The Pound of Cure Weight Loss Podcast
Hosted by obesity specialist Matthew Weiner, MD and dietitian Zoe Schroeder, RD, The Pound of Cure Weight Loss Podcast provides a comprehensive approach to weight loss. We cover nutrition, the new GLP-1 medications, and Bariatric Surgery in depth and answer tons of questions from our audience every week. Check out our website for video versions of the podcast: www.poundofcureweightloss.com/podcast
The Pound of Cure Weight Loss Podcast
Choose Your Hard
In Episode 52 of the Pound of Cure Weight Loss Podcast, we delve into Vanessa Ruiz’s (@myvanety) personal and transformative journey with sleeve gastrectomy, her experiences with body dysmorphia, and her decision to include compounded semaglutide in her weight management plan. Her story provides insight into the challenges many face with obesity treatment and the importance of the “Choose Your Hard” mindset.
Vanessa’s Journey to Sleeve Gastrectomy
Vanessa grew up struggling with weight, influenced by family dynamics and cultural pressures around food. In her 20s, life changes, depression, and a PCOS diagnosis caused further weight gain, prompting her to pursue a sleeve gastrectomy in Mexico. Despite undergoing the surgery during the pandemic and navigating limited post-op care, she took her recovery into her own hands by researching and preparing herself, leading to successful early results.
The Role of Compounded Semaglutide in Long-Term Success
Three years post-op, Vanessa began to experience weight regain—a common hurdle for many sleeve gastrectomy patients. Compounded semaglutide, a variation of GLP-1 medication, became essential in helping her control food noise and support her appetite regulation, enhancing the long-term success of her sleeve gastrectomy. This medication, while not a replacement for lifestyle changes, provided Vanessa with the support to maintain her achievements, highlighting its importance in post-surgical weight management.
Navigating Body Dysmorphia After Weight Loss
A surprising challenge for Vanessa was body dysmorphia, a disconnect between her physical transformation and her self-perception. Despite her progress, Vanessa struggled to see herself as others did, facing persistent negative perceptions about her appearance. Therapy and mindfulness practices proved valuable in helping her manage these emotional hurdles, emphasizing the importance of psychological preparation for those undergoing significant weight loss.
Advice from Vanessa: “Choose Your Hard”
Vanessa’s motto, “Choose Your Hard,” speaks to the importance of making difficult but rewarding choices. She shares how the challenges of surgery, weight regain, and mental health management all contribute to a healthier life—a difficult but preferable alternative to the hardships of obesity. Her message encourages listeners to face the tough journey with resilience, as the outcome is worth the struggle.
Building Community and Support
Vanessa’s story also highlights the critical role of community support. By connecting with others facing similar experiences, she found encouragement to push through both the successes and setbacks.
Final Thoughts: Empowering Yourself for Sustainable Health
Vanessa’s journey offers a realistic look at the emotional and physical dedication needed to achieve weight loss success after a sleeve gastrectomy. For those managing body dysmorphia, considering GLP-1 medications like compounded semaglutide, or simply seeking encouragement, her story is a testament to the power of determination and the strength that comes from “Choosing Your Hard.”
If the nutrition's not there, you don't get this. If the exercise isn't there, you don't get this. If the sleeve isn't there, you don't get it. It's all of those things together, and when you stack them all together systematically over time, you can get the results you want.
Vanessa Ruiz:So I don't think it's one thing, I think it's the combination of everything.
Zoe:Welcome back to the Pound of Cure Weight Loss Podcast. This is Choose your Heart with MyVanity, aka Vanessa Ruiz. Vanessa, welcome, thank you, thank you, thank you. Yeah, we're really excited for our conversation today. So why don't we just kind of get to know your story and a little bit about your history, your weight loss history and what you've done? Obviously, you have a presence here in Tucson and around the world at this point, but we would love to learn a little bit more about, specifically, your bariatric journey so far.
