Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney

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Tony: 

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Today's show is about Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney. Let's see what we can learn today. At the end of this interview, I'm going to do a summary recap of what we went over, so stay tuned for that. Here's some info on Maura; from law school escapee to a decorated corporate manager and homeschooling mom, Maura Sweeney took a childhood vision and turns it into reality. Author, podcaster, frequent media guests and the trademark Ambassador of Happiness. Here we go. Hi Maura. So great to have you on the show once again. I am so excited, I am so thrilled. Welcome to the Tony Durso Show.

Maura: 	

Tony. I am so grateful to be with you again today. What has it been two years, I think since we've last spoken.

Tony: 

It probably has and we've had multiple interviews. If I'm not mistaken, you were the first interview I did on Voice America, so that had to be three years ago, I think by now, and I've had you on the show so many times. For the audience, Maura Sweeney's been a co-host on my show. She's been interviewed on my show. We've just had a blast. Welcome back.

Maura: 	

Oh, thank you. And you're right, we always do have fun together. And by the way, as a little bit of a caveat for today, this is perhaps the first time some people are hearing me. I am a public speaker, but today I brought my Lauren Bacall voice with me. As you know, my husband was dealing with some respiratory issues. I can track the sum of them, but for anybody old enough to remember the very famous Lauren Bacall and her deep throaty voice, I just thought I'd throw it in for today for good measure. 

Tony: 

Well, great. Sounds very cool. Maura, since you've been on, my audience has grown quite a bit. How about telling us your back story and how it all started for you, including your escapee portion of your earlier Bio?

Maura: 	

Oh my goodness. I think this is like the, you know, some people have their backstory that kind of defines who they are. Well, the quick story that gets into why am I the happiness ambassador today? It's because when I was 23 years old, halfway through law school and realizing one day that I literally couldn't get up from my chair to drive myself back to my law school classes because I could no longer live a life that wasn't my own to live. That was when I thought, I've got to get off this track that somebody else, namely, my family, has decided it's my future and I literally need to find the light, the life, the purpose, and the joy that comes with being in this world and doing something that really matters to me.

And so that's why I fondly refer to myself as the law school escapee. Some people have escaped from jail. I just happened to escape from law school and a 40-year career that would have kept me locked in New Jersey, New York rather than down in Florida and really being, I would say, the visionary and the creative personality I am that didn't want to work within the confines of what was prepared for me. So that was part of it. But I could go back way before that, Tony, and I think this is probably what some of your listeners today who are visionaries in their own right, might also want to hear. And that is that when I was really young, I had a couple of things that meant a lot to me. 

One of them was, I was a dreamer. I never lost sight of those dreams and all the possibilities that came within them. You know 	when you're a little child, before people tell you you can or cannot do something, you have these great imaginations. And in my case, the great imaginations involve things like great leadership and 	influence. And now I'm dating myself. But I remember when we had John Kennedy in the White House and I looked at everything going on in the white house. I was thinking about, wow, this guy's got everybody involved in what's happening in the United States. He and his wife are traveling around the world. We're sending people around the world. People are coming here and I love the idea of 'ask not what your country could do for you, but ask what you could do for your country.' So I loved leadership. 

I used to also, number two, stare at airplanes up in the air, this is way before everybody flew like they do today, but they were going in and out of nearby Newark, New Jersey airport, and all I kept 	doing was thinking, who are those people on those airplanes? What do they look like? What do they dress like? What do they sound like when they open their mouth? I've got to get on those planes and I've got to meet those people everywhere around the world. I was so much of a dreamer that I actually had such a desire for me to really get to know people around the world that one day when I was a preschooler, Tony, I convinced my brother to help me dig a hole in our backyard. Do you remember the days when they used to say, if you dig a hole deep enough, you'll end up seeing the people in China? This is how compelled I was to meet the world. 

And the third thing I already told you, I was brought up to become an attorney. My grandfather was a very prominent attorney in New York, New Jersey. He was a graduate of Georgetown, but as much as I would be at his office when I was a little child, the thing that really I locked into was his legal secretary's typewriter. And when she would make multiple copies of documents and before I could 	even read, I recognized watching that typewriter and the magic of 	it, that there was power in the written word to get people to read and think and talk about new ideas. So here I am combined with, I go out today and I go around the world, I think, I've spoken in well over a dozen countries on leadership and influence. I've traveled to over 60 countries and in every form of communication, today's show with you being one of them, I share my ideas about a better, happier, more harmonious society where people literally rise up into their best self-leadership sell. And so that's kinda like my background story.

