---
title: "Moving People: The Woman Who Knows How to Start Over"
description: Maria Laura Canepa’s multifaceted journey spans acting, immigration and social impact—embracing growth, authenticity and community across Europe and beyond.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2025-09-10T14:11:32.000Z
updated: 2026-02-26T22:05:34.373Z
canonical: https://richwoman.co/article/moving-people-the-woman-who-knows-how-to-start-over
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/ts2ukluecve.jpg
categories: Culture & Society
content_type: Profile
region: Uruguay
publication: Rich Woman Magazine
about:
  - type: Person
    name: Maria Laura Canepa
---

In 2018, Maria Laura Canepa stood on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, watching her short film ‘Derrumbe’ (‘Collapse’) receive its international premiere. A few months later, she was back in Uruguay, sitting across from a nervous family planning their move to a new country, helping them navigate visa applications and residency requirements. The contrast wasn’t lost on her – one moment pursuing her passion for acting on the world’s most prestigious film stage, the next guiding others through the practical realities of starting over somewhere new.

It’s a paradox that defines much of Maria Laura’s life: someone who has mastered the art of [reinvention whilst helping others](https://richwoman.co/article/how-young-americans-are-building-better-futures-abroad-and-the-ripple-effect-on-leadership) do the same. At 42, she’s been an actress, a ministry official, a corporate supervisor managing 72 people, and now runs her own immigration advisory firm. She speaks five languages, plays the hand pan, studies astronomy, and twice a year drives to a rural school to teach French to children aged three to 12. Her story isn’t about finding her calling – it’s about refusing to be limited by just one.

## Early starts and unexpected turns

Growing up in Montevideo, Maria Laura attended the [Lycée Français](https://www.lyceefrancais.edu.uy/), where she first developed her love for languages. But it was a scholarship that truly changed everything. In 2003, she became the first Uruguayan participant in the [Georgia Rotary Student Program](https://www.grsp.org/) to receive the William A. Watt Memorial Award, recognising her promotion of international understanding and goodwill.

The year in Atlanta at Oglethorpe University was more than academic – it was her first real experience of adapting to a completely different culture. ‘I learnt what it meant to start over in a place where nobody knew me,’ she recalls. The programme, which has been bringing international students to Georgia since 1946, covers tuition and accommodation for one academic year, but the real education happens outside the classroom.

Returning to Uruguay, she earned her degree in International Affairs from Universidad de la República in 2008, then began her career with the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It seemed like a natural fit for someone who had already experienced the complexity of cross-cultural communication. But Maria Laura’s path was far from linear.

After her ministry work, Maria Laura spent nearly a decade with Sabre Airline Solutions and Travel Network, rising through the ranks to supervise a team of 72 specialists. It was a completely different world from diplomatic work, but the skills transferred – managing people, solving complex problems, understanding how systems work across different countries.

When she eventually started Mobility LC, her own immigration advisory firm, she approached it with the perspective of someone who had lived through multiple professional transitions. ‘I don’t just help people fill out forms,’ she explains. ‘I help them understand what it actually means to relocate, because I’ve done it myself.’

Her work covers everything from employment-based immigration to family reunification, temporary work visas to citizenship applications. Her understanding that immigration isn’t just about legal processes – it’s about helping people maintain their sense of identity whilst adapting to somewhere new – makes her approach distinctive.

This empathy shows in unexpected ways. She volunteers at a rural public school in Uruguay, teaching French to children who might otherwise never encounter the language. Given that [rural schools in Uruguay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Uruguay) often struggle with resources and French education is typically concentrated in urban private schools, her contribution fills a genuine gap. It’s the kind of quiet community involvement that doesn’t make headlines but reflects her broader approach to helping people access opportunities.

## Passions outside the office

In 2018, something unexpected happened. Maria Laura’s short film ‘Derrumbe’ was selected for the Cannes Short Film Festival. She had been pursuing acting alongside her immigration work, and suddenly found herself in one of the most competitive creative environments in the world. Like [immigration advocate Shirley Maia-Cusick](https://richwoman.co/article/from-immigration-advocate-to-cannes-shirley-maia-cusick-s-journey-of-boundless-vision-and-uns), who also showcased her work at Cannes, Maria Laura discovered that her professional expertise could fuel her creative expression.

