Born & Raised in Sonoma Valley - Maya Herron
Maya’s Sonoma Journey — Born and Raised in Sonoma Valley - Maya Herron
This is the first of three stories about Maya’s relationship with Sonoma Valley.
🟩 Born and Raised in Sonoma Valley — Chapter 1 (You are reading this story.)
🟥 Why Would I Leave? — Chapter 2
Click on the Chapter 2 title above to continue Maya’s journey as changing jobs, interrupted plans, motherhood and the 2017 wildfires deepen her connection to the valley she has always called home.
🟦 Omnipresent, but Small — Chapter 3
Through teaching children, participating in local traditions, supporting a historic Plaza shop and repairing broken objects, Maya discovers that small, everyday acts can help sustain a community.
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Born in Sonoma Valley in 1991, Maya Herron grew up beneath Glen Ellen’s oak trees, attended local schools and absorbed the region’s wine culture as part of everyday life. Her childhood friendships have endured into adulthood, with the next generation now growing up together.
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My name is Maya Herron. I was born here in 1991. My parents came from Atascadero and Santa Barbara. They decided to stay, I think because they had friends here. Then they had me, and I was here.
I went to Dunbar Elementary School in Glen Ellen. It was smaller than a lot of schools. There’s something about Sonoma that has a particular feeling to it, and I feel like Dunbar had it—a small school where we could go outside beneath the oak trees. The teachers were all really kind people, and they did a great job. I learned a lot.
I had an okay time in elementary school, but middle school was different. I don’t think anybody has a good time in middle school.
You know how caterpillars have to become goop inside the chrysalis before they turn into butterflies? I feel like middle school is when you’re the goop. In high school, you’re beginning to grow again. You’re still in the chrysalis, but you have a shape. In middle school, everybody is in the soup.
I went to Altimira. It has improved since I was there, but I don’t remember having a good time. That might have been because I was in the soup, as we all were.
There were three elementary schools, only one middle school and one high school. We didn’t have Adele Harrison yet. Everybody eventually met in middle school, although nearly everyone I went to elementary school with continued to the same school unless they moved away.
I was visiting the large estates of winery families when I was still a little kid. I feel like I don’t know much about the wine industry, but if someone asks me a specific question, I often realize that I do know the answer. You pick it up just by being here.
Wine was also part of our education. In high school, we studied agriculture for science, and the agriculture curriculum was based largely on wine. If you were in 4-H, you could work with animals. If you were studying plants and soil science, it was all about vineyards.
I thought the animals were cool, but I couldn’t afford to participate. I was also a vegetarian in high school, and I am still mostly vegetarian.
High school was a little better than middle school, but it was still hard. It is a phase of growing up when all your feelings are very big and everything seems urgent. Everything you want to happen needs to happen right now. At the same time, everybody is telling you that you have to know what you’re going to do for the rest of your life.
I did not know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
I was a professional martial artist at the time. I taught children’s karate classes and competed internationally. This was before karate was in the Olympics, but they held the Junior Olympics in Las Vegas, and I won.
After high school, I went to Santa Rosa Junior College. My mom was in charge of my schooling, but she hadn’t attended college and didn’t know how it worked. I didn’t know how it worked either, so I was flying by the seat of my pants.
I thought the counselors were talk therapists—people you saw if you were struggling mentally with the college workload. I didn’t understand that they were there to help you choose classes.
I created an insane schedule. I took ceramics at seven in the morning and then scheduled an EMT course ten minutes later at the Windsor campus. I was also taking set design and a bunch of electives because they looked fun.
I enjoyed the classes, but I had to drop the EMT course. I could either take that one class or take all the others because there was no way to travel between the campuses that quickly.
I test really well, but that doesn’t mean I always have the necessary background. I tested into an advanced math class even though I had never learned long division. I literally did not know what the instructor was talking about.
The instructor told me I still had a couple of weeks to drop the class before receiving an F. I thought I could do it, but I couldn’t. Then I got pneumonia and had to drop all my classes.
I didn’t know how to withdraw properly, so I simply stopped attending. I thought I had messed everything up and could never return.
My childhood friendships have continued into my adult life. My daughter’s best friend is the daughter of my own best friend. My best friend lived in Sonoma when we attended Dunbar, and we went through school together. Our daughters were born six months apart.
I grew up here, and now our children are growing up here together. Sonoma Valley is not only the place where my childhood happened. Those early friendships and experiences are still part of my life today.
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A Childhood Shaped by Place
Maya’s memories of Dunbar—its small size, oak trees and caring teachers—show how closely her childhood identity is connected to the landscape and character of Sonoma Valley.
Wine as an Everyday Presence
She learned about wine culture indirectly through classmates, winery estates and school agriculture courses. The wine industry was part of the background of growing up rather than a separate subject she deliberately studied.
Humor and Self-Awareness
Maya’s description of middle school as the “goop” inside a chrysalis captures both the discomfort of adolescence and her humorous way of interpreting difficult experiences.
Finding Her Way Without a Roadmap
As a first-generation college student, Maya struggled to navigate a system neither she nor her mother understood. Her experience reveals how a lack of guidance can shape a young person’s educational path.
Friendships Across Generations
Her daughter’s close friendship with the daughter of Maya’s childhood friend illustrates the continuity possible in a small community where families remain connected over decades.
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This story was created from an interview with Maya Herron conducted by Don Lundgren. Maya’s words have been edited for length and clarity while preserving her voice, experiences and meaning.