Tony: 

What a story. And you gave me a great idea for anyone out there listening, this is up for grabs. What a great podcast or even a Vlog going to see who is on the plane. And the show could be like, who's on the plane? And you could go and interview, just start interviewing people. You'd never need a guest. You just go ask people and just interview them. And I was thinking, what a great show that would be? Who's on the plane?

Maura: 	

You're right. And what a great idea for some visionary who's listening today that says, I have a vision, but I don't know exactly what it is. Go run with it.

Tony: 

Yeah, Maura inspired me. Who is on that plane? What are they dressed like? What do they sound like? I just love it. It's you, Maura, it's the essence of you. You just zone people in. I absolutely love it. So this gave you the vision for being the Ambassador of Happiness. What gave you the vision for your current success? Let's kind of find out that story.

Maura: 	

Well, that's a great question for a show about visionaries. Because, you know, as a child, I mean, I have this idea that I literally want to go around the world and make new friends. I actually envisioned people as my unmet friends and relatives. So it was, if you could think about like a Goodwill ambassador and what does a young child know about these things, I took literally everything in my background, everything in my experience, everything that was put in front of me, Tony, and I kind of worked it along the years and along the path and I created something out of nothing more than an idea and a passion.

 So let me give you some little touchpoints. For one thing, I told you my family expected me to be a lawyer. So I graduated from Boston College with a political science degree. I interned, oddly enough, for the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who was the youngest brother of our former JFK, the very man who inspired me as I was a child. I spent a semester in Spain because that was another major, and I loved living abroad. I went to law school as we know. I did high-end executive recruitment for Fortune 500 Companies. I spent a decade in corporate leadership at two national corporations and I used that time as my laboratory, literally a personal laboratory, creating new branch offices, hiring, staffing, training, developing training leaders, and really developing award-winning organizations.

It was my laboratory to see, what is it that helps people work well together and do their best? And I'll tell you something, it was as much for me as it was for them, Tony, when I realized that happy people do better, I ended up using a lot of that in what I do today, but I did some public advocacy work. I was a host family to foreign exchange students from Spain, Japan, and Russia. I traveled to 60 countries and I was a homeschooling mom to parent, the next generation of leaders. So I actually at some level I did everything like other people might do. You have a job, you pay a mortgage, you go to work every day, you raise kids, you pay the bills. But in the process, Tony, I was busy following that internal lead.

Remember I told you when I left law school, I felt like I was almost half dead and I thought I need to follow my internal light and the things that give me interest and enthusiasm and passion. So everywhere I found myself, I would look to latch onto something that was important and somehow secretly, inwardly, Tony, I knew that whatever I was called to do, I couldn't do until I was at least 50 years old because how could you be somebody who's this speaker, who's 25 years old? At least I couldn't be that. And I knew I needed a certain amount of life experience. And lo and behold, after 50 years old when our homeschooling daughter was enrolling herself 	in college at 13 years old, I thought, I'm ready for my next chapter. 

And so, that was my ability of taking all life experiences, combining with an early childhood vision, knowing I wanted to be my ownhappy and authentic self and bring my ideas to reality that I just kind of put it all together. And it's something I share with anybody else who wants to be a visionary and take an idea and turn it into a reality. It's just, 'keep following those things that are very meaningful on the inside and never lose sight of the key things you're really interested in.' And mine happened to be people, global societies, and just a happier world.

Tony: 

Absolutely impressive, Maura, What's the purpose for what you do? I understand that you said, and you said this earlier, and I really love that quote, 'happiness makes for more productivity or better people or something.' Perhaps you could rephrase that quote or give it to us again. And what's your purpose for all that you do?

Maura: 	

You know, I'm going to give you a very succinct purpose and it's something I literally can't get away from Tony. It's to unify, uplift, and inspire a divided, discouraged, and very disempowered world. There are so many people in the world, in so many countries, as well as here in the United States, that really feel small and unimportant and they've lost that inner drive. They've lost their inner light. And so, everywhere I go I look to unify, uplift and inspire. And everywhere I go, people feel it, they latch on. It's almost like I remind them of the truth that already exists in them. So that's Part A  to the question you asked.

And I think there was something else you wanted me to reference about happiness. This is amazing. In my decade, in corporate leadership, I used it as my own laboratory. Now imagine if corporation says, "All right, you're going to open up this branch office and that branch office or you're going to hire people, you've got sales results, you've got all these different people to have to get along. You've got to come up with an organization that works."

