Listen to the interview here!
Maddie Woytovich
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I have a very special guest here, Maddie Woytovich. Maddie, welcome to the Get Inspired! Project.
Maddie Woytovich: Thank you.
Toni: Maddie, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Maddie: I’m Madison Woytovich. I’m 15 years old, and I have a disease called alopecia. My parents founded a nonprofit for my disease that helps kids all over the world.
Toni: Wow! That’s pretty fantastic. Let’s go into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Maddie: Inspiration to me means something that gets you going and keeps you going. Just something that makes you want to do something.
Toni: So it’s that “something.” Can you give me an example of that “something?” Is it a feeling? Is it a thought? What is it that you would wrap around inspiration?
Maddie: Definitely a feeling.
Toni: Does it make your stomach go, “Oh! There it is!” or, “Wow! I see it!?”
Maddie: Yes, definitely.
Toni: When you are inspired and you get that feeling, how do you put that into practice? Give me an example of when you were inspired by something and it made you do something else. I know that you are into fashion. Have you ever been inspired by fashion?
Maddie: Yes.
Toni: Okay – give me an example of something that you were inspired by and then you said, “That’s what I’m going to do.”
Maddie: I get inspired by all kinds of fashion. I love anything vintage. When I see something vintage, it makes me so happy.
Toni: How does vintage make you happy?
Maddie: I just loving seeing it still around. I love the way it looks on people and the way it brings different eras together.
Toni: If I needed a little fashion help – which, believe me, I do – would you be able to help me? Would you be inspired to look at something that might work for me and say, “Toni, this is how I’m going to help you, because I’m inspired to help you do this?”
Maddie: Yes, definitely.
Toni: Really?
Maddie: Yes.
Toni: Have you done that with others?
Maddie: Definitely with my sisters. I get inspired every day through different things through the Children’s Alopecia Project, through helping other people be more confident.
Toni: Let’s go there. Do you get inspired when you see other people become inspired by your speaking?
Maddie: Definitely, yes. I love people. I love when I find people who want to be more confident and just helping them become more confident makes me even more inspired to help them.
Toni: So that’s really like a pay it forward thing for you, isn’t it?
Maddie: Yes.
Toni: Do you do that strictly through CAP?
Maddie: Yes, but not necessarily. Even helping people at school or around my neighborhood. It just makes me so much more inspired to help them.
Toni: See, this is what’s so cool about this Project, because originally you’re inspired when you get that feeling of, “I have to go do something.” It doesn’t necessarily mean maybe helping Toni Reece with her fashion, but it could be something much more important, which is somebody’s self-esteem.
Maddie: Yes.
Toni: You’re inspired by someone going through something, so you put that inspiration into practice by trying to help them.
Maddie: Yes.
Toni: Fantastic. Who in Berks County inspires you?
Maddie: Definitely my parents and my family.
Toni: Who else? Is there anybody else? Teachers?
Maddie: Teachers. Definitely my principal.
Toni: Why?
Maddie: I just feel like he believes in me so much, and he also feels like I can do anything, and I know I can do anything. He’s let me speak in front of them. He even has my book on his desk. He just means a lot.
Toni: And the name of your book?
Maddie: Maddie: Teaching Tolerance With a Smile.
Toni: Let me go back to your parents. What is it about your parents and your family that inspires you?
Maddie: They just drive me to be a better person, go out and help my community, and just to be more interactive in my clubs at school, and to help as many people as I can.
Toni: So to be more service-oriented, yes?
Maddie: Definitely.
Toni: What would you want your legacy to be?
Maddie: My legacy …
Toni: I know. That’s a pretty heavy question at your age. Think of it like this as far as what you’re doing now that you want to be remembered for.
Maddie: I definitely want to be remembered for confidence, because I feel like confidence is just the key to life. If you’re confident, more people are going to remember you. If you’re shy and quiet, you’re not necessarily remembered as much. If someone is picking on you, you have to show confidence. You have to show them that nothing can get to you, even if you are having a bad time, you have to show them that you’re confident and you’re fine.
Toni: What a legacy to live in the moment now and also to have as a legacy that you leave for others to learn from. Madison Woytovich, thank you so much for being part of the Get Inspired! Project.
Maddie: Thank you.
