Meet Anne Marre Bautista
Name: Anne Marre Bautista
Age: 31
Occupation: Research Analyst
Skin condition: Mild eczema (at the moment)
I feel like people with skin conditions often have a one-line explanation that they use to explain their skin to others. Tell us yours.
"It's not contagious." I think my one-lines mostly start with reassuring someone that I'm not contagious. I don't think people really care about what it is until they know for sure that something isn't contagious. Once they are all assured, that's the only time they would really care to ask about what IT IS on your skin.
We met at Eczema Expo, the National Eczema Association's annual conference for people with eczema. Tell me about how you decided to get involved in the eczema community.
It all started with an Instagram post. During the time I was going through one of my worse eczema break-outs, I went on Instagram to post a photo of myself. The intention was to be vulnerable and essentially ask other people how they are dealing with it. It got many people attention that I realized there IS a community for people like me who is dealing with chronic eczema. Since then I've been involved with projects in relation to eczema awareness.
Ok, not a skin-related question, but you are a badass skateboarder--a hobby you came to as an adult. How did you get into skateboarding? What do you love about it? Does it affect the way you think about yourself or your skin?
Well, I don't really call myself a "badass" skateboarder, so thank you for that! HAHA. However, I really do love the sport. I got into skateboarding just like any other hobbies I learned. I'm a type of person who constantly looking for something to learn. I taught myself how to play the drums, ukulele, snowboarding, and of course, skateboarding! What is the best sport to learn in sunny Los Angeles besides surfing? SKATEBOARDING! So, one day I decided that I would teach myself how to skateboard. Eventually, I found out about this group of girls who also love the sport in Venice called Grlswirl. What I love about the sport is that I always feel so free whenever I'm on my board. The wind also makes it feel like I'm flying on the ground. But, I think the best part really is when I get to skateboard with other girls in Venice. And in all honesty, I forget about eczema whenever I skateboard. Unless when my doctor would say that I should "avoid the sun," which is like an oxymoron when you live in sunny Los Angeles. haha. Yeah, I had to stop skateboarding at one point because I had to limit sun exposure. That summer was such a sad one for me.
Where can we keep up with you?
I'm quite terrible with social media. I do have an Instagram account, but I'm not active online as I like to be. But you can still holla at me @annemarre