Meet Maria Paula Ahumada | Dance Instructor and Confidence Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maria Paula Ahumada and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maria Paula, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

The process behind starting my own business was less thinking and more feeling.

The idea came to me in the middle of working out in my aunt’s living room. I had moved back to my childhood home in NYC temporarily to figure out what I was going to do with my life. As I’m hip-thrusting on the couch a message comes through, and it was that I was going to start my own business.

I felt this powerful feeling throughout my whole body, it was something bigger than me. Call it intuition, your higher self, God, or your ancestors. Whatever you want to call it, what I understood was that this was my calling.

This was the path that I had been looking for all along. It had been over a year since my mom had passed away, mix that in with experiencing a pandemic, and I was feeling completely lost. I had been experiencing depression and anxiety and I was starting to really lose myself. I knew that something had to change.

When this message came through for me it was truly God-sent. I did not question it even though everything in my material reality said otherwise. What I mean by this is that I knew nothing about starting my own business. I didn’t have any examples to look to, and I was already on a Ph.D. track. As a first-gen Latina, everyone was so proud of me for getting into a fully-funded Ph.D. program. For this reason, I expected there was going to be a lot of disappointment along the way.

However, my calling was louder than all of the fears and the what ifs. I knew I needed to start my business because it was going to impact so many women. I decided to only tell the people closest to me who I thought could also hold my vision, and would not try to discourage me.

During my 3rd year of my Ph.D., I worked on graduating with my Master’s while running my business. My plan was to get to a point where I could go full-time with my business, Recocha Vibes, and eventually leave graduate school. A part of me was still scared it wouldn’t work out so while I was doing this, I decided I would only make this plan public once I had turned in my Master’s Thesis and was confirmed to graduate.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned about starting your own business or taking your own path, in general, is that you cannot expect everyone to understand your vision.

Your fears and other people’s fears are going to be so loud but your calling will always be louder. You have to be willing to believe in yourself enough to stay consistent.

A whole 2 years later and I am so grateful to be running my business full time, and impacting women all over the world. I have been so blessed to teach dance classes nationwide. We’ve taught classes in Miami, Ft Lauderdale, New York City, San Francisco, and Sacramento! And currently, I am working with a workout app (The Sculpt You) based out of Denver to provide virtual dance classes. I have also been able to serve women 1:1 through private 1:1 confidence coaching by helping them reclaim their bodies, their life, and more!

My life has completely shifted and through it all, I continue to listen to that initial feeling, because it always comes back. When I feel like giving up or like it just won’t work out for me, I remember that my why is bigger than me.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

One thing I’ve learned about going into business is that it makes you learn a lot about yourself. I’ve had to overcome a lot of fear of judgment, failure, and even success. It is all worth it because what makes me most passionate about Recocha Vibes is that we create a safe space where Women of Color can express themselves authentically. Often society and systems of oppression create a culture that makes us feel that we aren’t enough, and it can result in comparison or competition with each other. Recocha Vibes is passionate about offering spaces for Women of Color to realize that being their authentic selves is a gift. It teaches women to be their own cheerleaders, and it allows them to empower the women around them as well.

We do so by providing dance classes and events where we show women how to move with intention. We use movement as a form of healing, that helps release unwanted and stagnant emotions. We also use it as a form of celebration for showing up in our confidence journey. For women who want more support on their journeys, we offer private confidence coaching where I work with them 1:1 to help them reach their confidence goals! We call the women in our community recocherxs, because a recocha is a Colombian slang word that translates to causing a ruckus or being disruptive in the name of fun. The women who we call in, no matter where they are in their journey, embody what it looks like to express yourself authentically in every space.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would definitely have to visit Ft. Lauderdale Beach, to see the sunrise and get in the water because the waves are so calm at the time. For brunch, we would head to Java & Jam in Ft. Lauderdale and make sure to order the banana nut french toast! We would go thrifting in that same area (there are tons of amazing thrift stores)! For a pick-me-up, we would head to Cali Coffee and get iced chais. For dinner, we definitely have to hit up a Crafty Crab for some delicious seafood boils. And on a Tuesday head to a Recocha Vibes dance class!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

My shoutout goes to my momma! I would never be where I am today if it weren’t for the sacrifices she made. When I was 4 years old I immigrated with my mom and my brother to this country. I will always remember her as a hard-working, smart, honest, and stern woman.

Growing up my mom would play all different kinds of music, and she would always encourage me to dance. Whenever family would visit from Colombia she had me put on dance shows for them. The name of my business, Recocha Vibes, is inspired by the Colombian culture that my mom instilled in me growing up. She would wake us up early on weekends blasting merengue, salsa, cumbia, champeta, vallenato, mapale, etc. When you hear this music, you feel it throughout your whole body and there is just something so powerful about letting your body respond however it wants. Therefore, I wanted something that captured the way my mom inspired me to dance, from a place of so much love and joy. This is why when I had the idea to launch my business, it only felt right to dedicate it to her and launch it on the day of her birthday.

Whenever I think that I can’t do something or that I am going to fail, I think about my mom. If she could survive raising two young children in a new country as a single mother, why wouldn’t I be able to? Although my mom is no longer physically by my side, I hold on to this mindset as a reminder of the powerful woman that I am because of her.

Website: www.recochavibes.com

Instagram: @recochavibes

Other: Tik Tok: @recochavibes