Today we meet the 573 Magazine Mommy Makeover winner—Kourtnie Rawlins.
Hello my name is Kourtnie Rawlins. I am a mother of three beautiful girls. Daisy is three years old, I also have custody of my twin eight year old nieces Peyton and Mikiah. I have been a single young mother raising these girls to the best of my ability! I always help others in anyway I can. I feel guilty when I spend money on myself. Which has left me with not getting my hair done since 2012! Crazy to think about that! I rarely wear makeup as mom life is a roller coaster. I am thankful for my support team. I have had a struggle with an eating disorder but once I had Daisy everything changed. I would love the opportunity to have a makeover. Every night I tell my girls that they are smart, strong, kind, beautiful and important. I just wish I could make myself take my own advice.
I am a college student who is also very active in my kids' lives. Along with the kids sports and school, I play softball tournaments and league. The softball tournaments I participate in are benefits for those in need. My softball team recently took second in the Ethan Bryan Tournament, raising over $4000 for his scholarship fund. I love to give back and help others.
I recently became engaged to be married to Joey Kennon. We've been together for a little over a year. He is my saving grace. He is so supportive of me and my girls. He’s a little older than me, but he is everything I’ve always wanted. He takes my girls to do stuff, supports them and comes to all of their sports games. We both play coed softball together and he also plays men’s league. He has two boys himself. Isaiah is 11 years old and Eli is 6. He is definitely a family man. He only has ever had his two boys so he was in for a surprise with my girls. His boys are laid back and chill and my girls are loud and rambunctious. He goes above and beyond to help and support me and the kids in anyway he can.
When it comes to me-time, I am really slacking. I couldn’t tell you how to put liquid eyeliner on, or any of this contouring stuff. My kids come first, but I need help in taking care of myself. I drink water, wash my face at night, nothing over the top and no extreme makeup doings. I would love this chance to get my self confidence back and feel beautiful again. I normally take pictures of the kids. It is rare that I can get myself and three kids in a picture. If I get behind a camera I’d prefer a filter to make me feel pretty. I’d love to take a picture of my full face and feel beautiful again. Thank you for your time and for this opportunity.
Tell us about your kids.
Daisy is spunky. She’s me and my brother made over! Sweet, adorable, and always busy...what can I say, she's a toddler!
Peyton is our little veterinarian, she likes all things animals. She's my little girlie girl out of the bunch. She is a soccer player now. She’s usually kinda shy so I put her in soccer to try to bust that bubble. She did good and really likes it, so it worked out great.
Mikiah is all about sports and a big tomboy. She loves softball and wants to be a police officer when she grows up. She was a police officer for Halloween and went around saying, “I'm the Law…” for like a week straight! Lol.
We took all the kids to the Polar Express in St. Louis last year. They got to see the light show, and we rode the Carousel. They had a blast picking out the animals they were gonna ride on. We also went on the ferris wheel. They'd never been on something that high. Lol. They liked to rock the seat on the ferris wheel, their little faces were just lit up the whole time! They'd never seen anything like it!
How did you feel when you found out you were the winner of the 573 Magazine Mommy Makeover?
Oh my, I'm still in shock. This is such a wonderful opportunity and I am feeling fully blessed. This whole thing is just unreal and so amazing! I’m so thankful right now, I couldn't have hoped for a better opportunity. I’m so happy to be here!
Our first stop for our winning Mommy was a visit to Dr. Olivero at Show Me Younger Medical Aesthetics. As the main sponsor of the 573 Magazine Mommy Makeover, Dr. Olivero will be putting on new shine on our Mommy. It's going to be so cool!
Once Kourtnie arrived for her intinal consutlation and treatments, laser technician Sunni Roarty along with a 20 year EMT Kathy Rawlins, got everything preped in the lazer room for Dr. Olivero. The clinic is an amazing complex with sevral state-of-the-art Fotona lazer rooms. The clinic is overseen by JoAnn Fanning the head administrator and also a certified Fotona laser technition.
Dr. Olivero is very passionate about his craft.
All available lazer staff is in on the initial consultation. Kathy Rawlins examines acnes scars and lesions on Kourtnie's neck.
Dr. Olivero explains the forehead wrinkle removal process.
Dr. Olivero comes from a mix of European and Latin Ancestry. A family of physicians, engineers, and architects influenced Dr. Olivero into a passionate career of science, art, and technology with an enthusiastic and compassionate attitude towards his patients. He enjoys a romantic life of marriage with his beautiful wife Marisa, along with his treasured children. He is a sports enthusiast and a team player.
