We recently connected with Kat Ruiz and have shared our conversation below.

Kat , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you get your first job in the field that you practice in today?

After I finished my yoga teacher certification, I couldn’t get a job at a yoga studio because all the studios required previous experience. Since I couldn’t get a job teaching, I started my own class. I was living in Manhattan, New York and my friend offered me her rooftop deck in Tribeca, overlooking the Hudson River to use for my classes. Every Wednesday evening, we gathered on her deck to practice yoga, watch the sunset and hang after. The class grew every week and became an outlet for so many women. I was so happy I created my own opportunity, I got the experience I needed to pursue other opportunities and created a beautiful community of women in NYC.

Kat , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I used to work in finance and I left my career to pursue my Master’s in Education. While I was studying for my Master’s I took a month to do my 200-hour yoga teacher certification. I never intended to teach but rather wanted to deepen my own practice. When I graduated in January, 2008, there were not any teaching jobs, so I was substitute teaching in elementary schools and teaching yoga. I continued this until May of 2008 when I auditioned for Equinox NYC and was hired as a yoga instructor there. I decided I wasn’t going to get a job as an elementary school teacher and started teaching full time. When I got pregnant with my first child in 2009, I decided to become pre-natal, post-natal and mommy & me certified. When covid hit in March 2020, I lost my teaching jobs and that is when I decided to start Kat Ruiz Wellness. My friend helped me build a website, I started teaching on Zoom and began to build out my business to have more corporate wellness offerings since I saw a need in the corporate world for wellness services. I started doing mindfulness sessions, mindful movement, lunch and learns and towards the end of 2020 decided to immerse myself in an 8-week coaching program. As I’ve continued to grow my business more and more every year, I have recently added retreats to my offerings. I recently organized and curated a yoga and surf retreat in El Salvador. Last week I went to Los Angeles for a digital assets conference and I was the wellness expert for the Women’s Hub offering breath work sessions. My mission in life is make wellness accessible to everyone. Wellness is not one size fits all. It’s about finding what resonates with you and adding that into your life. Small shifts can make huge impacts.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In the first three months of starting my company, my husband lost his job and my father passed away. These were two extremely difficult life-changing events that left me considering if I was in fact doing the right thing by starting my own business. The timing did not seem right. It was very hard to push through these difficult moments but these events made me want to work harder.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I built my reputation by word of mouth. I live in a small town and the summer time is very busy since my location is very seasonal. A lot of people from New York City come here in the summer. Delivering consistent results and running a reliable business has helped my business grow. I recently hosted my first international wellness retreat. After the retreat, each person told 5 people and now I have a whole group of individuals that want to go on my next adventure. Building your reputation by word of mouth is an organic growth that has allowed me to continue to add on offerings to my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.katruizwellness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katruizwellness/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katruizwellness/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katruizwellness/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KatRuizWellness