I literally learned during that 10 year time period as my own personal laboratory and laboratories, cause I had several branch offices, of what the elements were that brought people together and help them do well. And I will tell you, Tony, if people feel happy in what they do, they do so much better. I discovered it on my own but would you believe many years later, Harvard University spent seven years and I don't know how many research type of studies that they did to determine that happy people are actually more successful. Isn't that amazing? So if you keep people happy...

Tony: 

Who would think?

Maura: 	

I know it's so simple.

Tony: 

This is Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney and you can find her at maura4u.com and I will spell that Maura - M A U R A, the number four, the letter U dot com; maura4u.com. This is the Tony Durso Show where you can learn from the wisdom and success of others to help you move on your vision path. Just ahead, the chat continues about Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney. But first, it's time for us to take a short break. See you back here in just a moment.

[Commercial break]

Tony: 

All right, we're back on the Tony Durso Show where you can learn from the wisdom and success of others to help you move on your vision path. Let's see what we can learn today. Today's show is about Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney. At the end of this interview, I'll give you a summary of what I got out of this and I'll share some pointers with you. Stay tuned for that. 

Maura says, "Over the years, I've come a long way. When I was a youth and a preteen, my grandmother called me waterworks because I could cry at the drop of a hat. Growing up I felt powerless, isolated, restricted, and most of all groomed. In my case, the grooming was focused on all my outside accomplishments and attributes rather than from a nurturing of my true self. We've all got some kind of outer expectations, parental training and other social messaging that can cause us to go astray from our true self by following what's outside rather than waiting to bloom from our inner soul."  

All right, and now back to the chat with Maura. 

Maura: 	

Everybody they said is usually running after success, thinking that happiness will come as a result of success and they discovered it was the reverse. If you could find your happiness, you will automatically do better. And there's a reason, I will tell you, is very simple, if you ever feel depressed, Tony, anything you do is so hard to do, it's like pulling along a ball and chain, but wherever you are, if you are happy, you literally feel like your heart's expanded, you've got all these additional thoughts that are running around in your head, you've opened up new pathways to new ideas and you naturally rise almost like you would with a helium balloon. 

And so I've just learned how to manage various elements of that and now I take a lot of what I learned and implement it in my own corporate background as a leader and I share it everywhere I go.

Tony: 

So true. Maura, you are infectious I love it. This is amazing. We all need this. We all need more of this. Maura, let's kind of jump in a little bit more into your vision path and visionary and just as a little side thing, you mentioned something about a wild vision you had some years ago traveling in Croatia. Tell us about that and how it actually came to be.

Maura: 	

Tony. It was. And, you know, what a great place to share this on a show that's all about visionaries. Imagine this, you know, we all have different times, seasons and chapters in our lives, right? I had my law school background, I had my corporate background, then we had our daughter. I was homeschooling her, but I was also working part-time with my husband. But I knew and I sensed that things were going to change. 

So my family and I happened to take a summer vacation. We were in Dubrovnik, Croatia, this is back in the day a couple of years ago when people thought, wait, Croatia, aren't they at war? So we were some of the early people that went there, but Dubrovnik now is a real popular place. It's located right on the Adriatic, say beautiful setting. So my daughter and I were on this banana boat, we're in our bathing suits going around the Adriatic Sea. Beautiful, beautiful day. Crystal blue water. 

We step off and I'm on the shoreline of the Adriatic and suddenly in front of me, this is bizarre, but it happened, an enormous microphone appeared in front of me from the waterside all the way up to the clouds. And I could see this microphone in an instant, I got this question. If you were handed the world's largest microphone, what would you do with it?

Now, Tony, I didn't even have a chance to answer the question because the answer came to me and the answer was, 'I would report good news.' And what I saw in that instant that flash, was not myself, but at the very, very top of the microphone where you would speak into it, which was literally up in the sky by the clouds, I happen to be sharing this good story about two guys. One was a white guy, one was a black guy. I can't tell you exactly what they were doing, but in this story, these two guys were working together as brothers and whatever they put together with such great news that literally people were magnetized to this story and they were all coming to surround the giant microphone. 

Now, that was a crazy thing for a woman who, me, at the time, who was living life in suburbia. I had two gigantic dogs. I was always in the kitchen. I was homeschooling a daughter. I was working part-time in the business, my husband and I owned but basically living a quiet life. And here I get this thing, this big microphone, what would I do? I'd share good news. Well, would you believe, Tony, a couple of years later, my very first international invitation to speak came from of all places, Dubrovnik, Croatia, from a woman I had never met before, but she was running an international leadership and human resource event.

