Hi, I'm Mariana.
For nearly a decade, I've helped women become stronger — first physically, and increasingly, psychologically. My work began in fitness and performance coaching, but over the years I became fascinated by the questions that existed underneath health goals: Why do some women achieve everything they set out to achieve and still feel disconnected from themselves? Why do so many high-achieving women struggle with stress, perfectionism, and the feeling that they're carrying too much? What does it actually mean to feel strong?
As a NASM-certified personal trainer, health coach, and writer, I take an integrated approach to health that considers the whole person — body, mind, relationships, work, and identity. Because strength is never only physical. The strongest women I know are not simply disciplined or productive. They know how to recover, set boundaries, tolerate uncertainty, care for themselves without guilt, and build lives that feel aligned with who they are becoming. My goal is not simply to help clients look better or perform better. It is to help them build bodies and lives they trust.
I believe health should create freedom, not obsession, guilt, or another full-time job to manage. The goal is not perfection, but building enough strength, energy, and resilience to fully participate in the life you want to live. That means getting stronger, moving without pain, sleeping better, managing stress more effectively, supporting hormones and long-term health, building sustainable habits, improving body composition, and developing a healthier relationship with food and exercise.
Most importantly, it means creating a body that feels like an ally rather than a project that constantly needs fixing—a foundation that supports the life you want to build rather than limiting it.
I grew up in Brazil and moved to the United States in my early twenties to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where I studied International Relations before beginning my career in investment banking. Like many ambitious young professionals, I spent years believing that success and self-neglect could peacefully coexist.
Eventually my body disagreed. Chronic pain, injuries, food sensitivities, and burnout forced me to pay attention to the systems I had spent years overriding. What began as a search for symptom relief became a much larger education in physiology, nutrition, movement, recovery, stress, and human behavior. That journey eventually led me to leave finance and dedicate my work to helping others build health in a way that supports not only performance, but longevity, resilience, and quality of life.
Today I bring together nearly a decade of coaching experience with a deep interest in psychology, identity, and the realities of modern life — particularly for women balancing careers, relationships, motherhood, ambition, and caregiving. Because health does not exist in isolation from the rest of our lives.
I live in Marin County, California with my husband, two daughters, and our dog, Gaia.
When I'm not coaching clients, recording conversations for Inner Lives, or writing, you'll usually find me lifting weights, hiking, reading psychology books, traveling, or chasing slow mornings with a good fantasy book.
Originally from Salvador, Brazil, I still return often and remain deeply connected to the culture and family that shaped me.
The Details
Host of Inner Lives
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Certified Health Coach (Institute for Integrative Nutrition)
Certified Yoga Instructor (Yoga Alliance)
Nearly a decade coaching women in strength, health, and performance
Former investment banking professional