**A gentle note before you listen: this episode includes discussion of a cancer diagnosis and divorce. Please take care of yourself as you listen.**

She left a marriage, rebuilt her identity across continents, survived divorce alone, and then found out she had breast cancer, all while raising her daughter in a country that was never supposed to become home.

Mari's story is a raw, unfiltered look at what it takes to stop outsourcing your life to relationships, survive the moments that break you open, and finally choose yourself. If you have ever felt stuck in a role that was never really yours, this conversation will hit hard.

Dominique sits down with Mari, originally from Brazil and now living in Australia, to unpack the long road from people-pleasing and transactional love to self-trust, boundaries, and real emotional freedom. Mari shares how growing up in a busy, unaffectionate household shaped her early beliefs about love, why she married to leave home, and how living in South Korea became the first real chance to discover who she was.

You will hear how that pattern followed her through Singapore and Australia, why her divorce became the turning point that forced her to build a life on her own terms, and how she navigated a brutal cancer diagnosis in silence while balancing single motherhood, recovery, and survival mode. She also reveals the unexpected role fitness played in helping her reclaim her body, her confidence, and her sense of belonging.

Along the way, Dominique and Mari explore how healing can look messy, nonlinear, and deeply personal. This episode is for anyone rebuilding after heartbreak, navigating identity loss, or learning how to trust themselves again.

Mari's journey is proof that even after divorce, illness, and years of starting over, it is still possible to come back stronger, clearer, and more fully yourself.

Come Tribe With Me: Real Healing Journeys Honest conversations with people who lost themselves and found their way back.

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Mari's Instagram: @mari_walks