Having grown up in the Vail Valley, Malia moved to the area as a young girl in 1979 where she attended elementary through high school. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing, continuing on to obtain her law degree (JD) from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Malia finished 6th out of 254 students in her class at DU, was a member of the DU law review, and was inducted into the Order of St. Ives.

After an initial career in commercial litigation, Malia decided to maintain her law degree but change her career to real estate when she moved back to the Vail Valley to start a family with her husband Jay Nobrega. She and her husband purchased Malia's family real estate brokerage firm and property management company, Crossroads Realty, which has operated in Vail since the 1970´s. In 2014, Malia and Jay sold Crossroads Realty's Property Management Company allowing Malia to fully focus on luxury real estate sales and join LIV Sotheby's International Realty. She is a Regent for LuxuryRealEstate.com and the exclusive broker for the Haute Residence Luxury Real Estate Network for the Vail Valley. This arms her with an array of additional powerful, exclusive marketing tools and solutions to showcase her listings to targeted elite buyers worldwide.

Malia and her husband own Vail Construction Group, a luxury residential general contracting company that produces some of the most impressive residential construction in the Vail Valley at a remarkable value to their clients. She and her husband also own a local millwork shop, Vail Millworks, which produces luxury millwork and also produces some of the most unique local luxury custom furniture for general contractors, interior designers, and local furniture retailers such as Worth Interiors.

In her first year, Malia was the 9th highest grossing producer in Vail based upon sales volume and is known as one of the most "tech savvy" Realtors providing cutting edge marketing and online presence. She was named "Outstanding Rookie" by Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate. She is continuously one of the top producing brokers in the Vail Valley in dollar volume of sales and currently she is ranked 3rd in all of the Vail Valley Realtors (as of 1/18/17) in dollar volume of active listings. Her genuine enjoyment of technology helps keep her on top of an ever-evolving industry. Malia's wide array of experiences with marketing, law, property management, construction and development help her embody "all things real estate" and make her an invaluable resource to her clients. As a true professional and lifelong Vail local, Malia helps her clients find the best possible situation for their unique real estate needs so they can enjoy all the Vail Valley lifestyle has to offer.

Malia is also quickly branching out and leveraging the vast network of luxury agents throughout the United States and internationally through Sotheby's International Realty and Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate. Malia prides herself in connecting friends, family and clients with other like-minded and passionate agents in whatever market they are buying or selling residential real estate. Malia sees her diverse background as ideal when serving her clients well as their residential real estate advisor and takes this role very seriously dedicating herself to locating the real estate professional that is the best fit for each particular client.

Malia and her husband have two children, Dylan (14) and Logan Nobrega (9). They have been members of the Cordillera Golf Club since 2006 and are also members of the Vail Gondola Club in Vail Village. Malia has served on various Vail Board of Realtors committees.