We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marly Q Casanova. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marly Q below.
Alright, Marly Q thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?
As the daughter of Cuban immigrants who came to the United States with little to nothing, I’ve been on the receiving end of more acts of kindness than I could ever recount (or repay)! However, my earliest and most vivid memory is when I was 10 years old, my 4th-grade teacher performed a small yet profound act of kindness that set into motion a ripple effect that continues to drive me and impact countless lives every day for over 20 years. The short version of the story: my 4th grade class was going on a field trip one day and I was the only kid that didn’t turn in their permission slip. My parents said I couldn’t go and I was sad with my head down crying silently at my desk. Ms. Giro noticed and whispered in my ear to step outside. When I did, she got down on one knee and asked me “What’s wrong?” I did my best to express how upset I was and then she said 4 words to me that instantly changed the way I felt at that moment and gave me a new identity that began paving a path to where I am today. She looked at me in the eyes and said “Kindness is your Superpower,” and that being kind every day is enough to change the world. I BELIEVED HER and after that brief conversation, I felt happy and started being intentional about being kind and exercising my superpower in school, at home and anywhere I went. By the time I graduated high school, I had accumulated over 3,000 hours of volunteer community service hours. The ripple effect continued in college, becoming the founder of a student-led fundraising event that has raised over $1M to find a cure for cancer and continues as an annual event impacting lives two decades later! More recently, in 2018, I delivered a TEDx titled “Kindness is Your Superpower” to share this simple, and critical, message with the world so we may be reminded of the power we all have inside to make a difference every day. The best part of that TEDx talk was doing it while three months pregnant with my 4th grade teacher, Ms. Marcia Giro, in the audience to hear my story and long lasting impact of her kindness.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’ve been a social entrepreneur for 15 years and the journey from a burnt-out event planner to a sought-after keynote speaker has been anything but an “overnight success”! The inspiration to start my first business, “StarMar Events” in 2008, stemmed from a growing dissatisfaction working in highly stressful and toxic work environments that stunted my growth, creativity, and self-expression. With a lifelong passion for leadership, service, and education, and an impressive track record of successful events despite my young age, the innate desire to grow and follow the call to impact lives with a simple message of kindness was stronger than my fear of calling myself a personal brand and “influencer”. Having my business evolve to “Marly Q LLC” was the natural progression to being myself for a living and dedicating my life’s work to being a voice for kindness. For the past decade, I’ve been delivering inspirational keynote talks at schools, colleges & universities, corporations, municipalities, and non-profits (both in-person and virtually), impacting over 100,000 people from age 5 to 85 worldwide. Together with my husband, Humberto Casanova, we co-founded a 501c3 non-profit movement called PARK Project that has been inspiring people to Perform Acts of Random Kindness (PARK) since 2010. Finally, through my podcast “Time to be Kind with Marly Q”, launched in April 2020 in response to the global pandemic, I am building a global community of like-minded people creating meaningful change, and encouraging others to recognize and use their superpower of kindness too.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
A desire for more kindness in the world is at the core of what has driven my entrepreneurial journey since I decided to quit my job and take a leap of faith in myself in 2008. When I was a first year college student, at Florida International University, I had the opportunity to attend a leadership retreat and it was there where I first wrote my vision statement and what would become my life’s mission and calling. My vision is a World where Everyone Performs Acts of Random Kindness (PARK). My mission as a keynote speaker, podcast host and community builder is simply to be the spark that inspires people to PARK for themselves, others and the world we share.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I became an accidental event planner in high school and became a “master planner” by the time I was in college with well over 10,000 hours planning dozens of successful events. Before graduating with my Bachelors degree, I was recruited by one of the largest non-profits in the US as a professional fundraising event planner. As a graduate student getting a Masters in Higher Education, I had the opportunity to work for local government planning dozens of large scale community-building events year round. When I decided to start my own business, I didn’t know what I was doing but I knew I could trust my ability to plan events and figure things out along the way using my superpower of kindness. I achieved outward success growing my business to six figures but struggled inward every step along the way because the high-stress nature of entrepreneurship, and the events industry specifically, was taking its toll on my physical and mental well-being. In October of 2016, my mind and body reached its breaking point and I burned-out with severe migraines for several months. I began to tip toe into the personal branding and influencer space but taking the leap took a few years as it was totally outside of my comfort zone. Encouraged by my business coaches, mentors and kind community, I began speaking more, teaching online and creating consistent content on social media. Then, in March of 2020, I was forced to pivot when the world shut down and all of a sudden there were no in-person events. I decided to take the biggest leap of faith in myself and learn all I could about creating impactful virtual event experiences. Since then, I’ve grown my visibility and impact hosting dozens of virtual events, like the MANkind Summit, designed to inspire and equip people with the tools to elevate their Mental Awareness Now (MAN).
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marlyq
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlyq/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@marlyQ
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/67IViDm1O05txxmUpCSlzh?si=5398eab3ef474f49 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/time-to-be-kind-with-marly-q/id1507887514