Formal Brief BIO:  Mariya is a spiritual business & life mentor that empowers her clients to find wisdom within, so that they can build a life that feels meaningful, purposeful, joyful, and abundant. She is a former tenured university professor who studied behavior change and mindfulness. Mariya is a bestselling author, an award-winning educator, and the author of 50+ scientific publications. She appeared on Women Inspired TV, NBC, ABC, and other media outlets. She shares her story to inspire others. 

You can access her Full CV here

“Trust Your Joy - Everything is Possible” (my mantra)

 I was born and raised in Russia. As a girl, I was told that I was not good enough and that my job was to follow others. Yet, deep down, I knew otherwise... 

Although it took many years, a change of continents, a life crisis, traveling the world, and studying metaphysics to begin to find myself.   

At 21, I immigrated to the USA -- all by myself, with no money and no plan. By 29, I graduated with a PhD, got a job at one of the top research centers, and eventually became a university professor. At the time, I was also married. 

That's when the crisis happened ... I was seeing my marriage and the work I was doing. I couldn't be myself. I couldn't speak the truth. I didn't know who I was and was lost in playing roles, people-pleasing, giving my power away, feeling so scared, and going on autopilot. Achieving everything early in life and getting disappointed in it all was A GIFT. 

The next decade was ... HARD! 

The years of undoing ... 

Undoing my marriage

Undoing my thinking and being

Undoing how I work. 

Getting my mental and physical health back. 

In retrospect, it was a gift - a time of waking up, asking hard questions, following through with very uncomfortable choices, building new habits, establishing a self-care practice, studying spirituality and alternative healing, and experiencing different cultures and ways of being.  

Re-building my life brick by brick. 

Taking responsibility for my side of things. 

Undoing generational patterns.  

Regulating my nervous system. 

Learning to trust myself and feel worthy.

Finding what matters to me.

 Forgiving ... 

One of the final steps was leaving  academia -- something I worked so hard for -- achieving tenure and absolutely loving working with my students. Yet, it was not in alignment and had to go.

I started my own business in 2019. And now I help others find their truth, embody their gifts, and serve the world not from a place of self-sacrifice but from a place of joy, sustainability, meaning, and wholeness. That's the true and holistic definition of success - mind, body, spirit, health, family, lifestyle, creativity, community, etc.

I got remarried in 2020 to a wonderful man, and now we have two kids - I am so grateful!

The journey continues, of course ... 

With more inner peace, 

Alignment and

Meaning. 

While also being human and not killing myself for it with judgment (most of the time :)

One step at a time.  

 XO,
Mariya

P.S. Some pictures from my adventures are below. 

P.P.S. You can read my story in the memoir "From Russia to Joy: A Journey of Spiritual Awakening" (check the Books section)

Education & Work Experience