Maria Shanley Of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida On The Book That Changed Her Life

An Interview With Sara Connell

Make mistakes. Then learn from them. I used to spend so much time trying to get things to be “perfect,” but I’ve since learned that the best way to improve is by giving yourself permission to fail. Much of the time, it’s better to finish something imperfectly — whether that’s a draft of a book, a website or a marketing campaign — and then go back to change and improve upon it.

Books have the power to shape, influence, and change our lives. Why is that so? What goes into a book that can shape lives? To address this, we are interviewing people who can share a story about a book that changed their life, and why. As a part of our series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Maria Shanley.

Maria Shanley is the Director of Marketing and Data Management at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. She’s a creative and analytical fundraiser with 13 years of experience in campaign development, brand awareness and data analysis. Maria sits on panels and speaks at local and national conferences about fundraising best practices. When she’s not fighting to end hunger in Central Florida, you can find her rooting for the Red Sox with her husband, reading with her 7-year-old and relaxing with her two tuxedo cats.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory” and how you grew up?

I was born in Lima, Peru, and moved to the States with my mom and sister when I was seven years old. I started second grade knowing about five words of English, but I picked it up quickly. I love to learn, so school was always fun and easy for me.

I received a scholarship for the University of Central Florida (UCF — Go Knights!), where I majored in Marketing and minored in Management Information Systems. It was a great fit for me since I’m passionate about both fields. I was also very engaged with environmental and animal activism. I spent two years traveling to D.C. and other parts of the country, organizing local protests, putting on conferences and encouraging people to get involved.

Let’s talk about what you are doing now, and how you achieved the success that you currently enjoy. Can you tell our readers a bit about the work you are doing?

Right now, I’m the Director of Marketing and Data Management at Second Harvest Food Bank … which sounds like a natural next step for a college activist, right? But actually, I didn’t go right into nonprofit work when I got out of college. I did an internship at an architecture firm and was hired for a full-time position.

One day, the CEO of our architecture firm came up to me holding a textbook on Corel DRAW software, which was what we used for graphic design back then. He put the book on my desk and said, “Maria, I want you to learn this and build us a website. Spend three hours a day on this until you can do it.”

So that’s exactly what I did. I read the book, took some classes at Valencia College and taught myself basic graphic and website design. After about five years, I left to work at WMFE — our local PBS NPR affiliate — and helped build its website. That was where Second Harvest found me. I didn’t know the first thing about food banks or hunger back then, but they were looking to build out their digital presence, and they happened to use the same software as WMFE.

Thirteen years later, I lead both our Marketing & Fundraising team and our Data Management & Analysis team. I think I’m incredibly lucky, because I get to do two of my favorite things every day: running campaigns and analyzing data. And I’m so proud to work with Second Harvest, engaging our community to end hunger. We help in so many more ways than just “providing meals” — we’re building jobs, improving nutrition and health, serving seniors who are homebound. It’s an inspiring place to work.

You are a successful leader. Which three-character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

First is communication. Taking the time to connect with my team and creating an environment where we can all be open and listen to each other is so important for me. I worked with my team on “rules of engagement” for our meetings to help everyone stay connected and share their ideas in a way that’s accessible and welcoming. I will say, though: For me, this trait is always growing. It’s almost like raising a kid — just when you think you get it right, something shifts, and you have to step back and see what you missed.

Second, self-awareness. Leaders are often aware of their strengths — but aren’t always as cognizant of their weaknesses. I have really embraced getting in the habit of recognizing my mistakes, seeking out feedback, and working to learn and improve. Knowing where our strengths and weaknesses lie is also essential to building an effective, complementary team.

Finally, open-mindedness. That hasn’t always been easy for me, but it’s critical! A leader who goes into a meeting and says “no” right away is missing out on a lot of good ideas … and not just the ones they’re rejecting now, but all the other ideas they’ll never hear because of it. And remember, no one is right 100% of the time.

What’s the WHY behind the work that you do? Please share a story about this if you can.

About a month after starting my new job at Second Harvest, a mom came by asking for help finding food for her family. And when we went outside to help her, I saw her little girl peeking out at us from inside the car. I’ll never forget her face — it has stayed with me every day of the last 13 years.

Back then, I was just starting to learn about hunger — what it is, who it impacts and how deep an impact it has in our community. Now, I have a seven-year-old daughter of my own. And you know kids — they need snacks five times a day! And I can’t even imagine how heartbreaking it would be to tell her that she can’t have food when she’s hungry. Being able to help families in that situation makes everything we do worthwhile.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I’m very grateful to Second Harvest’s former CEO, Dave Krepcho. When I resolved to learn more about leadership — I was listening to all these podcasts and reading multiple advice books. Finally, I went into his office and asked for his advice. I said, “I’ve read all this stuff, Dave. I just need you to tell me: Does any of it actually work or is it all made-up?”

Dave was the best. We talked for a long time, and he shared some stories about his own experiences in leadership — both the good things and the bad. That conversation had a deep impact on me, and it really helped me determine whether I wanted to continue in my line of work. In fact, he’s the one who recommended the book we’re going to talk about today.

Awesome! Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Can you please tell our readers about “The Book That Changed Your Life”? Can you share a story about how it impacted you?

