Creating Comfort and Celebrating Transformation

Our latest clip episode explores an unexpected sanctuary — Our guest, Paula Grippi, the heart behind her transformative space, shares her journey of creating an environment where comfort is offered and felt deeply. 

She reveals her approach to making clients feel at ease: embracing every aspect of themselves and viewing their bodies through a lens of love and transformation.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

So you have inmates coming from. Where do they come from? Well, different facilities throughout, without naming where the prisons are, but Southern California area yeah, southern.

Speaker 2: 0:08

California area and they bring, they're transported to me, to the salon, to the salon, and I do it on a day that the salon isn't terribly busy, because it's a little intimidating to other clients Gotcha. Because people, the security guards there, yeah, there's two security guards that bring the inmates to me and then they come in for two hours and they're so, just so happy to have, you know, the opportunity to have hair removal and then to be able to go through surgery. So that's, that's something new for me.

Speaker 1: 0:41

Yeah, very good. And will this? This will continue for a while, right? I hope so. Yeah, it seems like the way it's going. So, yeah, yeah, so how, how? If I'm going to visit you, your service, for the first time, how does it start? Do I get a consultation first?

Speaker 2: 0:59

Well, normally when you get to the stage where you know you're going to have hair removal, you've pretty much gone through all of your prep, through psychological preparation. The surgeon will tell you the area. You've gone way through your transition and now it's physically having to have your hair removed. But yes, I'll have you come in the first time fill out paperwork. The most important thing is for you to feel comfortable.

Speaker 1: 1:26

You know, everybody's.

Speaker 2: 1:27

You know it's like nobody wants to take their clothes off. And I have, you know, a sheet or something you can have? Actually, it's a cashmere blanket that you can wrap around yourself and maybe you know I'm telling you after about 30 minutes into it. You don't care. All people come in, rip off their clothes, jump on the bed and I've got a really comfortable bed If you need heat or cooling or whatever, or an ice pack, and then the goal is to make you feel as comfortable as possible, and sometimes it takes a little while.

Speaker 2: 2:02

Now, with that being said, I want people to feel safe. So many people have shame about having you know a penis or you know it depends if you're you know M to F or F to M so they're so ashamed and they hate it and they just have all this distress. The biggest thing I want to convey to you is your subconscious mind believes what you say to it. You start loving that. That's going to be your new vagina.

Speaker 1: 2:29

Yes.

Speaker 2: 2:30

I'm helping you. I want you to love all your body parts, because we're transforming.

Speaker 1: 2:39

Right.

Speaker 2: 2:40

Literally and figuratively. Yeah, so I want to convey that. I want you to feel comfortable. I want you to start thinking in a different way. I don't know if Michelle explained to you. I have things on my ceiling when you're laying down and looking up all positive affirmations and things. If you get one thing out of being there that makes you think perhaps in a different light or gives yourself positive reinforcement, then I've created something for you that day.

Speaker 1: 3:09

Yeah, it is empowering. It's part of our journey to be who we're supposed to be, and that doesn't make it fun or less painful. It still hurts like hell, but it's part of the journey and I would go, as you know, as many times as I had to to get it done, what I need to get done. So so yeah, it is a it's kind of an important part of that.

Speaker 2: 3:33

Well, and the other thing is is if I can get you to talk and tell me a story and keep talking, and talking. The pain it's, the pain is like half of what you think it is. If you concentrate on the pain. It's going to be more painful, so come in with a story, give me a story.

Speaker 1: 3:47

Talk to me. Yeah, and you're such a great talker too, you bring that out. We talk about everything from astrology to the. She also rescues hummingbirds, so we actually talk about birds, we talk about family, we talk about everything, and so, yeah, it makes it fun.

Speaker 2: 4:01

It's neat because I've developed so many great friendships and so many relationships with people that I know I'll have a lot of these friends for a lifetime. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:13

You're stuck with us for a while. Yay. Now, if you're planning on bottom surgery, which some people do, some people don't, it's depending on what they feel comfortable with Right, that's great, wherever your situation. Now I've heard I've had friends that have come in early, even before transition, to start working on their face. Is there a kind of a timeline that you might suggest that? Or just whenever you can, or whenever the finances are there or insurance kicks?

Speaker 2: 4:42

in. There's two factors time and money. That's pretty much it. Do you have the finances to afford to do this? Do you have an insurance plan that works for you? A lot of people I'll talk to prior to maybe it might be a year or six months prior to them even going in for a consultation. What do they do? And I really like facilitating that sort of a conversation to get them to think what insurance do you have sort of a conversation to get them to think what insurance do you have? Where have you coordinated with your transgender?

Speaker 2: 5:10

coordinator to find out what is covered, what's not covered, and find out if it's something that I can do the billing for, or are you going to get reimbursed? You know, what super bills do I have to do? So I have people that will come to me two years prior to them even doing anything, or a year prior to, and I'll just kind of walk them through what they can do in the meantime.

Speaker 1: 5:33

And that seems to help. And they always come back, yeah yeah, because I know I've had friends that have done that, and prior to even, maybe if they're not sure that they're going to fully transition. But they start that anyway because that is a source of dysphoria, and so then I'm kind of like man, I wish I would have started earlier too.

Speaker 2: 5:52

Everybody says that.

Speaker 1: 5:53

I think everybody, but I mean I have Kaiser personally, and so I'm very thankful for what they cover and how easy and then that's how I connected with you is through Kaiser. They gave me some options in my area really two options in my area and you were the closest, so I'm glad I chose you. I'm glad you chose me too, because I love you, so I'm going to choose her, then yes, yes, I highly recommend her.

Speaker 1: 6:17

So what would you have other? Since you've seen such a spectrum of our journeys, what words of encouragement or advice would you have for someone that's just starting out? Oh goodness.

Speaker 2: 6:33

Just I would say continue your journey. You know this is something that you know be authentic to yourself. You know, if this is something you're thinking about doing, reach out. There's such so many places you can reach out and talk to others to find out what it is that you need to do.