We were lucky to catch up with Marianna Blyumin-Karasik recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Marianna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

There are quite a few defining moments that have changed my life’s trajectory. I like to view life holistically, and our personal experiences are often interlaced with out professional journeys.

In 2015, after a few years of envisioning and planning, I was ready to embark on a huge professional leap of faith and start a new Dermatology practice, Precision Skin Institute, with an extraordinary partner, Dr. Lesley Clark Loeser. Yet, fate had a surprise of more abundance for me. Soon after our opening practice plans solidified, I found out I was pregnant with the twins. This is something my husband and I were hoping for several years. I felt extremely elated and overwhelmed, simultaneously. I felt like my dreams were finally coming true, but the ground was shaking underneath chaotically. I am grateful to say that I survived this extremely stressful moment of being a mom of twins and opening a medical practice by surrendering to grace, leaning on incredible support of family and friends, and discovering stamina. This is when I learned to let go of fear and control, ask for help from others and be grateful for people, energy, and moments that allowed my family and practice to grow healthy and happy.

These lessons came handy in 2020, when Covid Pandemic hit our world. It brought anxiety, turbulence and heartache to most of our lives. Initially, as a doctor, I was terrified of going to clinic and possibly infecting my-self and my family with this potentially deathly virus. As a mom, I had three young children that had to be remote homeschooled and cared for at home. This was ridiculously stressful and draining for my family. This brought me to significant introspection which lightened the path to personal wellness and professional integrative dermatology. By discovering calming and strengthening practices of meditation, mindfulness, and other healthy living habits, I was able to cope with the pressures of Covid. As a practitioner, I recognized the important value of viewing patience more holistically, and integrating traditional and alternative medical philosophies into dermatology practice to enhance the overall wellness. Furthermore, I felt empowered by these transforming moments and I wanted to inspire others toward grit, grace and wellness, likewise.

In 2021, my life-long passion for skin-care lead me to launch a novel cosmetic line, Stamina® Cosmetics. I created it to advance skin resilience and brilliance via a blend of adaptogens and antioxidant Stamina® Complex ingredients. Stamina® Cosmetics also promotes wellness by encouraging affirmation-based meditative skin care practice.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi I’m DR. MBK and I am a board certified dermatologist practicing in Davie, Florida at Precision Skin Institute. Our dermatology clinic is a comprehensive, compassionate, and cutting-edge cosmetic, medical and surgical center. We are grateful to provide dermatological care in this incredible South Florida family-oriented community. We also appreciate our work-family, who gift us daily with a positive culture playfulness and kindness.

I’m also a creator of Stamina Cosmetics, a skin care line devoted to skin resilience, brilliance, and wellness.

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

Resilience is something we learn through practice while the waves of life shape us to be strong, brave and adaptable. My journey of resilience started as an immigrant from Estonia in my early teens. As we assimilated with my family into the USA culture, I had to work hard and learn fast in order to excel academically. I knew that I didn’t have as many resources and attributes as other American-born kids. This made me persevere and fight harder for any goals. Coming from a family with high academic values, I mainly focused on the scholastic achievement in my youth. In collage years, my self-confidence was fragile which lead to few disappointing failures to reach my ideal collage and residency marks. However, I did not give up on my ultimate vision, having a family and becoming a board-certified dermatologist.

Every other achievement that followed, getting married, having my children, establishing a dermatology practice and creating a cosmetic line, were all surmounting affirmations of previously overcome challenges and celebration of stamina.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Yes, as an avid reader, especially self-development books, I will list my favorites that helped me on my Stamina Life Journey and may hopefully help others:

Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges by Steven M. Southwick and D. Charney

The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck

Harness you Inner CEO by Becca Powers

Fearless by Rebecca Minkoff

Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty

The Wisdom of Sundays by Oprah Winfrey

Believe It by Jamie Kern Lima

The Fifth Agreement by Miguel Ruiz

Grit by Angela Duckworth

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.staminacosmetics.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/staminacosmetics/
• Facebook: Stamina Cosmetics
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCBbYvXakGTKdNB06vcGlJmA
• Yelp: Stamina Cosmetics
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@staminacosmetics?lang=en

Image Credits
@dominoarts