Meet Nicole Marie Majewski | Mother, Outdoor Educator and Play Advocate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicole Marie Majewski and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole Marie, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Honestly, I believe taking risks is a very important part of living. We really need to be more brave in the face of adversity and challenging life choices in general. So many people get stuck in a certain career or a certain lifestyle direction because they are terrified to take the risks necessary for change. Anything from moving to a different city, changing jobs or majors in school,

As a young person, I was always interested in moderate risk taking – wild adventure opportunities like white water rafting in the New River Gorge in West Virginia or extreme sledding in upstate New York or diving into the frozen river on a dare or biking through the city streets on my way to work or quite literally, jumping off the bridge with my friends. I enjoyed the thrill of it all.

I have always had a strong foundation of values that have served as my compass in challenging situations and I always knew that the moderate risks I was taking were indeed healthy risks and I always had that grounding feeling that I knew I was safe.

The same serves true in my life choices and the paths I have found myself on.

At 21 years old, I took a giant backpack, a few of my favorite books and a one way bus ticket with a few friends and moved myself to the coast of Mexico. That was 19 years ago and I am still here.

Since then, I have taken many risks along the way. Risks around career changes and curious job opportunities. I have also taken risks around how to grow my family, how I decided to birth my children and how I consistently choose to show up in this burning world as a mother and a woman helping others.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Honestly, I have had the honor to work in what I love for most of my life and I am grateful for that. I am a creative mother of 3 young boys, a lifelong learner and a risk taker.
Those circumstances have led me to many creative work projects and directions in my life over the past few decades.

In many ways, it is hard for me to define what it is I “do for a living”.

I can tell you that I am an educator and have been serving children in one way or another for most of my adult life. Currently, I run an educational project called Iyari Play, in our region of Nayarit, Mexico, where we live. I am the founder and lead grown-up for this project, which is about cultivating connection with the natural world in our children, providing creative and curious play opportunities for kids in our communities, getting them disconnected from screens and outside.

One thing that sets me apart from most of the educators I had been exposed to in my life is that I tend to navigate outside of the systems. I have leaned toward alternative educational models, getting outside of the box and finding new and creative ways to learn. As an adult, I have had the honor to collaborate professionally with many educational projects over the past 20 years.  I am actively involved in my local alternative education community (in person and online).

I have also worked many years in event coordinating and community outreach initiatives. Everything from weddings to fundraisers to urban art festivals, group volunteer projects, in person creative workshops, pop-up events and more.  My diverse event experience helps me immensely when coordinating collective activities with families and groups of children.

I am also passionate about sharing stories and supporting women in their motherhood journeys. I offer consultations and host circles and often open up interviews and creative collaborations with other women in my life, to continue sharing and learning from one another.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My success in this life is absolutely attributed to the people I learn from. In addition to all of my loved ones and my deceased mother, who was my greatest fan, I would need to shout-out to organizations like Zubuya Proyecto Educativo and Entreamigos Organization, both in Nayarit Mexico. They have been incredible learning points for me in my journey as an educator and leader in my community.

I am also shouting out to my partner in business and life, Ulises Lopez Guerrero. He is the co-founder of our project, Iyari Play and we collaborate together on creative initiatives often, through his visual production company, Studio Iyari Lo de Marcos.

Website: www.iyariplay.org

Instagram: @thelifeofastrongmama

Facebook: @thelifeofastrongmama

Other: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thelifeofastrongmama

Image Credits
Ulises Lopez Guerrero