Make your comeback bigger than your setback.
Meet Maria:
Wife | Mother | Mental Health Advocate
Suicide survivor turned impassioned author, national speaker, life coach, transformational nutrition coach, fitness instructor and creative change-maker.
I am living proof that with faith, determination, integrative care and a supportive community, you can bounce back from anything, even the brink of death.
*I live in a suburb of Buffalo, New York with my husband Shaun Maciejewski – my high school sweetheart and best friend (and YouCanBounceBack’s ultra-talented website designer, photographer and marketing director!). After 18 years of marriage, we welcomed our first child into the world in November 2020, a bright light in the midst of a pandemic. Our funny, sweet, stubborn, fiercely independent, ever curious little Alex keeps us 40-something-year-old parents on our toes! I thank God each and every day that my suicide attempt was unsuccessful, that I recovered and I get to be Alex’s mom and Shaun’s wife. Now I am emboldened to speak out about mental health dis-ease and be a vessel of hope for others.
Learn more about Maria’s education and credentials
Maria is a summa cum laude graduate of Canisius College. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History with a minor in Writing and a concentration in Women’s Studies.
Maria is also a graduate of the Allstate Minority and Women Emerging Entrepreneurs program offered through the University at Buffalo Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. She was named 1st Place “Protégé of the Year” in the MWEE capstone business plan competition for her work with Campus Calm, her first business.
In 2013, Maria graduated from iPEC, the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching, to fulfill her dream of empowering others to make sustainable positive change in their lives, and is a certified professional life coach and leadership development coach.
In 2015, Maria graduated from the Institute of Transformational Nutrition so she could empower her clients to transform their physical and mental health through the power of nutrition like she did.
In 2017, Maria studied to become a certified bellicon rebounding fitness instructor so she could help people in her community to ease loneliness, release stress and get mentally & physically fit while having fun!
In 2025, Maria successfully completed PSYO1ucX: “Mental Health and Nutrition” a course of study offered by UCx, an online learning initiative of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. As a certified nutrition coach, Maria took this class to help people utilize evidence-based nutrition to support better mental health and well-being. Visit the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab to learn more about their trailblazing research in nutrition and mental health.
