From Paris Opera to Body Art: Grace, Purpose, and the Art of Being the Muse

Extra value meals are back. For just $5, get a savory and sweet sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddles, plus hash browns and a coffee. Only at McDonald's. >> For a limited time only. Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska, and California. And for delivery. >> Welcome to another episode of Keeping It Real on Purpose, your weekly dose of live self-improvement to build a life that matters. and I'm your host, Edna White, your life purpose coach. Today, let's be real. How many of us scroll through social media and they wonder what's the perfect life? What's the perfect body? What's the perfect career? And secretly say and wonder, am I enough? What is my unique contribution? How do I even begin to stand out and build something real in the world that feels not fake? Today, we're smashing those illusions. We're talking to a woman who embodies authent authenticity, a global phenomenon who has literally been immortalized in art. And yet, her journey is all about raw, real self-discovery. I'm absolutely thrilled to welcome Leticia Buffar Rope to the show. Welcome to the show, Leticia. >> Thanks for having me. >> You know, you are a international awarded model, a movement artist, which I'm dying to hear about. Now, a muse, a trained at the Paris Oprah Ballet. You performed with um I know this circad I know that I see that on television all the time. Wow, that's amazing. Published five art books and you traveled 87 countries. Wow. You six figure creative and the list goes on. I am just so excited to hear about you. So, you know, please tell us a little bit about how you show up in the world. how I show up in the world. I try to do my best to inspire and motivate others. That's my mission with um my presence on social media. >> Yeah. >> And to to do that, I I create with photographers all over the world. um basing my posing on my career as I had um professional ballet training and I've been performing as a as you said as an acrobat with Ariel silks and hoops. >> So I gather all the knowledge I had um and now use them with photographers to create art. >> Wow, that's beautiful. You literally showed up in the world in a way few people will ever. Um, beyond the lights, the lenses, and the stage, how do you define showing up in the world, especially if the world is constantly trying to put you in a box or tell you who to be? >> I personally I'm I don't really care what other people are thinking. This is how I show up. I show up as what I feel like sharing, what I feel like doing and >> and we can't please everybody. So >> yeah, >> I do me and >> if others are inspired and want to follow and want to be inspired by it, it's great. If they don't, >> they don't. >> Yeah. Still great, right? Still great. >> Still great. And that's how I live. Yes. >> That's right. Yeah. So, not really caring about what anybody thinks. You just your your purpose is your purpose. It has nothing to do with anybody else, which is a great way to be. >> I mean, I do I do care about uh feedbacks from my fans and followers. Like, uh I listen to feedbacks. It's really important to to grow as a as a creative, >> but I would not um like a lot of content creator do at the moment create to please the audience or post that because that's going to get engagement or that's going to get um you know I create what I feel creating >> and >> so how do you maintain that in integrity when you know when um the external pressure is so immense. How do you do that? >> Uh well, I have clear values of what I want to create. Like when especially when I reach out to photographers, I have clear boundaries about what I do and what I don't do. >> Um the values and the goals I have for my photography, >> right? >> And I only shoot with them if they align with those with those values. >> Right. Right. And you you stick to them, right? >> I do. I really like for me I they are so clear that um as soon as I see that a photographer tries to get out of them, I'm like, "Well, that's not a feat." Then we >> Well, that's so powerful. It's about showing up for yourself. That's great. No performance, none of that stuff. So, that's really great. >> Um you cultivated a six figure creative career um rooted in authenticity. How did it begin? >> Um well, it began first with like I said when I was little with ballet and then with acrobatics um traveling the world and performing as a real acrobat and at the moment I am a full-time uh art model. So it started the modeling started a bit like was not planned right. Uh, I had a photographer reaching out to me on um on my yoga Instagram. He's been looking long time for um a ballet dancer that could also do Ariel hoop and he found me and was thrilled to to shoot with me and I was like, okay, why not? So, I gave it a try >> and and then it did the snowball effect when he started publishing the photos. A lot of photographers reached out to me and and that's how it started. Yeah. >> Right. Okay. So, you can encourage some young people to kind of stay, you know, do what they love to do because I'm I'm imagining that you love you love what you do. >> Oh, yeah. I love what I do. