.spenga.com/

European Wax Center

Transcript

Theresa Cesare: 0:07

Hey guys. Welcome to Heart to Talk the podcast. I am the host and creator Theresa Cesare My intention for this podcast is to deliver to you wisdom, inspiration, and consciousness. Through solo episodes and conversations amongst insightful people. It is my greatest honor to bring to you talks that come from the. Welcome to another powerful episode. Today, I am thrilled to introduce a truly inspiring guest, Maria Cochran. Maria is a beacon of courage and purpose, making a remarkable impact as the executive director of Freedom Warriors. Through her work, she has not only found her voice, but has also become a voice for the voiceless and a catalyst for change in the lives of countless individuals. Maria embodies resilience and compassion, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to her community. Her dedication extends beyond her role at Freedom Warriors, as her and her husband have built an array of diverse businesses that reflect her passion for mindfulness, health, and wellness. In this episode, Maria is going to share her incredible journey, her advocacy efforts, and her wisdom get ready to be inspired as we dive into her story

1:30

I

Theresa Cesare: 1:30

bring to you my conversation with Maria Cochran. I am so excited to have you on the show. Welcome to heart to talk podcast. Thank you. I'm super honored to be here. Thank you for having me on the show. So I want to go ahead and start Maria, tell us about you, who you are and what you do. So I, first of all, I am a wife. To an amazing man we've been married for almost 25 years and he's just being been a full, support. And one of the things that, for me is The most important part of our relationship is that he has taught me and shown me what unconditional love is. Then I'm also a mother to three awesome kids one adult and two teens. And I enjoy being their mother. I'm also a fierce advocate for children. And I'm also a business owner. We have European wax center. We have, three locations locally, and then we have other locations outside of Arizona, What is so amazing about European wax center, it's most of our employees are single mothers, as part of the beauty industry. It's, the amazing women that, decide At some point that that's going to be their career. and so for me that is just a very special piece of knowing that, they have a job and they, the police. there's so much growth that comes within the business and if there's the potential of someone who's, working the front desk and they really, want to, Make more money, whatever that means. And, we will invest in that person and we will, make sure that they get their licensing, whatever they require to be able to level up and get to the next level. Whether, to become a waxer and those types of things. And for me, like I said, it's been a very amazing experience the beauty about it, too, is that till this day, we have people that started from day one, are still part of our staff at European Walk Center. um, and then, you know, Spanga Tucson, for me, is become my sort of my sanctuary. Spanga is, new to Tucson and it was born in Chicago. But I love the concept. It's based on three different pillars of 20 minutes of spin, 20 minutes of strength, and 20 minutes of yoga. So it's a 60 minute workout. packed into one hour. But the best part about it is that the yoga part for me is just 20 minutes, what they call it is revive and what it actually does revive you. And it allows me to not only, remind myself what I just finished doing, I went all out for 40 minutes doing my cardio and my strength workout. And then I get these 20 minutes to just sort of, bring myself back and and be ready to tackle anything really for the rest of the day. And that's just a part that I am addicted to. and just so everyone listening, all these links to these businesses, will be in the show notes as well, so that people can link and explore, I'm just so excited to share this as I just learned about it. and I'm like, Oh my gosh, that is going to be something that will be a game changer for someone's not only physical health, but mental health, emotional health, I've heard so many women, they're like, I feel like it was made for me. For me personally it's all about longevity these days. longevity is, is about taking care of ourselves, wholly, right? Our hearts, our minds, I'm 51 and my goal is to get stronger. And so, we have a couple of other franchises and Companies in New York, and we also partner with an amazing organization. ECLI in New York that also works with human trafficking survivors. And that's just part of having the people in the businesses, the people that work with us just believe in us and believe in the mission. And that's just, the universe, it's so powerful. And that's how we got brought together. You think of it like we're on a mission of impacting, promoting change building community and supporting each other in this space. I love this podcast because I get to meet you through Veronica, bring you on and share to this audience, these incredible things that you're doing, your businesses that are not only impacting our local, but global, economy. And then this mission as the executive director of freedom warriors, that's just a whole nother level of impact but to be the woman to show up for all of that is so powerful. You and I talked before we recorded The significance of the health and wellness piece and mind, body, and soul. We talked about the power of like our surroundings and that is so significant. I think as well, as we have big goals to create big change, can you speak a little bit about like your personal journey with that as well? Cause I could relate. I mean, to show up and do the work that I got to do, I got to be real laser focused, being integrity with my values and everyone around me has to be an integrity with values, right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, I get excited to talk about that because I feel like, yeah. Well, you know, I think it's so important to believe in ourselves, right. Believe that we can do anything, and really no matter what, the past, whatever that, has been, absolutely. It's part of us, but it's, there's so much opportunity for growth in that, you know in those areas. And then the biggest thing for me has, been not just believing in myself, but loving myself, right? It's like, loving myself is exactly sort of what, you touched upon allowing those relationships or people that are really not aligned with that. With my beliefs and my core values and family values that are so important to me that's exactly Where I feel like I've sort of the new me, like someone I have evolved into because of all of my experience, because of all the people that whether they were a positive influence or a negative influence all of that is just so important. And it allows you to, choose what's important to you and what's not important. Yes. I love that so much. So inspiring.