Watching Dr. Olivero work is like watching a passionate artist attack a blank canvas.
He graduated with honors from UFM as a Physician and Surgeon in the Central American region and performed research in biotechnology and tenure as T.A. in human physiology. Influenced by his love and passion for continual learning, Dr. Olivero immigrated to the US in 2004. He studied at UM in Miami and USF in Tampa, completed three years of general surgical training and intensive care, and then shifted his studies into preventive & occupational medicine career with a Masters degree in public health, research & environmental and occupational health. He was passionate about technological advances in health, and during one of his rotations at Cape Canaveral at NASA, he started to show curiosity and interest toward technological applications for health, such as advanced laser technologies and other biological regenerative states of the art medicine. Dr. Olivero continues to pursue his career with an open mentality towards safety, learning, and teaching which has allowed him to set higher standards of care in his medical practice. He has been an author in biotechnology and is an active Diamond Member of EMT attaining ACGME certifications in pain management, medical, dermatological & surgical aesthetics, laser skin therapy, innovative regenerative biological therapies, autologous fat transfer and anti-aging medicine. This variety of board certifications allow him to be one of the leaders in the field of modern medicine bringing the patient opportunities and solutions for diverse clinical challenges to make you look healthier and younger.
During the counciltaion it was agreed upon that Kourtnie would have lesions, acne, and acne scar removal using a variety of laser techniques (surgical, fracking and smoothing). She also gets lip atrophy so we will do liplase on her (liplase is the lasers going in and stimulating your tissues to build more collagen).
Dr. Olivero points out a large scar on Kourtnie's cheek which will soon be gone.
Dr. Olivero determinded that Kourtnie has combination skin, which mixed with acne can bring on all sorts of problems (such as the lesions and textured scarring) so the first step is getting her skin cleared and smoothed. Then they will go in to the 4D, which is only offered with Fotona lasers (the same the Kardashians use actually, there's not many in the US) which is a 4 dimensional face lift, face smoothing and just all around really brings out great features (lips, eyes, jawline etc).
Laser tech, Sunni Roarty, explains all the safty procesures provided by the staff.
Dr. Olivero shows us crows feet, lesions and forehead wrinkles which will soon disapear.
Time to prep her face with a specialized numbing gel. A few minutues later and Dr. Olivero was off to the races.
Forehead lesions removed almost instantly.
Dr. Olivero uses aggressive technics and optics for deep forehead wrinkles.
Sunni Roarty preps a lazer lens change for Dr. Olivero. Several lens types are used given the appilcation and the desired results.
In less than one hour, Dr. Olivero had Kourtine's face much, much smoother.
Even on her first treatment her big scar and forehead wrinkles are nearly gone.
Okay, if you do not remember the big scar Kourtnie HAD on her cheek, you may want to look again. This blew me away as the laser made short work of the scaring.
Kathy Rawlins applies a finishing gel as Dr. Olivero preps for Liplase treatment.
The Show Me Younger Liplase traetment stays A LOT longer than lip fillers. Sunni told us if you're young and have great collagen production then you probably won't need maintenance for well over 12 months. Where fillers are gone in approx 4 months, your Liplase is still building collagen in 4 months.
Who doesn't want fuller lips?
Watching Dr. Olivero work is like watching a passionate artist attack a blank canvas. And his team is freindly and professional. He had Kourtnie relaxed and ready to go in minutes. Getting to watch, in real time, Kourtnies scars, lesions and crows feet disappear right in front of us was simply amazing. I would have never belived it had we not been there photographing the process. Simply amazing!
The art and skill of Dr. Olivero is simply amazing. He truly does scalpt with a lazer. Kourtnie lift this first treatment with a smoother skin, fuller lips, and one heck of a smile. The redding goes away after a day or so. Wow, how's that for a before and after!
If you have the knowledge, skills, and means to make an impact or help someone feel better, why not do it? Which is exactly how the Mommy Makeover originally started in the first place. When you're in a position to make a difference in someones life, you should go for it. We at 573 Magazine are grateful to have had the opportunity to do just that and we appreciate all of the wonderful businesses, like Show Me Younger Medical Aesthetics and the other sponsors of this amazing contest.
So what's next for Kourtnie's epic Mommy Makeover adventure? I guess you'll just have to wait and see for yourself when we unveil Kourtnie's new look next month! Until then 573 Friends, be happy, be healthy, be well!
words by T. Smugala & AJ Koehler
pics by T. Smulgala