Hi! I’m Marisa, a loud, energized, and crazy former New Yorker who moved to Connecticut over a decade ago and is crazy passionate about The Art of Transformation.
I love how making a single choice can form a ripple effect, slowly changing your perspective, your heart and eventually your whole life. 10 years ago I needed a transformation of my own and with one yes to a new wellness plan, that’s exactly what happened to me.
My own personal transformation has brought so many incredible people and passions
into my life, and now I am the proud owner of Shakeup Makeup, LLC. I get to be your
biggest cheerleader, support, and guide through your own transformation in
Fitness, Wellness Coaching, and Beauty.
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I can’t wait to Shake It Up with you!
My Makeup Story:
As a young lady I was always fascinated with the creative side of Makeup. As I grew older and began to worry about how I was seen by other people, I quickly learned that makeup could make me feel better about how I looked. Overtime, I realized that I didn’t want to hide the real me under caked on foundation; I could feel even more confident by simply enhancing my best features. I wanted others to feel this way too.
My passion for learning more led me to Los Angeles where I got my Media Makeup Certification at the Award International Make-Up Studio.
I continued on to work at MAC Cosmetics and several Beauty Salons across Long Island, NY for the next few years. It was there that I got to practice my craft, learn from other artists, and build a strong foundation for customer service.
Eventually, I chose to start my own makeup business so I could provide a comprehensive overall experience and form deeper connections with my clients. Now, I get to provide a service completely focused on your vision, while offering my creative input to ensure a flawless makeup application that will look incredible on camera and stunning in person.
I want your entire experience, from the beginning of your plans through the end of the event, to be as seamless as possible. I promise to
provide a professional experience with a warm, caring and positive atmosphere to ensure your day goes above and beyond your expectations.
My Fitness Story:
From day one, my body always wanted to move. I was born into a dance family and therefore, have been dancing for most of my life.
It's no surprise that the mother that got me into a dance class was the mother that brought me to my first Zumba class. I loved the music,
the latin feel and the party atmosphere, but I struggled physically to keep up. I didn’t consistently stay with it because the fear
surrounding intense activity was real.
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In my teens I found out I had Exercise-Induced Asthma. I limited myself to the things I believed I was capable of, which was very little. I looked
at other people and longed to run, lift weights and be a part of the fitness community. After sharing my dreams of physical fitness with my husband and watching him complete his first half marathon, he encouraged me to train my body and mind to reach beyond the limits
I set for myself.
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I started slow and pushed myself more, little by little. I felt more comfortable in the gym and eventually made my way back into a Zumba class. Mentally, I was stronger, I was taking better care of my overall health, and I began to go consistently. Now I could physically keep up.
One night, I was walking to my car and a woman from class stopped me to ask where I taught Zumba. She was disappointed to hear that I wasn’t an instructor because she said I was very motivational to her during the class. That conversation lit a spark in me to push even further.
A few months later, I got my Zumba license and began teaching right away! After teaching for nearly 6 years, I realized my classes were a bit different than just your regular Zumba class and the Shake It Up Fitness class was born. In my classes, I encourage my students to have a ton of fun, let loose on the dance floor and push past their mental barriers to see how far their bodies can truly go. Gaining the confidence to turn up the sass, shake off the day, squat a little deeper and leave each class feeling like they can truly conquer the world.
My Wellness Story:
Growing up I was a very picky eater and my diet consisted of a very short list of foods. I am the girl who ate Entenmann's chocolate cake every day for breakfast for as long as I can remember. As I got older, the list of foods I ate grew bigger, but still heavy on the sweets and lacking on the nutritional value. I had tried to diet at one point in my life and my diet consisted of slim fast shakes, turkey sandwiches, grilled chicken and baked potatoes. Not exactly the list of foods you would choose to fuel your day, but the truth is I had no idea what I was doing, what true wellness even looked like, but I was certainly willing to try.
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One summer I was getting ready to go out with my then boyfriend (now husband) to meet up with friends and I found myself crying in front of the mirror. Everything I put on made me feel less than my best. I needed a change. I called a sorority sister who had been finding huge success with a wellness program and inquired about details. I quickly realized I was not ready to make a big change and instead signed up for the gym. I would go 2 times a week and walk on the treadmill, occasionally popping into a Zumba class, but never feeling my most confident self and often giving up before I even got started. The truth is I didn't have the energy or motivation, or even the knowledge, to truly do enough to make a change.
That holiday season I got engaged and I quickly called my sorority sister to simply try her wellness program. I told her that I wouldn't last past 30 days, if I could even make it that far, and to not be disappointed if I hated it. A big brown box arrived at my door and I started right away. A few hiccups in the start of my journey, a few mistakes as I was learning, but none of those little slip ups seemed to matter. Before i knew it, I was feeling better. It was like a fog that had felt permanently glued to my brain was finally released. I had more energy in my day to day life, creating meals was fun and my full meal replacement shakes took the guesswork, time and effort out of creating a ton of meals each day. The nutritional value that was finally being given to my body was exactly what I needed.
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I have continued to use these products in a variety of ways, for a plethora of goals and to continue living my very best life. I have altered my own program to fit my needs, throughout a pregnancy and a nursing journey and to fuel my everyday life. These products and the community that come along with them gave me my full, energized and abundant life. This program taught me that it does not need to be an all or nothing plan and that diets don't work because the key to changing your wellness is consistency. These products help me stay consistent and I am forever grateful for how they changed my life.