"Peace begins with a smile." -Mother Teresa
Marta Vargas is a bilingual singer/songwriter, speaker/radio host and life/leadership coach born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico who greatly enjoys encouraging others to discover or re-discover their awesomeness, and creating smiles in a multitude of ways from poetry and music to painting and photography.
Marta currently serves as Cantor and Young Adult and campus Ministry Coordinator for parishes within the Archdiocese of Miami, where she has served in a number of other roles over the years at both the parish and diocesan level including TV Mass Cantor, School of Ministry instructor, Marriage and Family Life Program Manager, Blogger, and Co-host/Host and producer of two weekly radio programs for Radio Paz, the Archdiocese of Miami Spanish radio station, airing between 2011 and 2016 ... and more.
She currently hosts and co-produces Good Night Good Day for Radio Maria USA airing Fridays 6-7pm ET, encoring Tuesdays at 2am ET and Thursdays 11pm ET. Local affiliate stations, app download and links to listen from anywhere at www.radiomaria.us
Before what she calls her 'great adventure' dedicated to full time ministry work, Marta worked in the corporate world since her teens and first embraced entrepreneurship at around 7-8 years old when her grandma recruited her to help with her catalog sales business. This was the beginning of a number of experiences that ranged from sales and marketing to event planning and more in a wide range of industries that included consumer products, tabletop / decor, hospitality, television/radio advertising and medical sales on both the admin/sales and artistic sides.
In this wide diversity, Marta found one common thread that impacted her profoundly to the point it now permeates her work beyond the diversity of perspectives she brings to her audiences: When we truly and fully are giving ourselves to everyone we serve, in anything we do, no matter what the work, we are doing our part to build a world of hope, a civilization of love. When we embrace this truth, no role is too small, no task is insignificant. This realization frees us in healing and transforming ways. No longer bound by a 'what' or 'how' we 'should' be serving or working or whatever, we are free to live and work for our purpose, our mission, our 'why', making the fruits of our self gift and the joy that comes from giving from a pure heart all the more meaningful. This opens horizons for us to share our gifts in more diverse ways beyond what we may have first envisioned or may have thought possible, realizing in the process that no matter what we do, there is one meeting point, one common denominator, ONE thing that matters above all, and that is LOVE, the kind of love that helps make people smile. The kind of love that paves the way to peace and mutual trust that helps us live in the joy of greater unity and hope.
It was in the sharing of her gifts "wherever, whenever, however and with whoever" with love ever striving for the common good that Marta discovered her greatest passion: to simply be an instrument of hope that leads to unity and peace. In that discovery process, she learned the most important lesson of all: to not waste time worrying about what she had or didn't have, what she could or couldn’t do or give, but simply to do all she could, give all she had and do it with joy and love. This Joy and love grew in the realization that the freedom, hope and endless possibilities in this discovery were not just for her but for EVERYONE, which is perhaps one reason why this joy of hers finds its foundation in the greatest joy of all: the love and precious company of God, family and friends, including favorite Saints, such as St John Paul II The Great and St Therese, from whom she learned that life isn’t so much about doing great things, but doing the smallest things with great love. And when we do, we wind up discovering how the greatest greatness is actually found in the smallest smallness.
It in this spirit that her music and speaking ministry began to flow, through the sharing of that hope with everyone she could., first informally, casually, literally among friends. Then as word spread and each new invitation came, she said 'why not' and with that this next journey began, always bit by bit, step by step. We hope you hop in and come along for the ride as we grow and walk together, step by little step!
To be continued...