Vanessa Ruiz:Well, I was always one of those weight loss strugglers. Out of my family I was probably the heaviest one so I grew up very conscious that I needed to take care of my intakes and exercise and that was something growing up, especially in the Mexican family. It was really, really hard. I'm in therapy for that, actually being really, really open, but that led to just a lot of psychological issues with weight when I moved to Tucson to start school. That's where I had the independence to eat whatever I want. So it kind of backfired on me. I struggled a little bit more, got married and had kind of a love hate relationship with exercising and weight loss, but then got divorced and that really brought me down. Depression made me gain the most amount of weight I've ever I've ever gained and I hit a point where I was looking at options and I ran into a bariatric sleeve option and it's really funny.
Vanessa Ruiz:I usually think of signs. The universe sends me signs and I was being sent a lot of signs throughout this period of time where I think it would push me in that direction, and it was actually COVID, april 2020. So I found a doctor in Mexico Nogales, mexico, sonora and he was a friend of a plastic surgeon friend of mine and so I did a consultation with him. I always struggled with PCOS, so that was kind of against me. And then he did mention I was high in my cholesterols and my dad's had three heart attacks. First one was at 38. So there was all these things that were really really kind of forcing me to do something. So yeah, right in the middle of pandemic drove myself down to mexico. But my parents drove me. I would have drove myself but I got the bariatric sleeve what did you weigh before you had that sorry?
Vanessa Ruiz:203, 203, and I'm 5'2 yeah so small frame, 5'2, and I had had a tummy tuck in 2006, so my weight was distributed a little bit differently. So some people even now tell me I can't believe you weighed that much or it didn't look like you were chubby back then. But yeah, I got up there pretty quickly.
Zoe:So what was that recovery process for you like during COVID, when the world was shut down?
Vanessa Ruiz:I couldn't go back for your follow up appointment Exactly, and I never did either, because, being in the hospital, the aftercare wasn't very welcoming and warm. I had to kind of fend for myself. I was there for two days. It should have been three, but they were again very limited on space. So they're just like okay, you, you can do this on your own, good luck. And so it was.
Vanessa Ruiz:It was hard but I had support from family and I am a very persistent and kind of obsessive person. So I would listen to podcasts and I would read books and I would watch YouTube videos. So I would expect everything to happen to me and I would listen to podcasts and I would read books and I would watch YouTube videos. So I would expect everything to happen to me and I would know the answer as much as I could. And I think that really prepared me, because in Mexico they don't do it as they do here, where they have you go to all of these you know process of you, get that psychological help and your cardiology, and yeah, they, they don't do all of that there. It's kind of a shortcut which isn't obviously the safest, but I prepared myself on my own.
Dr. Weiner:Did you look at insurance coverage? Did you have insurance or coverage, or was that an option for you, or were you just kind of like this is the fastest way it?
Vanessa Ruiz:was the fastest way at the darkest moment of my life. So I needed a quicker. A quicker fix and I mean money was actually a better option because that's when they did the stimulus checks right. At that time the dollar was the highest it's been in Mexico, so I paid almost nothing. Honestly, it was the right place at the right time. And then I worked for a derm office at that point, so it was so slow, we weren't doing any aesthetics, patients were really low, so I was able to take two weeks off. So that would have been the only time I would have had that flexibility at work.
Zoe:You like signs from the universe.
Vanessa Ruiz:Yes, absolutely, and it's like when you are thinking of something, it just presents to you. I had two patients in one week tell me that they had the gastric sleeve, without even asking. So I knew that was kind of a sign.
Zoe:So so then, how much weight did you originally lose and at what point did you decide to take the next steps on your journey?
Vanessa Ruiz:Well, I, had lost about 20, 30 pounds on my own, and then I got COVID. So, june, I was one of the first people in my office I actually brought into the office that got COVID so quickly lost 20 pounds. I got um right after your sleeve, right after my sleeve. Yes, yes, it was rough.
Dr. Weiner:And I got pneumonia.
Vanessa Ruiz:Oh so.
