Maria was born and raised in Missoula, Montana. She spent much of her youth playing sports, which offered the opportunity to play volleyball for Montana Tech. She was the first athlete to graduate from their Registered Nursing program in 2009.

While working night shift in the Intensive Care Unit, She attended the University of Michigan and graduated with her Masters of Science in Nursing in 2013. After becoming a Nurse Practitioner, she moved home to Montana.

Maria gained valuable experience working in many areas of medicine including long-term care, emergency medicine, intensive care, and outpatient ambulatory clinic settings.

Throughout her career, she developed a passion for providing care to those struggling with substance use disorder. While working for Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, she was offered the opportunity to build a Medication-Assisted Treatment program for people with opioid use disorder. She developed and ran the MAT Program in Polson for nearly ten years before embarking on her own journey as a solo practitioner. In 2024, she opened Rocky Mountain Health and Wellness, a clinic dedicated to providing much-needed care to those struggling with substance use disorder.