Welcome, I’m Marisa Body Image Coach for women
Dip. LC Life & Mental Wellbeing | Dip. Inner Child Healing | ANZCAL Accredited | 5+ years’ experience
While coaching is always about you, I know how important it is to feel who you’re working with, so here is a little about me and how I came to specialize in this work:
Life has thrown me a curveball or two, but I guess it’s what I made of it that counts…
My youth was shaped by an eating disorder and I had to fight hard to move on and grow as a person.
My curiosity, courage and the desire to live a life more authentically me, kept me going, catapulting me on my own journey of personal development from my young teens onwards.
I have been a professional coach for 5 years and absolutely love what I do.
Coaching allows me to support women in rebuilding trust with their bodies, moving beyond self-criticism, and creating a more peaceful, confident relationship with themselves.
Today, I specialize in body image coaching for women who feel stuck in cycles of self-criticism, comparison, and food anxiety and who are ready to feel more confident, at ease, and at home in their bodies.
My life experiences, my very open mind and heart as well as my grounded personality provide a sense of calm and the opportunity to dig deep - I see you, and I’m here to support you!
Our lives are so hectic, so time - and deadline focused, so focused on what other people expect from us, that sometimes we don’t even take a moment to listen to our heart, to really follow our dreams, to connect with our surroundings, to make peace with ourselves; I want to help you stop, breathe, reflect, refocus, grow wings and fly.
I offer a space where you can slow down, reconnect with yourself, and begin to shift the patterns that have kept you stuck, so change feels accessible, supportive, and sustainable.
Much love,
Marisa
Fun facts about me:
Wife to a kiwi husband
Mum to two humans, 5 chickens, 2 guinea pigs and one cat
Happily living in a body that’s healthy, fit, and definitely not a size 8; no longer trying to change myself to fit in, because I belong just as I am, and loving my life in the body I have
Cannot function without coffee, my husband’s jokes, or my children’s cuddles
Lover of yoga, nature, travelling, a good book and belly laughs
Creative and sometimes wild but mostly loving, ambitious, highly empathetic and endlessly curious
My Coaching Approach to Mental Wellbeing and Personal Growth
I believe in growth.
I believe you can, even if you don’t.
I am here to cheer you on, to create space for reflection, to allow your dreams to speak to you and encourage you to grow.
I am here to transform your perspective.
How Body Image Coaching Works:
My approach blends proven coaching techniques with a grounded, intuitive understanding of what you need most in each session, informed by both professional training and my own journey with body image and self-acceptance.
Every coaching journey is unique, but all share one goal: helping you connect to yourself and create lasting change.
Together, we’ll explore what’s driving self-criticism, food guilt, and constant body-checking, because Body image struggles are rarely about appearance, they are rooted in deeper patterns of self-worth, safety, and identity.
You’ll discover simple, practical ways to quiet your inner critic, stop feeling controlled by food or appearance, and take gentle, steady steps toward feeling confident, at ease, and truly at home in your body.
Whether online or in person, your coaching journey is always:
Collaborative
Empowering
Action-oriented
Tailored to your personal growth and wellbeing
At your pace
A Holistic Approach to Body Image Coaching
I take a holistic approach to life and body image coaching, supporting clients online across New Zealand, Australia, the US and worldwide. By looking at all areas of your life—relationships, work, self-image, mindset, and subconscious patterns—we create changes that reach deeper and last longer.
What this means for you: we’ll explore how these areas influence each other and uncover ways to create more balance, clarity, and confidence in your life. My online coaching helps you build a healthier relationship with your body, improve emotional wellbeing, manage stress, and navigate big life transitions.
My offerings include:
1:1 Coaching: body image, emotional wellbeing (anxiety, low mood), stress recovery, and life transitions
Day Retreats for Women: designed for relaxation, reflection, and reconnecting with yourself. These intimate, invitation-only retreats give you space to pause and reset. Join the waitlist to secure your spot.
Wondering what life coaching really is — and how it can actually help you move forward?
I’ve written a short blog post that explains it in depth
Why I Chose the Name 'Kokon' for My Coaching Practice
Right about the time I had made the decision to study life coaching and become a coach I had countless encounters with Monarch butterflies in all stages of their lives.
The encounters included caterpillars, cocoons and butterflies. Of course I had seen all three of those in previous times but the encounters were intensified and almost daily, as if the animal was trying to reach out to me.
I was oblivious at first, but after a while it occurred to me, that I needed to research and find out more about this beautiful insect.
It didn’t come as a surprise to me to find out that butterflies are representing spiritual growth, change, transformation and the guiding light to our truth.
As I continued with my studies and was searching for a name for my business, I thought about what I wanted to offer to my clients and I realized that I want to offer, create and hold a space (physical and mentally) for my clients to connect to themselves in a more meaningful way in order to grow.
The perfect space for this to me is the cocoon - a space where transformation can happen.
Kokon is the german name for cocoon.
If something in my story or approach resonated with you, I’d love to invite you to a free, non-committal chat.
We can talk about where you’re at, what’s feeling challenging right now, where you’d like to be, and what kind of support might feel right for you.
If it feels like a good fit, we can explore what working together could look like.