Hi, Nice to Meet You!

I’m Maria Halpern, a Certified Health Coach and Founder of Mula Health.

My Story: Striving but Struggling

From day one I’ve been an ambitious, type A person, which led me to study hard in school, earn my way into a top college, and then excel in my professional life. From the outside looking in, I was accomplished and confident. But what others didn’t perceive was that internally, my life was a different story. I had struggled with an autoimmune digestive disorder for most of my life, I felt anxious and insecure, I was often stressed and overwhelmed, and I developed disordered eating patterns to cope with it all.

My Journey to Becoming a Health Coach

I made a habit of pushing myself to the brink, which in turn caused my autoimmune disorder to “flare-up” and force me to take time off from work to recover.  Not surprisingly, this caught up with me and in my thirties, I hit bottom. This compelled me to reflect and recognize that for years, I had been abusing my body and mind with all of the stress and pressure I was putting on myself. 

So, I left the business world and enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where I learned not just the technical aspects of nutrition and wellness, but about how all aspects of our lifestyle impact our health and ability to perform at our best. Naturally, I made my own life the experiment, applying what I learned and adjusting as things went along. Turns out, my efforts paid off! For the first time since I was diagnosed with my autoimmune condition, I was told I had zero inflammation in my gut. What’s more, I finally understood how my emotional and mental health impacted my physical health and how to heal and strengthen my body and mind through nutrition and holistic lifestyle changes.

Starting Mula Health

After earning my health coach certification, I founded Mula Health as a way to channel my knowledge and help others. My approach? I call it, “getting rooted”, which emphasizes the importance of feeling grounded, secure, and connected to your authentic self. In fact, “mula” actually translates to “root” in Sanskrit so it’s truly one of my guiding principles.

My practice is focused on young professionals because apart from my own personal experience, I observed many others dealing with similar struggles in my professional life. I worked with graduate students, fellow employees, and job-seeking candidates who were tired, anxious, overwhelmed, and disconnected from their own interests, strengths, and values. Whether it was because they had gotten sucked into what their peers or co-workers were doing or had been heads down in “achievement mode” for too long, they were forgetting what truly mattered to them and were not making lifestyle choices that enabled them to feel healthy, happy, and strong.   

My mission at Mula Health is to help you: 

  • Focus on your well-being and see it as your best resource for successfully navigating the challenges of being a young professional 

  • Optimize nutrition to enhance your performance, resilience, energy levels, and adaptability  

  • Set and achieve goals that will help you stay grounded and connected to your unique calling and mission

My Experience

Before I became a health coach, I led professional teams and guided graduate students

  • Chief of Staff to Head of Global Marketing & Advertising

    American Express

    De facto team coach, guiding colleagues on leadership techniques and achieving personal milestones

  • Director of Student Engagement, MBA Career Management

    The Wharton School

    Advised Wharton MBA students (~200 per year, 7 years) on career plans and life goals

  • Talent Development Lead, Career Advancement Startup

    Shift.org

    Coached military service members during career and life transition to civilian workforce

  • Talent Lead, Global Design and Innovation Company

    IDEO

    Guided, supported, and interviewed hundreds of job seeking candidates