The film, directed by Mexican filmmaker Gerson Tonatiuh, was a culmination of her growing interest in performance. The following year, she travelled to New York to study at the [William Esper Studio](https://esperstudio.com/), the renowned acting school founded in 1965 that teaches the Meisner Technique. For someone who spends her days helping others navigate bureaucracy, the creative expression offered a completely different outlet.

Her other passion is equally unexpected: the hand pan. This melodic percussion instrument, created by Swiss makers around 2000, produces haunting, hypnotic sounds when played with the hands. It’s the kind of hobby that surprises people – this woman who manages complex immigration cases and studied European business law also finds time to master an instrument that barely existed 25 years ago.

Then there’s astronomy. She studies the stars, not as a fleeting interest but as another way of understanding systems and patterns. Whether it’s tracking visa processing times or planetary movements, Maria Laura seems drawn to understanding how things work on both intimate and cosmic scales.

This December, Maria Laura will accept the Presidential Award from the [International Association of Top Professionals](https://www.iaotp.com/award-gala) at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. The award recognises exceptional dedication and leadership, with recipients chosen through a rigorous vetting process. Previous recognition includes being named IAOTP’s Top Immigration Advisor of the Year and receiving the Empowered Woman Award in 2020.

But the accolades sit alongside the quieter realities of her work. She’s been featured in TIP Magazine and had a chapter dedicated to her in IAOTP’s Top 50 Fearless Leaders publication, yet she still makes time for those twice-yearly trips to teach French to rural children.

Her credentials are impressive: a master’s degree in International Commerce from the European Institute and Escuela de Negocios de Madrid, certification as a Neuro-Linguistic Programming practitioner, and qualifications as a Certified Travel Counselor and Certified Travel Associate. But she attributes her success to ‘[perseverance, mentors along the way](https://richwoman.co/article/from-barranquilla-to-miami-how-a-woman-on-a-mission-turns-setbacks-into-possibility), particularly her parents, and remaining passionate in all business endeavours.’

## Building a multifaceted life

Maria Laura’s story doesn’t follow the typical narrative of finding your passion and pursuing it single-mindedly. Instead, it’s about building a life that accommodates multiple interests and allows for constant growth. She continued studying acting because it fed something in her that immigration law couldn’t. She learned to play the hand pan because she was curious about its ethereal sound. She teaches French to rural children because she can.

The mentors she credits, particularly her parents, seem to have given her permission to be multifaceted. There’s no sense that she had to choose between being serious about her professional work or pursuing creative interests. Like [author Alison Weihe, who learned to be unapologetically herself](https://richwoman.co/article/alison-weihe-a-woman-who-is-finally-unapologetically-herself), Maria Laura’s approach suggests that expertise in one area can inform and enrich others.

Her volunteer work isn’t about giving back in some grand philanthropic sense – it’s about staying connected to the reality that not everyone has the same opportunities to start over. Teaching French to children who might otherwise never encounter the language is both practical help and a reminder of what it means to open doors for others.

These days, Maria Laura balances her immigration advisory work with travel, music and family time. She’s being considered for an interview on TIP Radio, continues to develop her acting skills, and maintains her volunteer commitments. But perhaps most tellingly, she’s still studying – still learning new things, still adapting.

‘For the future, I hope to continue making a difference in people’s lives in any way I can,’ she says. It’s a simple statement that encompasses everything from helping families navigate complex visa processes to introducing rural children to their first French words.

On a typical day, you might find her reviewing residency applications in the morning, then preparing French lessons for her next school visit. She might practice her hand pan in the evening, the instrument’s soothing tones providing a counterpoint to the day’s administrative challenges. It’s a life that refuses to be categorised neatly, built by someone who has learned that starting over isn’t something you do once – it’s something you do whenever growth requires it.

Maria Laura Canepa has mastered the art of reinvention not by abandoning previous versions of herself, but by allowing each new beginning to build on what came before. She’s created a life that proves you can be both practical and creative, both professional and passionate, both helpful and fulfilled. Like [Sandra Valks, who learned to trust her inner voice](https://richwoman.co/article/sandra-valks-beyond-boundaries-learning-to-trust-your-inner-voice), Maria Laura shows that knowing how to start over is perhaps the most valuable skill of all.