Juliana Martins was born in 1984, in the town of Jos Bonifcio, Brazil. Although she always dreamed of being a model, she decided that modeling was out of her reach when she was just 10 years old. But a few years later, at age 12, an opportunity presented itself: she was considered for a commercial campaign. Although she didn't get the job, the opportunity gave her the confidence she needed to enter the Elite Model Look Contest in 1997, in which she became a finalist.