Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Paula Ahumada.
Maria Paula, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
At four years old, I immigrated to the U.S. from Barranquilla, Colombia with my mom and brother. I grew up low income in between Miami and New York because as a single mother, my mom experienced job insecurity. Therefore, I felt I needed to work hard so that I could get us out of this situation, I started working as soon as I turned 16 years old. Realistically I had been working way before that, going to help my aunt clean nursing homes, distribute magazines at pharmacies, being my grandma’s caretaker through most of high school.
This is the reason that at 20 years old, I was on my way to a fully-funded prestigious Ph.D. program.
I remember that it was a random Tuesday afternoon. I was living in California for graduate school and I had gone in for my monthly check-up with my nutritionist. I was sitting on the couch in her office catching her up on my eating habits, and all of a sudden she said “every time I see you, you seem worst”. In my mind I was like “WELL DAMN. I’m trying my best to change my eating habits”, but she was looking at me as a whole person and she saw me.
It had only been a few months after my mom had passed away in 2019 and it was very terrifying to hear this because I was trying to keep the mask on and smile as if nothing had happened. However, I just wasn’t the same anymore, I was falling deeper into the darkness and to have someone call me out on it was a wakeup call.
It caused me to question everything about myself. Who I was, the life I was living, and why I was doing all of it. I felt completely lost; I was numbing out with binge eating, alcohol, and partying and it was all starting to catch up with me. I remember I got to a point where I was so tired of suffering it felt like things would never get better.
However, two years later it is September 2020, I am 23 years old working out in my aunt’s living room. At this point, movement had become a way for me to connect to myself and heal, so it was no surprise when a message came through at this time. The message was that I was going to leave my graduate program and launch a dance business. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I felt it throughout my whole body that this was my calling and that it was going to impact so many people. I had previously been having this sinking feeling that this path of being in graduate school was not it, but out of fear of disappointing others I had stayed. However, it was time, I needed to start living for myself. Within that same month of making this decision, I was called for my first modeling gig in Miami with Ilus Label!
I started to realize that life was showing me that just by believing in myself, I was going to attract all these opportunities. On this same work trip, I decided I was going to move to Miami because it was going to have so many opportunities here and on February 1st, 2021, I came back.
One year later and the impact that I have created has been bigger than anything I could have ever dreamed off. I have created a powerful virtual dance community of women who inspire me every day to keep going. I have hosted successful events in Miami and New York City and have been able to serve women all over the country. I have also helped women create major impact in their lives through confidence coaching. I have modeled for various athletic brands that are in alignment with my mission to help women express themselves confidently. I was able to share my message of body positivity on national TV on Despierta America in Miami. And I am so grateful because I get to do all of this FULL TIME!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Often it feels like you are alone creating your own path. I’ve had to do so much work on myself because I’ve realized that it all comes back to my mindset. If I don’t believe in myself, it won’t work out and if I do, doors will continue to open for me. It was this same belief in myself which gave me the fearlessness to sell all my things and pack whatever I could into my car and drive cross country to Miami to follow my dreams.
There’s moments where I feel like I don’t even know what I’m doing or if I should continue. What keeps me going is knowing that I never want to go back to that darkness. So every day, I choose fear over comfort.
However, it isn’t easy to wake up and believe in yourself everyday. Sometimes I work so hard and I find myself constantly chasing the next goal, and it makes me forget to live in the present moment. Sometimes I miss out on celebrating how far I have come because I am thinking about what’s next or how I can continue growing. While I’m grateful, I’ve had to learn that slowing down is crucial to continue thriving in my business and as a whole being. Another struggle has been the comparison game. Being someone who is part of the fitness & wellness industry but wants nothing to do with diet culture can sometimes be a hard rock to stand on. As humans, we fall into the habit of trying to fit into the norm, but I’ve had to continuously remind myself that I need to be able to be set apart from others. Doing so is exactly how I will attract the specific women that I am meant to be serving. Another struggle has been money beliefs. Coming from a low-income background and going into entrepreneurship is not easy. There is a lot around money that I have had to unlearn and heal, such as becoming comfortable with investing in myself my business and believing that everything I spend will come back to me. Most importantly, that I am deserving of believing in myself and using that money towards my vision.
As you know, we’re big fans of Recocha Vibes LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I am a dance instructor and confidence coach and I am so grateful to have created a virtual and in-person dance community where women from all over the world come together to move their bodies. However, it is more than just dancing, this is a movement. The women that are a part of our community are women on their self-love journey who are trying to heal and build their confidence. I am known for creating spaces that are inclusive to all bodies. What sets me apart is that I center movement as a form of healing and liberation. I am passionate about empowering women to take up space, to use their voices to share their stories, set boundaries, and most importantly express themselves authentically. Our community uses movement as a form of joy rather than a form of punishment. For far too long society has made women feel that they need to shrink themselves to be enough. Therefore, I am most proud that Recocha Vibes supports women in whatever goals they have in a healthy way to make sure that no matter what they always love themselves within. I want the world to know that when you learn to love yourself fully no matter what happens to you, you will always know how to come back home to you.
Therefore, if you are someone who is looking for a safe space to be supported on this self-love journey, do not hesitate to join us!
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Being an immigrant in this country, I internalized the importance of the American dream. For far too long, I thought success was only having the material things. Having the job, the income, the home, the car, etc. I realized it is more about what these things represent. For me, they represent the peace that time and money freedom can offer you.
However, I grew up seeing the women in my family overworking themselves in a system that wasn’t designed for them to thrive. Therefore, I choose to live my life in a way where I refuse to give in to living in survival mode. I make decisions from a mindset where I energetically feel that I already have the time and money freedom because when you have these things, you are fearless. This is how I define success, being able to be fearless because you fully believe that you are capable of achieving what you want. If I am able to make decisions daily from a place of love rather than from a place of fear, then I know I am successful. Because the result of making decisions from a place of love is more impactful than we can imagine. The impact that I have been able to make, the women I have been able to serve, the lives I have been able to change THAT makes me a successful women. Success is knowing that everything I am achieving and will achieve, I deserve because my ancestors worked so hard for me to be here. To know that I am walking in my purpose and that I am trusting my intuition daily because all of this is bigger than me is what makes me successful.
Pricing:
- Membership: $55/monthly
- Virtual Classes: $15 each
- In-Person Classes: $15 each
Contact Info:
- Email: info@recochavibes.com
- Website: www.recochavibes.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/recochavibes
- Other: www.tiktok.com/recochavibes
