In 2011, Angela Maiers gave a TED Talk that sparked a career. It derived its power and influence from two words – you matter.

Now a self-described leader, visionary, entrepreneur, disruptor and change-maker, educator and author Maiers is continuing to spread the importance of mattering.

“At my absolute core, I am an educator,” she said. “In the purest sense, the root word of ‘educate’ means ‘to lead out,’ ‘to bring forth.’ … My goal is not only to notice and note the genius in my presence, but to bring it forth – mostly to the individual who doesn’t realize for extraordinary they are.”

That messaged has now resonated with hundreds of thousands of people, largely because she’s been in the shoes of those who need to hear it. Growing up, she admits she struggled with self-esteem, but a found passion for helping others discovered in medical school, of all places, “[lit] her on fire.”

Now, more than 30 years later and with teaching experience in every grade from preschool to graduate school, her mission as an educator has been distilled to those words – you matter.

On this episode of Change Starts Here, host Dustin Odham and Maiers discussed helping students find their path earlier, helping people understand their own genius, and more.