We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mayra Reyes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mayra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
In 2011, I learned about a practice from India called Laughter Yoga and after doing research, I learned that in my area people were not doing this practice. I attempted to connect with the only person that was registered on the main website, and as of now, he hasn’t responded to my messages. Then, I decided to sign up to attend a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader Training in Dallas, Texas. After completing this training, I scheduled my first community session and got about 12 people to participate. People were confused with what I was doing, and I would continually go back to my notes to review what this practice was since I was very new to it. I was told by people very close to me to stop doing this since it was additional duties to my Counselor role. I decided to take the risk since I would hear many positive comments about this practice and how people would benefit from it. After over a year of doing Laughter Yoga Sessions, I was told that maybe I should obtain another certification as a Teacher to bring this practice to the Rio Grande Valley since nobody else was doing or the training wasn’t available. After some barriers, I was able to get the financial means to go to Orlando, Florida and get certified by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of Laughter Yoga. In 2013, I obtained my certification and began training others in my area to become Certified Laughter Yoga Leaders. Then, in 2019, I faced a challenge by offering a session to Law Enforcement Officers and felt that a goal has been accomplished which led me to write a blog about my experiences. Soon after that, Dr. Kataria recognized me as Laughter Ambassador which is a big accomplishment since there are only 2,000 Laughter Ambassadors in the world and in the USA, there are only 50 of us. As I continued practicing and sharing more about the benefits of laughter, I incorporated my skills as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker to increase the importance of self-care and mental health which has led me to present in local and international events. Now that I look back to when I began practicing Laughter Yoga, I can see how taking this risk was one of the best decisions I could have done due to everything I have gained ever since. I began charging $50 for a 30-minute session and now I start at $300 for 30 minutes. With the financial gain that I have acquired thanks to thinking outside the box of how to combine both practices, I have been able to travel internationally, get my house down payment and support my daughters in their dance competition adventures.
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 business name is MLR Therapy & Consulting Services, PLLC and I know that God is who had a better plan that what I was working on. I formally established my business in May 2024 but have been working independently since August 2020 after I began working as a consultant for the Boys and Girls Club of Pharr-San Juan. Then, after a life change, I accepted to work as a contracting therapist for Women Together which is a non-profit agency that services domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. Ever since then, I began expanding on the multiple services that I can provide under my biggest focuses which are being a Licensed Clinical Social Work Board Approved Supervisor and a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher. Those focuses bring in the role of being an adjunct professor at a community college, consultant for a local non-profit, contract therapist, supervisor for future therapist and a conference/events speaker. For the past 4 years, I have been very busy in juggling various roles but always focusing on bringing in more than the basic resources for my daughters. Growing up in Mexico, and later moving to the USA, was a challenging transition but it has giving me the resilience that is needed to survive and expand my resources to its fullest potential. I never thought I would be running my own business at this age, or even had the idea that I could be a business owner but here I am. This has been the proudest accomplishment since I am able to impose in my daughters that as females, we are capable or running our business or pursing any dream that we may have regardless of what barriers get in the way.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The story that I can think of regarding resilience is when I had three losses within six months and learned about the importance of focusing on one thing at a time and understanding that not everything is within your control. For the longest time I thought that I could always control everything around me since I would set goals and achieved them within a reasonable time. But for the past three years, I learned that God is the only one that can really dictate what’s going to happen since we plan but then later better things happen to us. In April of this year, I was given a diagnosis of kidney cancer, and my university professor 3-year contract was dissolved a year earlier than planned. During that period, I realized that what I had gone through was preparing me to be resilient and be able to face any challenges and adversities that were thrown at me. After that challenging situation, the kidney cancer diagnosis and not having a stable full-time job, I realized that I needed to look for new goals and that is when I decided to officially become a business owner. I also decided to continue with my medical examinations to make sure that the procedure I had done was successful and that I was no longer having to deal with a diagnosis of kidney cancer. Ever since then, I decided to launch my business I have been given a lot of support from the community and from other professionals that are willing to work along the side to be able to fulfill the biggest mission which is providing mental services for our community. From having 15 clients I increased my caseload to about 65 within a month or so. I had never been so successful when I thought that all odds were against me. This is when I learned that the three losses that I had, in 2021, were all making me stronger and resilient to face anything that life throws at me. Since August of this year, I have been more connected to my faith and religion that I finally feel that that is my backbone to be able to move forward with any adversity that is along my way. As a good friend told me recently, “You’re blessed and highly favored” which is what continues motivating me to not give up!
How did you build your audience on social media?
My audience on social media began in 2013 when I decided to get certified as a laughter yoga teacher, in Florida by the founder of laughter yoga. Since this is a world movement some of my now friends started adding me on social media but on my personal account. To protect my privacy and set boundaries within my personal and professional life, I decided to create a new professional account and ever since then I started first posting laughter yoga information and event pictures, then I started expanding on the work that I do within my career of social work, and then I continued with making awareness on the importance of reaching out for mental health services. I do a variety of posts from when I am traveling, to presenting at conferences, my life as a university/college professor, or basic information on the benefits of laughter yoga, and/or any other mental health topic. My biggest advice for people starting their social media is to keep up with it at least weekly. Keep your audience entertained and share different things about your life. I am very careful with what I share when it comes to my personal life, but I try to engage the audience with reminding them that I’m human just like them. I share with them memes, traveling adventures, when I am facing adversaries, how I started getting new clients and then how I got an opportunity to teach part-time at a community college. I’ve been told that all those posts have been motivating others to keep on moving forward, not only within the career of social work, but to never give up regardless of so many adversities. Also, some of my former students, clients, or random followers have told me that they really appreciate that I demonstrate being “normal”, or that I show them the human side that many may not be able to see because of my role as a therapist or as the laughter yoga teacher/ambassador.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mlrtherapy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.laughing.social.worker/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mayra.reyes.lcsw29/