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> But it was, like I said, not something I planned. So I say be open be open to opportunities and reach out if people reach out >> you know just yeah >> that's cool. You've traveled 87 countries and you have a global following of a 100,000 or more and yet you're you still create you know such great things and and it's a deep you know you have to be deep in your yourself in order to do this at points do you off do you get lonely? >> No. >> Okay. >> I actually I actually enjoy being sometimes on my own. >> Right. Uh because I mean all day when I travel I am actually like not socializing but I am with people. So I'm in photo studios I am talking with photographers all day or >> got >> you know so when I get my time alone let's say in my hotel room after everything I am actually really enjoying it. >> I love my my alone time. >> Yes. Oh my goodness. I didn't realize that you were always talking. I I didn't even think about that, but yeah, I get like that, too. But yeah, you're right. You're always with somebody with that many places that you've gone and probably still going. You know, what what is the difference in this world of likes and follows and your constant, you know, performance? How do you cultivate real connections? Um well I I'm actually really engaged with my followers. Like for me they are not just followers, they are actually people. So when when people write me, I write back. So I do build connections with the people that want to engage with me. >> Um and yeah, I actually have a big support system from my family, from my friends. And so all that is really important too, >> right? So you're intentional about those relationships kind of keeping those together. >> Really important. >> Very important. >> Is there any time that you're not validated at all? You know, being that you're so busy and you you maybe you need to say something. Is there any time that you're not validated or not heard? >> Uh I don't think so. You always have somebody to listen to me when I need it. >> Okay. >> All right. You surround yourself with people that you know that can support you. Yes. >> You know, especially and I know every every day is not a good day, but when you have those bad days, you have somebody there that can support you. >> I do. I do. >> That's great. >> That's great. Can you share um one I know you've had some monumental times. Can you share just maybe one, you know, extraordinary time that you did something for the first time? >> For the first time. >> Uh, wow. >> Well, performing in front of 20,000 people was like one of my >> my big thing. And when it was the first time, it was quite a quite an event, quite a >> unforgettable moment. >> You got that right. Wow. Yeah. You can't forget that 20,000 people. >> Were you um nervous? You know, how was you feeling? >> Extremely nervous. Yes. But also I I had to be very focused because I was um performing on silks at 90 ft up in the air. >> Oh my gosh. Yeah. You had to be focused >> on on flying winches. And so, um, yeah, and it was an outdoor show, so it was rain or shine. It was wind, there was all kind of things that could go wrong. Um, so yeah, but every day we celebrated after the show that we made it and we were alive because it was quite >> so good. That's so good. Yeah, I know you built your career on precision, grace, and a lot of physical and emotional sacrifice. It sounds like there must have been moments of like intense pressure, you know, maybe even pain sometimes. How do you get through those times that that maybe you feel like there's a failure or you, you know, you're in pain or something. How do you get through those? Yeah, I think the hardest time were actually as a kid um at the parabal school. >> It was very very difficult mentally because they basically try to break you down >> because their competition the competition is so high. There is so many girls and every year they need to cut down and um so there's a lot of mental pressure and actually there is also a lot of physical pressure because you train a lot and you're a kid and you are growing and >> the teachers are not taking it easy on us >> right >> so um yeah in those moment you just have to remember >> what the why the goal and my my dream when I was a kid was to become a professional ballet dancer. So >> when you really want it, you you just squeeze the teeth and go through the pain and the sacrifice and >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Mhm. What did those those times those un those unseen struggles that you know maybe we don't even know about? What did they help you do by evolving in you know to yourself? How did they help that? Well, they helped a lot because I mean after after training like that when you're a kid, >> um it's hard to break me. Like I've been through I I'm like go ahead. Like you can tell me what you want. I've heard it all. I've been through it. I've been told I was fat and bad and I will never make it since I was a kid. So yeah. >> Yeah. It tough you up. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Yeah. That's great. >> It's It's >> Yeah. I know it's not a straight line, right? It's not a straight line always. I mean, you know, we see the bronze statues and the magazine covers of you with your success, but one thing they don't say is what you went through. And I know as as a girl, I would see things in the newspaper. I was like, "Oh, I want to do that." I did I don't know the the I didn't know the the backstory like you said there's this you had to sacrifice a lot and I think that's important to share with the audience like there's a sacrifice that goes with it you just don't pop up and you become that >> oh you know that that that person you want like that that professional like you are you don't just don't pop up there's work that you have to do can you share like what that takes from your perspective >> I It's still daily work meaning keeping the body in shape uh keeping the mind in shape like you said with all the travels um all the back work because everybody sees the beautiful photos see the Instagram stories with travels and it looks like this