Maria works with producers and journalists to deliver compelling content. Examples include:

• Turning Life’s Challenges into a Force for Good: Maria spoke at TEDx CUNY in November 2021 on how to use one’s life’s trauma and challenges to help others. All experiences can teach us something, but need not define us. Motivate yourself to bloom where you are planted.

• Self-Care for Busy People: Most people are more compassionate towards others than they are to themselves.  Yet, unless we care for ourselves, we cannot be fully authentic and available to those around us.  Many of us are more careful about how we spend our money than our time, while time is the one thing we cannot buy and is of uncertain quantity.  Self-care need not be time-consuming or difficult.  With the pandemic forcing us all to slow down, we can put in place new and effective practices that enable us to become our best versions.

• Navigating the Pandora’s Box of DNA Test Results: The accessibility of DNA test kits have led many people, like me, to shocking discoveries. About one in seven adults in the U.S., or 30 million people, have used mail-in DNA tests, and thousands have discovered new fathers, siblings and cousins as a result. DNA test kits have both reunited and torn apart families. This modern phenomenon uncovers family secrets and upended our definitions of family. At age 53, I discovered I was the product of a one night stand. I spent a year searching for my biological father. While initially earth-shattering, my relationship with him has brought the puzzle pieces of my life together. I now collect stories like mine, researching the impact of this kind of news and helping others on this sometimes mine-filled journey. Implications can be far-reaching, affecting health, privacy, legal claims, bioethics and more. Those who excavate surprising results need not navigate the journey alone. I help others prepare for the Pandora's Box of DNA test results. What you learn can present a vista for growth. It depends how you frame it. I am writing a book about this subject and is scheduled to speak on it at TEDx Pearl Street at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in May 2022.

You can reach Maria at fiftyafter50@gmail.com or 301.520.6548.

Bio:

Maria Leonard Olsen is a biracial woman whose parents were forbidden by law to marry in their home state of Maryland in the early 1960s. She is the mother of two children, a lawyer, journalist and author of several books. She leads writing/empowerment retreats for women, is the podcast host of “Becoming Your Best Version” and is a co-host of the Inside Out radio show on WPFW-fm, 89.3, in Washington, D.C.

Maria graduated from Boston College and the University of Virginia School of Law, worked at one of D.C.'s largest law firms, where she served on the Diversity Committee; served in the Clinton Administration's Justice Department; fostered newborn babies awaiting adoption; and has been on the boards of Children's National Medical Center BOV, the Catholic Coalition for Special Education, GirlsUp and the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Washington. She currently practices law at The Pels Law Firm.

She has written for The Washington Post, Washingtonian, Bethesda Magazine, Thrive Global, Parenting, BabyTalk, Women’s Day and Washington For Women. She recently returned to practicing law now that her children are launched. Mommy, Why's Your Skin So Brown? is her first children's book.  Healing for Hallie is her second children's book.  Not the Cleaver Family--The New Normal in Modern American Family, was released in November 2016.  Her latest book, 50 After 50--Reframing the Next Chapter of Your Life, has been used as a vehicle to help thousands of people across the country reinvigorate their lives. 

Maria has spoken at numerous schools, corporations, nonprofits and events, including the Pennsylvania Woman’s Conference, the Mixed Remixed Festival in Los Angeles, The Japanese American National Museum's Family Day, the Washington Independent Review of Books, the National March to End Rape Culture and the U.S. Department of Justice's Asian American Month Celebration, as the then-highest ranking Asian American political appointee. Her book talk has been featured on C-Span’s "Book TV" show and her latest book was selected for the National Book Fair at the National Press Club. She spoke at TEDx CUNY in November 2021 on using life’s challenges as a force for good.

Most recent book:

50 After 50: Reframing the Next Chapter of Your Life

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (hardcover, 2018; paperback, 2019; audiobook, 2019)

• Covers midlife management, reinvigorating one’s life at any age, surviving sexual assault, recovery from alcoholism, divorce, self-care, authenticity, being responsible for your own happiness and more.

• Language ‏ : ‎ English

• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 200 pages

• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1538109646

• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1538109649

• Available on Amazon, Audible and everywhere books are sold.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal:

”When lawyer/journalist Olsen reached age 50, she decided to try 50 new things that were significant to her. As a woman in recovery, the author values the time she has left, and through her own story, urges readers to do the same via activities such as singing like no one's listening, riding a horse, and performing random acts of kindness. She enumerates many more exercises under the headings of "spiritual endeavors," "thrill seeking ventures," "lifestyle changes," and so forth, but the message is that we should value and embrace life to the fullest. VERDICT An inspiring read for those who are in or have passed through middle age.” — Library Journal

Midwest Review:

“At fifty years of age, author Maria Leonard Olsen was a divorced drunk who had long abandoned her successful law career for family. 50 After 50: Reframing the Next Chapter of Your Life documents both her midlife crisis, realization that she was actually at the beginning of a new life rather than the end of what she'd created, and points the way for women in similar situations who have turned to alcohol over enlightenment and change. Adrift and purposeless, Olsen decided, when she turned fifty, that she would 'gift' herself the purpose of doing 50 things new to her that embraced adventure, spirituality, travel, physical challenges and lifestyle changes.50 After 50 documents this odyssey and its results, offering midlife readers clues on transformation and change and insights on not only possibilities, but their lasting results. Chapters unfold the purposes behind each action; from getting off the beaten path to "be a student of the world" to changing the dynamics of daily interactions to make for more meaningful changes and experiences. Specific approaches, examples, results, and how Olsen let go of the judgments of strangers and family to explore new avenues of personal satisfaction to herself makes for a revealing, involving blueprint indicating how readers could craft their own road maps of transformation. The result is a powerful blend of lists, journal prompts, autobiography and tips on how to cultivate a more open mind and spirit that offers readers many 'how to' clues for rejuvenating their own approaches to life. Readers aged 50 and older, in particular, will be not only inspired by Olsen's experiences, but are given the tools for embarking on their own life-affirming journeys in a story that is both engrossing and inspirational; highly and especially recommended for anyone of older years who feels 'stuck' in their chosen path.” — D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Kirkus:

"Olsen’s book has an intriguing concept, and her account of overcoming her personal struggles is admirable....  An earnest and personal work...."  --Kirkus Reviews

The Boston Globe:
"The book isn't an instruction manual; readers need not be 50 years old or ready to take on 50 new things." -- Kate Tuttle for The Boston Globe (Tuttle also serves as the president of the National Book Critics Circle)