It went for four days. They were bringing in corporate leaders and people of ministry from eight different countries. They call it 	ministry, it would be the equivalent of government work, from all of the former countries that had been at war. And she said to me, "Maura, I heard.." you ready for this, "I heard your voice and I knew you had something in it that would bring good things that we need to our conference."
She said, "Specifically, what we need in this region is we need a dose of happiness. Will you please come?"

So believe it or not, I ended up at a four-day conference, again, international, Tony, and I was staying at a hotel that also made me laugh, that didn't even exist when I was back there for the first time. It was the President Hotel overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Isn't that pretty crazy? That's really wild.

Tony: 

It's absolutely amazing. And you actually saw this giant microphone, this humongous microphone like visually color, everything.

Maura: 	

I'll tell you, it was funny but it was in a flash and what made me even laugh thinking about it,  the base of the microphone was right at the shoreline. The top of it reached all the way up into the clouds and it was like, it looked like it was big blue plastic like little kids would use but it was the question as well as the answer; that if I were given the world's largest microphone, I would use it to share and publicize good news. And there you get it as the ambassador of happiness. I'm not out to produce bad news for people and it doesn't mean I skirt bad things, but I will always bring the good news, the good report, the unifying message that makes everyone feel like, ah, I've been there too. And look at this, there's something good I could hope for and something good I could believe in. And that's me. Can't get away from myself, Tony.

Tony: 

That is the most amazing start of a career I've ever heard. And therein was born the Ambassador of Happiness. And now you've been all over the world so what are some of the unlikely places and spaces that you found yourself being invited or going to bring happiness to others?

Maura: 	

Thanks. You know, I probably have so many I could share, but I'll go through a quick list. One of them was the inaugural Nelson Mandela Day celebrations. And that was the first time I was ever given the title, Ambassador of Happiness. I didn't even have a title. But I've also spoken at the Summit of 100 Young Leaders of Southeastern Europe. They had representatives from Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, the State Department Representative for Global Youth. I spoke at an international model UN summer camp with universities, students from 28 countries. 

I recently, well, let's say a year ago, moderated a PBS Tampa Bay Times Florida Think Tank Event. Are you ready for this one? Doesn't sound like it has anything to do with the Ambassador of Happiness, but it was called 'Full of Hate: The Rise of Violent Extremism in America.' They brought me in...

Tony: 

I'm in shock.

Maura: 	

It's crazy. Tony, listen to this. I was the only person apparently that they could find as a moderator to stand in between a number of personalities representing very diverse and very divergent special interest groups that occupied today's news. And I won't go into the details, but I will tell you, one of the guys who was on the panel I saw on national TV about a week ago. So those are some of the places I've been and that's only a few, not to mention the fact that I ended up speaking at a special certification program, right here in Tampa Bay at the University of South Florida and it's designed for aspiring FBI and CIA candidates. So like look at all the crazy places I've found myself.

Tony: 

Wow! So much to comment on. First of all, aside from the fact that you're always smiling, you're always full of...you emanate this aura of love, of great affinity. It's just absolutely amazing. Aside from the fact that this is in essence, partly, this is you, if I'm saying that, what do you suppose distinguishes you from others who are out there trying to be motivational speakers, trying to inspire, trying to help, what makes you different?

Maura: 	

You know, that's a great question for any visionary, right? Anybody. Because I never tried. I think frankly, Tony, I can't be like anybody else. I don't know how to mimic other people. I can only be myself. So everything about my message, which is you can be your own leader, you can be the center of your own source of influence for the world. This is how I live. This is everything I've ever had to teach myself in. It's things I've taught my daughters. It's things I've shared with friends. It's things I did as a leader in corporate life. And so I am my message. And I think that because I don't know how to be anybody other than who I am, Tony, I think it resonates with a lot of people. I'm always authentic. 

And I'll tell you something else. My husband always says, “Maura, whatever you do, don't share any numbers with people cause you're always wrong.” And it's so true. What I am though, I'm a storyteller. I'm a question asker. They're like reflective questions and I invite people to step into stories. And so, these are my personal stories. These are places I've been, it's people I've been with and you know what happens when people hear stories? They will step into this story and it's a very, I would say this is something that is very universal. They'll hear certain details of your story, but they insert the details of their own life story. And if your story happens to be one that has an ending that brings hope and encouragement and truth to people and resonates then that story goes within and it literally transforms people. 

