Maria works with producers and journalists to deliver compelling content. Examples include:

• What To Consider Before and After Taking a DNA Test: Maria delivered a TEDx Talk on her DNA test surprise and the risks of taking DNA tests. Her Talk was selected as a TED Editor’s Pick a designation given to fewer than 1% of all TEDx Talks. Here is a link to the Talk: https://youtu.be/LDl3B-TKSgA

• Turning Life’s Challenges into a Force for Good: Maria spoke at TEDx CUNY on how to use one’s life’s trauma and challenges to help others. All experiences can teach us something, but need not define us. Motivate yourself to bloom where you are planted.

• Self-Care for Busy People: Most people are more compassionate towards others than they are to themselves.  Yet, unless we care for ourselves, we cannot be fully authentic and available to those around us.  Many of us are more careful about how we spend our money than our time, while time is the one thing we cannot buy and is of uncertain quantity.  Self-care need not be time-consuming or difficult.  With the pandemic forcing us all to slow down, we can put in place new and effective practices that enable us to become our best versions. Maria delivered this talk to an Austin Texas Women’s Bar Association and has an eBook on the subject.

• Navigating the Pandora’s Box of DNA Test Results: The accessibility of DNA test kits have led many people, like me, to shocking discoveries. About one in seven adults in the U.S., or 30 million people, have used mail-in DNA tests, and thousands have discovered new fathers, siblings and cousins as a result. DNA test kits have both reunited and torn apart families. This modern phenomenon uncovers family secrets and upended our definitions of family. At age 53, I discovered I was the product of a one night stand. I spent a year searching for my biological father. While initially earth-shattering, my relationship with him has brought the puzzle pieces of my life together. I now collect stories like mine, researching the impact of this kind of news and helping others on this sometimes mine-filled journey. Implications can be far-reaching, affecting health, privacy, legal claims, bioethics and more. Those who excavate surprising results need not navigate the journey alone. I help others prepare for the Pandora's Box of DNA test results. What you learn can present a vista for growth. It depends how you frame it. Maria’s book, Before and After the DNA Test: A Practical Guide to Genetic Privacy, Medical Risks and Family Secrets, will be published by Bloomsbury in 2027.

You can reach Maria at Maria@MariaLeonardOlsen.com.

Bio:

Maria Leonard Olsen is a biracial attorney whose parents were forbidden by law to marry in their home state of Maryland in the 1960s. She practices law as a commercial litigator in the Washington, D.C. area, covering a variety of matters, including contract disputes, employment discrimination and government relations. Maria is an author, podcaster, journalist, public speaker and mentor to women in recovery. Her Amazon bestselling book, 50 After 50: Reframing the Next Chapter of Your Life, has helped thousands of people thrive in midlife. She also has written books on self-care and the new American family. Her children’s books, Mommy Why’s Your Skin So Brown? and Healing for Hallie, have been widely used as teaching vehicles on diversity and the importance of processing feelings. Her next books will be Before and After the DNA Test: A Practical Guide to Genetic Privacy, Medical Risks and Family Secrets (Bloomsbury 2027), which is available for preorder on Amazon and Bloomsbury Publishing, and 60 After 60: Finding Serenity in Your 60s or at Any Age.  On her award-winning podcast, “Becoming Your Best Version,” Maria amplifies the voices of inspiring women each week. Maria graduated from Boston College and the University of Virginia School of Law, served as a political appointee for legislative affairs and policy development in the Clinton Justice Department, fostered newborn babies awaiting adoption, and has been on the boards of Children’s National Medical Center, the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Washington and other nonprofits. She was a long time radio show host on WPFW-fm’s Inside Out show. While in private practice in one of D.C’s then-largest law firms, Maria was awarded Pro Bono Coordinator of the Year by the D.C. Bar Association and, in 2023, was named Distinguished Alumna of the Year by the Academy of the Holy Cross. She has written for The Washington Post, AARP, Parents Magazine, Authority Magazine and others, and joined Meer and The Midst as a contributing writer in 2023. Maria has spoken at numerous schools and corporate and nonprofit events, including the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, the Mixed Remixed Festival, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, HerStory Circle and the National March to End Rape Culture. One of her book talks was featured on C-Span’s Book TV show. She spoke at TEDx CUNY on “Turning Life’s Challenges into a Force for Good,” and was featured in CBS Sunday Morning’s 2025 segment on bucket lists.  She spoke at TEDx Warrenton in 2025 on “What to Consider Before and After You Take a DNA Test.”  She has traveled to 80 countries, and strives to see every country. Her son is a social media influencer with 20 million followers and was voted TikTok’s Sexiest Man by People Magazine. (@Chris on TikTok and @ChrisOlsen on Instagram).  Learn more at www.MariaLeonardOlsen.com and follow her on social media @FiftyAfter50 and @MariaOlsen49.

Most recent book:

50 After 50: Reframing the Next Chapter of Your Life

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (hardcover, 2018; paperback, 2019; audiobook, 2019)

• Covers midlife management, reinvigorating one’s life at any age, surviving sexual assault, recovery from alcoholism, divorce, self-care, authenticity, being responsible for your own happiness and more.

• Language ‏ : ‎ English

• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 200 pages

• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1538109646

• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1538109649

• Available on Amazon, Audible and everywhere books are sold.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal:

”When lawyer/journalist Olsen reached age 50, she decided to try 50 new things that were significant to her. As a woman in recovery, the author values the time she has left, and through her own story, urges readers to do the same via activities such as singing like no one's listening, riding a horse, and performing random acts of kindness. She enumerates many more exercises under the headings of "spiritual endeavors," "thrill seeking ventures," "lifestyle changes," and so forth, but the message is that we should value and embrace life to the fullest. VERDICT An inspiring read for those who are in or have passed through middle age.” — Library Journal

Midwest Review:

“At fifty years of age, author Maria Leonard Olsen was a divorced drunk who had long abandoned her successful law career for family. 50 After 50: Reframing the Next Chapter of Your Life documents both her midlife crisis, realization that she was actually at the beginning of a new life rather than the end of what she'd created, and points the way for women in similar situations who have turned to alcohol over enlightenment and change. Adrift and purposeless, Olsen decided, when she turned fifty, that she would 'gift' herself the purpose of doing 50 things new to her that embraced adventure, spirituality, travel, physical challenges and lifestyle changes.50 After 50 documents this odyssey and its results, offering midlife readers clues on transformation and change and insights on not only possibilities, but their lasting results. Chapters unfold the purposes behind each action; from getting off the beaten path to "be a student of the world" to changing the dynamics of daily interactions to make for more meaningful changes and experiences. Specific approaches, examples, results, and how Olsen let go of the judgments of strangers and family to explore new avenues of personal satisfaction to herself makes for a revealing, involving blueprint indicating how readers could craft their own road maps of transformation. The result is a powerful blend of lists, journal prompts, autobiography and tips on how to cultivate a more open mind and spirit that offers readers many 'how to' clues for rejuvenating their own approaches to life. Readers aged 50 and older, in particular, will be not only inspired by Olsen's experiences, but are given the tools for embarking on their own life-affirming journeys in a story that is both engrossing and inspirational; highly and especially recommended for anyone of older years who feels 'stuck' in their chosen path.” — D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Kirkus:

"Olsen’s book has an intriguing concept, and her account of overcoming her personal struggles is admirable....  An earnest and personal work...."  --Kirkus Reviews

The Boston Globe:
"The book isn't an instruction manual; readers need not be 50 years old or ready to take on 50 new things." -- Kate Tuttle for The Boston Globe (Tuttle also serves as the president of the National Book Critics Circle)