Bio
In 1970, Maya Frost took it upon herself to talk to her elementary school principal and organize activities to celebrate the first Earth Day. Growing up in rural Oregon, she lived in the woods and worked in the fields, harvesting everything from strawberries to filberts (hazelnuts) and hoeing onion fields in the sweltering summer heat.
She often came home with her shoes and bare legs coated with a green residue from the pesticides sprayed on the fields.
Her deep understanding of the challenges of farm life, the power of the forest to restore us, and the need to find ways to care for people and planet has fueled her interest in activism.
For five years, she lived in a garage with her family while her parents scrimped to save money to build an adjacent house. This gave her a sense of what it means to live simply, use less, and choose to make what you can.
She saved her money from working in the fields and in a local fabric store, was valedictorian and homecoming queen at her small high school, and went to college thanks to scholarships and plenty of work/study gigs.
During college, Maya worked as the arts and crafts director for a beloved nature retreat center on the Oregon coast.
Always fascinated by other cultures, but without the opportunity to travel, Maya chose to major in psychology and Asian Studies, and spent her senior year in college on a 9-month study program in South Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal.
It changed her life.
Her first job after graduation was teaching English in a rural area of northern Japan. There, she met and fell in love with a fellow teacher who was from Hillsboro, just ten miles from her hometown.
After five years in Japan (and getting married), she and Tom returned to Oregon.
Together, Tom and Maya built a family (four lovely daughters now in their thirties and living on four continents), started several businesses, and spent a life together in the United States, Japan, China, Mexico, Uruguay, and Argentina.
As a small business owner, she sold second-hand and vintage clothing,
and spearheaded the construction of a skateboard park for local youth.
Later, she served as the executive director of a peace and justice organization in Montana, and as the national outreach coordinator for an environmental awareness nonprofit in Oregon.
Her business, Real-World Mindfulness Training, offered her signature eyes-wide-open approach to everyday awareness.
It captured the imagination of subscribers in over 100 countries, and was featured in over 150 web media outlets worldwide.
Maya wrote THE NEW GLOBAL STUDENT in response to her family's adventure of selling everything in Oregon,
moving abroad, and re-thinking the traditional steps through high school and into college.
A preschool teacher in several countries, she served as the governess for the family of Jack Ma in China.
She founded Switch Strategies for Change during the early days of the pandemic,
and has helped women in over a dozen countries create change initiatives
to regenerate their local natural resources and make their communities more resilient.
Maya and Tom live a cheerfully minimalist life in a studio apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina, near their youngest daughter and oldest grandchild. These days, Maya focuses on creating digital NFT art that supports climate solutions.
She still loves spending time in the forest, and can't wait until her three young grandchildren are old enough to accompany her on nature walks.
She often came home with her shoes and bare legs coated with a green residue from the pesticides sprayed on the fields.
Her deep understanding of the challenges of farm life, the power of the forest to restore us, and the need to find ways to care for people and planet has fueled her interest in activism.
For five years, she lived in a garage with her family while her parents scrimped to save money to build an adjacent house. This gave her a sense of what it means to live simply, use less, and choose to make what you can.
She saved her money from working in the fields and in a local fabric store, was valedictorian and homecoming queen at her small high school, and went to college thanks to scholarships and plenty of work/study gigs.
During college, Maya worked as the arts and crafts director for a beloved nature retreat center on the Oregon coast.
Always fascinated by other cultures, but without the opportunity to travel, Maya chose to major in psychology and Asian Studies, and spent her senior year in college on a 9-month study program in South Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal.
It changed her life.
Her first job after graduation was teaching English in a rural area of northern Japan. There, she met and fell in love with a fellow teacher who was from Hillsboro, just ten miles from her hometown.
After five years in Japan (and getting married), she and Tom returned to Oregon.
Together, Tom and Maya built a family (four lovely daughters now in their thirties and living on four continents), started several businesses, and spent a life together in the United States, Japan, China, Mexico, Uruguay, and Argentina.
As a small business owner, she sold second-hand and vintage clothing,
and spearheaded the construction of a skateboard park for local youth.
Later, she served as the executive director of a peace and justice organization in Montana, and as the national outreach coordinator for an environmental awareness nonprofit in Oregon.
Her business, Real-World Mindfulness Training, offered her signature eyes-wide-open approach to everyday awareness.
It captured the imagination of subscribers in over 100 countries, and was featured in over 150 web media outlets worldwide.
Maya wrote THE NEW GLOBAL STUDENT in response to her family's adventure of selling everything in Oregon,
moving abroad, and re-thinking the traditional steps through high school and into college.
A preschool teacher in several countries, she served as the governess for the family of Jack Ma in China.
She founded Switch Strategies for Change during the early days of the pandemic,
and has helped women in over a dozen countries create change initiatives
to regenerate their local natural resources and make their communities more resilient.
Maya and Tom live a cheerfully minimalist life in a studio apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina, near their youngest daughter and oldest grandchild. These days, Maya focuses on creating digital NFT art that supports climate solutions.
She still loves spending time in the forest, and can't wait until her three young grandchildren are old enough to accompany her on nature walks.