And I'll tell you some other things too. You know, I'm from the New York, New Jersey area. I come from an Italian background. I probably also break some of the Cardinal rules in public speaking. Because it's funny, my husband will set up a lot of things for me. We will work hours on like putting together PowerPoint presentations. I will stand at the door of a major university or wherever it is I'm speaking and I will meet people at the front door and I'll get a feel for all the people I'll be speaking to and I'll be up on that stage and he's looking from the background thing and I can't believe she's changing all these slides and changing what's going on because I want to talk to the audience. I'm not out there for me, I'm out there for them. I want to speak their language. 

And then the other thing too, and I said, I've got an Italian background. I've got a walk around, I've got to use my hands so I'm just me being me. And I think people recognize there's no flimflam. There's no, I'm not pretending to be somebody I'm not.

Tony: 

This is the Tony Durso Show where you can learn from the wisdom and success of others to help you move on your vision path. Just ahead, the chat continues about Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney. But first, it's time for us to take a short break. See you back here in just a moment.

[Commercial Break]

Tony: 

All right, we're back on the Tony Durso Show where you can learn from the wisdom and success of others to help you move on your vision path. Let's see what we can learn today. Today's show is about Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney. At the end of this interview, I'll give you a summary of what I got out of this and I'll share some pointers with you. Stay tuned for that. All right, and now back to the chat with Maura.

Maura: 	

And I will share something else and this really does touch me. I have had some people and some countries, and I'm telling you, I go to places, Tony, that other people don't go, where literally people have really hard lives, hard Governments, hard everything. And there have been people that have come up to me to say, Maura, I have never been to this university before. I don't know how I found out about this event, but if you never spoke a word that I understood audibly, I knew when you stepped on that stage, you understood me. Thank you for giving me hope.

 And if I could tell you, if there's one thing that gratifies me, it's that. Because people know when I'm there, I am the real deal and there's that resonance, it's meaningful to them and I leave and people feel different. So that's my answer.

Tony: 

Maura, I'm amazed. I'm impressed. This is amazing. Just so much more I want to talk about, it's such an interesting thing. It's one word and it's got so much volumes to it. I'd like to know, Maura, what do you find particularly gratifying about your topic, about happiness?

Maura: 	

Oh, you know what? I would believe, and I do believe this, and I remember it as a child, I think we all come into the world this way, Tony; it's like happiness is our birthright. If we were natural, if we were normal, if we were not conformed to a world that is so mixed up and often misdirected, we would naturally be happy and free. Free to be ourselves, free to express ourselves. So everywhere I go, if I could, number one, be myself, be my best and most authentic version of self and inspire others to be their best and most authentic version of themselves, then I know that I am changing the world person by person, group by group, sector by sector. And that's me on one level. I find that incredibly gratifying. 

And the other thing is, I don't know..how can I say this, Tony? You know how the world teaches you to see things one way; like, okay, be successful, get that fancy car or get that big title? I have always seen people from the inside. I see their soul, I see their internal story. I could see some of the greatness, the talents, the inbred abilities people have. I saw it as a recruiter. I saw it in corporate when I would develop people. So everywhere I go, if I could help people tap into seeing their best self and going for it and moving in that space rather than trying to be a carbon copy or a copy of what the world says they should be, that's is enormously gratifying. Enormously.

And you know, I speak with university students. I speak with millennials, baby boomers, business execs, special interest groups, whoever these people are; from every sector, rich, poor, well-educated, not whatever country, whatever background, whatever circumstances. I could see people who had been through some of the most dark days of their lives. Taking that scenario and turning it into a success story. That's what I find gratifying.

Tony: 

I love it. Maura, you've been to 60 countries, I think you mentioned, which is a few more than I. What have you learned about people and happiness and the world you've been all over? Tell us, share some insights about people everywhere.

Maura: 	

Okay. If you think about it, don't we all live in a world where always, everybody's different, everybody's the other. We gotta be careful of those people. We don't like those people. But to the contrary, Tony, I would tell you that everybody is so much alike in more ways than we realize. You know, one of the things I've done in this whole happiness spaces, in addition to speaking about it, interviewing on it and writing about it, I've actually conducted an international happiness survey and this has been with people from 28 countries, 27 States, and listen to what everybody wants. 

They want healthy relationships as in a lot less drama. They want peace of mind, they want freedom, they want purpose and fulfillment in their lives and they want a sense of confidence. And so, these are the things that unite us all. They're people everywhere. They want to be able to get a job, they want to have good relationships, they want to be able to establish a life, bring up kids, do things they enjoy, they want to feel purposeful, meaningful. These are the things everybody wants. And I think that was Part A of what you asked about with people.

