She was born in Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on April 11, 1981. Both of her parents are of Italian and Polish descent. She was just eight years when she decided that she wanted to be a model, after seeing a picture of top cover girl- Karen Mulder in a magazine. At age 11, she had a cosmetic surgery to get her ears pinned back because she was always insecure of her large ears. Though two years later she suffered complications and it discourages her from getting plastic surgery again. As an early teen she enrolled at a modeling class and subsequently was entered into an elite modeling competition in Brazil and was offered an Elite contract after a year.