I was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro (right across the beach, in case you are wondering). After graduating from Journalism , at Catholic University, I moved to São Paulo, to work in advertising. But, for some reason, that was not enough. So I bought a ticket to New York. 

The morning was grey when I got to Manhattan, in October of 1995. My first experience was at New York University , where I took courses in advertising and public relations . Following that, I did an internship at Benetton Sportsystem's communication department – this company had an unconventional way of presenting itself to the media. 

In 1996, when the internet was still wearing diapers, I got an expensive, yet slow modem, and started writing movie critics to a website called Eu Vi Primero!, or “I Saw It First!”. Meanwhile, I freelanced for Brazilians in-flight magazines , for a gourmet and a car publication - however, as a New Yorker, I don't cook nor do I own a car. 

A year later, I was hired at the Wall Street Journal Americas , as the paper formed its first Brazilian team. The Journal's main stories started running daily in Portuguese in the Economics section of leading papers in Brazil. Working for such a paper was like going to Journalism school. 

After leaving the paper, in 1998, I began writing for Exame , the Brazilian equivalent of Business Week or Fortune and for the website Aprendiz, which covers Education and Social Responsibility. Later, I had the opportunity of writing articles for Veja , the primary weekly newsmagazine in the country. In the following years, several print and online publications emerged and I found myself writing for dozens of them simultaneously. About the new Guggenheim's exhibition. About philanthropy. About the new airline's CEO. About this fast food nation. 

Being a correspondent had led me to an unanticipated experience: in 2001, I was invited to set up the communications department for Lily Safra's New York office , the billionaire widow of the banker Edmond J. Safra. This position exposed me to an atypical reality. Not to mention that working in public relations allowed me to tiptoe into the other side of journalism. However, I continued writing articles - usually, in the wee hours of the night. I could have never abandoned my editors, who, above all, make me roar with laughter. I left this company in June of 2004 – since then, I have published my first article in the New York Time, published a book about the lives of 23 Brazilians in New York and co-wrote another with a Brazilian rabbi, about a trip he had made in the Middle East. I continue writing articles for several publications and have a blog about New York in a Brazilian magazine website called TRIP.

I live in Brooklyn with my husband and daughter.

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