Maya Simone Martinez

I attribute my success to the values my boomer grandparents instilled in me - that you work and do what's necessary to create opportunity for yourself. Growing up on a ranch with that tight-knit community mentality really shaped who I am. The Army taught me about community too - you're always stationed somewhere different, always saying goodbye to friends and family, and I learned that wherever you go, you try to make a strong community with who you have there, because that's not by coincidence, you have to make that by design. I've carried that rancher mentality of making do with what you have into everything I do. Even when I'm scared or handed challenging circumstances like failing properties, I approach it with the essence of who I am as a woman, who I've been in the military, and who I've been in the workplace - we'll make it work, we'll do with what we have, and we'll figure it out. It's about being creative in times of uncertainty and finding opportunities to create community, whether that's helping entrepreneurs find spaces for their concepts or addressing food insecurity back home.

I want to make a message to the next generation that your leadership doesn't begin at a specific age. I know as women, a lot of times we wait through those phases, where it's like we'll get there, we'll get there, and it's like, let's go there, let's see how we can get there now. We shouldn't just be looking at older women who are finally in their later 40s and 50s as the only way we look at wisdom within women - we're trying at all ages, at all phases of who we are, to tell that story and to be influential and to create community. Even when you're scared or facing uncertain times, you should still be trying to work together to create network and community. Leadership isn't personal success by yourself, it's opportunities that we create for everybody together. As women, we have the power to multiply and make houses homes and create families, and we can create a lot with very little. It's important that we use platforms to continue driving a movement and inspire at all ages and phases.

The biggest challenge and opportunity I see is food insecurity in the San Luis Valley, which is one of the most fertile agricultural areas in the United States that feeds a lot of the country, yet many families who live there are still struggling with food insecurity. That blows my mind. A lot of people leave there because they have to go to the city to make money and create opportunities, just like I did when I joined the Army. I'm watching older folks who were happy to volunteer and help phase out, and I'm trying to get younger people to step up and work together to create network and community. In real estate, the opportunity is in revitalizing underutilized, underserviced properties, especially in uncertain times. During COVID-19, I had to be creative with all the rules, closures, and parameters during a health crisis, figuring out how to keep properties open and work with landlords and tenants to find a happy medium. The opportunity is in helping entrepreneurs find spaces that are niche for them and their concept, creating opportunities for small businesses to put food on their tables, and helping local economies even when times are uncertain.

The most important value to me is creating community and opportunity for everybody together. I'm passionate about creating community in everything I do - whether it's in my real estate work helping entrepreneurs find spaces and working with landlords to make things work for everyone, or back home with Vital Valley Foods addressing food insecurity. Leadership isn't personal success by yourself, it's opportunities that we create for everybody together. I believe in working with what you have and being creative, even in uncertain times. That tight-knit community approach is what I learned growing up on the ranch and in the Army - wherever you go, you build strong community by design, not by coincidence. I want to be of service, because when you want to help yourself, you figure out how you can create service not just for you but for other people. It's about taking scarcity and previous generations' lessons about showing up and homesteading, and using that to help people find their footprint and discover opportunities. That's an all-around, well-rounded act of service, and that's important to me.