But let me give you Part B and I know you'll agree to this. There are nice people and not great people everywhere you go. So one of the things that I do is I never generalize and I never stigmatize. And so, it's from that space that I find there are so many people that gravitate toward that simple message. It's like, yes, so many of us, probably 80-85% of the population is all looking for the same stuff. So why not focus in on those things that unite us and harmonize us and work from there rather than being a naysayer and a false finder that only makes people feel worse? 

So those are some of the things that I have found by traveling. And, again, I traveled that I could travel in high places, low places, and obscure places.

Tony: 

Absolutely amazing. And you know, it reminds me, I've said for years to people, let people be themselves, allow people to be people. And every time I hear someone say anything or complain about a race, religion, ethnicity, creed, I say they're people; let people beat people. And it seems so simple. Yet it seems to be, it takes work. It needs the Ambassador of Happiness to push that there. 

Maura: 	

So why do you think I was doing that Full of Hate Conference? Because I could be the ribbon, literally, that goes in and out of different places. And I find those unifying fabrics that bring people together. And I'll tell you, Tony, as we all could focus in on this, and as you said, allow people to be themselves and their best self, we literally will see a transformed society from the smallest places to the largest spaces. And there is a brilliance that needs to be unlocked everywhere. And as we allow people and as we celebrate people's abilities and the best things they have to offer, their skills, their talents, their resources, we can literally create a brand new society. 

And the thing is, I've known this since childhood, so anywhere people give me an outlet to share some of these concepts, the principles, the images, and the steps in which I bring people through the process, I'm there to share.

Tony: 

And that goes totally in line with your succinct purpose, the unifying part that would totally do it. So absolutely, I absolutely love it. And I love that drive that you have. And I believe that's why you were named Woman of the Decade from an international women's organization. Can you tell us more about that?

Maura: 	

You know I would, and you know I've spoken in many places, but last year I was honored in the Hague, in the Netherlands at a Woman's Economic Forum with the Woman of the Decade award from the founder of the All Ladies League and it's a 70,000 member plus international organization based out of New Delhi, India. And it's dedicated to the further advancement of women in commerce and leadership. And so, you know, I was so glad. In fact, I had been at another conference, a similar one in Tanzania, earlier this year and I was invited up to the stage and in this case, I was in another part of the world. And I just love being in those spaces where I could help women, but it's not even just women, it's people of every background. So yes, it was a nice honor for me, Woman of the Decade from the largest women's international group in the world, or at least as far as I know.

Tony: 

Congratulations, Maura, you deserve it. Congratulations to you. And I want to comment on something you said earlier in this interview that you had addressed or you do address aspiring FBI and CIA candidates. And without like getting too silly, Maura, are we going to see them being happier at their jobs now that they've got the Ambassador of Happiness giving them some pointers?

Maura: 	

You know, it's so funny. You know I could smile because I love going to all these different places. You have no ideas...I have sometimes no idea of the places I'm going to find myself in, but in this case, I ended up speaking to this very unique group. It's one of a few throughout the country and it was a special certification program, they do actually have, and it's off the record, people from CIA, FBI, probably state department come to assess these candidates. But I was speaking to them on emotional intelligence; meaning, how do you see yourself? How do you assess information? How do you see the role you play, the outgrowth of decisions you make? How do you see yourself as an influencer wherever you go? As a voice, as someone who sees cause and effect?

 And so, you know, I felt extremely honored and if you go to one of my sites for, I guess it's a speaker hub site that has me down there, I think the head of the program wrote a little bit about what he felt about my presentation. He said there's something about how Maura could take very big topics and break them down and somehow by the time she's done, she makes you feel better about yourself and better about the world you're living in. I don't know how I do it, Tony. I have no idea. But it's a vision and a purpose that I literally cannot get myself away from. 

And if I could add one more element to this. I know that where we are today, not only here in the United States but also in the world, I know that the message I bring and the positions that I've held and the fact that I am very egalitarian and very fair in everything I look at, everything I listened to, that that kind of leadership is not only needful now, but it will be even more going forward. So for me to have been there with future members of the FBI, CIA, state department, etc, that to me is a great honor but that's where I love being. I love being in places where I could help influence people to move us toward a better world.

Tony: 

Well, I hope they invite you over and over to more and more events because what you do and the message you bring will ripple through to the entire world. I totally see that you and a lot of us can actually make great changes by just pushing on the messages that you've mentioned today in this interview

Maura: 	

Thank you. I seem to think so too. I think that's why I just can't stop doing what I do.

Tony: 

This is the Tony Durso Show where you can learn from the wisdom and success of others to help you move on your vision path. Just ahead, the chat continues about Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney. But first, it's time for us to take a short break. See you back here in just a moment.

[Commercial Break]

Tony: 

All right, we're back on the Tony Durso Show where you can learn from the wisdom and success of others to help you move on your vision path. Let's see what we can learn today. Today's show is about Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney. At the end of this interview, I'll give you a summary of what I got out of this and I'll share some pointers with you. Stay tuned for that. Maura says, "Unable to continue in a future 40-year law career and an identity I never wanted, I exited law school and my family's long-held expectations to follow my own path. I needed to feel the light within me, reignite. And while I had no idea as to what my next act would be or how I proceed forward, I set up on my own journey." And now, back to the chat with Maura. Maura, what are you looking to accomplish in the next few years?

Maura: 	

Ah, you know, I'll give you two words. I'm just going to say greater influence. Tony, I get invitations, as I said, from very unusual places. Like, let me just tell you where I was a few months ago. I was in Ukraine, I was in a place called Moldova. It was the last place I did a blog on, but I was also in a country. Have you ever heard of a place called Pridnestrovia? Probably not, right?

Tony: 

No, but I can tell it's somewhere in Russia or the former USSR.

Maura: 	

You're so smart. It's a breakaway Republic and it's a Soviet breakaway Republic. Very small country. It is not acknowledged by the United Nations. I was there meeting with some of their top brass, I mean, it's funny you say top brass, probably for about an hour and a half. They thanked me so much for coming in because I wanted to know about their country, about their history, about their resources, about their hopes, about their challenges. So wherever I can go, I'm going to just say, what do I want to accomplish in the future? Greater influence. So does that mean if I'm invited in to speak with various government entities, media entities, education sector, any sector of society that has a need for increased levels of respect, professionalism, harmony, and solutions? The bigger the better. I say the bigger, the better, it doesn't matter; sometimes it's the smaller, the better. 

I'm a great advocate for a better world, so wherever I can go and I can be welcomed for people that are looking to raise up in their own sense of positive influence and leadership and I could be a catalyst for them and for something better on there.

Tony: 

It's astounding. Maura, give us some personal habits that contribute to the success of accomplishing your vision.

Maura: 	

You know, I would say, stay consistent and true to your own message and vision. You know, there are a lot of people, they may say, okay, this is a perfect example, I need money. So, therefore, what kind of business is big today that I could just jump into? A visionary, people who are listening today. They need to look at it almost from the alternative lens. They need to say, what is it that I'm passionate about? What is my message that I want to bring? Where do I feel purposeful and how can I build a business around that? Does that make sense? And whatever it is, stay consistent to it and stay true to it.

 And I know like in my own case, Tony, I know we've communicated by email several times. You know that there are many things I do, but there are also things I don't do. Like you'll never find me on a stage talking programs for thousands of dollars because that's not my place. I'm more like the dignitary. I'm more of the ambassadorial type. I'm more of a hybrid. So that's what I mean when I say stay consistent and true to your message. 

Personal habits, I would also say, which almost reminds me of consistency, be persistent, be persistent. Whatever it is that you're really interested in, whatever it is you want to excel at, whatever skills you want to work at, persistently and consistently work at them. Make your connections, get to know people, just ever excel and eventually, you will become your own best version of self. And then what I find too is that you may not be like anybody else, but as you keep exercising who it is, what you are, the skills and talents and messages and even if you're making something...see I may be an idea person, but there are other visionaries out there that are creating things. 

But the more you keep to it, eventually, the world opens up and makes room for you. 

And the thing is they don't have another you. So as you keep yourself out there persistently and consistently, people eventually think, wait a minute, we need this thing. Bring this person up to the forefront and that's you. So those would be the habits, I would say: consistency, persistence, staying true to your message and your mission. And I'll give you some other personal habits on my part. I'm a voracious reader, a researcher and Inquirer, an interviewer and a traveler. 

And by the way, I did say I travel a lot, but you know what another thing is I'll do, Tony, I will travel down the block, I'll travel to the next city over. I will travel to events and venues where I can learn and meet and talk with people and learn from people and test out my own understanding so that I'm not going out thinking I know it all. I'm constantly learning. So that kind of rounds out the personal habits. Hopefully, that'll be a help to someone else who's listening today.

Tony: 

Those are great, Maura. And are there any great resources that you would like to share with our audience, visionaries, perhaps something that you haven't mentioned already?

Maura: 	

You know what? You know, most people will say, well I just got finished reading this book; I can't say I'm that type of person. I study history, Intel, military, organized crime. I've been to the Library of Congress. I've done four-year requests, but let me share something that will drill it down to anybody that might be listening. I'm on Twitter, I'm on YouTube. I do research on Google. Again, I mentioned, I do travels, I do interviews all the time. 