Dr. Weiner:I was in the hospital.
Vanessa Ruiz:I know it's like all right. So, yeah, it was a really hard recovery, but I am very persistent again, when I want something, I go after it. So it's funny, cause I took the turn to becoming more vegetarian and doing a lot of running. So that's how I dealt with the exercise and I felt like I was skinny fat. Have you guys heard that word? Yeah, yeah. So it took about a year and a half to find the exercise that I loved, which is weightlifting, to really feel the happiest with my body, cause it was bar and it was running and spinning and it just took one trainer to give me proper nutrition and a good routine. And that's really where everything turned around for me.
Vanessa Ruiz:And that was what about a year and a half ago, a year and a half ago, last March, I wanted to get fit for a birthday dress, so a good friend of mine was starting to do it and I reached out to her and she actually gave me a free couple of lessons. And I reached out to her and she actually gave me a free couple of lessons, and then I sent her so many people that she just never charged me ever.
Zoe:That's great Good relationship there. And so now you are on a compounded semaglutide, right? Yes, yes, tell us a little bit about that.
Vanessa Ruiz:So I last year in October, september, october I was weightlifting heavier, so that means you get hungrier, right? So I was kind of falling back into the habits of overeating and emotionally eating and I was going through a little bit of a hard time with my business too and just other aspects. So it was something that I looked into and I lost about nine pounds the first month and then lost a little bit more, so I lost about a total of 20.
Dr. Weiner:On semi-glutide, yeah, yes, how far after your sleeve did you start the semi-glutide?
Vanessa Ruiz:three and a half years, three and a half, almost, yeah so.
Dr. Weiner:So I think you know we all tell ourselves these stories where, hey, I was exercising more or something else happened in my life and there was this emotional piece that caused me to eat more, but it was probably just the sleeve effects wearing off. Yes, and we see that so often where sleeve is great for a year, two years, three years, at some point we start to see some of the effects wear off and the weight starts to come on. And I think, with all the research you've done, you figured this out on your own.
Vanessa Ruiz:Absolutely.
Dr. Weiner:The semaglutide, the GLP ones. In that setting they are money right.
Vanessa Ruiz:Yeah, just solve the problem for you Right, because I knew what to eat. I was eating healthy. I was just eating a lot of it. I was eating a lot of protein and I just felt bloated all the time. So it was either that or, you know, go back on what I was doing more cardio but that's not what I wanted to do. So the semi-glute head helped control my cravings and all of that. So, yeah, I was really happy. I found that. I think it's great.
Dr. Weiner:And how much are you paying for it? If you don't mind me asking I don't pay anything for it.
Vanessa Ruiz:Well I I you know I'm called a lead magnet. That's what I'm known for. So I have such a good following that I've built over the last few years that if I believe in something and I put it out there, I kind of expose it on a platform. So the company that I started getting it from they were like you've sent us so many people, how can we repay you? So now my whole family's on it, my dad's like 30 pounds, my sister's, everybody. So it's just been one of those things that I've been happy to talk about freely, because that's me. I don't gatekeep, I don't. I don't want anybody to miss an opportunity to be inspired and this is one of the things that it should be of access to everybody.
Zoe:And that's something that I think is so inspiring about how you use your platform and, obviously, just who you are as a person is. You're very uplifting and empowering to everybody and I and I think that's rare and really beautiful.
Vanessa Ruiz:So yeah, well, I go back to those signs, right? And so if somebody is looking through their Instagram and they see my post on semi-glutinous and it's something they're on the fence about, that might tip them over. And I've gotten messages from a lot of people just saying thank you, I've lost weight, I can fit into my old clothes. I got pregnant now, so so many aspects that I am not necessarily responsible for doing, but I just just showed them the light, you know, and they did the work. So that's the beauty of semi-glutide.
Zoe:Yeah. So what about um of semi-glutide? Yeah, so what about um? How about your like? Did you have loose skin? Did you have excess skin? Did you have a removal surgery? Like, talk to us about how you, because if anybody's looked at your what's your instagram, need to tell them my vanity. So if you've looked at her instagram, I mean you've got six pack I.
