Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Marializa moved to Texas to attend Texas A&M University School of Law. During law school, Marializa focused her studies on international law, environmental law and business law. After law school, Marializa gained valuable legal experience working on the plaintiff side of employment law in the civil litigation division of a Fort Worth law firm.
In 2016, a professor from Texas A&M informed her of a once in a lifetime opportunity in Cambodia. Marializa took the opportunity and jumped on a plane to work with a public interest law firm in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. For three months, Marializa worked with international law experts, technical experts, governmental institutions, and non-governmental organizations to help develop Cambodia’s first environment and natural resources code. During her time in Cambodia, Marializa worked with passionate individuals from all over the world. She quickly saw what it was like to work with passion on something that had the potential for widespread positive impact. Marializa saw the power of true collaboration.
Upon returning to Texas, Marializa wanted to recreate that same passion for purpose and collaborative spirit she encountered while in Cambodia. Marializa wondered if there was a way to approach the law differently and this curiosity led her to a coffeehouse brainstorming session with Christian. Christian’s entrepreneur spirit, Marializa’s creativity, and their mutual passion and diligent work ethic led them to join forces and create Holden & Kelly Law Group, PLLC in 2017.
On the path that led her to forming Holden & Kelly Law Group, PLLC, Marializa studied intellectual property in Croatia, worked with a wildlife refuge non-profit in Costa Rica focusing on environmental conservation and prevention of animal trafficking, drafted environmental legislation in Cambodia, and worked on a transboundary water law research project for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Intrigued by nature, Marializa welcomes every opportunity to learn and gain a new set of skills—she proudly refers to herself as a “Jackie of all trades.” While her curiosities are limitless, Marializa’s specialized interests lie in the areas of Conscious Capitalism, Values-Based Business Development, Collaborative Consumption and the Sharing Economy, International Environmental Law, Data Privacy, and Intellectual Property Law. When she is not traveling to collaborate with clients or visiting family in Arizona, Marializa resides in Plano, Texas with her wonderful fiancée, life partner, and business partner, Christian Holden. Together, they are creating their own definition of a work life balance while developing the foundation for a growing family and an international, purpose-driven law firm serving creative individuals from across the world.
What Marializa believes
Mission
Marializa’s professional mission is to empower clients and show them how the law can be integrated into their business in a non-threatening and proactive manner. By taking the time to understand each client’s business, vision, and values, Marializa helps clients build a strong legal foundation, and in doing so, helps each client further their mission and share their values.
Vision
Marializa embraces using values as a foundation and filter from which legal services are offered and business decision are made. She sees values as an integral part of business development, consumer choices, and the economy.
Serving values-guided businesses and organizations and helps provide more offerings to values-driven consumers.
Values
- Integrity
- Learning
- Creativity
- Passion
- Diligence
- Empowerment
When it comes to quantifying the core pillars of excellent personal and professional behavior, Marializa believes that the most effective guiding metric is The Golden Rule.