As a survivor, I see living as a privilege and feel life should always be lived at its fullest. For a couple of years after arriving in the States, I did whatever I needed to do to support myself and my young son. I worked as a housekeeper, a babysitter, a cook and a gardener. I was anything I needed to be in order to provide a safe environment for my son. Then, in 1985, I met my future husband, got married in 1988 and, after having two more boys, decided it was time to go out and try something new for myself. I decided to start my own business.
I am a people person by nature and, by the end of the 80s, the spa industry was just beginning to be formed. As a newbie to the small business community, I figured I should play to my strengths and make a living developing relationships and bringing the best out of others, which was something I knew I could do exceptionally well.
Still, my true “A-ha!” moment came while I was attending beauty school. After watching a “How to Body Wax” tape in class, I offered to show my peers an alternative technique. The video reconnected me to my years in Brazil, where I exchanged waxings with my sisters and friends and where, unbeknownst to me, I developed my own waxing style. Intrigued, the teacher agreed to the demonstration. Afterwards, she promptly threw the old VHS tape away and from then on I was her Teacher’s Assistant during waxing classes. Today, several years later, I also work as the Waxing Professor at that same beauty school.
After getting my esthetician’s license, I opened my own studio and, within a year, waxing outnumbered all the other skin care services I offered. I had become “Reny, the Brazilian Bikini Waxer” - a title given to me when my friends and clients realized how ecstatic I was to perform 10-15 waxings in a day. It was also an appropriate title because, long before celebrities started to rave about the Brazilian Bikini Wax (BBW), I had already introduced it to my clients who, little by little, were losing their inhibitions and enjoying the smooth feeling in their private areas.
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