Maria De Elias: Living life to the fullest.
Being a full-time accountant, mother, wife, and part-time Zumba instructor sounds like a hectic schedule filled with ups and downs but for Maria De Elias this is all part of her daily life that she loves deeply.
While managing her multiple jobs De Elias never forgets to put a smile on her face and do every task with passion.
It is said, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life,” and that’s exactly how De Elias feels about her career. “When I was about nine or ten one of our relatives that lived in Guadalajara, [Mexico] had become a public accountant, I remember [my grandma] being so amazed, so at that moment I thought how wonderful it’d be to become an accountant.”
Since then she kept that dream and made it a reality despite the struggles it took to achieve. De Elias was born in Chimaltitán, a small city located in Jalisco. She moved to the U.S. at the age of 13 and continued her education with little knowledge of English.
De Elias attended Cerritos College and completed all her classes with the determination of becoming an accountant. She then transferred to CSULA and earned her degree of business administration in accounting in 1994.
Six months out of college she was given the best job offer to work for the LA County, at Rancho Los Amigos a rehabilitation hospital located in Downey. “I was so excited, [that I] finally got my accounting job,” she said.
After becoming an accountant and living her life with her husband, Alex De Elias, she had a new dream and it was to start a family. In 2002, she was blessed with a healthy boy and in 2004 a healthy girl. Maria feels blessed that both her kids are wonderful and she cherishes every little moment she says, “It’s such a privilege to be able to be a mother of a son and a daughter.”
Becoming a mother taught her how to prioritize and utilize her time efficiently. “It was almost like [a new person] revived within me.”
Maria knows she has a lot on her plate but she says, “I don’t want to be the perfect mom, I just want to be that person that they need at the moment when we’re talking.” Both her kids see how hard and inspiring their mother is.
Sixteen-year-old, Andrew De Elias sees his mom as an “intelligent, respectful and motivated woman,” that he looks up to.
“She came to the U.S. not knowing English and when I look at her past I see how much she has accomplished. She probably was scared and not knowing what to do but look at her now,” said Andrew.
With everything that Maria does, her family loves that she has an outlet of expression which is Zumba. After taking multiple classes offered for the employees at Rancho Los Amigos, she decided to become a certified Zumba instructor in 2009.
Her husband, Alex, thinks his wife’s Zumba career has changed her perspective in life. He thinks Zumba is perfect for Maria because it involves everything she loves, “It’s a great thing she discovered Zumba because she gets to teach other people, she gets to help people and dance, which she loves,” he states.
Maria now has a regular schedule of classes that she instructs every Monday and Wednesday. She also teaches at the Don Kanabe Wellness Center at Rancho Los Amigos twice a month. Her classes include a variety of different dance styles for everyone to enjoy. Remy Odranes is a long-time attendee of Maria’s classes and enjoys every moment.
Odranes and her husband decided that line dancing wasn’t for them after attending one of Maria’s classes, “We love to come to Zumba because of her, she’s our inspiration, every Monday we’re at her class and we never miss unless we’re on vacation” said Odranes.
Maria knows her job is never finished, but she doesn’t like to stress herself out with all the tasks she has on her list. “I don’t think about it, I know I have 1,2,3 [tasks], I just go and do it,” said Maria. She believes everything around her affects her positivity in life, like her health and mentality.
Her 15-year-old daughter Vivian De Elias says her mother goes about life with a smile on her face, “she’s always doing a bunch of chores with a smile and sometimes it makes me believe that she likes doing chores.”
Vivian finds her mother very admirable, “every day when she gets home she always makes sure to greets everybody, and the first thing she does is start getting to work and not even relax.”
Maria De Elias is the true definition of a woman who has it all, no matter how hard life can get she works her way around it. She is an inspiration for not only her children but the people around her.
