Meet ANDREA MARTINS

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful ANDREA MARTINS. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with ANDREA below.

ANDREA, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today.  We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person.  Where do you get your resilience from?

My resilience was born the moment I realized I had disappeared inside my own marriage. I became depressed, burned out, numb. I don’t know how I found the courage to leave, especially with debt and no clear plan, but I left. Sometimes survival is a quiet decision made in the middle of fear. I never judge the women who stay; being a woman in this world is already a lot.

On my path, I met women who were competitive and jealous, but also women who changed my life. Women who had done their inner work and understood sisterhood. One of the first was Juliana Faria, a journalist I admired from afar. Her empathy met me at a moment when my impostor syndrome was at its loudest. I reached out, and she gave me the chance to pitch my TV series idea, developed with the Women’s Group in Brazil.

In the middle of the noise in my life, I made a decision: leave behind everything familiar so I could reconnect with myself. I moved to California and attended UCLA’s Showrunner Bootcamp. After 25 years in advertising and entertainment, I wanted peace more than titles. I committed to writing, not knowing it was the beginning of my next career.

With Juliana’s support, I wrote the first episode. She later introduced me to Suzana Pires, a showrunner who helps women rebuild their lives. After hearing my pitch, she asked the question that shifted everything: “Why don’t you write a book? You need your own IP.”

I returned to a book I had begun in 2018. Around the same time, I lost almost everything financially. My parents helped me buy a car, and I simplified my life to the essentials. Meditation, long walks, breathwork, sleep these became my foundation. I disconnected from almost everyone and stopped explaining myself.

Overwhelmed one afternoon, I prayed, “God, where do I go next?” A friend’s mother answered: “Why don’t you go to Ojai?”

When I arrived in Ojai, everything shifted, citrus in the air, mountains surrounding the valley, a vibration I felt in my bones. I met a Chilean artist who needed someone to pet-sit. Perfect timing. I could write without worrying about rent.

Back in L.A., I worked part-time for a woman who had a stroke two weeks before Thanksgiving. Suddenly, I had no job and no income.

Then someone offered me a remote part time work so I could keep writing. Life rearranging itself again.

In December, I moved to Ojai with the sweetest boxer and built a routine that brought me home to myself. I spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve alone, cooking, writing, lighting candles.

I wasn’t lonely; I was full. Full of words, full of peace, full of myself again.

Then the Palisades fire happened. My sense of “home” evaporated.

Pet-sitting became my unexpected path. I moved again and again Silver Lake, South Pasadena, Venice, Culver City house after house, dog after dog.

Each home, each animal softened something in me and helped me finish my book.

It  taught me boundaries, trust, and surrender. I let go of my ego, over and over.

This past year didn’t break me. It brought me back to myself.

Resilience wasn’t something I found it was something always inside me.

By the time I finished my first novel, I understood that I didn’t rebuild my life.

I simply surrendered to the life that was trying to reach me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m a writer, storyteller, and creative producer focused on helping people reconnect with their identity through stories, language, and healing. After many years in advertising and entertainment, my work today is centered on narratives that transform lives.

Next year, I’m publishing my debut novel, The Day I Forgot About Myself, which follows Claire, a woman who breaks free from a toxic marriage to rediscover her identity, redefine love and success, and remember who she truly is.

In 2026, I’ll be launching my podcast, Between Story Lines, turning themes from the book into honest conversations about marriage, infidelity, abuse, identity, and emotional truth.

The docufiction TV series If This Is Not Love, created with the Women’s Group, explores cycles of abuse through multiple perspectives. The project is fully developed, and we’re now seeking the right women directors, screenwriters, and/or studios to help bring it to life.

Is Love the New Drug? As we transition into a new era of collective consciousness, this documentary explores Love not in a romantic sense, but as our main tool a revolutionary force capable of transforming the way we relate to ourselves, others, and the world.

At Imaginary Dreams, my creative studio, I believe that language shapes our identity, so guiding others to express their stories in a healthy and loving way is at the core of my mission. When we shift the words we use, we shift the way we see ourselves.

What excites me most is witnessing people reclaim their voice, rewrite their story, and reconnect with their essence. A new chapter is beginning for me and for everyone who feels called to join this journey.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

There are so many formulas out there about how to succeed, but I believe the most important thing we can do is be authentic, listen to our intuition, and follow our own path.

We’re all unique, and honoring that uniqueness is something to look forward to every single day.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Yes, I’m always open to collaborating with people and organizations whose values align with storytelling, healing, and social impact. I’m especially looking to connect with Women’s Groups, women directors, screenwriters, producers, publishers, literary agents, studios, and production companies interested in purpose-driven storytelling and supporting the projects I’m developing.

My work lives at the intersection of storytelling and healing, and I love partnering with those who value authenticity and impact.

If any part of my journey resonates with you, I’d love to connect:

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Photograph by Lauren Kallen

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