Mari Alvarez

Don't take anything personally, especially in this area. A lot of people have their own vision and their own ideals of what they're trying to achieve or what they're trying to convey, and sometimes it gets misconstrued, especially with different personalities. Working on top of a person, like makeup or skincare or even hair, people have their own ideals, so it's a very personal service, but don't take things personally. Like if someone says, oh that hurts, or you're too rough, or I didn't want my hair like that, or I prefer something different, things of that nature, you don't take it personally.

Education's key. Education and practice, that's for sure, and kindness. You're gonna be dealing with a lot of difficult people. People don't think the same. Everyone has their own outlook in life, and everyone has their own thought process. Don't take it personally, and don't let it hurt your feelings. When someone gives you constructive criticism, things of that nature, you have to be able to handle that. Just do you, and don't worry about pleasing other people and trying to look good in the eyes of other people, because it doesn't matter. Don't worry about being better than them, it's about being the best you.

Right now, I think that money's a challenge, and then getting the word out. The biggest challenge is getting the word out there and getting people to sign up for the class. Skincare is secondary. You can do all the skincare treatments you want, but if you don't break up the fascia and get the lymph going, it doesn't work properly. The fascia runs alongside of the lymph and becomes dry like a sponge. As we age, we start to go inward and forward, and when you throw in the mix of different parafunctional habits like the faces we make from different emotions, and your jobs or parafunctional habits, and even screen time, that kind of locks in the faces and your body and causes adhesions. Without stretching and manipulating these areas, it's going to stay stuck like that and doesn't get the fluid exchange. It becomes hard and dry, and it takes time to correct that because it didn't take 5 minutes to get that way. This is a new concept that's all over TikTok and Instagram, but bringing it to the forefront, to classrooms, is the challenge. People take yoga or other classes, and I want to be in there too, teaching my own class. I want to be able to go to retreats, women's retreats.