Unravelling The Past with Marta Hobbs
Starting anew in a foreign land is a path filled with both challenge and opportunity, as Marta knows all too well. Having left Poland at the age of 12 during the height of the communist era, she carries with her a story that echoes the experiences of many immigrants—navigating unfamiliar terrain, learning a new language and seeking a sense of belonging. In an exclusive interview with Olivia, our Editor-in-Chief, Marta talks about the hurdles she encountered and the resilience that propelled her forward to achieve the American dream.
“That fear never fully leaves you but it’s what drives you to succeed against the odds.”
The Flight to Freedom
“Although I was too young to grasp its full meaning back then, I do recall the environment I grew up in as being steeped in terror and ultimately fleeing communist oppression as a political refugee with my parents, younger sister and dog. Our departure from Poland felt like an escape, not a move.” Marta’s family left under a veil of secrecy, revealing the decision to only a few trusted relatives. “We couldn’t even tell my sister for fear of being detained at the border,” she recalls, “We said we were going to Italy for the summer.” The journey took them through Germany, where Marta spent her first teenage birthday in a refugee camp, before finally arriving in the United States to face an overwhelming sense of alienation.
“I didn’t speak a word of English and I had absolutely no idea what to expect—my only reference was Little House on the Prairie,” Marta says with a chuckle, “which didn’t exactly prepare me for New York City.” Her parents had impressive careers in Poland; her mother was a well-known news journalist, while her father worked as a TV producer and cameraman, but they had to start from scratch in America. Marta remembers, “My mum worked as a cleaning lady and my dad took jobs as a doorman and delivery person. My sister and I were provided with schools and the basics, but there was no guidance on how to navigate life in this new country. I was placed directly into seventh grade in an all-American school—it felt like being thrown into the deep end.”
To combat an overwhelming feeling of helplessness, Marta began ‘over-functioning’ and taking on responsibilities far beyond her years. When her parents couldn’t cook because they were working two jobs, she stepped in. She helped her sister, did the chores and walked the dog. When kids bullied her or were unkind, she was determined to figure it out and developed a thick skin; a survival tactic she came to recognise as a coping mechanism.”
Years later, Marta found herself following her parents into TV production. “Television was always familiar,” she says, “But I was passionate about fashion and interior decorating. My parents were practical though and I felt duty-bound to choose stability.” TV production became a compromise—a way to be creative while meeting their expectations. Eventually, Marta landed a job at NBC’s headquarters which she found exciting, although over time she recognised it as a trauma response to the chaotic pace and instability of her past.
The ‘American Dream’
Marta met her husband, Jim, on the job—he was a sportscaster and she was his camerawoman. Soon after their first baby was born, Marta’s parents gifted them a week at a Caribbean timeshare they had recently purchased. “We were exhausted with a newborn, so we jumped on the break—and it was life-changing.”
They fell in love with the Caribbean’s laid-back lifestyle, a stark contrast to Marta’s upbringing in communist Poland, where everything was grey, scarce and the weather was dreary. “It reminded me of the summer family trips to Greece I loved as a child, where we’d bask in sunshine, enjoy fresh fruit, and be surrounded by colour. The beach became a symbol of joy and pleasure for me and it inspired us to wonder if we could make this vacation lifestyle our reality.”
Despite having no business background they took a leap of faith. “At the time, we were living upstate in New York and heavily in debt,” she says, “so we moved to New York City with our newborn and into my parents’ home we’d built together as refugees. It had just one bathroom and a bedroom, so Jim and I set ourselves up in the unfinished attic with our baby.” They researched timeshare investments and discovered a company that auctioned off excess weeks – and began selling them for $99, later quitt their jobs and took the business on full-time. Eventually, they made enough to move into their own tiny place and launched CheapCarribean.com in 2000.
By 2007, the business had skyrocketed to $1 billion in revenue and employed hundreds. “It was never just about the money,” Martha continues. “Our goal was to create a life we loved – as we saw the positive impact on our clients, we realised we wanted to make this experience accessible to everyone. That passion and genuine desire to share something we loved is what I believe made us so successful.”
But behind the scenes, disaster loomed. They didn’t have proper accounting systems in place and were still using Excel to track their finances, which eventually led to serious financial miscalculations. “We thought we were making huge profits and reinvested heavily in branding—sponsoring an Indy race car, putting up a billboard in Times Square and even flying our entire company to the Caribbean for a celebration.”
Time to Let Go
Then the bombshell hit: Their CFO quit, and the new one revealed they were $7 million in debt with just two months of cash left. Facing a do-or-die moment, they brought in angel investors to save the company but the rescue came with a price as the heart of the company shifted and it became about the bottom line, not its original purpose.
As the business lost its family-like culture, Marta faced deep internal conflict. “I understood the financial need for cuts but felt the personal weight of those decisions,” she recalls. She remembers the tough conversations, including those with her own parents, as layoffs and pay cuts became necessary. “I had to deliver the news about pay cuts and budget limitations. The investors were in Dallas; I was the one facing the team.”
“That passion and genuine desire to share something we loved is what i believe made us so successful.”
After working for over a decade to build something she loved and gone through massive growth and expansion, we wanted to know how difficult it was for Marta to walk away and let CheapCaribbean continue on its own. “The company had morphed into a large corporation, I was suddenly fighting against a different way of doing business and the vision was no longer in alignment with what Jim and I had set out to create. On the other hand, we were proud of its financial success and that it ensured jobs and security for so many – that made it a bit easier to let go. I’ll always think of it as our third kid – out there and doing its own thing.”
