Conversation with Marysol

Marysol is a Dancer, Pilates, and a Yoga teacher and is wildly successful as an influencer on Instagram. Her feed is down-to-earth, elegant, and gorgeous. She is a Koryphae in her field and I was so thrilled when she contacted me for a possible collaboration. On her 44th birthday is when she posted the photos wearing Koryphae.

I got to sit down (on zoom) with Marysol who moved from Argentina to California in 2020 when everything started to lock down. We talk about our joint life experience living as ex-pats in the US, her first love – dance & movement – and how she became an accidental yoga influencer. The funny thing is that this was the first time we actually ever saw or spoke together face to face and it felt like we’ve known each other for ages!

Moments like this, where we connect with souls that share values and passions make such a difference in this life.

That is what makes this journey so special!

Enjoy her wisdom – it’s worth it!

Much Love!

Transcript:

Daniela 0:07

Yes. So I’m super excited to be talking to Marisol today. She is a dance teacher. But she is an influencer as well. She works body movement art, I would say. So it’s Pilates and, of course, ballet and yoga. And she actually contacted me about promoting some of the clothes and I was just thinking about like- how can I get the word out there and I was thinking about working with influencers and this is when Marisol’s email came in, and I just loved her feed and loved her natural beauty. And it feels so real and beautiful. So I said, Okay, this feels safe for me also to branch out into this world. So thank you so much, Marisol! I got so many questions for you. You live in California, right?

Marisol 1:15

Yes, thank you, Daniela, for having me here. Thank you for trusting me. You know, I fell in love with Koryphae and your project and the pieces and the sustainable part. Sorry for my English. My English is not a thing. I’ve been living in California for the last two years. But my first language is Spanish. I’m from Argentina.

Daniela 1:39

Oh, you’re from Argentina. So you only came to the States two years ago?

Marisol 1:45

Yes, exactly. Yeah. Living in Mexico was like, following my husband’s career. So only two years living in the US.

Daniela 1:57

Okay, wonderful. So, so welcome. I live in the US for 19 years. Okay. Yeah, I’m originally from Germany. Time flies. You found a beautiful place to be very sunny. Close to the beach, right?

Marisol 2:17

Absolutely. Yes. Like 25 minutes away from the beach. Yes, very nice. I mean, Orange Country. Very beautiful place.

Daniela 2:27

Yeah. Beautiful, always sunny, different than here where we are in Portland. But it’s really beautiful today, like a very nice and sunny day today. So I have a couple of questions for you. So how long have you been dancing?

Marisol 2:46

Since I have a memory, I think my mom is there. So I started learning with her. My first and for many years was a studying interschool. And then she’s, you’re going to continue this career, you will go to the National Dance School and you will there. And you can come and work with me by first get your title, not the title given by your mom because it’s not fair or so. Make your own study, make your own career and come back to what I’ve done. And also I took classes with so many teachers. A lot of places around the world are going to Argentina and I teach a lot of classes and then years later I started with yoga. Most with my own practice, but as a barre instructor as you said earlier. And it has parts combining yoga, pilates, ballet, and I fell in love with yoga. It’s amazing for your body, for your emotions,for your spirit, for everything.

Daniela 4:17

Yeah, beautiful. And when did you start your Instagram or social media presence?

Marisol 4:28

It’s a little curious because when I moved to the US, the pandemic started almost same time. So I said, Hey, I’m here like, following my husband’s career. It’s like a family project. We have three kids and we took that decision a lot of years ago when we left Argentina nine years ago. But then arriving here and also in Mexico I started to teach again And, here I want to assign that I said, Okay, now it’s a lockdown. So how is going? People? How can they get to know me? How can I connect with others? It’s Pandemic and we are on lockdown. So I started my Instagram. That was the reason I started it, to get in connection with others, mostly in Orange Country. And it was very curious because I started to get in connection with people from all around the world. The yoga community embraced me in a way I didn’t expect and till the day, it’s beautifully reciprocated, and we share and enriching, we learn a lot. So it was really, it was not my goal to be an influencer or to grow a lot with followers. It happened. It was one.

Daniela 5:57

Yes, that is beautiful, which is probably a big answer to another question that I had, if you had to have different a mindset shift to putting yourself out there, like in person you in poses and on a consistent basis?

Marisol 6:22

Absolutely. Yes, a lot. I didn’t do that before I just have a Facebook, which was totally social. I never post they are things related to my practice, or to my classes. So I started that with Instagram and it happened in a very natural way. Yes. Very beautiful the way it happened, because it was like the community has taken me and I started with the community and let myself go and of course, with my own style, right. And I have all my dance background that is there. It’s very, very me it will be with me forever. And I love it. So I think I have like a personal stamp. But things go well. It’s happening one after the other one and in a very casual way. Yeah.

Daniela 7:19

Oh my gosh, that’s so brilliant. So, when was the time when you realized, oh my gosh, I am an influencer. There’s so many people like looking and engaging what I love about your posts, there is so much engagement on those posts. And all of it feels super real. And how did that feel when you realize oh my gosh, there’s something happening here.