Dr. Weiner:so zoe, zo, zoe found you and brought you on the podcast. She sent me your info and I was like Zoe, are you sure this is the right person? She did not have bariatric surgery. She had bariatric surgery. Really, and I've done 4,000 of these cases, I know what people look like after bariatric surgery. So, yeah, I think, just to pair it with what Zoe was saying you don't look like a bariatric patient. So what? What have you done to kind of pull that off?
Vanessa Ruiz:So I did have an a tummy tuck after my first baby, which was she's 19 now, so I had 18, um had a little loose skin, a lot of stretch marks, so I went in and had the tummy tuck. So I always had just the abdominal muscle pretty tight, but then I gained weight. I had another baby who's nine now and just gained weight tremendously. So I was losing weight slowly enough that I think that tummy tuck also helped. But once I started developing loose skin I was offered by another local clinic here, the Morpheus 8, to help with tightening.
Dr. Weiner:Let me guess you got it for free. I sure did. So what the Morpheus 8.? Okay, to help with tightening. Let me guess you got it for free. I sure did. I sure did. So what's the Morpheus 8?
Vanessa Ruiz:Morpheus 8 is radiofrequency microneedling, so it heats up the skin as it's going down and so you're getting tightening. There are some settings where you can target fat, but my provider, my laser tech, said I didn't need that part because I had already slimmed down. So it was just kind of the diets, the exercising, as well as some little extra add-ons. Lymphatic drainage massages, I think, are great too, so they really help mold my body. But I don't think it's one thing, I think it's the combination of everything.
Zoe:Well, just like you're saying, you know the the hard work that you've put in your relationship with weightlifting, your maybe more aesthetic procedures, that kind of help, the skin tightening and everybody asks cause they?
Vanessa Ruiz:everybody thinks it's going to be an easy fix, Like what, what can I do? And it's just like all right, take your pen and paper out. It's going to be a long process and you have to go in with everything. And that's where I think I'm a little different. I am very much like you. Give me homework, I will do it, so I. But it's not one thing and it's not magic. It did not happen overnight, but I think I have the mindset that I enjoy it. I enjoy the journey more than the end goal. So it doesn't feel like a lot of work, as bad as that sounds, it just feels like life.
Dr. Weiner:Just another example of what we've talked about so often, which is it is not that one thing. You need all the things. You know. If the nutrition's not there, you don't get this. If the exercise isn't there, you don't get this. If the sleeve isn't there, you don't get this. If the GLP one's there, you don't get this. If the aesthetic procedures are there, you don't get it. It's all of those things together and when you stack them all together systematically over time, you can get the results you want. But it really you're right. What's the one thing? There is no one thing. There is not.
Vanessa Ruiz:Yeah, and that's what I hate people's faces when I say that, but it is the reality and I put it on Instagram and I put it out there on social media so that they can see, cause of course I'll upload a picture and the first thing I get is how much breast surgery have you had, or you know that kind of thing? I did get a breast augmentation and a breast lift last year, but then I lost more weight. So that was kind of, yeah, defeated the purpose of that. But I feel like I'm at a point where, if something bothers me, I'll, I'll seek help and I'll improve, knowing that I'll never be perfect, but I I'm pretty close to feeling comfortable and confident.
Zoe:And you said something that I just want to kind of echo and and amplify is that it's it's your lifestyle. Now you've embodied all of the habits that are required to not just get you to where you want to be but maintain it, because it is the lifestyle, it's the nutrition, it's the fitness, it is the, the maintenance that, the therapy, the work that you're doing internally to really kind of heal for the to have this, this great lifestyle, for the rest of your life.
