Mary Liz grew up in Severna Park, Maryland and graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor's Degree of Arts in Economics. After graduating, she joined MBNA America and held marketing and group management positions in the Chicago, Illinois, Wilmington, Delaware and New York, New York offices. After five years, she left MBNA and relocated to Atlanta, Georgia where she became interested in helping children with special needs.

She pursued a Master's Degree in Special Education from the University of Delaware and enjoyed several years working with children with special needs. Sounds pretty typical, right? One thing we forgot to tell you, Mary Liz is married to a man who is in a wheelchair and is a quadriplegic. Mary Liz and Bill met while they both were working at MBNA. They were friends for years before dating and throughout those times and still today, she is amazed by her husband's unwavering positive attitude, his zest for life and his ability to persevere in the face of adversity. In addition to her endeavors with one brave chick, Mary Liz is fulfilling her lifelong dream of being a full-time mother to their four beautiful children.

When asked to share some top-secret chick trivia, Mary Liz divulged the following information.

• I love the Arkansas Razorbacks.
• I ran the NYC Marathon three times.
• My family and close friends call me Lizzy.
• I wish I was from the South and hope to live there one day.
• I love to do anything creative and wish I knew how to build things out of wood.
• I love Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Jeff Walker and Toby Keith.
• I think lacrosse is the coolest sport and hope my kids play it one day.
• I tend to be impulsive, stubborn and have a really short attention span...sounds charming, right?
• I am very impatient which doesn't bode well for my husband who takes a little bit longer to do things than most people.
• I HATE to unload the dishwasher.
• I have always had the worst behaved dogs on the block. (Growing up, my dog once ate the next door neighbor's Thanksgiving turkey that was thawing in their garage. Today, our Yellow Lab Roxy and Golden Retriever Ruby Lou will literally knock you over if you are not braced and ready for their hellos.)
• My favorite books are A Prayer for Owen Meany & Gone With The Wind.
• I hope to some day live in a house with a "party barn".
• I had a horse growing up whose name was Jason Allen.
• I still call my father "Daddy" and still want my mother to sit beside me in bed when I don't feel well.
• I have a degree in Economics but can't tell you a single thing about anything economic.
• I have an amazing ability to organize things but still can't keep anything organized.
• My friends have told me that I don't have an "inside voice".
• My husband is the only one in my family without a double name and if convinced would be called Billy Joe...Bill's name just sounds so lonely next to Mary Liz, Liza Jane, Lincoln Jix, Mary Kate and Hugh Douglas.