A native of Northern California, Rikki Rodriguez moved to Victoria Park a little more than a year ago with her boyfriend Mario. Rikki and Mario are enjoying the area tremendously.

“I really like it here,” Rikki says. “I love going on walks in Victoria Park and looking at the trees.”

Rikki grew up in Oakley, CA, which is on the east side of the San Francisco Bay area. It is a small town of about 40,000 people.

She is the youngest of four siblings – two sisters and one brother. “My family is very close,” Rikki stated. Her mother and many of her family members still reside in Northern California.

Rikki attended Freedom High School – which was the only high school in her town. While there, she was a cheerleader and was voted “Most Spirited” by her classmates.

After graduating from Freedom High School, Rikki attended Fresno State where she studied Health Science and was in the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

“I had fun and am still super close friends with my sisters,” Rikki stated.

During her time at Fresno State, Rikki gained valuable experience working in a hospital.

Following her time at Fresno State, Rikki decided to go to Nurse Practitioner school and returned to the Bay Area where she attended Samuel Merritt University. Rikki achieved her Master's Degree in Nursing which allowed her to prescribe medications to patients.

“It took me 3 and a half years. It was hard, and it was challenging,” Rikki said.

She then worked for a couple of plastic surgeons where she built her hands-on experience and also was able to continue her education.

The first plastic surgeon she worked for was Dr. Rex Moulton-Barrett, MD, in Alameda, CA.

“It went really well. I learned how to do operations and injectables,” Rikki said.

She also achieved her RNFA – which is a licensed Registered Nurse who works as a surgical first assistant during surgeries.

After three years with Dr. Moulton-Barrett, Rikki moved to a larger practice - Elite MD in Danville, CA. Elite MD is a leading institute in advanced dermatology, laser and plastic surgery. The practice was founded by a husband and wife team. Dr. Vivek Bansal is a plastic surgeon, and his wife, Dr. Sonia Badreshia-Bansal, is a dermatologist.

“I was the lead Nurse Practitioner in charge. I was the Captain,” Rikki remarked.

At this time, Rikki also started mentoring students from her alma mater, Samuel Merritt University, and did clinical training as an adjunct professor. She taught students about surgery and how to suture.

Rikki and Mario, who was a teacher and taught Earth Science and Integrative Science at the high school level, met in 2021. Mario, however, was ready to leave California and move to Florida. Covid had a big impact on the school system in California as many schools were shut down for an extended period of time. Mario was planning to leave at the end of 2021. Many of his family members, including his mom, dad and sister, were making the move to South Florida as well.

Mario went on Indeed and started looking at jobs in Florida for nursing, surgery, etc. He saw an ad for Dr. Miami - who is Dr. Michael Salzhauer in Bal Harbour, FL. Rikki applied, and they called her the following day.

“He is a famous surgeon. They flew me over here and then they had me operate. They hired me the same day,” Rikki said. Over 250 people applied for the job, and Rikki got it!

Working with Dr. Salzhauer, Rikki flourished.

“I went to the Middle East and operated internationally – in Qatar. That I am really proud of. I never thought I would do that and hope that people like that. It shows how much experience I have so they’ll trust me. I am not new to this,” Rikki says.

After working with Dr. Salzhauer for a few years along with a few other doctors, Rikki decided to start her own practice.

“I was ready to start my own practice and do my own thing,” Rikki said. “Having a strong relationship with my patients is important to me. In surgery, I don’t get to see them that much.”

Rikki’s practice is a boutique-style wellness med-spa experience. She offers her clients flexibility with after hours by staying open until 7:30 / 8pm and is also open on Sundays.

“I want to be an honest and ethical provider and not sell people what they don’t need. I want to focus on the best plan for them and what we can achieve. I really want to help them,” Rikki states.

A big part of her practice is focused on Functional Medicine, Genetic Testing and Weight Loss. Functional Medicine involves lab work to see if there is anything that can be adjusted to make a patient feel better and to optimize them. Genetic Testing takes the trial and error out of knowing the right treatment for the patient in regards to vitamin supplementation and customized prescriptions. The practice also provides medical supervised Weight Loss solutions.

Rikki and Mario enjoy all that Fort Lauderdale has to offer. They like going to the beach in the evening and riding the Water Taxi. They also like Happy Hour at Eddie V’s and going to the Boathouse. They also enjoy Butterfly World.

Rikki is grateful for her family and getting to do what she does for work. It is important for her to make people not only feel like their best self but also for them to be the most confident.