Tova was born in Greenwich Village, New York, the heart of the beatnik counterculture in the late 1950s. Her father was an actor and her mother a Hebrew school teacher, and she grew up immersed in theater. As a teenager, her family moved to Cleveland, Ohio—a transition she found stifling at the time but has since come to appreciate for the grounding her Midwest roots provided.

After college, Tova hitchhiked through Europe, Asia, and North Africa for two years. Upon returning to Cleveland, she received a job offer in Los Angeles. Without hesitation, she packed up her Ford Fairlane and headed west, drawn by palm trees and the promise of reinvention.

Tova’s career journey was nontraditional. She began at a nonprofit, where she was mentored by two remarkable women who shaped her early professional life. She also volunteered at the Los Angeles Free Clinic, an experience that deeply influenced her values. Later, she transitioned into the world of business startups led by a serial entrepreneur.

Simultaneously, she pursued a passion for performance. After years of study, she became a professional belly dancer, performing across Southern California and even once for a sheik in the Egyptian desert. She also studied acting and improv, reconnecting with her theatrical roots.

In her 40s, after years of volunteer work in sex education, Tova earned a PhD in human sexuality. Her dissertation was later adapted into a self-published book, and she developed a successful private practice serving couples and individuals for over two decades.

Now in her 70s, Tova reflects on her lifelong journey with appreciation for how much she has grown. She values intellectual challenge, physical fitness, and staying connected through art and culture. As an only child, she has cultivated a close circle of women friends who share the experience of aging with humor, strength, and joy.