Meet Maya Roffler | Host of The Surviving Siblings Podcast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maya Roffler and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maya, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I am a serial entrepreneur with an event logistics business, two podcasts, and a tech startup. I started The Surviving Siblings Podcast in March 2022 simply to tell my story and my brother’s story. I felt compelled to tell our story for many years after losing my brother, Andreas, to a homicide and gun violence in 2016. After starting a podcast in 2017, I felt ready to share on a new podcast about our story and share my perspective as a bereaved sibling.

After losing my brother, I knew I wanted to share his story and mine one day but it became apparent to me as I hosted my other show, MaYapinion, that podcasting would be the right medium for me to share this difficult loss. In March of 2022, I launched the first season of “The Surviving Siblings Podcast” and shared my first five years of grief in a narrative, open, and raw style podcast. I was blown away by the response of the show and how many siblings reached out to me letting me know they understood my journey and thanked me for creating the show.

The show as truly a love letter to my brother and a way to be his voice. I quickly realized that there were so many siblings out there that wanted the same opportunity as well. Other siblings wanted to create their love letter to their sibling(s) and a chance to have their voices heard. I knew that I wanted to keep the show going and I really thought about what that would look like for the audience and myself. As someone who had another show with an interview style as well as media training, I decided to launch a second season sharing the stories of siblings who have lost a sibling. We are now on our seventh season.

The mission for our show became clear to me – we wanted to share stories of bereaved siblings who lost their sibling and can give hope to our audience. I also knew that no everyone would relate to my story so I wanted to represent a vast diversity in the sibling loss space by sharing stories of siblings who lost at all ages, types of loss, different family dynamics, gender, and backgrounds.

Since producing the first season, we now offer not only seven seasons of the show but an annual summit, monthly support group, workshops, merchandise, resources, our own grief journey, and ultimately, connection with other siblings. Our mission is to create a safe space for bereaved siblings and provide them with the best resources. Bereaved siblings need to be recognized and acknowledged and supported. That’s why I created this community and support for bereaved siblings or as we call them, Surviving Siblings.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started my career in corporate America at a young age working in events, training, and corporate retailer. It was not an easy path as I was often the youngest executive in the room. I am thankful for these experiences though as I feel as though every negative or positive experience in boardrooms and constant travel helped me find my voice at a young age. I’ve learned so much along the way with so many varied experiences. I truly feel that I overcome all the challenges that came my way by finding my voice and learning to really trust my gut. I learned to be a strong advocate for myself as well.

From my corporate experience, I learned so much but I truly learned leadership. I’d say the next big lesson I learned turned into an epiphany for me as I realized if I could create programs and implementations for corporations – why couldn’t I do this myself and for my own clients? Through that realization, I started working as a consultant and eventually, founded MaYapinion which was my first podcast and then, became my first business which is a consulting and event logistics business in 2017. I went all in on myself in 2020 and grew my business.

In 2022, I was an experienced podcaster and ready to tell my story about being a bereaved sibling or as we call it, a Surviving Sibling. Once I launched the first season of The Surviving Siblings Podcast, I began to craft ideas for the subsequent seasons and launched our monthly support group, workshops, annual summit, merchandise, grief journal, and membership. I felt it was so important to create a structured and safe environment for surviving siblings. Our community often does not feel like we are represented enough and the representation that is out there seems to be an afterthought at events, support groups, podcasts, and general grief resources.

Our goal at “The Surviving Siblings” is for people to know that they are not alone and they can move forward in a positive way after the tragic loss of a sibling. It’s important that they know that they can come to us for trusted and facilitated resources in a safe community and space.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love Atlanta as it’s such a fun unique city. My favorite restaurant to take guests to is The Garden Room as it feels like a childhood dream with cocktails and great food. I often say it reminds me of the childhood movie Secret Garden. I enjoy our many dog parks as I love my dogs and I feel that Atlanta really loves their dogs too. I truly find my peace though in the mountains in North Georgia.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The person who inspired The Surviving Siblings resources is my brother, Andreas. I felt compelled to share his story and mine as he was never apprehensive to share about any aspect of his life. He was one of the most outgoing and extroverted people I had ever met in my entire life and I pull strength from his spirit. I dedicate everything I do in the bereaved sibling space to him and all I do in this space is an outpouring of my love for him.

Website: https://www.thesurvivingsiblings.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/survivingsiblingspodcast/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayaroffler/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/survivingsibpod

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1112887292632251

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thesurvivingsiblingspodcast/