Meet the Founder & Director
Meet Iryna Malpa
Founder & Director of Be Your Best Academy of Marbella
Entrepreneur • Educator • Four-Time Beauty Queen • Model • International Beauty Pageant Judge
Iryna Malpa brings together an exceptional combination of academic achievement, international business and entrepreneurial experience, modelling and fashion, beauty and personal presentation, public speaking, negotiation and personal development.
From international Marketing Director and entrepreneur to model, four-time beauty queen, international beauty pageant judge and educator, Iryna has built a multidisciplinary career spanning international business, education, fashion, communication and personal development.
Today, she brings these different worlds together at Be Your Best Academy of Marbella, helping children, teenagers and adults develop practical everyday skills, lasting confidence and the ambition to use more of their potential.
Why I created the Academy
Why I Created Be Your Best Academy of Marbella
I created Be Your Best Academy of Marbella because I realised that many of the skills that influence how we look, communicate, behave and are perceived by others every single day are never properly taught.
We communicate every day. We express our ideas. We meet new people. We walk into rooms. We sit, stand and move. We choose what to wear. We use our posture and body language. We create first impressions. Many of us use makeup and style our appearance.
Yet many people reach adulthood without ever being professionally taught how to do these things well, and many people unfortunately simply don't use those techniques to their benefit throughout their lives.
Many people have never been taught how to walk with confident posture, how to enter a room and make a positive first impression, how to maintain eye contact, how to speak so people can hear and understand them, how to communicate confidently with several people at once, how to dress for their individual appearance, or how to apply makeup professionally and appropriately.
Individually, these can appear to be small details. Together, they can transform how a person presents themselves, how confident they feel and how other people respond to them.
That is why I wanted to create an Academy where these practical everyday skills are actually taught, practised and used.
There Is Also a Personal Reason
When I was young, I was ambitious. I loved modelling and beauty competitions and dreamed about opportunities at the highest level.
But ambition and potential alone were not enough.
I didn't always know where to find the biggest opportunities, whom to approach, how to present myself, how to ask for guidance or how to take the next step. I also didn't yet have the confidence and determination to say: “Why not me?”
Looking back, I believe that if I had understood then many of the things I teach my students today — how to communicate, present myself, seek opportunities, find mentors, ask, aim higher and not reject myself before somebody else has even had the opportunity to say yes — I could have used more of my potential.
That is something I want to give my students much earlier in life.
I want them to develop practical knowledge alongside the confidence to use it. I want them to recognise opportunities, challenge themselves, aim higher and have the courage to try.
My goal is not to prepare every student for the same future.
My goal is to help every student use more of their potential — whatever they choose to do with their life.
Education & Professional Development
Education Across Business, Leadership & Communication
Iryna's academic and professional education spans Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Greece, bringing together management, project management, business, public speaking, negotiation, personal development, beauty and personal style.
- Bachelor's Degree in Management — Diploma with Distinction Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine, Odesa, Ukraine
- Master's Degree in Project Management — Diploma with Distinction Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine, Odesa, Ukraine
- MBA — Diploma with Distinction University in Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Public Speaking Course Harvard University, USA
- Master of Negotiations Thessaloniki, Greece
- NLP Course Ukraine
- Professional Makeup Artist Training Ukraine
- Personal Stylist Training Ukraine
These qualifications are provided as informational professional background. There is no need to display certificates or diplomas on the website.
One background. Many areas of expertise.
How it all comes together
What makes Iryna's approach distinctive is not one qualification or achievement. It is the way very different areas of education and real-world experience come together.
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International Business & Marketing Leadership
Before founding Be Your Best Academy of Marbella, Iryna spent many years as a Marketing Director for a major international company, gaining senior-level experience in international business, marketing, leadership, professional communication and working in a corporate environment. This experience now contributes directly to the Academy's career preparation, leadership, communication and determination-development programmes.
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Management, Project Management & Business
Contribute to goal setting, planning, leadership, career preparation, ambition and recognising opportunities.
