WILLIAM GOINS
It is the fusion of creative drive and physical passion that has guided William Goins through the years. Today, the record-holding, four-time Ironman is the founder and president of GoShow Entertainment, Inc., and an accomplished director/producer of film, television and theater.

With an elite athlete's state of mind, he has always chosen constantly rising paths.  Physical, mental and spiritual challenges have opened his eyes to wide ranging views on culture, visual aesthetic and most notably, to what defines compelling entertainment.

After attending University of Texas Pan American competing as a swimmer and long distance runner, William joined the United States Coast Guard where he became one of the elite, Navy-trained instructors and rescue swimmers. Four years later, he moved to Europe and spent the next eight years on the talent side of the entertainment industry. He also "ran the bulls" in Spain, safaried across Africa and South America, and climbed Mounts Kenya and Aconcagua.

Eventually, his experience in front of the camera and his love of writing took him back to the States where he enrolled in the film program at New York University. He emerged with the award winning film "New York Absurdities" and an assertive passion.

William Goins' commercials, independent films, documentaries, animated series' and scripts have received festival and broadcast awards including platinum and gold Auroras for best documentary. William also won a silver award for an original feature-length script in the comedy category, and a bronze award for documentary at the Houston International Film Festival. In 2009, William won a TELLY award for best non-profit documentary, and another for best use of music with his original score.

In 2006 William was elected a member of The Explorers Club and also became the first heavyweight in Ironman history to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, and in the same year, the Half Ironman World Championships in Clearwater, Florida.

MARIA OLSON
A Russian-American love product of the Cold War, Maria Olson was born in Tokyo and raised quadrilingually, speaking English, German, Russian and Japanese. Her fervent passion for languages and literature culminated in her undergraduate studies at Oxford University, where she was named a Scholar and graduated with a First Class degree in Russian and German literature.

The apathy of academia during the time of the Balkan wars fueled Maria's political interests, and after Oxford, she decided to involve herself in foreign policy issues, particularly with regard to the former Soviet bloc in Berlin. During this time she worked as a researcher with the German parliament and with the German Council on Foreign Relations.

Maria then decided to further her education and obtained a Masters of Science in International Relations from the London School of Economics. During her studies she worked as a volunteer for various non-profit groups and reported as a journalist for the European Social Forum. After graduating, she pursued a career in the non-profit sector, and spent the next three years working for International Alert, the leading international NGO dedicated to conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

Based in London, Maria managed Alert's gender team, program and budgets, developed program strategy, and was responsible for program implementation at all levels. She also successfully fundraised for projects and initiated, managed, and developed groundbreaking proposals for programming in West Africa and the South Caucasus.

While engaged in policy advocacy at national, regional and international levels, Maria worked with the UN Security Council, governmental and civil society actors, and with conflict-affected people on the ground in conflict zones with Alert's regional programs in the South Caucasus, Liberia and Sierra Leone. She also wrote, edited, published, and distributed various articles and publications on conflict, peace and security issues.

Fascinated with the potential of media and film to raise awareness about issues close to her heart, Maria moved to New York to work with GoShow Entertainment as a Production Coordinator on the documentary, "Silent Voices". She is now the company's Director of Development, in charge of developing short-form documentary film projects ("Micro Docs") for non-profits and non-fiction books.

Dedicated to fighting for social justice and equality, Maria has always chosen to use her intellect and energy to help those who are silenced and disempowered and thus presents GoShow with a unique resource to develop the 'cause' strand of the MicroDocs division. Her love of books and her literary qualifications moreover provide the ideal background for the publishing strand.

In her free time Maria is an avid reader. She enjoys running and swimming, and is a keen snowboarder, mountain biker and yogi. She is also in the process of writing her first novel… a politically charged love story set across multiple time zones and spanning several lifetimes.