In this episode of Diversity Conversations, Eric Ellis and Tommie Lewis welcome Denisse Ruiz, entrepreneur and Cincinnati licensed esthetician, for a powerful conversation that goes far beyond skincare.

Denisse shares her journey from struggling with acne and self-esteem as a teen to building a purpose-driven aesthetics practice rooted in compassion, excellence, and faith. Together, they explore how skincare intersects with mental health, confidence, identity, and spiritual healing, plus why consistent self-care is not superficial when it restores dignity and peace.

You’ll also hear about Denisse’s heart for service, including her nonprofit A Touch of Faith, created to provide free skincare support to individuals who may not have the resources for care and who are healing from life challenges.

🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8qu-QofEXs

This episode is sponsored by Game Time Budgeting an award-winning financial wellness firm helping employees transform their relationship with money by focusing on mindset, behaviors, and simple systems. Game Time Budgeting helps people save more, reduce debt, and feel more confident about their finances without judgment or confusion.
Learn more at: Game Time Budgeting

Key moments and themes:

• Acne, anxiety, and self-esteem: the inner battle people don’t always see
• Entrepreneurship, courage, and the leap from corporate work to calling
• Why clients remember the experience: “it’s not simply your hands, it’s your heart”
• Faith at work: creating a space of peace, listening, and restoration
• Serving others with humility and purpose in 2026 and beyond

Connect with Denisse Ruiz:

• Phone: +1 (513) 227-3310
• Instagram: @maad_aesthetics (M.A.A.D._aesthetics)
• Facebook: Denise Ruiz (R.U.I.Z.)
• Nonprofit: A Touch of Faith (mentioned in the episode)

Diversity Conversations is a weekly live show focused on leadership, community, and courageous dialogue that drives real impact.

Denisse Ruiz, esthetician, aesthetics, skincare, acne, self-esteem, faith, entrepreneurship, wellness, mental health, Cincinnati, Latina entrepreneur, nonprofit, leadership, Diversity Conversations

📅 New conversations every Saturday 9:30 AM EST
📩 Subscribe, share, and join us in moving diversity forward—one conversation at a time.

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In this episode of Diversity Conversations, Eric Ellis and Tommie Lewis kick off the 2026 season with an honest, unscripted conversation about leadership, empathy, and what it really takes to move forward.

They explore what to leave behind from the past, how “double-clicking” old experiences keeps us stuck, and why changing the conversation internally and externally can change the future. The conversation also dives into empathy, listening without taking the bait, and the powerful shift from feedback to feedforward in leadership.

This episode sets the tone for the year ahead and invites leaders, professionals, and community members to reflect, reset, and lead with intention.

🎧 Watch the full video episode on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDrPZqTPejI

This episode is sponsored by Game Time Budgeting, an award-winning financial wellness firm helping employees transform their relationship with money through mindset, behaviors, and simple systems. Game Time Budgeting helps people save more, reduce debt, and feel more confident about their finances without judgment or confusion.

Learn more at: gametimebudgeting.com

👥 About the Hosts

Eric Ellis is President & CEO of Integrity Development Corporation.
Tommie Lewis is President & CEO of Make It Plain Consulting.

To learn more about their work, consulting, and speaking engagements, visit:

• Integrity Development Corporation
• Make It Plain Consulting

leadership, empathy, courageous conversations, diversity conversations, communication skills, emotional intelligence, personal growth, leadership development, feedforward, feedback, listening skills, relationship building, community leadership, faith and leadership, mindset shift, conflict resolution, trust building, professional development, leadership podcast, DEI conversations, change the conversation

📅 New conversations every Saturday 9:30 AM EST
📩 Subscribe, share, and join us in moving diversity forward—one conversation at a time.

🌐 Watch more episodes on YouTube

In this powerful year-end conversation, Eric Ellis and Tommie Lewis welcome Dr. Littisha A. Bates, Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Academic Affairs at the University of Cincinnati College of Arts & Sciences. Dr. Bates brings clarity, courage, and heart as she shares how her upbringing on Chicago’s South Side shaped her leadership, her commitment to equity, and her belief that you can be fully yourself and fully intellectual at the same time.

Together, they explore what’s happening in higher education right now, why academic freedom matters, and how fear-based narratives are impacting classrooms, faculty, and students. Dr. Bates offers a grounded perspective on authenticity with wisdom, the role of faith without performative religion, and why this generation of young people will not be silenced, reminding many of the student-led movements that changed history.

A Special Year-End Thank You to Our Community

This episode also marks the final Diversity Conversations show of the year and the close of seven years and more than 375 episodes of courageous dialogue.

Eric and Tommie take a moment to thank the Diversity Conversations community, the people who show up week after week from across the country and around the world. Your voices, reflections, questions, and presence are what make these conversations possible. This show exists because of you, and it continues because of the community we’ve built together.

As we head into a new year, we are deeply grateful for the trust, engagement, and collective wisdom that lives here.

Key moments you’ll hear in this episode:

• “The streets had a code… they protected the smart kids.”
• Why “indoctrination” claims don’t hold up in real classrooms
• The tension between authenticity and professional survival (and how to navigate it with wisdom)
• Why students are stepping up when institutions step back
• Faith, works, and leadership in a moment of national confusion
• A closing message you’ll want to share: “Don’t lose hope.”

About our guest
Dr. Littisha A. Bates is a sociologist and higher education leader committed to expanding access, equity, and belonging in academic spaces. She speaks candidly about identity, community, and the responsibility of leaders to build pathways for those coming behind them.

Sponsor
This episode is brought to you by Game Time Budgeting, an award-winning financial wellness firm helping employees transform their relationship with money. By focusing on mindset, behaviors, and simple systems, Game Time Budgeting helps people save more, reduce debt, and feel more confident about their finances without judgment or confusion. Learn more at GameTimeBudgeting.com

Diversity Conversations, leadership podcast, inclusive leadership, higher education, academic freedom, DEI, diversity equity inclusion, equity in education, psychological safety, faith and leadership, authentic leadership, social justice, education policy, sociologist, Black leadership, community leadership, student activism, SNCC generation, identity and leadership, courageous conversations, University of Cincinnati, Littisha A Bates

📅 New conversations every Saturday 9:30 AM EST
📩 Subscribe, share, and join us in moving diversity forward—one conversation at a time.

🌐 Watch more episodes on YouTube