Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabie Ruiz.
Hi Gabie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I arrived in Jacksonville in 2003 and soon becoming a single mom, had the great fortune of finding a local yoga studio into which I poured myself as often as I could. I immediately discovered a wellspring of personal support and a desire to use my own wellness as another form of prosperity for myself.
I began teaching yoga, myself, entered into teaching other group fitness programs, and soon found a market for my services in the community which enabled me to not just survive, providing for myself and my family financially, but thrive through visible and non-visible resources through the pandemic.
Since then, alongside the vision of Vive Studio, I have been able to expand my programs from just group fitness, to wellness programs that are woven into building community within the body, mind, and spirit, and the community outside the self as well.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The main struggle along the way has been managing the inconsistencies of business demand, whether through seasonal variations where clients shift focus or through pandemic where finances shift focus.
The pandemic has redefined, however, what defines “smooth road” and a lot of it is changing our mindset to shed an old business paradigm of what creates a successful business venture, and keeping the discipline of what made the misinterpretation of the old business paradigm so prevalent.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Proyectos Ruiz (Projects Ruiz)?
Proyectos Ruiz (Spanish for Projects Ruiz) was initially envisioned to take on many directions with education being the vein shared among all projects, over a specific product. For over a decade, those projects have taken shape by “most inspired”.
Currently what most inspires the directions of Proyectos Ruiz, is the collaboration with Jacksonville Natural Healing Center as our home for programs like the women’s wellness project, Luna Sanctuary with Gabie which takes place monthly and is open to the community for drop-in, Yoga with Gabie Ruiz, which features Yin, Vinyasa, and Sky Styx modalities, and Zumba Fiesta with Gabie, a monthly dance fitness event with themes inspired by the themes of the month.
I have learning modules that will be published soon and will be available for purchase online with themes from supporting home learning for children to rituals for personal self-development and innovation. Also coming soon to Vive Studio are “make and take” events with wellness products to support home and general well-being.
I have a strong social media presence which can all be accessed at linktr.ee/gabie107 including methods of contact for any inquiries.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Don’t ever start with traditional models. Start with an idea you are obsessed with and find yourself investigating and developing in your own personal time and what might even keep you up at night. Read regularly. Journal regularly.
Track your personal work patterns and use them to make rituals for exploring and creating. Always make time to retreat from every day so you can make space to feed your inspirations and make something that stands as a reflection of what you’ve learned in each season. THAT is what grows your business or creates it. People, opportunities, and books will come your way as a consequence when all you did was stay on a path of creativity and inspiration.
Businesses are simply birthed expressions of creative passions.
What I wished I knew when I was starting out was to take risks. Set a focus on what is wanted, get excited about it, find ways to feed it, and it like life sets itself up to enable the follow through on condition of impassioned work. Don’t wait for the best conditions, make them, because the best conditions for me have come when I thought I was least capable of having the means to set them in motion.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @gabie107
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/proyectosruiz and www.facebook.com/proyectosruizwellness
- Twitter: @GetSomeGabie
