Conversations with Mickayla Coutinho Brandao

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mickayla Coutinho Brandao.

Hi Mickayla, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I found out I was pregnant the summer before I started grad school. Three years later, I walked across the stage with my Master’s in Social Work — and a toddler in the audience.

I’m originally from Boston, and I got my bachelor’s in Psychology and African studies from NYU. I went in thinking I’d go the psychology route, but somewhere around junior year I realized I was more drawn to the social side of things — people’s actual stories, the context they lived in, the relationships and systems shaping them. So I pivoted and went to Simmons University for my Master’s in Social Work, graduating in May 2025.

During grad school, I worked at a domestic violence organization in Boston for about two and a half years. That experience became the foundation of everything I do now. Sitting with people through some of the hardest moments of their lives — trauma, fear, the slow work of rebuilding — that’s where I learned what this work actually requires.

The honest origin story, though, goes back further. I remember being in tenth grade AP Psychology and being genuinely fascinated by how the brain works — how childhood experiences shape who we become as adults. That curiosity never left me. I just had to figure out how I wanted to use it. And what I landed on is this: I love combining the science with the human story. Using what we know about trauma, the nervous system, and behavior to help someone actually move through what they’ve been carrying.

I specifically work with women, children, and adolescents because I think they’re some of the most unheard groups of people. They need spaces where they feel safe, seen, and not judged — and those spaces are scarce. With my background in trauma, I think I can offer something specific to those populations, and that feels like the work I’m meant to do.

The fitness piece happened almost by accident. In 2020, when the world shut down, I started losing pieces of myself I didn’t realize I’d been holding onto through being around people, being busy, being in motion. I needed something. Working out became that something, and it stuck. I got certified as a personal trainer in June 2022 and have been training clients ever since — but the longer I do this work, the more clear it is that the body and the mind aren’t separate projects. They’re the same one.

The hardest part of getting here, honestly, has been doing all of it as a single mom. I found out I was pregnant right before starting grad school, and there were a lot of moments where I didn’t know how I’d finish. I leaned on my support system, kept my head down, and got it done — but it was three years of figuring out how to be a student, a clinician-in-training, and a mother all at once.

What I’m building now is community. I’m growing as a licensed therapist in Atlanta. This summer I’m facilitating my first therapeutic group in Conyers — six weeks with girls ages 11 to 17, focused on self-esteem, boundary-setting, and emotional regulation. My vision is to keep facilitating these kinds of conversations, especially for Black and brown girls and women in the Atlanta area, because those are the conversations I don’t see happening enough.

On the fitness side, I’m continuing to release workout programs people can do on their own — with demo videos, structure, and always a mental health component woven in. Mental and physical health aren’t separate lanes for me; they feed each other constantly, and everything I create reflects that.

Mostly, I’m ready to be in rooms with women who are building something, who want real community, and who are willing to have the conversations most people avoid. That’s where I’m headed.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This hasn’t been a smooth road. The hardest stretch was the period when I moved to Atlanta, became a newly single mom, and was still in the middle of grad school — all at the same time. I was trying to finish assignments, show up for my own clients in training, parent a baby, and rebuild my life in a city where I was still figuring out my footing. There were days I genuinely didn’t know how I was going to do it.

One month, I didn’t have enough money to pay rent. I remember sitting with that feeling — like I had failed, like I’d taken on more than I could handle. But my faith carried me through that moment, and I leaned on the resources and the people around me until I figured it out. I did pay that rent. And I kept going.

What I learned in that season is something I now bring into every room I work in: the women and girls I sit with in therapy are often carrying more than anyone around them realizes. They’re holding things they think disqualify them from being seen as competent, as worthy, as someone who has it together. I know what it feels like to be in that place — and I know it’s survivable, and that you can come out of it with more clarity about who you are and what you’re built for.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a Licensed Master Social Worker in Atlanta, working with women, children, and adolescents — with a particular focus on Black and brown girls and the women they grow into. My therapeutic approach blends cognitive behavioral therapy and narrative therapy, and I incorporate movement and fitness into my practice when it serves the work. Outside of one-on-one sessions, I create wellness programs and content that bring the same conversations to women who may never sit on a therapist’s couch.

What I’m most known for — and what clients tell me again and again — is that I’m the most comfortable therapist they’ve ever worked with. A lot of the women who find me have tried therapy before and felt like it didn’t work. What they tell me afterward is that they finally have a space where they don’t have to perform, edit themselves, or show up as anyone other than who they actually are. I don’t bring judgment into the room. I let people be — and from that place, the real work starts to happen.

This summer, I’m launching my first group program, The Glow Up Within, at the private practice where I work in Conyers. It’s a six-week program for girls ages 11 to 17, focused on self-esteem, boundary-setting, and emotional regulation. The structure is clinical, but the experience is conversational — guest speakers, real dialogue, and a room where girls can hear that their stories are normal and that they’re not alone in what they’re carrying. That age group needs spaces like that, and there aren’t enough of them.

What I’m most proud of is that I finished graduate school as a single mom and have built a clientele in Atlanta from the ground up in just over a year of living here. I’m a therapist, a personal trainer, an entrepreneur, and a mom — and I’m building all of it at once, one day at a time.

What sets me apart, if I had to name it: a woman who walks into my office knows she doesn’t have to be a particular version of herself to be supported. She can come in tired, conflicted, frustrated, joyful, unsure — and I’m going to meet her there. That consistency is the work for me. Everything else — the modalities, the programs, the content — is built on top of it.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
So many people. I didn’t get here alone, and I’d never pretend I did.

My mom is at the top of the list. She reminds me — every single day — of what I’m capable of and how far I’ve come. There have been seasons where I couldn’t see it for myself, and she could. Every woman building something needs someone in her corner like that, and I happen to have the best one.

I also have to credit the community of girlfriends I’ve built here in Atlanta. I moved to this city just over a year ago, and the sisterhood I’ve found has carried me in ways I don’t think they fully realize. These are women who encourage me when I’m unsure of myself, celebrate the wins with me, and remind me what I’m building when I lose sight of it. Real community has been everything — and I’m endlessly grateful for the women who’ve shown up for me here.

Pricing:

• $44 ‘Strong Enough to Begin Again’ eBook
• $44 Enhance & Tone Workout Plan

Contact Info:

• Website: https://stan.store/akamickay
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akamickay/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickayla-coutinho-brandao/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@akamickay