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Born Marisa Bertetta in Santa Cruz, California, she was first "discovered" at age 16 walking through a San Francisco café by two Italian modeling agents.[2] After talking to her mom Krista Bertetta, she was on a plane to Italy with her mom a few months later. Marisa says that the most valuable thing that her mom has ever told her was "You can always go back to school but you may not always be able to model."