"Go show the world what you are made of!"

Maria Esposito has it all together. A fantastic job in communications with Edelman, a healthy relationship, great education, and loving family. You know why? She never lost faith in her ability to succeed. Check out her #SpotlightSunday here:

1. What's your story? What makes you unique?

I grew up with 2 little sisters and a little brother in Milton Ga., where I played competitive soccer and attended Milton High School. After high school, I attended Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Ga. where I received my B.A. in Public Relations and Advertising. I was President of my school's PRSSA chapter, an active member of our student-run agency and a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, all while working as a freelance writer for Turner Studios in Atlanta. I would consider myself a pretty active student. After I graduated in May 2014, I received an internship offer from my dream company, a communications marketing agency called Edelman, and have been working on their corporate practice ever since! I now live in Atlanta with my 4-month-old golden retriever puppy, Kaia and 17 year old cat, Callie. In my spare time (lol what is that?), I cook, take Kaia to Piedmont Park and the Chattahoochee River, do hot yoga and spend time with my friends, family and wonderful boyfriend.

2. What motivates you? There are a lot of things that motivate me. Sometimes it's my friends and family and sometimes it's simply the desire to be the very best person I can be. The biggest thing that's motivating to me is seeing other people be kind. It's such a simple gesture to be kind, but it goes so far in the world nowadays. A smile goes a long way, people!

3. Who is a hero of yours?

I don't know that I have one hero that I consider to be "my hero," although there are many people that I look up to and idolize - all for different reasons. My heroes are my parents who raised me and continue to encourage me to be great, my friends who constantly support me, my boyfriend who loves me unconditionally, my teachers who never gave up on me, our nation's soldiers who selflessly sacrifice their lives to protect even those who have proven to be undeserving of that protection, and lastly, my hero is anyone who takes a risk to achieve their dream. Also, whoever invented apple pie, will forever be a hero in my eyes.

4. What's your future plan? Your goals?

One of my biggest goals is to (one day) earn a global position at Edelman, preferably out of the Atlanta office since I'm a homebody at heart. :) I love the company I work for and would really like to stay there long-term and work my way up. I also have a dream of being on PR Week's 40 under 40 list - only 17 years to make it happen! From a personal perspective, my biggest and most important dream is to get married (to Scott Eastwood, preferably) and have a family. Some of my bucket list items include taking a cooking class in Italy, learning to surf in Australia, riding an elephant in Thailand and meeting Carrie Underwood because she is EVERYTHING.

5. If you could give one piece of advice, what would it be?

While riding in an elevator in the way to work one day, I heard someone say that they had hit rock bottom. They were talking to a co-worker, or a friend, or something but that person had the best response, and it's something I would consider to be GREAT advice. They said, "Well, that's good for you. Now use that as the strong foundation you need to stand back up. Nothing is a better support than standing on rock." I thought that was so cool and so true. WIth that, my advice would be to never give up and never lose faith in your ability to succeed.

6. What is something you feel strongly about (a cause, belief, etc.)?

Putting an end to child abuse and animal cruelty - it takes a cowardly, ignorant and repulsive human being to harm the innocent. Animals and children are the epitome of kindness and innocence and they deserve the very best that this world has to offer. I am a huge advocate for both of those causes and I work directly with an, Atlanta welfare animal shelter, PAWS Atlanta, from a public relations council and volunteer perspective. It is a cause near and dear to my heart, so if you are ever in the Atlanta area and want to adopt a dog or cat, please go check out PAWS Atlanta.

7. What's one of the coolest things you've ever done?

The coolest thing I've ever done was win the Lawrence G. Foster Award for Public Relations Excellence. One PRSSA member receives the award every year and each year's winner is selected through an essay each applicant writes on what they believe excellence in public relations is. It's a broad topic, but Lawrence liked what I wrote. The part of this story that I consider to be the "coolest", yet very sad, is that Lawrence G. Foster was not doing very well health-wise when the winner was being selected. Once the selection committee chose my essay as the winner, it was read out loud to Lawrence. I was told he smiled and said he absolutely loved it - particularly this one excerpt, which was read aloud during the award ceremony: In my opinion, honesty is one of the most valued qualities in public relations. When I say the word honesty, I don’t mean the type of honesty generally portrayed in easy and ideal situations. I am referring to the true and sincere honesty that is exhibited even when circumstances are hard or uncomfortable. Anyone can be honest in positive situations, but it takes a truly virtuous person to take the honest path in a negative situation. Having a final impact on someone's life in that way was worth more to me than any award.

8. Anything we haven't asked that you'd like to talk about.

I would just like to take this opportunity to say that whoever is reading this, YOU, are wonderful and have the ability to do incredible things. Go show the world what you're made of!

If you'd like to contact Maria for advice, you can reach her at maria.esposito@edelman.com.