Vanessa Ruiz:I think if something's on overdrive, like my head or just my body, everything else can give out faster. So I try to keep everything at the thermostat pretty much so not too high, not too low, and there's times where my emotions are really high, so I kind of compensate with other things. And yeah, you're right, there's just so much out there. I like to stay informed and up to date with trends and new and improved treatments, and so I am always being offered which is a really good thing new stuff. So I love my position and role that I play in Tucson and I just want to share it with everybody.
Dr. Weiner:Yeah, it's a lot of work to be happy and healthy.
Vanessa Ruiz:Women a woman too, and especially with my industry you always want to look presentable because you're selling yourself, right? You're selling your brand. I'm selling my makeup, but also my presence. I want people to look at me and say who is she Right? So that's something I've been working on and that's a never ending job. Especially with social media these days, you want to look presentable on camera. So if there's something I don't like like with weight loss, uh, facial slimming and loose skin on your face has been a project. So I worked in aesthetics, so we had to fill some areas and, uh, that that's something nobody tells you about. So that's that was one thing that I was not expecting to have to work on so much. It's just refilling the face so that you look healthy.
Zoe:So do you mind digging into that a little bit more? The working in the industry, the makeup industry, the dermatology, the aesthetics world how has that changed for you over the years, as you have changed?
Vanessa Ruiz:A lot of tools and knowing what to do with them, because you working in skincare, I can apply that to makeup. Working in makeup, I can apply that to the aesthetics part of everything else, and then having a fashion sense, then I can show up on camera and be confident to have a platform and a following. So it all kind of ties in. I'm also a very passionate person, so I will go to an event just to network with people because I love people. So being comfortable with the way you look and confident lets me be able to do that. Because even before, when I was overweight and not happy with what I looked like, I was still friendly, but I was not that that wall was still up. Now that wall is done and this is truly who I've always been. I'm just more proud of her now.
Zoe:And have you noticed? Have you been received differently by people? Yes, yes.
Vanessa Ruiz:It was a very big transition on how people treated me. Not everybody was a fan of what they called the new Vanessa. I would have friends tell me that they liked me better when I was fat because I was never trying to be seen. I was just a little bit more quiet. I would compensate with being funny. So now that I felt comfortable, it truly does bother people to see you. They want to see you do better, but not better than them, right?
Zoe:So it goes back to kind of showing you know, like the people that truly, yes, care and cheer you on you, you can really have them by your side, and and kind of shows what maybe you need to distance yourself from a little bit and sometimes the social media platform is, people who are on the other side of the screen are more supportive than the people around you.
Vanessa Ruiz:Because when I was going through my sleeve, I almost didn't tell anybody, because obviously they're going to be the people that try to talk you out of it, and I was already set in stone that that's something I really wanted to do, so I kept it to myself, I told my parents and I did not come clean about my sleeve until last year. So three years later, wow, there was one moment where I just it just felt right.
Zoe:I gathered all my pictures and videos and I posted it and I remember posting it and putting my phone down and I did not want to look at it and it went crazy with support and, as a makeup artist, that made me more relatable with women, which made me more successful in my career interesting yeah, yeah, because I wasn't just another makeup artist, I was an inspiration and so now, with talk to us about how you use your career in makeup and and as a makeup artist to help empower women, to kind of have that same sense of confidence that you've now been able to create, as you know, as inspiration by being who you are right because it started with makeup with me.
Vanessa Ruiz:I remember in high school, makeup made me feel better. Whether I felt um, overweight, underweight, whether I felt confident or not, makeup was something I could put on and feel good, but it was very temporarily. So having makeup and my career and my presence now, it just shows everything that goes into feeling confident. It doesn't just start at makeup. You wash it off at night and then you have who you are. So, being at the gym every morning and I tell people all the time when I open my eyes, I look at my Instagram, my algorithm is weightlifters. It's healthy eating. You are going to become what you look at who you hang out with. So my friends are all into fitness right now and I follow people like you. That's how we kind of met. So I am very inspired constantly by other people in the same industry because they want to feel better too, and posting and connecting with people in the same, with the same goal, is really what I look after. Yeah.