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Public Speaking, Negotiation & Communication
Contribute to expressing ideas clearly, communicating confidently, influencing positively and making yourself heard.
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Professional Makeup & Personal Style
Contribute to understanding individual appearance, presenting yourself appropriately and creating a confident first impression.
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Modelling & Stage Experience
Contribute to posture, movement, discipline, presentation, stage presence and confidence under pressure.
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Personal Development
Brings these areas together through determination, ambition, self-belief and the courage to pursue opportunities.
This multidisciplinary experience is reflected in the Academy itself: students don't learn confidence as one isolated subject. They develop it through practical skills they can begin applying in real life.
International Modelling, Beauty & Pageant Experience
Four Beauty Titles. From Model and Contestant to International Judge.
Alongside her academic and business background, Iryna brings decades of first-hand experience in modelling, beauty competitions, stage presentation and performing in front of an audience.
Her titles include
- Miss Dallas 1996
- Business Lady UK 2022, London
- Ageless Beauty Queen 2023, London
- Miss Charity 2025, London
Iryna has also served multiple times as an international beauty pageant judge in the United Kingdom and Ukraine.
Her journey has therefore taken her from model and contestant to titleholder, international judge and educator.
Iryna also prepares children and adult models for major runway appearances, delivering catwalk training and pre-show masterclasses for models participating in Paris Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week and fashion shows across Spain.
When Academy students learn modelling, catwalk, posing, posture, presentation and stage confidence, they are learning from someone who has personally experienced these environments — from preparing and stepping onto the stage herself to later evaluating contestants from the judging panel.
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Miss Dallas 1996 — aged 15
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Winner · Business Lady UK 2022, London
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Ageless Beauty Queen 2022/23, London
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Miss Charity 2025, London
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On stage · Miss Charity 2025
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International beauty pageant judge, London
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Crowned on stage as a titleholder
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Ageless Beauty Queen — official portrait
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Beauty pageant gown, London
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On stage · beauty pageant finalist
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Presenting on stage · beauty pageant
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On the runway · couture
From Knowledge to Everyday Life
At Be Your Best Academy of Marbella, knowledge should never remain only inside the classroom.
Students practise communication so they can communicate more confidently with friends, teachers and new people.
They practise public speaking so they can express themselves clearly in a group.
They learn posture and body language so they can walk into everyday situations with greater presence.
They learn personal style and professional makeup so they understand how to present themselves at their best.
They develop determination and ambition so they are more prepared to recognise and pursue opportunities.
And through professional modelling, photoshoots and fashion shows, students have exciting real-world opportunities to put confidence into action.
The lesson matters because of what the student can do with it afterwards.
A Founder and a Mother
Alongside her professional, academic and international experience, Iryna is a wife and mother.
She understands that parents are not simply choosing another after-school activity. They are choosing the people, experiences and environments that can influence who their child becomes.
This is why the purpose of Be Your Best Academy of Marbella extends far beyond what happens during a lesson.
The goal is for students to carry what they learn into school, friendships, university, future careers and adult life.
Iryna's Philosophy
My greatest hope is not simply that students remember what we taught them, but that they use it throughout their lives — that years from now, when they walk into a room, speak with confidence, meet someone new, pursue an opportunity, dress for an important occasion or step into a pair of heels, something they learned here is still helping them become their best.— Iryna Malpa
What I Want My Students to Carry with Them
I hope that years after leaving the Academy, students still use what they learned here.
When they walk into an important room, I hope they remember their posture.
When they speak, I hope they make eye contact, express themselves clearly and have the confidence to make themselves heard.
When they meet somebody new, I hope they know how to communicate and connect.
When they dress for an important occasion or do their makeup, I hope they understand what suits them and how to present themselves.
And when a big opportunity appears, I hope their first thought isn't: “I'm probably not good enough.”
I hope it is: “Why not me?”
Because what we teach at Be Your Best Academy of Marbella is not meant only for the next lesson, photoshoot or fashion show.
It is meant to be used for life.
Come and see
a class
Join us in Marbella or online and discover how practical everyday life skills can build lasting confidence and open new opportunities.