glamorous and cool life but behind it there is a lot of admin work a lot of >> wow >> there is a lot of um admin yeah yeah like in the way like um planning, a lot of, you know, paperwork. >> Yeah. >> Accounting, all this not sexy stuff, which >> nobody thinks of, but I'm a I'm a oneperson uh business, so I do it all. >> Oh my goodness. I was going to ask you that. Did you do everything? >> It's all on me. So, I book all my flights. I book all my hotels. I book I I do all the contracts. I do all the negotiations. I do >> all the social media, the marketing, the customer service, you call it. >> Oh my goodness. >> So, yeah, it's all on me. So, it's a lot when when you see just a beautiful photo and you hard to understand everything that goes behind. >> Yeah, it really is. It really is. I mean, cuz I you know, I remember as a kid saying that and then I was like when I did go towards doing it, I was like, this is a lot of work. This is a lot of work. It is. So you've been immortalized in bronze sculptures, your published muse. Your work bridges the art and photography. You inspire inspire others to create, but ultimately you are an ongoing work of art. So for someone listening right now who feels stuck, who feels like a blank canvas and doesn't know where to start creating their own purposeful life, what is the very first most authentic movement or stroke they need to do to become their own life masterpiece? >> Um I would say come back to the things you enjoy. um passions. Um going back to your passions and see how you can link your passions to your daily life. >> And if there is an opportunity that you could link your passions to your work, >> um then yeah, then then then it's the mastery when you can try to >> to have your passion and your work uh be one. But um >> don't forget about your passions. We can we can be we can forget about them in the daily life with work 9 to5 you know kids whatever people have um which take them away from what they truly enjoy doing like their passion. put that aside when you have other problems and other >> but I think going back to to really really think what what do I like to do? What are my passions? What are what what makes me happy? What what are the little things that brings me joy? >> Um and trying to reimplement them in in a way in the in the life. >> Yeah, that's good. And I know that, you know, my audience is always um looking for, you know, ways to improve on things and and as you know, I wanted to incorporate here because you keep your body, you know, you keep your body in tune and could you share a little bit of like that also is part of, you know, being your best self. >> Exactly. Movement >> movement. movement is primordial to uh to health, mental health and and physical health. >> So, keep moving. Uh don't don't sit down. Try to implement a bit of movement per day. Go for a walk, do a little stretch. Um >> and then try to come back to your breath sometimes >> because this is why we are alive and absolutely we are too short on breath. Just taking couple deep breaths >> can change the whole body tensions and aches and pains. >> Yes, exactly. >> And one last thing is um you've been in a limelight. Was there ever a time that you didn't want to be in the limelight? >> What do you mean by the limelight? >> Like you know being you know >> Yeah. Uhhuh. >> Spotlight. >> Yeah. in a spot like >> so far I'm happy like this. >> That's okay. >> Maybe it's going it may change. >> Um but so far I'm I'm good the way it is as long as it's not pressuring me, >> right? >> And I do it the way I do it, >> right? >> It's good. >> You have command over it and that's wonderful. >> Yeah. >> You're creating your your reality. I'm not told by some agent or I'm not told what I have to say or what I have to create. >> So >> yeah, you're creating your own reality. That's beautiful. So you're not going to have that, you know, bad moment or a bad bad instance, but you know, that's really great. That's really really great. So if there's, you know, one last thing that you have on your heart that you could tell my audience, no matter what they're going through, what m no matter what they're experiencing, share that with them today and then share how we can follow you. I know I have all of your information which we provided in the content, but just share how what's your next adventure. my next adventure. >> Um, now I'm a bit transitioning from from modeling. I'm still modeling, but I'm slowing down. >> And I'm starting to uh pass on my knowledge now to aspiring models to to >> Yes. Um to do what I've done. So I I help them with um with the business side because this is something nobody speaks about that I found when I started. >> You see the models, you see the Instagrams, you see this, but you're like how do you do this? How do you handle the >> Right. Right. >> So um so yeah, now I'm there to support aspiring models with that side of the of the modeling. >> That's right. Oh, that's beautiful. That is going to be powerful all in itself. Thank you again, Leticia. I really appreciate this. What an incredible conversation about sculpting a life and authenticity and purpose. And for you listening now, don't wait for someone else to make you a masterpiece. Do like Leticia did. Create your reality. You're already the canvas, the artist, and the art itself. You're the You're on the move in action today. and take one small step, an authentic step towards defining your own purpose, one brush stroke at a time. This is Keeping It Real on Purpose. I'm your host, Edna White, and thank you, my amazing guest, Leticia, for being here today. Truly, you make us matter. Thanks so much. >> Thank you. See you next time.