Our own Dr. Renée Snyder on how her upbringing inspired her to envision and achieve a beautiful career.
– KEYS SOULCARE
From day one of bringing the Keys Soulcare vision to life, Dr. Renée Snyder has been a source of skin and wellness know-how, self-care inspiration, and essential advice for taking better care of ourselves and our skin.
This Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re beyond thrilled to shine our attention on the woman — and the story — behind her brilliant work and path to her current roles as an entrepreneur, mom, partner, and our go-to derm.
What did beauty look like for you growing up? How did it manifest in your home, and through traditions and rituals there?
Beauty growing up was built upon a source of pride in oneself. Traditions in my upbringing were based on hard work and feeling good about taking care of family first.
My grandmother, Refugio Solis, worked very long hours as a factory seamstress, raising six children while living in the projects. She worked to not only hold the family together, but [also to] teach her children about the beauty of spirit and pride in their Mexican-American culture. She always took so much pride in her appearance, and appreciated every piece of jewelry, every lipstick, and every chance to look her best, but more importantly feel her best.
My father, Miguel “Mickey” Solis, worked hard to achieve success, and again, took pride in himself and passed on the traditions of confidence without arrogance. Food was important, as was love, family, and community. That sense of accomplishment is what drove me to my successes.
Beauty was in our togetherness, our hope, and our rituals of deep love for each other.
What’s it been like navigating the beauty world as a woman of color?
My Mexican-American heritage has actually been such a gift for me as a woman, a wife, [and] a mother. The multi-cultural facets of my world are such an important part of my daily life, and my love of life is my beauty that emanates from within. My confidence in my wild curly hair, my hazel green eyes, my olive skin, and my features filled with the worlds of my Indigenous and Spanish roots, allows me to teach my multi-faceted daughters how our gifts are, indeed, our culture and our understanding of who we are and where we are always going in our world.
From music, to art, to a sense of community, my Latinx heritage is a driving force in my success. I always knew that dermatology was my great passion, and the strength of my family and their stories of success guided me to achieve my greatest goals.
What does Latinx pride look like and feel like in your own life?
Latinx pride gives me the ability to look beyond any boundaries or obstacles that could potentially keep me from achieving my success. Latinx pride means understanding my culture, native language, the powerful ability to be comfortable in being bilingual and understanding all of the worlds that my family — my people — have travelled to make a place for their families.
Culture and pride go hand in hand, and the ability to share stories and visions of family and special Mexican-American traditions to my own children and to future generations is what gives me a tremendous feeling of success.
You’ve built a career developing products that consciously work with many skin types. Why has that been important to you?
Nothing has been more satisfying than achieving my dream of becoming a dermatologist. Medical school was challenging, but my goals were always big: to care for others and to achieve tremendous success by helping others feel good about their skin.
I was always very conscious of my own skin growing up, and [learned] to always be comfortable “in my own skin.” [While] my skin tones have actually been an incredible asset, I work hard to maintain healthy skin and learn approaches to help guide my patients to achieve good health and comfort, again, “in their own skin.”
Skin types are fascinating, and learning and developing products that can help so many people is what drives my medical and scientific success.
How has your relationship to embracing your own beauty changed over time?
I have always been fascinated by my skin and all skin. I work hard to keep my skin and my body healthy and well. It is a gift that I teach my children every day… to appreciate, accept, and love themselves for who they are and how they will make a difference in this world. As I embrace each year of my life, I also extol my joy in who I have become and loving that individual. My beauty is inside and out. I consider myself very lucky, but hope to share with others how each day, one becomes more beautiful [and] more knowledgeable. Teaching these lessons is the greatest gift of all.
What’s it like to co-create a brand that purposefully includes diverse backgrounds and teachings?
This chapter in my medical and beauty career is absolutely thrilling. The concept of emotional beauty and beauty from within is of paramount importance to me as I guide my patients and others to embrace this wonderful world of Keys Soulcare. Our team’s multi-cultural backgrounds both allow us to dig deeper into our own roots and yet, at the same time, provide guidance to those who need that very special boost of confidence. Working together allows us to become “one.” We can all work together, grow together, and, most importantly, learn from each other to achieve that very special beauty from within.
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