CheapCaribbean.com was sold in 2013 – Marta was 39 when she retired. She closes this chapter of her life by saying: “It was fun and exciting for quite a while but eventually keeping up the ‘strong leader’ facade became exhausting. I felt like I was constantly juggling a million things while trying to outrun everyone at the same time. While my heart was in the right place – I led with intuition, generosity, creativity, connection and love – that wasn’t always welcome in the old-school corporate world.
Finding My True Self
Financially secure for life, the family moved to Paris – a lifelong dream – and planned to spend a year there as a sort of honeymoon period for the kids, soaking in the excitement of their new life. But that didn’t last: “In our second year, we went to St. Bart’s to celebrate the sale, and that’s when I had my first panic attack,” she says. “At the time, mental health wasn’t openly discussed. I thought I was having a heart attack or a stroke.”
This marked the beginning of a period filled with daily panic attacks, depression, and paralysing anxiety, making even the simplest tasks nearly impossible. Desperate for relief, Marta embarked on a healing journey spanning eight to ten years, learning about holistic wellness, nutrition, stress management, childhood trauma, the human brain, various types of therapy and somatic and energetic work. She studied anatomy, yoga, breathwork and meditation – learning how to confront a major identity crisis, filled with hurt, resentment, disorientation, confusion, and a lot of darkness and pain from her childhood, immigration struggles and the unresolved emotions from her teenage years.
“Therapy has helped me to understand that we are souls having a human experience. Our careers, relationships, and titles are expressions of that inner essence, but they don’t define our identity.” she says. “When those roles are stripped away, it can feel like a loss, but it’s also an opportunity to reconnect with the core of who we are.”
Today, Marta no longer has a desperation for success and her focus is on balancing purpose with ease. She has created a unique methodology, a guided meditation journey she calls SoulCare™, focusing on reconnecting women to the essence of their true selves – their soul – reminding them that they are not what they DO, but who they ARE.
“Living fully present in my personal life—with my husband and our adult children—is what truly nourishes me. This balance allows me to pour my energy into retreats and offer my best to those who attend. Finding this balance has transformed how I work and interact, enabling me to better love and support women who are still learning to nurture themselves.”
Her memoir, entitled Unraveling, reflects this intention. It took three years to write and is a deeply personal work. “The book begins with the aftermath of everything falling apart and then goes deeper into the journey beneath the surface,” Marta explains. It’s a raw, honest exploration of her heart, inviting readers to journey with her into the depths of vulnerability and self-discovery. “It’s a beautiful book,” she says proudly, “not just because of the story itself but because it invites women to live from the heart, rather than projecting an image.”
Abundance Mindset
We asked Marta if she thinks wealth and spirituality are two sides of the same coin. “Both are expressions of abundance,” she replies “When you see yourself as a limitless soul, then true wealth is not just about thinking ‘like the rich do’, but it is definitely about shifting our inner orientation to be able to recognise life’s gifts. This self-awareness opens the door to boundless resources, both material and spiritual, without the need for flashy symbols of success like luxury cars or designer clothes.”
True abundance, for Marta, is about embracing your uniqueness. “Out of nearly nine billion people, there is only one of you. You are the treasure you’ve been seeking all along. The first time I went to a Dior Paris Fashion Show (after years of learning to believe that I actually deserved it) – I purchased my first Dior gown. The experience changed my life because for the first time I not only thought I was worthy of a dress like that, but I saw how others saw me first, I noticed how it made me feel – it really changed me from the inside out so I started to study the concept of expanding women’s ideas of what is possible. That’s how the idea of the retreat started.”
“Living fully present in my personal life – with my husband and our adult children, is what truly nourishes me.”
Meet Me in Paris immerses women who have already achieved the levels of success they dreamt of into luxurious settings to help them overcome their barriers to receiving abundance. “Often, they feel uncomfortable and struggle to receive or open up. Despite their efforts with mantras and affirmations, spending just a few days with me in an exclusive setting reveals their limitations.”
In a safe, supportive space – shaped by her own experiences – and by observing reactions and guiding these women to see they are deserving of more, Marta works with them to overcome barriers. “The goal is to slow down and connect with that inner beauty,” Then they begin to perceive wealth and beauty in everything, without necessarily needing financial abundance to feel it. This newfound awareness naturally attracts more abundance into their lives.”
Soul-Led
Marta’s ultimate goal in both her writing and public speaking is to inspire and encourage others to share their own struggles and vulnerabilities, where, she believes, true intimacy and meaningful relationships are found. Her speaking engagements vary from intimate settings to larger audiences, but her focus remains on connection.
Marta is not a victim of her circumstances but someone who co-creates her life experience. Through her journey, she emerges as an entrepreneur and an illuminating beacon for those seeking a deeper, soul-led existence. We conclude our interview by stating that when interviewing successful women for Brand You Magazine, we’ve noticed a common thread; their stories come from a rich backdrop of trials, determination and self-realisation that have driven them to achieve great things. We asked Marta to give us her thoughts as to why. “I believe it’s because such experiences teach us resilience. I learned the hard way to push past challenges and maintain focus for most of my life, reminding myself I was a survivor and would find a way through.”
“If abundance is my essence, then anything is possible!
INTERVIEW BY OLIVIA MAROCCO – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF – BRAND YOU MAGAZINE
Article published in Brand You Magazine – Edition 24
Marta Hobbs
Marta is an entrepreneur, a leadership mentor for soul-led businesses, a wellness ambassador for luxury brands, best-selling author, creator of SoulCare(TM), host of exclusive retreats, international speaker, political refugee and trauma survivor.
