We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leslye Rivera a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Leslye thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

The education system needs to provide more opportunities for self-discovery and self-expression. Success begins with understanding oneself—knowing one’s talents, abilities, thought processes, feelings, and emotions, and how they relate to the world. One effective way to explore self-knowledge is through art.

On my journey of self-knowledge, I have found three remarkable methods: theater, painting, and writing. Theater allows me to explore my body spontaneously, understand my limits, and express myself through movement, play, and dialogue. Painting helps me reconnect with myself through symbolic language, listening to the voice of my soul amid brushes, strokes, and colors, and finding tranquility in the present moment. Writing serves as a channel through which the universe communicates, delivering spiritual messages that need to be acknowledged here on Earth. My two books are powerful tools for the Spanish-speaking community to embrace creative challenges, therapeutic writing, and mindful art, enhancing both self-discovery and creativity.

We need spaces to understand ourselves and realize the vast potential we possess as humanity, starting with schools. My mission with CreoMás is to facilitate self-discovery through art.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Leslye Rivera. I am Chilean currently living in the United States, and the founder of CreoMás, a space dedicated to self-discovery through art.

I am a psychologist and art therapist with over 15 years of experience creating courses, workshops, women circles, and group experiences for Spanish speakers in the United States. My focus is on helping individuals discover themselves through expressive therapies such as painting, writing, drama therapy, and mindful movement. I am also the author of two Spanish-language books: “Navegando hacia mi alma” and “Rescatando a mi niña interior”, available on Amazon.

For immigrants, starting anew can create significant imbalance, leading to stress, anxiety, and other challenging emotions that hinder a fulfilling life. In these situations, wellness and mental health services are essential to help individuals understand and adapt to their new reality in a different country.

That is why I focus on offering individual online “art as therapy” sessions, helping people begin their journey of self-knowledge in their new environment. Through symbolic, expressive, and meaningful language, they can reconnect with their inner balance and start a new chapter in their lives.

In my “Art as Therapy” sessions, there is no need for prior knowledge of art or expressive techniques—just a willingness to explore oneself through colors, brushes, drawings, shapes, and textures. Art as therapy is free from judgments of perfection or beauty; instead, it provides valuable insights into our true selves and helps us understand the messages of our unconscious mind.

If you are interested in exploring yourself through art, I invite you to learn more about my services at CreoMás. I currently offer one-on-one “Art as Therapy” sessions and creative workshops for Spanish-speaking women in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and the surrounding areas.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I currently have two books on Amazon, an eBook, and a book of drawings. They are all written in Spanish under self-publishing publishers, and I love it because I can have a global reach with my products, and I receive royalties every two months. Also, I can print my books at author prices and the commission that Amazon receives is reasonable. Although the quality of the printing of the books is not the best, it is a very practical way for people to learn about my books and be able to purchase them anywhere in the world.

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

In 2016, I moved to Texas with my husband. It was the first time living outside my country and I did not have a great first year because I missed my country, my family and everything I had left behind. In Texas, I had to start from scratch because my psychology degree was not valid. I had to work as a hostess in a Mexican restaurant, a Spanish and art teacher in a daycare center, a guidance counselor in a school, a content creator for websites and many other jobs that helped me adapt to the new country but did not make me completely happy.

After taking courses on remote work and website creation, I decided to form my own business called CreoMás and, since then, there has been no turning back. In Houston, I began to do my first individual sessions and art workshops for Spanish-speaking women. In 2019, I published my first book and became pregnant later that year, which was a great dream that my husband and I always wanted.

In 2020 we returned to Chile, and I had to close my business to dedicate myself to motherhood. The pandemic came and we moved again to the state of Tennessee in 2022. There I had to reactivate CreoMás as a mother of two little ones and it has been a great challenge. In 2024 there was a third move and now I live in Florida trying again to connect with people in a totally new environment with the hope that CreoMás will become a great Center for Art Therapy and Self-Knowledge that will be of great help to the Latin-American community in this region.

All these experiences of movement, changes and reinvention have made me a very resilient woman because I have always had to start several times. With each change of country, I am a new woman, and my business is also transformed. Each change is a new beginning and being an entrepreneur it is important to develop the ability to be flexible, to be resilient, to be creative and to look for a community that can support you in your personal and professional life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.creomas.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centrocreomas/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslyerivera/