Healing, Leadership, and Turning Pain into Purpose, No Excuses
Minerva “Minnie” Franchesca Ruiz-Ocasio, a mom of two, was born in Passaic, NJ, to Puerto Rican & Dominican parents. She stands on a set of train tracks in her cover photo like a superhero, grounded, unafraid, and unapologetically visible. What looks cinematic is deeply personal. For Minnie, the tracks symbolize transition: the moment her life shifted from survival to leadership.
“There was a time when train tracks represented everything. I felt stuck in cycles of pain I did not think I would escape,” she shares. “Standing there was not about danger. It was about reclaiming my path.” That moment marked her decision to stop waiting for life to happen and start choosing herself instead.
If her younger self, the girl battling depression in silence, could see her now, Minnie believes she would cry first. Then smile. “She’d say, ‘We are safe now. Thank you for not giving up.’” That younger version would recognize what Minnie has become: a woman who turned her pain into purpose and now uses her voice to help others heal.
Through her own healing journey, Minnie discovered an unexpected superpower, the ability to transform trauma into momentum. “I used to think strength meant staying quiet and pushing through,” she says. “Healing taught me that real strength is courage, feeling, releasing, and rebuilding differently.” That philosophy shapes everything she leads, including the Zumba-Combat-Kick-A-Thon, a movement that goes far beyond fitness. It is a safe space. A release. A community where sweat becomes medicine and movement becomes emotional freedom.
What began as an event quickly evolved into something larger. “I realized I wasn’t just creating a program, I was stepping into leadership,” Minnie reflects. To do that, she had to let go of excuses like I am not ready or Who am I to do this? She stopped shrinking and started claiming her power. “I stepped into the woman I always was—but was too afraid to fully become.”
Despite her bold presence, Minnie stays grounded through the people she serves. Her greatest accountability partners are her clients and her two daughters. “My clients remind me why I lead every time they show up for themselves,” she says. “And my kids remind me that leadership starts at home.” When old patterns or self-doubt surface, she recalibrates by remembering the trust placed in her and the example she wants to set.
Healing has also reshaped Minnie’s relationship with success. Her greatest investment has not been external; it has been in her time, boundaries, energy, and voice. On her birthday, she opened Alive: Trauma-Informed Kickboxing and Therapeutic Services as a gift to herself and a testimony to surviving her own suicide attempt. “Alive exists so no one has to hit their lowest point alone,” she explains. “Survival can become purpose.”
Today, Minnie’s message is clear: stop apologizing for feeling, for struggling, or for needing help. Mental health is not a weakness; it is human. Her hope for the next generation is a world where vulnerability is celebrated, voices are honored, and no one feels invisible.
Minerva Ruiz-Ocasio is not just standing on the tracks anymore; no excuses, she’s leading the way forward.
To connect with Minnie, please find her contact information below.
Minerva “Minnie” Franchesca Ruiz-Ocasio
CEO & Founder, Alive Trauma-Informed Kickboxing and Therapeutic Services
Bilingual Psychotherapist, @ Betterview Counseling
Email: minnieocasio@alivetikb.com
By: Rosa Julia Parra
Founder & Editor
Palo Magazine
Elpalomagazine@gmail.com
610-223-7071