8:30

Tell us how you found your voice. Through the years of, working to better myself and becoming, who I am today, I have definitely, I found my voice, through the people and in particularly the women that I am surrounded by, I have, my mentors and, but also just those people that I, go to coffee with brunch with and, most of the women that, I gravitate towards at this stage in my life are, big doers and women that take me seriously. Action and women that are making a difference, whether, you know, it's through business or the nonprofit we are, aligned in so many ways that we gravitate to each other. I feed off of their energy. I feed off of everything that, their. Doing right next to me that that's where I get my strength and my energy. And so. Finding my voice has been, through that, because of that, and in fact, one of those women, has been on your podcast before, and, it's that, Connection and judgment free, relationships that, I have been able to grow and, and then find this, space where I can say who I am. Be who I am and stand up for those that, don't have a voice and know that, this is what the universe has stored for me, having, being able to realize that My voice was never gone. It was just waiting to be renewed. Restore. That is so beautiful. I love it..

Theresa Cesare: 10:40

So now back to the nonprofit freedom warriors,

10:44

tell us like the process behind the scenes, yes, it's, it's a very interesting journey I didn't know, what I was getting myself into. I knew where I was going. But I just, didn't know how I was going to get there kind of thing. I love that. And so when we started this nonprofit and, they were talking about titles and, I mean, do, do I want to be titled like executive director? Do I want to just be the manager? where does that, you know, fit in for me? And, so I was, I was. I was terrified, I can, be honest about that and, I really didn't know anything about, other than having sat on a board, previously and, talk to people especially my father in law who's a, philanthropist and, inspired me a lot in, into, what this is all about and, So, I didn't know how to manage a boardroom, so I felt, very unprepared, but, I jumped into it with all my fear, and started to make all kinds of mistakes and, and realize, you know, I need to better myself. I need to do something, that is going to not only, help me grow, but also help the nonprofit grow. So I enrolled myself in, A series of, nonprofit certification courses through ASU and, it took me a full year to complete that. But I did it and, man, the amazing empowerment that you feel and just by being around, the professors and. The peers in, in the classes and, uh, and then realizing that, you know, most of us are on the same boat. And this was just purely to, better myself and to be able to serve, in a much, higher impactful way. I love that. I agree.

Theresa Cesare: 12:45

Do you have annual events, a specific event that you would like some support or that you want to share with us? Yes, of course. Perfect timing. we do have our annual fundraiser this is our third. year doing it, but we are doing it this January 25th and it's at Topgolf Topgolf is very supportive of the organization, and so we keep going back it's from 9 a. m. to 12 a. m. It's a 75 ticket for a single ticket and a 500 bay. So you can purchase a bay that includes six players and two observers. if somebody doesn't feel like, that's their jam, just come be a part of it. mingle and, meet our players. Wonderful VIPs and sponsors and that we have coming we, have special guest speakers and so there's something for everyone. And of course amazing raffle prices the community has responded in a very positive way and has donated, some really exciting raffle prices. So that's always my favorite part. I love it. Well, it will be in the show notes. And if someone listens to this episode and it's past that date, you can still visit the website, be involved in this, hopefully will be an annual, yeah. And I we want to bring people together and so I will always take on volunteers and if you want to experience what, it's like sitting on a board of a nonprofit and it's something you've never done before. We are very friendly and very open to, having that commitment. And it's easy, it's just, we're, we're very easy people. I love that you extended that invite you're amazing. All right. We're going to pivot now to the closing questions per tradition. I'm going to ask the first one. What is your favorite book? I Have a book that has really helped my mindset and, and that's the the book, The Courage to be Disliked and I read that recently for the first time, and I'm actually rereading it. And then there's a followup book the courage to be happy. So those are two amazing books, but I have to go back to what has helped me through my journey and what really has sort of set the tone for a lot of things. a while back, my father in law. Had a book club. And at the time we were living with him, we had just moved to Tucson. And one of the books that he introduced us to in this book club was the four agreements. And so that book has done a lot for me. You know, the four agreements is just things that have always play in the back of my mind. And then not only that for the last couple of years that I have been able to actually learn to journal. I will repeatedly write those four agreements down for myself. And so that way it allows me to go out the door and show up by being impeccable with my word, by not taking anything personal, by not making any assumptions and by doing the best I can. Beautiful. I love that book. And I can't wait to read The Courage to be Disliked and The Courage to be Happy. Thank you for those. I know it's hard to narrow down, but those are great, great books. The next question, what is your favorite quote? Yeah. So my favorite quote is by Gandhi. And it's specifically for, freedom warriors and where it just touches my heart. So to lose yourself in service. And then the last question, Maria, what do you want to be known for your legacy? My answer is simple. I want my legacy to be being known for having the ability to provide that unconditional love. And want everyone to remember that love heals. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. Please download, rate, subscribe, and share this podcast. Also, be sure to visit my theresacesare.com to check out my inspirational merch, connect to my social accounts, and much more may you continue to be filled with wisdom, inspiration, and consciousness. Otherwise, friends, I will be back in two weeks for another episode of Heart to.