Right! As I said, Dave told me, “You have to read this book. It’s called The Art of Possibility.” And basically, it teaches practices and habits you can use that help change the way you see situations — to shift your thinking. Because when you do, it helps open your mind to those big ideas and create change as a leader.

For example, rule number six is “Don’t take yourself so seriously.” Because if you’re in serious mode all the time, people aren’t going to feel comfortable working with you. They’re not going to open up, and they’re not going to share their ideas. So, you’re inadvertently limiting the creative potential of your team.

Or rule number 12: “Tell the ‘we’ story.” That means that when you’re in any situation, tell the story as if you’re seeing it from the other person’s perspective. Instead of seeing the situation as “it’s me against them,” or “it’s their opinion against my ideas,” you can think “how does this affect both of us together?” You’re looking at the bigger picture.

There are 12 practices in the book, so I’m not going to go into all of them — but I’ve learned so much from going through The Art of Possibility and applying those habits in my daily life. It makes a big difference.

What was the moment or series of events that made you decide that you wanted to take a specific course of action based on the inspiration from the book? Can you share a story about that?

About a year and a half ago, I was restructuring my team because it had doubled in size from four to eight people. I used all these practices throughout that process. Restructuring can be kind of scary, because it means that jobs change and things won’t be the same as they had been. But thanks to these practices, I was able to communicate my vision with my team and help everyone work toward the same goal.

Can you articulate why you think books in particular have the power to create movements, revolutions, and true change?

Books can open your eyes to the possibilities you’ve never considered. They can stir up emotions, make you more aware of yourself and help you put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Of course, we’re all inspired in different ways — some people are passionate about ending injustice, or education, or understanding others. But books help us find the things we care about and can show us a path forward to act on those emotions.

A book has many aspects, of course. For example, you have the writing style, the narrative tense, the topic, the genre, the design, the cover, the size, etc. In your opinion, what are the main, essential ingredients needed to create a book that can change lives?

I loved the stories woven into The Art of Possibility, because they take abstract concepts and put them into practice in a simple, effective way. It makes you realize that this is something anyone can do, any day, and in any situation.

Of course, I think great writing makes a big difference. If you use the right words, you don’t have to use a lot of words to be powerful and inspirational. I actually have a little notebook that I carry with me titled “Words that Inspire Me.” Whenever I read a sentence that’s impactful, I write it down in there.

It’s also great because you can use it like a manual, go back to different parts whenever you need a refresher, or read the parts that are most relevant to you. I keep a little “cheat sheet” of the practices from The Art of Possibility right next to my desk. That way when I hit a stumbling block, and I wonder “Why isn’t this working? What am I not seeing?” I can go step-by-step to isolate the problem.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started My Career” and why?

1. The worst that can happen when you ask for something is “no.” I was always on the timid side, but my career has taught me that if you don’t ask, you won’t get an answer. Not only will your voice not be heard, but you won’t learn anything from it. Even though it’s hard to ask, building that inner courage and being strong enough to get past your inner critic is so important.
2. Don’t take things so seriously. Early on in my career, I was really serious about my job and wanted to do everything perfectly. And that’s not always a bad thing — I was always learning and growing — but it also acted as a “wall” that prevented other people from working with me. Instead, I was forcing them to work around me.
3. Take a CliftonStrengths Assessment (formerly StrengthsFinder). I wish someone had recommended it to me sooner. It can take a long time to build up your self-awareness to the point where you have a solid grip on your strengths and weaknesses, but the test can help you get an outside perspective on how you do your best work. Mine helped me understand what I excel at — learning new things and building teams, for instance — and apply those to my everyday job.
4. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable. Whether you’re asking your boss about a raise or talking to a team member about a difficult situation, uncomfortable conversations are inevitable. Do whatever you need to be ready for those moments. Rehearse, write out what you want to say, talk over your fears with a friend … just don’t avoid them. As hard as those conversations can be, they’re also where we have the most room to grow.
5. Make mistakes. Then learn from them. I used to spend so much time trying to get things to be “perfect,” but I’ve since learned that the best way to improve is by giving yourself permission to fail. Much of the time, it’s better to finish something imperfectly — whether that’s a draft of a book, a website or a marketing campaign — and then go back to change and improve upon it.

The world, of course, needs progress in many areas. What movement do you hope someone (or you!) starts next? Can you explain why that is so important?

There are already so many worthy and important movements out there — so if I had to start one, I’d say, “Let’s start a movement of getting involved in those movements.” Great people are out there doing wonderful things, and they always need your help and support.

For a start, I’d encourage anyone to go to Charity Navigator and search for nonprofits based on where you are or what causes you care about. Two big causes for me are hunger and animal welfare, and I like to get involved locally, so I’d search for local animal shelters or food pantries. From there, check out their website, follow them on social media and find out how you can help the work they’re doing.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I’m very active on LinkedIn, where I post a couple of times a week about my professional journey. Being a learner, I love to share things that have worked for me — and learn from others about what has worked for them. And, of course, you can keep up with everything Second Harvest is working on at FeedHopeNow.org.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us and our readers. We know that it will make a tremendous difference and impact thousands of lives. We are excited to connect further, and we wish you so much joy in your next success.