The Place: Mozart’s on Lake Austin

The Cup: Maruxa was busy working when I arrived and half finished with her drink, so I’m not sure. It was iced and looked like a mocha. I do know it was decaf. I enjoyed an iced coffee with the usual add ins. Two things for next time; if my stranger is already there, ask them what they’re drinking and for Pete’s sake Melissa, drink something different.

Background: Fantastic and generous hugger, Sara (aka Cup #6) connected Maruxa and I. Maruxa was traveling for several weeks, so once our schedules finally aligned we sat down for our much anticipated cup.

In an attempt to keep the “stranger” thing authentic, I do no background research on my coffee companion before our meeting. Typically though, the person who makes the introduction tells me a bit about the new stranger so I end up knowing a little something walking in. Not this time. I knew nothing. So although I don’t usually start with “tell me about yourself”, this time I almost had to.

Maruxa is one of those people you know immediately can connect effortlessly to anyone. Lucky me. She is also open and interesting. Lucky you.

She was born in the Philippines into a superstar family. No, really. Her father was an innovative and well-known architect, her mom was an actress as were both or her grandmothers and she has an uncle who is a famous singer there and has been for 30 years. So it’s no surprise that Maruxa got a taste of stardom as well. She was a child actor there until age 6 when her country experienced a revolution in 1986. Ferdinand Marcos wanted Maruxa’s father to be a part of his efforts and when he refused, attempts were made to kidnap Maruxa and her brother. Her mother decided enough was enough and because she was half Puerto Rican she saw the US as a land of opportunity and a revolution of her own. She sold everything they owned and the money she had was the precise amount (to the penny) for the tickets to the US for the family of four. Her mother saw that as a sign that what she was doing was the right. Hard to disagree.

The war was over almost as soon as it had begun and Maruxa’s father ended up moving back to the Philippines and coming to the US two months a year. On one of these visits, Maruxa’s mom became pregnant, so Pops was given an ultimatum and he chose his family.

Cool story! What I love most is how that story has so obviously shaped the person Maruxa has become. She tells me at one point, “I love reinvention. In fact, I may be addicted to it!” Sure. She’s seen it time and time again over the course of her entire life. As a child, the adults in her life were performers and made a living reinventing themselves. Then at age six, her mom moves them to a brand new country and Maruxa watches her move up the career ladder, starting as a secretary and working her way to Publisher. When her brother was born, her mom took a few years off and when she went back to work, she did it again – this time going from Marketing Assistant all the way up to VP of Marketing.

Reinvention was also something her dad had to do. When he moved here, he was 45 and the amount of effort required to become an architect in the US was just too much, so he took a job managing a gas station. That must have been a tough transition. One day you are designing vacation homes for princes and the next you are running a gas station. Eventually, Maruxa’s mom talked him into getting his Real Estate license and today he is the superstar Realtor among people moving to Florida from the Philippines.

So obviously when Maruxa’s tells me that reinvention has never scared her, I can completely understand why. She really doesn’t know any different. When life throws you a curve ball, you don’t freeze and hope it gets better. You work, you sacrifice and you come out stronger and wiser.

Her tolerance for reinvention was put to the test in 2007, when just a few years into marriage, her husband suddenly lost his job in the mortgage industry. She tells me she wasn’t worried at first. Her husband was smart and she knew he find work. It would be 18 months before he found work and in that time they found out Maruxa was pregnant, she quit her job and ended up on bed rest due to stress. Maruxa recounts for me a day she describes as one of her lowest and also a turning point. She was in line at Wal-mart with her four-week old daughter trying to buy a few necessities: milk, bread, cheese and some beans. Being new to the whole motherhood thing, she hadn’t yet figured out that she needed to get the baby on a schedule and time her outings around that. The baby was hungry and in seconds goes from a little fussy to full-on crying. Maruxa decided to stick it out because they have no food at the house and they really need these groceries. The cashier tells her the total and because they are jobless and now have a baby, they have gotten government assistance (WIC). She has over the WIC card and the cashier tells Maruxa in a demeaning tone, “I’m gonna need to see two forms of ID, I can’t just give you these groceries.” “OK,” she tells her and fishes out her driver’s license and hands it to the woman. “I said I need two forms of ID.” Maruxa is terrified. She sees the line behind her growing ever longer and full of impatient faces, she’s holding her hungry, crying baby and she has no other forms of ID to give the cashier. A woman behind Maruxa says softly, “I can pay for your groceries, honey.” Maruxa tells me “I felt like a charity case. I was so proud and I even though I knew we needed the food, I didn’t accept the woman’s offer. Instead I apologized, left the groceries, hurried to the car and just started bawling.” She got her composure, drove home and walked in the door saying to her husband, “We have to figure something out.”

That was a turning point for both of them. And it was a moment that solidified their faith. Maruxa tells me they got on their knees and asked God to help them find their way out. For her husband, seeing his wife in tears was something he never wanted to experience again. For Maruxa, she decided it was time to stop feeling helpless. She thought, “I’m smart. I’ve got skills and a brain in my head and I’m done making excuses.” So with their faith and their newly unearthed motivation, they set out to change things.

It wan’t easy and it wan’t pretty. It took time, but eventually they both found opportunities that have led them to where they are today, which is living in Austin, running a company together. They have found a way to marry their own unique skills and passions into a business that helps authors, speakers and trainers market, sell and deliver their services in a way that’s effective, efficient and engaging.

“What would you do differently?”, I ask Maruxa, pretty confident I know the answer already. “Nothing. Am I happy about the struggle? No. But I look at challenges as opportunities; to grow and to be an example and {surprise} to reinvent yourself.” Who’s gonna argue with the queen of reinvention? Not me.

Learn more about Maruxa by checking out her LinkedIn page or following her on Twitter.