Marisol 7:48

The first people that was telling me that were some of my students, my online students that’s also with Instagram, and telling me that “Marie, you are an influencer” and I say “oh my god, you’re kidding.” Oh, girl that’s not like that way but I’m not at all an influencer. That is not my goal. I have nothing to do with that. But the truth is that a lot of brands are well many brands started contacting me like as you are an influencer, we want to propose you this and that and we want to give you our pieces and that you post them and well, different things, different things are challenges and many other things that were related with that. So yes, I realize, “okay, it’s real.” Yes, now my title is Influencer! That’s for you Instagram, you know, it’s on my life is not going around that Not at all.

Daniela 8:49

Yeah. So tell me a little bit more about that. How are you staying grounded? And not up in the head and not like being in this wave of Instagram and influencer and having to post or feeling like nowadays a is pressure to show up all the time? How do you manage?

Marisol 9:14

Mostly, I never stop being a mom, a wife, and a teacher, that’s what I do. That’s what I am and what I love and the other things I think are a reflection of that because I don’t do nothing different in the Instagram that I couldn’t do like in my life. It’s like I don’t have personalities. It’s like a reflection of what I am!

Daniela 9:39

this is who I am. This is what you get. And I think I believe that this is really what the draw is and what is so appealing because you’re real. Who’s taking the pictures? Is it your husband?

Marisol 9:55

Oh! Christian my 14-year-old son.

Daniela 9:59

Wow. Oh, wow.

Marisol 10:02

Yes, we make this team in general during weekends that well when we have a time and during the week we will find different moments mostly him sometimes also my husband and in general my 14-year-old son. And we are teaming there. It’s a team because we have to see okay, this angle that other one now the light is not good at all. Look at these. Look at that. And we are trying and learning.

Daniela 10:34

You guys. You’re such a talented family. I mean, he’s very talented.

Marisol 10:44

Well, the pictures I’ve done for Koryphae, they were taken by my husband in New Port Beach which is a beautiful place. Yes, like, an hour away from where I live.

Daniela 10:59

Tell your husband so many things from me. Because of beautiful pictures, beautiful pictures.

Marisol 11:08

That’s because as you say, your brand has a lot to do with me because it’s like very natural is for women that don’t try to be something they are NOT. That they can keep their own style and wear the pieces and feel comfortable about them.

Daniela 11:25

Yeah, thank you for seeing that too. And, yeah, really reaching out and helping to spread the word, it really means a lot. It’s really for me, it started about women’s empowerment as like, the first starting point. And women’s empowerment, it starts with the self first. I had to empower myself to do that before I even was able to engage with anybody else. And work with vendors, and work with people who are so aligned with the values. And there’s some cool stuff coming too from a nonprofit from Saheeli Women, which is coming for this summer. And I’m really, really excited about showing you that and showing everybody else what’s coming down the pipe. As the last question, what would you have told your younger self? What is a piece of advice or a tip?

Marisol 12:41

I think it’s something we already mentioned here. And that I tell to a lot of people that sometimes contact me in private messages and ask me things like, “How can I also be in the dance career and everything” It’s like, “Don’t try to copy others.” “Never do something you are not.” “Never go against what you really are.” “Be faithful to your style and to what you are.” And that’s what you need because we are all unique. And we have to follow that and to feel what we are doing. If not, it wouldn’t work! Yes. So I think I’ve always in one way or another one that. I also changed in the countries and whatever. I, of course, I tried to fit in because when you move to a country, people have a culture and you have to, you know it because you were coming from another country. We are the foreigners, we are the ones that need to adapt to the culture, but it doesn’t feel right. We are going to walk away from what we are from our roots our traditions, our culture, and what we feel in our insides. So I think that’s what we have to do. Everybody whatever you do, it has to be natural, or stylish and follow that. You have to learn and study, you have to prepare yourself of course, but keep faithful to your style.

Daniela 14:18

Yeah, that is beautiful. There is you know, because I’m a designer, my background, and I’ve taught in school as well. And it really truly is like what is one’s style? We all have it. It’s innate in us and it’s unique to us. There is no need to go out and search for our style. Or you know, it is about cultivating the essence of you, knowing who you are. And it’s fun and not that complicated because one thing is for sure your style is seeping through everything that you are

Marisol 14:59

Yes, absolutely. And if you want to design something that you are like having, you can have maybe an inspiration in another designer or I can have an inspiration in another dancer. But at the end of the day, your clothes are going to be unique. My poses are going to be unique because it’s our style if we try to copy, it’s not going to work. Every time connecting with ourselves that that will never fail.

Daniela 15:30

That is it and with that, there’s nothing else to add, because that is the truth! And I thank you so much for being with me today. I’m sending so much love to also to anybody who watches and listens to this. So thank you!

Marisol 15:52

Thank you so much for the people who’ve taken the time to listen and watch us!