Dr. Weiner:Yeah, I think something that's interesting. When I kind of first first saw your Instagram and heard your story, I thought, okay, so she was overweight and she was in the beauty industry. Then she lost all this weight. And how are things different? How is it different from being overweight to being thinner? So I think that's my first question, but my second, as I kind of started to hear your story, I thought, well, it was actually the transformation. That's the story. Yeah, that's really the story. It's not what it was like before or what it was like after. Where you are now. It's that transformation. I think that's what you've been able to leverage and that's what makes you relatable to other people, because there's a lot of people who you know are where you were four years ago, wanting to kind of get to where and in many ways, because even girls that look at me and they're like wait, you went through a divorce and you were feeling sad and this is how you became, and so you came out of it.
Vanessa Ruiz:Now you're on your home, your business. I used to work three jobs, so it was very tiring. All the time it was easy to just pick up a hamburger and eat. Now I own my own business. I don't, I make my own schedule, so life is really good, but it is the journey that brought me here. I had to go through all of that to be the person I am right now. I forgot the first question you asked me, though.
Dr. Weiner:What was it like being overweight? Oh, it's funny.
Vanessa Ruiz:I always felt okay, I always felt good. I always dressed sexy. I always felt there's a word in Spanish that says gordita, sexy. And that's what I'd be known for, because I would embrace my curves and I would not cover up. What I'd be known for because I would embrace my curves and I would not cover up. So I felt like I was always meant to be who I am, but now I just am more. I don't even think of it in this way. I'm just healthier now. So I give my kids that example. Um, but no, it was. I wasn't as insecure as you would think.
Dr. Weiner:I was, you know that doesn't surprise me at all you would think I was.
Vanessa Ruiz:you know, that doesn't surprise me at all. No, it's always there.
Dr. Weiner:Yes, yeah, and I think that's also really important is that you know if you think losing weight is going to give you the confidence it's probably not.
Vanessa Ruiz:If any, absolutely oh gosh. Can we talk about body dysmorphia Even at this point? I go through it all the time, yeah, yeah, bloating periods or just times in my life where I'm just like, ok, I'm bulking up a little bit right now because I want to grow a top shelf, but I'm also losing the dimension on my abs, so it does get to you. So that is very much why therapy is good for me and why I continue that.
Dr. Weiner:But good nutrition and my trainer and what kind of stuff do you talk about in therapy for body dysmorphia, like what's been helpful for you?
Vanessa Ruiz:Funny you say that she did an exercise for me where I was very vulnerable with her for a good 40 minutes, I'm right, my sessions are an hour long and then she's like let's do an exercise. She pulled out a mirror and opened up the window and said go stand in front of the mirror. And I couldn't. I didn't want to look at myself, not because of how I looked at on the outside, but because I had been stripped so raw of feelings I could not look at myself in that state. So it just goes to show you you got to be up right on your head as well as on your body to show up as the person that you're meant to be. Can't look a certain way and just be okay mentally.
Vanessa Ruiz:So, yeah, therapy's got me through a lot of the body dysmorphia, because why I started going to therapy was my choices in men, really. But then it develops into how is your upbringing and what we've uncovered was all that body dysmorphia I went through. Upbringing because of the pressure of being skinny made me want to be seen, and so that opened up a whole new door of just why I am the way I am. So that, yeah, it got really deep.
Zoe:So do you have maybe one nugget of like, tangible tip, for I'm sure that there are many listeners right now who struggle with body dysmorphia or struggle with confidence. Do you have one like if they could hear one tip from Vanessa on that topic? What would it be Just?
Vanessa Ruiz:choose your heart. I got tired of feeling tired and tired of not looking the way I wanted to look in the mirror, and so I had to do something. There's no change with no change. I was just tired of being that way. So it is hard to do the work. But it is also hard and sitting in who you're not happy with, with who you are with being. So I started off slow. I always tell people do one thing. It's like a domino effect Do your eating or do your exercising, and when you see changes it inspires you to do a little bit more. And at this point, even my workout gear in the morning sets my mood for the rest of the day. So if I feel good, I look good. So it is just. I was just tired and tired of being unhappy, so you got to do something about it Take action.
