Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Ramirez-Pelletier.
Hi Stephanie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was shot in the face at 17 while holding my baby. That was the beginning, not the end.
I spent the next 20+ years spiraling , in violence, addiction, poverty, trafficking, and loss. I was a mother of three trying to survive trauma I couldn’t outrun. I lost people I loved. I hurt people I loved. I burned my life down more times than I can count.
I got sober at 38. Eleven years ago now.
Recovery wasn’t just about putting down the bottle. It was about breaking every toxic cycle I inherited and deciding my kids deserved better. So I rebuilt, not perfectly, but intentionally.
I started Ramirez Murals with my family and now run it with my son, Logan, because art was the one thing that kept us connected when everything else was falling apart. Then I founded The Vibe Recovery Co-Op in San Marcos with my daughter Destany and some friends, 20 units of safe, dignified housing for people trying to rebuild their lives. We run Sunday farmers markets, community gardens, and art sessions because healing needs more than four walls.
I’m also writing Texas Nightmares, a memoir about all of it. The violence. The survival. The reparations I’m making to my family by showing up now.
I’m neurodivergent, autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, and blind in one eye. My brain works fast and messily. I build because staying still feels like death.
This is me, still flawed, still growing, still making amends one day at a time.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Staying sober in a world that wants you drunk is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Only about 2% of people who get sober actually stay sober long-term. I think it’s because most of us don’t have family support or peer support that actually works. And we’re trying to figure out what “normal” even looks like after years of survival mode.
I didn’t just quit drinking. I had to learn how to be a person. How to show up for my kids when I’d spent decades barely showing up for myself. How to build something when all I knew how to do was burn things down.
The struggles were everything. Money. Housing. Relationships with my kids that were broken in ways I caused. Grief for the mother I lost to addiction. Trying to hold a community together when half the people are one bad day away from relapse. Managing ADHD, CPTSD, and dyslexia while running three businesses and raising a family.
And then life doesn’t stop just because you got sober. The economy and budget cuts have impacted our sober community. I’m trying to keep The Vibe running, keep clients coming in for murals, support my family, and make sure my members are okay through it all.
Smooth? Never. But I’m still here. That’s the win.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Art is the center of everything I build. It’s how my family heals, connects, and survives.
I run Ramirez Murals with my family, we paint large-scale murals for Airbnbs, businesses, and homes across central Texas. It’s not just work. It’s how we process life together. We’ve been painting side by side for years, and it’s one of the few constants we’ve had through all the chaos.
At The Vibe Recovery Co-Op, art is how I teach our members to rebuild their lives with dignity. We do community art sessions, teach people how to create products for our Sunday farmers market, and grow flowers for cut-flower workshops. It’s healing disguised as work. People learn they can make something beautiful with their hands, sell it, and begin to believe they’re capable of more than just surviving.
I also run Tiger Lily Studio, a small handmade apothecary line. Beeswax candles, bath products, things we make and sell at the market. It’s another layer of the same thing: teaching people they can create, earn, and contribute.
What sets me apart:
I’m not theorizing about recovery or community building. I lived it. I’m still living it. I’m neurodivergent, ADHD, dyslexic, and I built businesses that work because of how my brain operates, not in spite of it.
I don’t separate art from survival. They’re the same thing for me. Painting kept my kids and me connected when addiction almost destroyed us. Now it’s how we make a living and help other people do the same.
What I’m most proud of:
The Vibe. Twenty units of safe housing where people aren’t just warehoused, they’re given space to heal, grow food, make art, and figure out who they are without shame. And doing it all alongside my kids. This is reparations in real time.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
How to work with me:
Ramirez Murals: We paint large-scale murals for Airbnbs, short-term rentals, businesses, and homes across central Texas. If you’ve got a blank wall that needs life, we can help. Contact us at ramirezmurals.com.
The Vibe Recovery Co-Op: We take referrals from sober living homes, treatment centers, therapists, and recovery professionals. If you know someone who needs safe, dignified housing in recovery, send them our way. liveinthevibe.com.
Tiger Lily products: We sell at our Sunday on-site farmers market at The Vibe in San Marcos. Beeswax candles, handmade apothecary goods, and art from our community members. Come by, support the work directly.
Speaking/consulting: I’m available for talks on recovery, neurodivergence, community building, and breaking generational cycles. I also consult with recovery programs on creating sustainable, dignity-based models.
The memoir, Texas Nightmares, is in progress. If you’re an agent, publisher, or media outlet interested in the story, reach out through my site: stephanieramirezpelletier.com.
Best way to support:
Hire us for murals
Refer people to The Vibe
Share our work
Show up at the Sunday market
I’m not looking for charity. I’m looking for collaboration with people who believe in what we’re building.
Pricing:
- Art-Fair
- Housing-Very competitive
Contact Info:
- Website: stephanieramirezpelletier.com – www.liveinthevibe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liveinthevibesanmarcos/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheVibeRecovery
