On this inspiring episode of Mastery Unleashed, host Christie Ruffino welcomes Dr. Vasu Tolia, a former pediatric gastroenterologist who transitioned from a prestigious medical career to a thriving second act as an artist. Vasu shares her journey from medicine to art, exploring how creativity can be a tool for healing, self-expression, and resilience.

ABOUT DR. VASU

Dr. Vasu Tolia, is a celebrated visual artist and physician whose work bridges art and healing. Her abstract and semi-abstract artworks are designed to inspire and soothe, making them ideal for therapeutic spaces. Her painting "The World United" was featured on the CDC's *Emerging Infectious Diseases* journal cover. With numerous awards to her name, including the Future of Art Global Masterpiece Award, Vasu combines her medical expertise with her artistic vision to create emotionally resonant work. At "Thrive in '25," she will share her insights on the effects of art on the brain to help on focus and healing.

GET DR. VASU'S GENEROUS GIFT

How To Select And Display Art Like A Pro

Elevate your space with the perfect art arrangement! This guide provides practical tips and professional insights into selecting and displaying art for maximum visual and emotional impact. Learn how to create harmony with your surroundings and tell your unique story through thoughtfully chosen art pieces. Whether for your home or office, this resource ensures you’ll master the art of display effortlessly.

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LINKS SHARED ON THE SHOW

www.vasutolia.art

www.facebook.com/vasutolia

Instagram @toliavasu

www.linkedin.com/in/vasundhara-tolia-79695a34/

ABOUT OUR SHOW

Mastery Unleashed is a podcast for success-driven women who want to empower their thoughts, design their dream businesses, and build beautiful lives that are aligned with their destinies—hosted by Bestselling Author and Business Strategist Christie Ruffino.

Each episode features today’s top influencers and entrepreneurs on the rise as they share empowering stories and ninja tips meant to become the FUEL that will ignite a positive change in YOUR life and the lives of others.

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Well, hello everybody and welcome to today's episode of the Mastery Unleashed podcast. I am Christy Ruffino, the host of the show, and I want to thank you for joining us today. If you're brand new, you are in for a special treat. And if you've been to our show a few times in the past, and you're a long time loyal listener, I just want to thank you.

Um, it's, uh, an audience like you and listeners like you that we keep motivated to bring on amazing guests like today's guest Vasu Tolia. So welcome, Basu. Thank you, Christy. I'm honored to be on your podcast. Yeah, I am really glad to have you. We met, oh my gosh, it's probably been about six or seven months ago.

Um, and we connected, and when I learned about what you do, and I learned about your story, it, I was just amazed. Uh, in the audience, you're going to learn a little bit about Vasu in a moment as well, but you did a pivot in your life, and you are in a place now that you feel very passionate about. Art. And I'm a creative person, so I get it.

But I am not brave like you to leave my career and, and kind of jump into that space, but you have. And I want you to have a moment to share, uh, really how that all came together. Okay. Well, I'm, uh, I'm a pediatric gastroenterologist and I was full time in academic research career seeing patients and mentoring my fellows and students and residents and teaching all the time.

Then came a time in my life that I felt that I needed to move away from what I'm doing because of changes that were happening at the hospital and in administration. And, uh, my work as a physician has given me a deep insight into human resilience and suffering. But at certain point, at this point in my career, I felt drawn to explore other ways to continue healing.

And ultimately, I found art as a new form of expression. So my shift from medicine to art has been not a totally abrupt change, because I wanted to continue to have a life with purpose. So I started it as a hobby, and it has evolved into a passion, because I realized as I was Um, and I think that by just doing it, that just like in medicine, art has power to heal, provide comfort and to inspire hope.

So although medicine has been the foundation of my life, after spending decades as a pediatric gastroenterologist, um, I, in this retirement phase, I'm very glad that I have stepped into another life of purpose. After trying a few hobbies, now art has sort of become my another life and another career. It allows me to express concepts that I couldn't necessarily capture through medicine or even by writing.

because I write a lot too. Uh, it's become a new language for me and a visual expression and representation of emotions, healing and human connections. So it has become a serious second career and it allows me to continue helping people because through my art I have connected with several charity organizations and I, um, Donate a part of the sales from my website to the charity of the choice that the customer wants.

And this gives me a tremendous fulfillment and, um, I'm very happy to be able to do that. Yeah. So your, one of your art pieces was featured on a pretty important magazine at some point. You want to talk about that? Sure. Um, my art has been featured in other magazines, too, which are related to art, but the most important, um, a feather in my cap, I would say, is when CDC approached me to use one of my COVID paintings for the cover of their Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases, and, uh, this painting, uh, It was made during COVID times, and I had made it in response to a call from Washington Post about COVID art, and it got cited as top 20 in the nation, but when CDC called me and told me that out of the thousands of paintings they reviewed, As for the cover of this journal, they chose my art.

I was really gratified and honored. It was such an awesome moment to be able to told that. Oh my gosh. I, I bet it was. And that's something that I don't believe you even shared with us. I just saw one of your posts. online and I'm like, Vasu, that is just so incredible. You know, we're, we're meeting every month or twice a month with a team of authors, uh, to help you all share your stories.

And I don't think you once mentioned it to them at all. And that is definitely, like you said, a feather in your cap that you should be very, very proud of and share with everybody. Yeah, no, I am. But Christy, you know, I come from a culture where you. Don't usually brag about yourself. You know, that kind of has stayed with me, although I know that to make your presence felt in any kind of field, unless you tell what you're about, people don't know or understand.

Absolutely. It's like the marketing 101, the louder we can shout, the more people that can hear us, the more people we can eventually help. And so spreading the word is important, but I get it as an introvert. That was a huge challenge for me initially when I got on this, uh, career path, you want to say, um, but you know, the more people that know about your art, the more people you can help.

So get over that girl. Yes, I'm learning, Christy. I'm learning fast. Yeah. Yeah. And so that's like a question I was going to ask you because your cultural heritage kind of played into this in some way with your artistic. skills and your marketing and just your current mission. So you want to talk a little bit about that?

Sure. I, I feel very passionate about empowering women and gender equality. And I actually have had a couple of shows just on a woman's journey where I have showed paintings with a woman or a girl, like starting writers from daughter, sister. Um, girlfriend, wife, a career person, entrepreneur, everything, you know, I had 24 paintings in that show.

So I glorify nature as a woman. I depict personalized, uh, mother earth as a woman because The name of my, uh, my name, uh, the meaning in Sanskrit is earth. My full name is Vasundhara, which means earth in Sanskrit. And so I feel very passionate about making art, you know, that helps with the concept of preserving the planet.

And I feel everybody has to do every little bit they can. To make it work and, uh, protect our planet so that you know, people, our future generation can live peacefully. My other purposeful passions are, of course, medical research, uh, raising awareness about mental health, uh, illnesses or mental illnesses and helping kids with autism.

So. Um, I'm attached with these kinds of charities, so Lift Up the Vulnerable is the one with women in Sudan and children who are really suffering a lot and I'm always looking for other purposes, you know, if somebody wants to align with me and I'm ready to reach out and give another helping hand. That's so great.

Yeah, um, I, I get it when we have a passion or cause that we relate to, it just kind of fuels our fire to continue to do good so we can support that charity. Yes. So you have a very clinical medical background. And from what you've shared with me already, there's science involved with your and art with your paintings and art and how it really helps people on their healing journey or just their journey in general.

You want to share a little bit about that? Sure. Um, as I have discovered and researched more into how art can affect the brain and how it helped me to calm down as I made with career transition, because, um, Chrissy, you know, to getting from the top of Your career as a position in a tenured professor to becoming an unknown artist, you know, it was a huge change in my life.

So I had to start from scratch. I had to go through the learning curve as I transition into this new second career. I took classes, I taught myself and here again, I had no mentor. But there wasn't any specific moment when I felt I finally mastered a scale or a technique, because I feel that this like medicine also a phase of evolution and I'm constantly evolving and learning new things.

So I don't feel static that this is it. This is all I want to do because I'm always interested in seeing art by others also and it's quite inspiring sometimes to see beautiful pieces of art and you wish you know you could learn that technique and try and adopt it, you know, not copy what others are doing, but to try and assimilate it in your Your style.

Yes, exactly. You got me. So, uh, you know, doing all these creative processes, it ends up transforming my, my process and, um, uh, art that I create. Um, I use themes like I, You can't but help respond to current events and situations and things like that. Although I'm trying to lean more towards abstraction than representational art at present, but some of the current events and political themes and all do creep in at times, you know, like I want to show women as powerful.

people and, uh, that people should respect and listen to what they say is. Um, another thing that I want to talk about between, there are shared principles between art and medicine, and both are about understanding human nature, alleviating pain and promoting well being. And my neuroscience research taught me, and I'm still exploring it more and more and talking about also, um, is that, uh, Art affects the neuroplasticity of your brain, which is like any kind of injury or stress or trauma.

Your brain has the capacity to regenerate and practicing some, any kind of art. It doesn't have to be visual art. It can be music, dancing, cooking, painting, sewing, whatever the person wants. It, it helps decrease the cortisol level, the stress level, and, you know, it releases. the healthier neurotransmitters like dopamine, you know, which help you deal with the situation and calm you down.

And if these kinds of practices are assimilated in daily life, just for a few, few minutes, like 10 minutes, you know, two or three times a week, just to let yourself go and. lose yourself into getting your, whatever is burning you up down on paper or paint or writing or music or whatever. It helps you deal and go forward in a more productive fashion.

Yeah, I totally get that. I, um, I'm a creative person myself and in school, high school and college, it was all art, art, advertising, design. And that's why I kind of love the artistic side of what I do in business, um, but that's still work, right? Putting together my website page is still work. And so when I have time or when I create time for myself, I do rock painting.

So I love painting rocks. It's kind of like my painting therapy, my rock therapy. Um, it's funny too, because I went to Chicago a couple of weeks ago for the holidays and I brought a bag of rocks. So me and my grandkids could paint them, um, because in Chicago, I thought it was going to be snowy and I'd brought my rocks with me, but I had a really tough time in security.

So they wouldn't let me get through with the rocks. I had to go through security with them, but little side note, but I just, I just wanted to share that because I, I know how important. That time is for me to have that creative outlet, no matter what it is, because everybody's going to have their own creative outlet.

Um, some people aren't really good artists, but they still have something that allows them to let their creative expression flow or like what you said before, maybe have beautiful art around them. So that helps with their neurology to be more, uh, calm and centered and grounded and healing. Yeah, I'm so glad you raised the point because you know, looking at art is also therapeutic and my paintings are intended, intended to create healing environments.

For example, the colors I choose, the forms I create are all based on the neuroscience of how the colors also affect your life. and give you some comfort. Um, so this kind of serenity, I have some works in hospitals, in corporate environments, in colleges, in public spaces where people, if they are exposed to it, and I'm sure there are other artists who do it too.

Um, they're exposed to it and find comfort, like in a hospital, if you're facing some kind of bad news and you're in a sterile environment or. You feel more depressed, but if you have something that you can look at and wonder about what it means and why is this color that and you can lose yourself into something else and find some different kind of comfort while you assimilate any kind of stress or bad news.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Even if you don't even recognize you're doing it, I think just looking at it and just having that in front of your. your eyes and letting that enter into your brain still, I would assume I'm no doctor, but I would assume that would still make a huge difference. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. So I want to ask you, um, I know you have a great resource that you want to share with our audience, but before we get into that, I want you to take a moment and maybe share some words of wisdom or advice to somebody out there right now, because our audience in general, but I'm sure there's one or two people out there right now who are considering a career change and doing that where they can actually be.

Like dive into art in some way, whatever that looks like for them, whether it's painting, whether it's dancing, whether it's, I don't know anything, but can you share some advice to them? If they're maybe contemplating that? Sure. Um, I think one has to believe in oneself to know that they have capacity to be creative in whatever way.

They don't have to be an artist, but anybody considering a career change or exploring new creative outlets is to follow your own curiosity, your passions, whatever form it is, art, music, writing, or another shift in totally, you know, a profession. But it allows us to, if you follow your heart and express the emotions, then you will be able to handle it in a more fruitful and productive way.

And I encourage you to view creativity not as a talent, but as a practice that can help with emotional regulation, stress relief, and even personal growth. And look at the process. Don't look for perfection. Don't like to, don't say that you have to achieve the peak of second career, you know, right away, but you have to take small baby steps and certain risks.

And sometimes taking those risks is where you find the window you were looking for that allows you to leap into. What is going to be better for you or give you better, more fulfillment than what you're doing at present in case you find it necessary to do that. Yeah. So kind of off script here, but do you feel everybody has some sort of a creative side?

So I know there's a lot of people that are very, very analytical and they, they will claim that there's not a creative bone in their body. What do you think about that? I think it's a myth. You know, there are so often people will say, I can't even draw a line. Yeah. You don't have to draw a straight line, draw a curved line.

Do whatever you want to, but whatever way you can de stress yourself, whether it's just doodling or zentangling or even writing some words that are bothering you and putting them down on a journal or paper, you know, will, will let you. Let off some of that steam or whatever is that is stressing you and let you deal with whatever you need to face in a more productive way.

It makes sense. I know, um, I've been painting racks for a couple of years. Um, and I have people over like friends over, you know, girls over and we have rock painting parties and we'll have, you know, little snacks and drinks and, um, you know, some, I've had a couple of people that are like, well, I'm not going to paint, I'm just going to come out and hang out.

And we're like, that's fine. Um, but they paint and their rocks look terrible, but they realize that they still had fun. And it's not about the result. It's about the journey and the process. So if you kind of just embrace. The experience of it and realize, you know, sometimes just getting that rock all messy with different color paints and it doesn't have to look pretty, but you can still have fun with it.

Yes, that exactly. It's a process of having fun and forgetting about some of the other things that you need to forget temporarily. Yeah. And it taps into a different part of our brain, right? So it taps into a part of our brain that we don't necessarily always tap into. Yes, totally. It's the forebrain that, you know, we need to tap into and also a process called the cingulate process, which is a reward center.

So even if you make a messy painting, it's your Baby, you made it and you had fun doing it, you know, that's what is most important. Yes. Yeah. All right. Well, you have a great resource that you're going to share with our audience and I want to thank you. Um, I had a chance to look at it and it's just amazing.

So it is a downloadable PDF, how to select and display art like a pro. So you want to talk a little bit about that. Sure, I can, but it is in the show notes, so when you look at it, I have some artworks on walls and spaces, and it gives you some tips about how to hang and art. So when they read it, they will enjoy that.

Yeah, so, you know, when you have this beautiful art and you see this blank wall or you see a wall with stuff on it, like, where do you put it? I know. Actually, you can't see it right now. I have a background. But when we came into this house, there was one really cool picture on the wall, but it was like, oh, so stinking high.

And so to be able to have a guide on what's right, because we don't know, but our mind knows when it's wrong. Right. And so you want to make sure that you have it all in the right place. And so that resource, I think, is going to be really helpful for people. Yeah, some very practical tips are in there. Yeah.

All right. Well, thank you so much Vasu. Um, this was a great conversation. I want to thank you for being on the show. You are one of the authors in our Mastery Unleashed book. And so if you're in the audience right now and you want to learn a little bit more about Vasu, um, definitely check out her website because I know she's got a lot of her art there that you can actually just buy, right?

And you'll ship it to somebody if they see something that really resonates with them. Correct, Vasu? Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. Okay. So check out her website. Um, get ahold of her. She would love, I know, to autograph a copy of her book that's just going to be out. Well, right now when we are recording it, it's going to be out in two days.

However, by the time this show airs, the episode The book will be out for a little while and she'll have her inventory of books. And so if you get ahold of her, I'm sure she would love to autograph a copy and send it on its way to you along with one of her art or just by itself. And if you want to get her, her resource, uh, definitely click the link in the show notes, and that will take you to our gift vault.

So you will not only get her. free resource, but you'll have a whole collection of other gifts that are past and future guests, um, have shared. So save the link. You can come back anytime, um, because we're always collecting some pretty cool things from the, um, the audience. And no, from not the audience, from the guests that we have on our show.

So Vasu. I really enjoyed this. And I want to thank all of you for being a part of our Mastery Unleashed journey. Please go to whatever platform you listen, if you have not yet, and show us some love. We love getting reviews. We love having feedback and the more we can really just elevate our show, the better chance we have of continuing to get amazing guests like, like Vasu.

So thanks everybody. And we will see you next week. Thank you, Christy. Thank you.