Jill Mays

I was quite fortunate because I had excellent schooling. I went to the University of Pennsylvania, which is an incredible academic environment. When I was at Penn, Title IX had recently passed, and the new coach for the women's swim team recruited me. I'd never swum competitively before - I had to learn how to do flip turns! My first goal was to complete every practice. My second goal was to never come in last. We had very intensive workouts - I had to do the same workout as swimmers who competed in the Ivy League championships. I learned how to push myself. When I'd see the coach looking at me because I wasn't pushing hard enough, I'm like, gotta keep going, gotta keep going. That taught me at a deep level, that I can work harder, I can keep going, I don't need to quit. I think that flipped me into being a bit of a workaholic. I've been very fortunate that I've lived in middle-class environments where I've had many advantages. Raising my three children in a safe community and having a supportive family helped quite a lot. Moving to the small town Truro on Cape Cod afforded many new experiences, like working side by side with market farmers, getting involved with the Mass Cultural Council and immersing myself in the writing and art community.

I've learned that marketing is a huge component to selling my book, and now I know why I never went into marketing. I really don't like that part. A good friend has guided me by saying, "You just have to get out there, you just have to do it, and believe in yourself." She has nudged me at this late stage of my career, and her advice has really propelled me forward.

I would say it is important to get a really strong foundation in terms of the basics in the profession you're working in. Try to find a strong environment to get started. For me it was working in leading medical centers. Once you've acquired a strong base, you can move forward in new directions. It's critical to stay current with the information related to your field. The other thing that I think is critical is to establish trust and build strong relationships. Caring about the people you work with is key.That was a huge part of my practice - working very closely with families. I guess that applies to any career: working closely with your clients, your customers. You want to truly believe in the product or the service you're giving, and then really fight for the people that you are providing that to. Trust is really key.

A long time ago, before neuroscience could demonstrate what was happening in the brain, it was getting professionals to understand and accept the therapeutic work I practiced. Now I'm happy to say the neuroscience has validated everything that sensory integration therapists were doing. For example, studies have shown that when someone's doing a totally auditory, language-based task, they have found that the cerebellum, which is all about movement, is firing like crazy. So moving, engaging in sensory kinds of exploration, and all those kinds of things are critical for health. That was a frustration earlier in my career, but that's not the case anymore, which is great. Regarding my current work with gardening and nature, it is my quest to get more people to understand how important getting outside is for our physical and emotional health. Growing food is great too and is not as onerous as people think. Personally, my challenge is finding enough time in the day to get everything done. I'm very fortunate to have more time now, and have the opportunity to pursue the areas of interest that I have always wanted to do, like writing.

We're living in this world, and we need to respect and embrace all human beings. A lot of the people I've worked with, children especially, really struggle, and oftentimes they're marginalized. All human beings contribute in unique ways, and we need to respect that. As a gardener and also a member of the world, I think protecting the environment is enormously important. When I began researching nature's benefits to humans, I learned that plants not only give us oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the air, they serve as a major air filter of other toxic chemicals, and contribute to strengthening a healthy gut biome! Aerosols that come off of trees and plants are actually helping our immune system. Nature gives us such enormous gifts, and we need to honor that.