Maria, born in London with deep Irish roots, spent part of her early childhood in Ireland and frequently visited family there throughout her youth. Raised in a single-parent household in Oxfordshire, she found escapism and expression through decades of performance in dance, gymnastics, singing, and acting. Though offered teacher training at Oxford and a place at a prestigious Performing Arts Centre in London, she initially pursued a client-focused business corporate path in the 1980s, from call centres and hotel booking companies, to becoming a UK County Service Coordinator, managing a team of 20 field engineers, and then on to a logistics car company in the 1990s, overseeing a prestigious car-fleet brand, managing their deliveries to dealership showrooms or to specific movie/TV locations.

However, her love for devouring new knowledge started once she began working in schools, meaning that many necessary qualifications along the way were needed, including many in the SEND area, (some of which were for student evaluation purposes): – After marrying and having two sons, Maria and her family relocated to Dorset, where her 25-year career in education began.

She later moved to the Middle East for 15 transformative years, taking on various educational roles. Her personal resilience was tested when a 32-year relationship ended just before the pandemic. Inspired by her late mother’s strength through her own adversity and her ‘Carpe Diem’ attitude to life, coupled with Maria’s own divorce and prolonged litigation journey, she trained as a Sara Davison Breakup & Divorce, Narcissistic Relationship Recovery and domestic abuse Coach, with a special interest into researching the dynamics of toxic relationships. Now back in the UK, she continues to deepen her understanding of relationship psychology. 

In her spare time, she enjoys reading (both fiction and non-fiction), live music events and wellness activities. She’s a passionate advocate for mental well-being due to her empathetic nature, and believes music is one of the key soundtracks of life. Aside from the positive ‘mind-blowing’ clients’ coaching transformations that she experiences, by far Maria’s proudest achievements in life are her two sons and her grandson Rafael – their unwavering support through recent years has given her the strength to power through and to become the person she is today. Maria lives this new chapter of her life based on one of Tony Robbins’ most famous quotes – “Life is happening FOR you, not TO you.”