Here's what I do. I look for my own keywords and my key questions and what I become is my own Inquirer. So if you ever find something, let's say you're interested in and you just find one keyword and something pops up and you research that? What I have found, Tony, in the course of my own learning and I learned from resources everywhere is that one source leads to another and then to another and then to another. So I would say for anyone who is thinking about, you know, what are some of the resources that they want to use? Find those key questions, key phrases, keywords that really kind of ignite them, inspire them and add to their own curiosity. 

Start exploring them and go to some of those open sources and you will find that the more research you do along the Twitter hashtag roots, the YouTube keywords, one source and one site will lead you to another and to another. And you might find over the course of time that you become your own self contained expert of a particular sort. So that's my closing comment there.

Tony: 

I love it. Thank you. This is absolutely amazing. Once again, this is Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney. You can find her at maura4u.com. Maura, thank you for regaling us with all this information. It's so amazing, it's so infectious. I feel better. I feel better and I feel more inspired and motivated and it's just amazing. It's such a simple thing. It's one word, but it's so great. Maura, as always, got to have you back. We need more, Maura.

Maura: 	

Tony, thank you so much. As always, it has been fantastic sharing some time with you and thanks for having me on.

Tony: 

Hey, Success Squad, thanks for hanging out with me while I featured an elite entrepreneur who took her vision to reality. I hope this was as inspiring for you as it was for me to do this interview. I learned a lot. Insights are so valuable. How did you like this interview about Visioneering Happiness with Maura Sweeney? Her story is so inspiring. 

Can you imagine having a law career handed to you, but then walking away from it because you're not who you are, nor what you really want to do? And that's not cheap either to just walk away from something like that. I think Maura is extremely courageous and I'm amazed at how she crafted her own life that she wanted. 

●	Are you living the life that someone else created for you?
●	 Is that working out for you? 
●	Is this really what you want to do or are you surviving well with it? 

You know, even if it's not your passion in life, you can at least start dreaming and working toward what you feel passionate about. I bring that up many times and I'm convinced that following the vision map that I wrote for you, even if you worked on it nights and weekends or a little here and a little there, I'm convinced that it would begin to bring you closer to what you really want to do no matter how stuck in you are at what you're doing right now.

 I've been stuck in a routine in the past that I didn't want and I didn't know how to get out of it. Fortunately, I did and fortunately, I wrote up the vision map so that everyone could follow that road. And by the way, this map is not just if you're stuck in some dead-end job or career, this map is to help you move up to the next level in whatever you want to be or do.  You'll know what I mean once you read it and apply it and yeah, it's free on my homepage so you owe to yourself to check it out. 

Maura did it, as you heard, and she persevered to create the life she wants. I'm so impressed with her. Did this interview get you to think about some of your childhood aspirations and dreams? What a purpose Maura has! No wonder she's the Ambassador of Happiness. She said it's to unify, uplift, and inspire a divided, discouraged, and very disempowered world. That's brilliant. It's infectious, isn't it? Have you ever heard this before? Happy people are more successful. How simple. You think it's obvious and a no-brainer but if so, then how come everyone isn't happy? 

Happiness needs to come for success to happen. I love it. Those chasing success in order to be happy often find a different story. Yeah, we need people like Maura to help us; that's for sure. I am nearly speechless on that vision she saw of the giant microphone. What do you think about that and how amazing her first international speech was that the same city she had that vision? There's so much more I got out of this interview. What did you get? 	I'd love to know how you use this information to help you in your business or career. 

Reach out to me. Now, grab hold of your vision, decide you're either going to start something great or take it to the next level. You know this, you have to decide first. It always starts with a decision and you can give my vision map to help you along the process. The free ebook is at Tony D U R S O.com. I created my empire in just a few years. That's all it took. I had the vision map as my guide, you can do it too. 

Once again, check out all my shows on Spotify, all designed to help you get to the next level in your business or career. Let's help you move on your journey to success. And if you have iTunes or access to any Apple device, look up my name, Tony D U R S O and subscribe to my show, a kind review there will get you tremendous appreciation back in return. Thanks, guys, and remember, just take action. Success awaits those who persevere and remain steadfast despite the odds. Sow good seeds, do good deeds and join me on the next episode of the Tony Durso Show.

We hope you've enjoyed this week's edition of the Tony Durso Show with his key influencers. Be sure to tune in again next Friday at 5 PM Eastern Time, 2 PM Pacific Time on the Voice America Influencers Channel.