Vanessa Ruiz:Yes, and surround yourself with people who are good for the lifestyle that you want, because that's been game changer and I lost a lot of friends who were drinkers and partiers and just not good for my mental state as well as my physical state. So that was really big and just educating yourself. Really, we don't know how much there is out there and once you get a little bit of information, that's what you do with it, so I like to be prepared for things that come my way. That was one of them.
Dr. Weiner:And yeah, that's how I live my life. I think that choose your heart is really powerful, because that's, you know, so many patients come in my office and they're like, well, I don't want surgery, I don't want to be on the meds. Eating is you know, eating is I, just I don't have any time and I just grab food and that's what I do. I mean it's excuses, but it's also the truth. Oh yeah, it is hard. Surgery is so. I mean it's excuses, but it's also the truth. Oh yeah, it is hard. Bariatric surgery is hard. I had a doctor. It's expensive, it is. It is Some side effects. And eating well is not easy. But so is being overweight. But yeah, being 300, 350 pounds struggling to get out of your car, to get out of bed, to move around, that's hard too.
Vanessa Ruiz:And so I think you're right. You're going to have hard. It's an expense to let yourself go. It really is Cause, then you have to deal with it in other ways.
Dr. Weiner:Life is filled with pain, uncertainty and constant work, and I think the second you grasp that like, hey, that's what this is, this is what I signed up for, this is what it's always going to be. It's always going to kind of suck, huh, yeah, well, I should probably make the best of it then. That's a great set you got to show up and show up for yourself because nobody's going to show up.
Vanessa Ruiz:I had a doctor that I worked for who tried to talk me out of it, cause he's like everybody who does bariatric surgery regrets it because they can't eat, and I said that's not true, but that's also not. I want to break up with food. I have a bad relationship. It's toxic. I need to break it up. So I'm ready for that. Yeah, but yeah, that obviously didn't stop me and I'm glad he did it Well you.
Zoe:You made your mind up and you followed through. You took the action. You. You put yourself in full force and clearly it's your lifestyle that you're so proud to live now, and I think that's really inspiring. So why don't you share with our listeners whoever's watching on YouTube? What can they do to get in contact with you? Do you have any services you would like to share?
Vanessa Ruiz:I. So I started off as a makeup artist, and now I'm launching more of the digital downloads, which are huge these days, right, so I'm doing makeup classes. I have a very specific style of makeup look that I love, especially here in Tucson there's there's a niche for that natural look that I specialize in.
Zoe:She taught me how to do my makeup for my wedding. So I was like, ok, I've got to make sure my makeup looks good today for my wedding.
Vanessa Ruiz:So I was like okay, I've got to make sure my makeup looks good. Today. She was a great, and this is the beauty of what I do. I meet people like Zoe and they sit in my chair and they are just. They let their guard down and let me take care of their face and we become friends and then it just connects you to other people in the same way. So I love what I do. I teach people to do makeup on themselves.
Vanessa Ruiz:It's not something I want to take advantage of people and there's only one of me. So having everybody have that knowledge and get ahead with their own makeup skills just bruise confidence and then it just bleeds into somebody else. So if I can make a difference in the world that way, then that's how I want to live. Love it, and so to follow you on Instagram Follow me on Instagram. So and so to follow you on Instagram Follow me on Instagram. So it's a little tricky because people, when I say my vanity, look me up under my vanity. The way a vanity. You know whether that's a dresser or whether you're vain and it's vanity, but it's actually the first letters of my name, so it's Vane.
Dr. Weiner:Okay.
Vanessa Ruiz:And that's how my everybody in my family calls me Vane. So it's my Vane-ty, so it's V-A-N-E-T-Y Perfect.
Zoe:And we'll link it in the description as well. Well, this was wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing your story. Thank you for having me Absolutely I appreciate it.
