Maria Langworthy

1.

I grew up in rural Oklahoma, where my view of the world was pretty small.

2.

I won a scholarship to study in West Germany during my senior year of high school—the experience opened my eyes to a bigger world and bigger possibilities.

3.

I continued my education through multiple degrees, driven by curiosity, ambition, and a belief that learning could expand my impact.

4.

I started my career in consulting and then continued to build my experience in education and technology.

5.

As one of the few women in many rooms at Microsoft, I built confidence by proving to myself that passion mattered more than fitting expectations.

6.

I’ve been laid off more than once on my career journey but I stopped letting setbacks define me and created a clear plan for the opportunities I wanted next.

7.

When a role didn’t match my strengths, I wrote my own job description and showed others the value I knew I could create.

8.

Seeing how many learners struggled to navigate education and careers, I founded an AI company to help people find pathways toward opportunity and purpose.