Page 79 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2016

GIVING BACK maxwell team
SHAWTRANSFORMATION story by Lynn Lofton
Gulfport realtor Stephanie Shaw went to Paraguay to help transform
a country, but she came back transformed. She’s looked at things differently since her brother, Rob Shaw, died suddenly in 2014 when she began questioning her values.
“That just pulled the rug out from under me and I realized I had to open my heart in business,” she says. “I had to find a way to pull my head and heart together.”
When she learned of the internationally recognized John Maxwell Team, she saw an opportunity to put her thoughts into action. She trained with the team and signed up for a week in Paraguay to teach leadership skills to teachers and business and religious leaders. “Before
photos courtesy of Stephanie Shaw we went, a survey was conducted
to find out about their core values
and what that country wants,” Shaw said. “We functioned as facilitators. We didn’t impose our values, but the people were open and receptive. Some traveled for days to attend.”
Shaw was part of a 250-member team working through 400 interpreters who trained 10,000 people. Now those 10,000 are training others.
“We paid our own way to go; an amount that equals a year’s wages in Paraguay,” she said. “People there couldn’t understand someone taking a year’s resources to help them, and they were so grateful.”
Shaw and the other trainers went to
a different location each day. She was afraid only once when they were taken
to a zoo that has been taken over by homeless people.
A highlight of the trip was a concert by the Landfill Philharmonic, an orchestra that has truly risen from trash. The members live in a place
in Paraguay where all other cities dump their garbage. They fashion their instruments from items pulled from the dump and perform under the direction of a volunteer conductor.
“I am a different person now; I wish
I could put it into words,” Shaw says. “I think differently and I spend money differently.”
She stays in touch with the Maxwell Team and as soon as the next trip is announced, she will be on board.
777 Watkins Ave. Gulfport, MS 39507
228-896-6060 office 228-860-5245 direct
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December 2016 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 79